They arrived inside one of the buildings, and the groups were separated according to age. Rank was disregarded in this separation. Alvin, Linfel, and Felia, obviously, were kept in the same group. Once the separating was finished, one of the members of the Sky Island came forward to explain the training.
"I'm Joflal, the Magus in charge of your exam this time around." he then pointed to the back. "Come forward and take one of the receptors above the counters. They will absorb your Magic Energy gradually, even if you don't don't use it at all. The training is simple. Keep absorbing the Magic Energy from the surroundings to replenish your reserves so that the receptor doesn't run dry. The longer you last, the higher your score."
Alvin quickly understood the test. Every time he trained with Linfel at night, his and Felia's cores would grow saturated due to the Magic Energy Integration. This training was basically very similar. They would need to constantly absorb Magic Energy, and their core would eventually saturate again. The trick was to balance the absorption from the surroundings to counter the absorption of the receptors.
Most of the maguses and familiars present seemed to grasp the training concept quite easily. It was, in fact, a rather straightforward exercise. However, Alvin and the others sensed there was more to come. The Private who led them here had hinted at a twist in this training, and they were all eagerly awaiting it.
As expected, the Joflal had more to reveal. "Ordinarily, you would remain here, pushing your endurance until you could no longer continue. But that would be too predictable, wouldn't it? The Academy has similar endurance devices for maguses and familiars to train, so why would you come here for such a thing? This time, however, we have a different plan for you all."
"This time, you will all go down to the ground and join the patrol teams. The reason why the borders between our Heffal Country and Volztain are located in this place is basically due to the lack of Magic Energy. It makes it difficult to build settlements, and over the years, this became the separation between the two countries."
"Your patrol route will go through the Magic Beast Forest in this land, where the Magic Beasts adapted to the low amount of Magic Energy. So, not only do you have to keep the receptors full all the time, but you also have to deal with the dangers of the place. Who knows? You might even have to deal with Maguses or Familiars of the Volztain Country."
"Don't worry, though. There is no failure condition. Even if you run out of Magic Energy and your receptor becomes dry, you won't be taken out of the exam. You can take your time to recover your Magic Energy and, once you are done, refill the receptors again. It's just that the time the receptors aren't full with Magic Energy will be discounted from your overall score."
"Last but not least, the point system is very easy to understand. Every minute you keep the receptor full of Magic Energy, you gain one point. For every minute it is not, you lose one point. Simple, right?"
Alvin took one of the receptors and immediately felt his Magic Energy being drained from his core. The speed at which it happened was much faster than the speed he could absorb Magic Energy from the surroundings.
"Can we use Magic Stones to replenish ourselves?" Someone suddenly asked.
"What would be the point of an endurance test if you had access to Magic Stones? Are you an idiot?" The Magus asked with a dark expression. "Does anyone have a relevant question?"
"How long will the test take," Linfel was the one to ask this time.
"Eight hours," Joflal answered. "Simply put, you can gain at most 480 points by the end of the exam."
"Wouldn't that make it hard to decide who did better than others?" Pamil asked from within the Level Three Maguses and Familiars Group.
However, Joflal snorted. "What, do you think a lot of you will get full scores? Hahahaha! Ridiculous! I'll be very impressed if anyone here can reach 200 points at all. Your receptors were prepared having your Levels as Maguses and Familiars considered. Trust me, none of you will be able to keep it full for eight hours straight."
Pamil was surprised to hear that and took one of the receptors. Immediately, a bitter smile appeared on his face. The amount of Magic Energy that thing was taking away from him was definitely no joke. '200 points? I'm afraid I can't get even one hundred...' He thought for a moment.
Linfel took one of the receptors made for familiar, strapping it around his core. Just like the Familiars, his Magic Energy began to get absorbed. And yet, he was more interested in how the receptor worked than the result itself. 'These runes... they truly can absorb a lot of Magic Energy. Perhaps I can use them somehow.'
"Alright," Joflal finished his explanation. "You can go back to the airships. They will land you near the start of your patrol routes. It goes without saying that the higher your level as Maguses or Familiars, the harsher will be the environment you will be left in. Do your best... and try to not die. It is annoying to fill the reports of dead bodies and dealing with idiot parents."
The various groups were quickly sent back to the airships. The only reason they were even required to enter the Sky Island was basically an advertisement. The army wanted to appeal their power so that some of the students would consider joining them in the future. Unless the country was really at war, a Magus wasn't obligated to join the army.
Linfel landed with Alvin and Felia a few minutes later on the east side of the border. All the maguses and familiars of similar age, independent of their rank, were also left in the same place.
"So you are here," a soldier approached the group, followed by another four companions using the same country army uniform. "I'm Tarert, your leader for this excursion. With my companions here, we will be your guides in the terrain ahead. Make sure you stay close. If you find yourself lost, just use your MCOMs to ask for help. Just be aware you won't be able to continue the exam from there onwards, and your results will be computed. Now, let's go."