"Wait! D-Did you say Father?" Alvin was definitely shocked. "You mean... senior Lutian?"
"Yes." Milia nodded, still serious.
"The 537 Lutian Frondor, THAT Lutian?" Connor asked this time.
"Yes," Milia confirmed once again.
"The patriarch of the Frondor Family?" Felia also had to be sure.
"I already said yes!" Milia was already losing her patience.
There wasn't a single Familiar or Person in there who wasn't surprised by that revelation. "T-That's unexpected..."
Alvin quickly apologized. "Sorry, Milia. It's just that we truly never heard about it."
Connor quickly followed suit. "Yes, yes! We are talking about the patriarch of the Frondor Family, after all. I hope you can understand."
Milia nodded, not pursuing the topic. She didn't go around telling it to everyone, and it wasn't exactly publicly disclosed. Nonetheless, it wasn't a secret either. These kind of reactions always happened when others found out, so she was already used to it.
Well, there was one single Familiar who wasn't impressed or shocked, though. "According to human biology, males continue to produce sperm up to the day they die. Is it really that shocking this Lutian you talked about got to be Milia's father?" Linfel truly saw nothing strange in there.
Milia looked at Linfel with a slightly gentler expression. At least one of them took it seriously. Well, Linfel was simply thinking logically, as always, casting common sense to the wind.
"Whatever," Milia changed the topic. "You are here to visit the Floating Blades Faction, so let's carry on with it. But first..." milia narrowed her eyes as she looked at Connor and Tratil. "What are these two doing here?"
Connor quickly introduced himself. "Hello, Miss Milia! I'm Connor, Alvin's best friend. I have the duty to report to his father everything that happens to Alvin in the academy, so I have to accompany him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble. You could say I'm his second father as well."
*Pah!*
Alvin slapped Connor's back head. "Like hell you are! Where did you bring this bullshit from? Miss Milia, you can totally kick this guy away if you want. I don't even know why he is still following me."
Milia turned around, moving in the Faction's headquarters direction. "So be it. Just tag along and don't cause trouble." There was a slight smile on her face that she didn't show. These kinds of interactions and weight-free exchanges are truly rare in her circle, so she found it a little funny.
Connor smirked at Alvin, who felt helpless. Nonetheless, their group quickly followed Milia.
The Floating Blades Faction occupied a three-story building a few hundred meters away from the founder's statue. The entrance had its five swords in a half circular manner emblem on the top and the name under it.
Inside, an attendant saw Milia entering the building and quickly came to receive her. "Welcome back, Miss Milia." Your Faction could have your own attendants allocated by the Academy. After all, you needed to keep everything in order. However, the members would have to pay for all the expenses regarding them.
Milia nodded. "Who is around today?"
The attendant took a look at a device he was holding and spoke. "Pamil, Rin, and Natalie."
"Almost everyone, it seems," Milia mentioned.
Linfel was taken aback. Almost everyone? The guy only spoke three names! Alvin and the others thought the same thing, although no one mentioned it aloud.
"Follow me," Milia brought their group through a corridor, finally entering an area with a few platforms on the ground. One of the platforms was occupied, with a woman who seemed in her twenties sitting down with her eyes closed. Linfel and the others could see the Brown Color of Magic Energy around, her showing her status as a Level Three Magus.
Milia stopped with her group in front of the woman's platform, speaking, "Natalie, I've brought him."
The woman opened her eyes and looked at their group. She took out her MCOM and pressed a few options. The platform the deactivated, allowing her to come out. "Oh! We are quite lucky, it seems. To think we would get our fifth member so soon. Welcome, welcome! I'm Natalie, one of the Faction's members."
Right after, her bracelet suddenly changed form, quickly becoming a Familiar that looked more like a humanoid bird. "And I'm Vigrus, Natalie's Familiar, independent! Welcome!"
"Fifth?" Linfel asked. "I thought Factions had a lot of members."
Alvin and the others nodded. They were expecting at least several tens, perhaps a few hundred. That was the usual number of members in a faction.
Natalie smiled, already expecting that question. "That's because we are new. You see, we have just formed this Faction at the start of the last year. Because of that, not many have shown interest compared to the more established and older Factions."
Vigrus quickly jumped in. "Besides, our rules are a little too unorthodox with what kind of members we accept."
"Unorthodox?" Linfel and Alvin were curious.
"Yes," Vigrus nodded. "You see... Our Faction only accepts Maguses with Independent Familiars."
"This..." No one expected such a rule. "That pretty much excludes more than 99% of all students, no?"
Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "Now you see why it is so hard to find members."
Suddenly, a Familiar entered the room, quickly landing on Milia's shoulder. It was Nori, who stayed behind in the Faction when Milia went out to fetch Alvin and Linfel. "Yes, pretty much all Maguses are out of the question. Not that we care about it, mind you."
Linfel looked at the platform Natalie was using and asked. "What are they used for?"
"They are Magic Energy Gathering Devices. They can extract the Magic Energy of Magic Stones much faster while keeping it all within the platform's range," Natalie explained. "It is very convenient."
"And expensive!" Vigrus added.
"Only Factions have those?" Linfel wondered.
"No," Alvin shook his head. "The Academy also has them for the students. It's just that they cost Academy Credits to use."
Natalie patted his shoulder. "Well, here, you don't need to pay anything. They are free to use. Aren't you happy you joined us? Hahaha!"
Milia decided to continue with the tour. "Anyway, let's go to the next place."