Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

As if to emphasize his point, Wolfe sipped at his coffee and released the spell holding the General's arms in place.

"Gravity Magic. So you are from one of the Old Families. Tell me, how did you survive the war?" The General asked, looking somewhat resigned to being killed here now that the locals understood that they were scheduled for extermination.

"No, I am quite young, as I was born here on this continent and not summoned or revived from the afterlife," Wolfe explained.

"There are still Demons as well? Living Demons? How could that have happened?" The more observant of the Sergeants asked.

"Well, you know. Most of them were born the conventional way. Some were summoned and then overpowered their Witches, while some others actually survived the war."

The Sergeant snorted in amusement, then narrowed her eyes at Wolfe.

"Wait, you're not joking. Demons can be born?" She asked.

"Of course. Did you think that our anatomy is just for show? Or do you put all yours on birth control?" Wolfe retorted.

The Sergeant laughed out loud, shaking her head in dismay.

"We execute any Witch vile enough to have summoned a Demonic Familiar, along with the hellspawn. We don't wait around to see what a cursed being's reproductive prowess amounts to."

Cassie frowned. "You know, we have some like that here as well. But the rest of us have realized that the Familiar isn't a direct reflection of the Witch's personality. It is a combination of their desire for power and what is available in the area. 

Here in the forest, we get Fae and forest creatures. In the city, they get mostly rats, rodents and cats, with very few birds, and it is extremely rare to see a Fae Familiar." 

All of the younger Witches looked around the room furtively, and Wolfe could tell that they were up to something, even though they weren't going for their weapons.

"What's so interesting about her words? I showed you the Fae and the animals when we came in, didn't I?" Wolfe asked one of the young Witches, who didn't seem to be any older than Cassie or Ella.

"You did, but you know, we thought they were wild. There hasn't been a Legendary Familiar summoned since the war." The girl explained.

"Then, what did you get as a Familiar?" Wolfe asked.

"We're not taught how to summon ours until after our term of service in the military is over." The girl shrugged.

They were all Rank Two Witches but apparently had no Familiars. That didn't square up with how Wolfe knew a Witch's aura was built at all.

Fortunately, the General decided to enlighten them. 

"Do you not use a mana beast to empower your youngsters?" The old Witch asked.

"I'm not sure I even know what that looks like. We just have them summon a Familiar when they start their training. For those without the curse, it's near puberty, and for those still recovering, it's around age eighteen." Cassie explained.

"So, you got to level three without the help of one of the seven great beasts? That is amazing. Perhaps I should get permission to bring you back with me so that the other Generals could learn of the secrets to advance without the help of the Great Beasts."

Wolfe frowned. "Are you saying that there are only seven beasts in the world that are known to be able to help a Witch advance in Rank, and that is how all of you gained your ranks?"

The General went silent as she realized that she had said too much, but the excited young Witch didn't get the hint.

"Yep. There is one in each capital city. Ours is the Mana Beast, so on our fifteenth birthday, we gather at the Rite of Awakening, and the beast grants us our first Rank. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be granted a Second Rank at the same time are drafted into the military, where we can eventually get a chance to undergo the ceremony again and become a Third Rank Witch."

"The Fourth Rank is all up to you, though. If you can do that, you'll be among the world's elite." Her Sergeant explained.

Wolfe nodded in understanding. "That explains so much. I can see that you all still have the curse active, but it's suppressed by a spell. That must be the Ritual of Awakening that you were mentioning. Even among the Witches that I have seen without the Bloodline Curse, the potential to reach Rank Four is rare. In fact, most would never reach Rank Two in their lifetime without outside assistance."

The General nodded in understanding. "That is how the Great Beasts Blessing works as well. It brings us to the limits of our childhood potential in an instant, and then we have only hard work and our Familiars to pull us forward."

The Witches were beginning to relax now that they realized Wolfe really did just want to talk to them and wasn't going to kill them in public as they had feared.

"You mentioned the Legendary Familiars, which included the Fae. What sort of Familiars do you get most of the time?" Cassie asked while stroking Ember's head.

"Almost everyone gets some sort of mouse or squirrel. Some will get forest monsters, but that's still fairly uncommon. Intelligent magical creatures are what we call the Legendary Familiars. You know, ones that can speak or use some complex magic of their own or the Fae." The talkative young witch explained.

"Oh, so like Ember or Mister Fluffbum." Priya agreed while ignoring the glare she got from her Wind Rabbit for the insulting nickname.

For the first time, the visiting Witches realized that the rabbit was not sitting on her shoulder but floating near it, as the Jackalope moved forward to steal a slice of Carrot Cake with air magic, then retreated to an empty table to eat.

"That is a magical creature. Plus, there are all these Fae, and I see Familiar Bonds on some of them and that strange flaming dog monster. Could it be that the Legendary Familiars all come from this region?" One of the other Sergeants asked.

"Do you have creatures like this on the other Continents? If you do, then they should be among the summons." Wolfe shrugged.

"Are you kidding? The world is full of magic-using monsters. These ones are cute and cuddly compared to most of them." The veteran Sergeant snorted.

"Interesting," Cassie mumbled, wondering what the difference was. If they had so many magical creatures nearby, they should be an option for the Familiar Summoning. At least, that was the common sense that they had learned after doing summoning rituals here.