?


    Wolfe formed an armour spell over Justine''s body, a simple peasant dress with a corsetced waist and a white ruffled bodice. Then he smiled and pulled the ve auction toga from her body.


    "There we go. You look wonderful. The slippers should be soft enough to befortable but stiff enough that they won''t allow anything to poke your feet. What do you think?" Wolfe asked with a smile.


    "I think that I look like the waitress at your favourite tavern." Justineughed as she gave a little spin that made the skirts on the dress billow out.


    "On the contrary, that is far from my favourite tavern, but it is my favourite waitress uniform. Plus, it blends in with what most of the vige women in Morgana Coven wear. Not too shy, but with a bit of cleavage and long skirts when working outdoors so that you don''t scratch your legs to shreds in the woods." Wolfe replied.


    "Fine, I will ept this dress. But we should let the others get going to the Academy. The peace of mind will do them a lot of good, and the Headmistress shouldn''t be gone too long anyhow." Justine reluctantly agreed.


    It was true that Headmistress Peach had a lot to do, between running the Academy, the invitations to the Coven Council, and times like these when she had to arrange to take care of the more powerful monsters in the area.


    "I think it''s better to avoid long and tearful goodbyes, or we will be here all day," E suggested quietly.


    With that, Wolfe led them out of the camp, waving goodbye but not stopping to talk in case they got trapped into hours'' worth of goodbyes. He was leading the group to the vige where they had dropped off the men and the women who weren''t witches.


    On foot, it would take them all day at the least to get there, but they weren''t in a particr hurry, and it would be better to get an idea of how things were going in the area before they showed up to check on the ones that Wolfe had left with the patrol.


    "Do you think that they settled in well?" Justine asked once she realized where they were heading.


    "I certainly hope so. But if they didn''t, it would also tell us a lot about the viges that the Gormana soldiers have upied. Some of the ones on the bus were part of their own units, so they should ept them back with open arms.


    Everything has just been so strangetely that I can''t guarantee anyone is behaving rationally. Even a year ago, it would have been unthinkable that the majority of a Coven Council would have gone renegade, much less that the rural areas of an entire Coven would start willingly working with an invading army.


    So now, my position is that we''re going to have to take every vige on a case-by-case basis to determine what is going on."


    Justine nodded while Grok shrugged noittally.


    "Humans are humans. They''re conniving and deceitful, so you can never really trust them." The Goblin exined.


    That was a bit of a stretching from a Goblin, given the species'' reputation, but he wasn''tpletely wrong. Even back in the Fortress City, the consensus was that you never trusted anyonepletely.


    As they walked, Justine looked more and more ufortable and kept throwing discrete nces at Wolfe until, finally, E decided to make them stop in a small clearing alongside the animal path that they were following.


    "If you need to ask him something or yell at him, now is the time. There''s nothing around, and we''re well away from any prying ears." She informed the young Witch.


    "It''s not that. I mean, maybe it is. Ever since the Auction House, I''ve had this strange feeling inside me, like I''m about to burst, but in a good way, and it just won''t stop." She tried to exin.


    Christa gave her a knowing look. "Like your whole body tingles, and there is an ache in your chest that isn''t painful?"


    Justine nodded, and the two older Witches smiled at each other.


    "That would be your aura about to expand for the first time. I think Wolfe probably cleared the blockages that were limiting your potential but didn''t add any mana to finish the process, and that''s why you''re awakening right now." E told her with a smile.


    Justine red at Wolfe. "I knew it. You did something to my insides in that room, and you''re enjoying seeing my difort."


    E hid herughter while Christa gave the girl an incredulous look. But it was Grok''s double thumbs up that made her realize that her words could be taken multiple ways.


    "I know for a fact that I wouldn''t have awakened on my own. My parents were so disappointed when they had me tested that they had it done every year. You must have done something to me." Justine borated.


    Wolfe smiled back at her. "You would have awoken right there in the room at the Auction House if you weren''t wearing that anti-magic bracelet. It sucked the mana back out of your body and prevented your aura from forming. That''s why it''s recovering so slowly. But I suppose that I could help you finish the process and get your mana veins ready for your first lessons.


    Christa and E will be more than happy to begin teaching you as we travel, and then once we get to the Fae Forest, you can have proper Professors. Just step over here, and I will help ease the pressure."


    Justine reluctantly stepped closer, and Wolfe poured mana into her body, flooding her system and making her copse in his arms as her aura formed.


    "Was that really necessary? I know you can do it so gently they barely notice." Eughed as Justine hid her face in her hands.


    "It was absolutely necessary. She''s even more sensitive than Cassie, so if I don''t desensitize her now, she will be horribly embarrassed the first time shees for the regrly scheduled enhancement sessions with the others."