Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

Stephanie wasn't joking. As soon as she finished speaking, she began to shrink, turning back into the small black cat that everyone knew her as. Then she climbed up onto Wolfe's shoulder and nuzzled her face against Sophie's.

"I think that I need a minute to take that all in. I mean, my parents were horrible, but what you went through..." Sophie began.

"Stop right there. It isn't a contest. You both came from bad places, and now you're both here, and you both understand what it's like to come from a home like that and into somewhere that you feel cared about. 

The only difference is that Stephanie has been here longer, and she's been able to hide herself behind the fur of a kitten while she got up the courage to speak to others."

Stephanie gave Wolfe a dirty look for calling her out, which made Sophie giggle a little before settling back into Wolfe's arms.

"I can see why she likes to sleep on top of you, Mister Wolfe. You give off mana, and it's so warm and comfortable that I think I might fall asleep if we don't go for that snack soon." Sophie sighed.

"It's an occupational hazard of being me. As soon as Stephanie lowers the spells around the apartment, we can go and get a snack. Then I'll make sure you make it back to your room in one piece.

I'm glad that we all got to have this talk. You finally had a chance to say what was on your mind, and that was the first time I had seen Stephanie in her human form since she was cursed. At first, that was just because she couldn't change back, but it's been a while since she gained the ability, and she's chosen not to. It was your encouragement that got her to accept the fact that she was still a Witch under all that adorable fur."

The trio headed out to the kitchen for their snack, where a number of the other young students were currently studying, accompanied by small snacks and cups of tea or juice.

The youngest of the Witches, the ones awakened before adulthood, all shared similar sentiments on coffee as a food group, but Wolfe was certain that as they grew older, they would appreciate the wonders of the miracle beverage far more.

"Mister Wolfe, you're back! It's good to see you again. I'm Elise, and this is Meeri. We're both in the same junior Witches class with Sophie. Were you giving her extra lessons? You know, since your Familiar is so fond of her." A small bunny-eared Witch asked.

"Something like that. I came up for a talk with Stephanie, and we decided to have a snack before we all went to bed. What are you girls studying today?" Wolfe asked.

"Only like the most important spells ever. We are working on the grooming and cleaning portion of the Air Magic chapter." Elise replied, and then the group of girls studying all giggled in unison.

"Well, I guess I should help you then. You've got a far too pattable head not to know the spell to fix tousled hair." Wolfe joked, then gently stroked the bunny's ears.

"Gah, I knew it. I knew that was going to happen, and I was still too slow." Elise complained.

"But you leaned into his hand." One of the other girls pointed out.

"That's not my fault. It's instinctive to lean into headpats." 

All of the witches in the dining room were snickering now, so Wolfe decided to let the poor girl be and get some snacks.

"Sophie, find us some seats, and I will help everyone with the grooming spells. I've got a fair bit of experience with Air Magic." Wolfe instructed.

Really, he had the Inheritance spell on his side, and it would help guide him to the correct way to draw and activate the Inscription, but that was basically the same thing, even if he didn't use the grooming spell all that often and preferred a brush.

Wolfe returned with a loaded cart, courtesy of the Bunny working the counter, and joined the girls at the large round table in the middle of the dining hall.

"Alright, everyone, please pay attention. The snacks are now placed in the middle of the table, but there is a caveat today. When you answer a question right or successfully activate a spell that I describe for you, you get one item from the tray." Wolfe instructed.

The items were all bite-sized cake and pie squares, and the younger girls looked at them with a level of longing that any lover would be envious of.

"First off, I am going to show you a spell. This one should be familiar to you all. This is the grooming spell that runs a magical brush of air magic through your hair and fur and returns it to its desired shape. How many of you can activate this one?" Wolfe asked, then began to cast the spell, allowing the inscription to glow in the air above the table, large enough that everyone could clearly see every rune.

He held it there for the next few minutes as all the new Witches struggled to get their drawings of the inscription just right, and then the first successes began to happen.

Sophie and Meeri both managed at the same time, smoothing out their hair, while Meeri also slicked back her ears for a moment, brushing them smooth with the spell.

"Very good. That's two successes on the first try. Don't worry. I will keep this one up as a visual aid while everyone tries."

After a few minutes, everyone who was likely to get it had already claimed their snack, and Wolfe let the spell end. Then he turned to the first girl who hadn't managed to cast the spell.

"Do you know why yours didn't activate?" He asked her.

The girl was about to shake her head, then looked at the pile of snacks and realized that this was her chance to answer correctly for a treat.

After a few seconds, she settled on a proper answer. "I was focusing too much on how to make my hair look and not enough on how to shape the wind to do it." She decided.

That was partially true, so Wolfe ignored the lack of focus that wasn't bringing enough mana up to activate the spell.

"Very good, take your prize. Next up, why didn't yours activate?"