"Ahem! We should go to sleep," said Alvin, totally trying to run away from the conversation.
Linfel was still curious, though. "Who is she? Why would a student of your academy be out here carrying the investigation about the boat? Is it normal for you guys?"
Alvin was happy that the wisp changed the topic away from his 'intentions.' "Oh, right! Felia, tell them."
Felia glanced at Alvin, not liking to be used as a scapegoat. Yet, he is her master, after all. "Fine... The Magus Academy has a credit system of points. The government, in order to try to make it as fair as possible for all students regardless of background, created it a long time ago. It's called AMC, a simple abbreviation for Academy Magic Currency."
Linfel couldn't help but comment. "I see that you guys truly like to do a lot of abbreviations in this world, no? And their full names are usually very simple."
Felia shook her head. "Actually, it is the opposite. Sure, we used simple names, but that's only when we want to talk about a topic in a general concept. For example, the MCOM is the abbreviation of Magic Communication Device. However, Alvin's MCOM's name is a lot more complicated than that."
Alvin then showed it to the Wisp.
-Tarzis Magical Signal Spectrum Model H2RT0, version 7.845b-
"That's... a very long name indeed..." The Wisp immediately understood why using some simple general names was better. "Let's just keep the MCOM and the others."
Felia then returned to the main topic: "Anyway, the academy's credit system definitely has a bigger name, but let's just ignore it. Everyone just uses the general name AMC, Academy Credit Currency. No point in using anything else. This system is made so that anyone can get access to the various important facilities of the academy. Not only that, but just your time living there will also require AMC, like accommodations and food."
Alvin continued from there. "In my case, I use most of my AMC to acquire resources for my Magus training. Simply put, Medium Grade Yellow Stones. They are definitely much better than the Low-Grade ones. It goes without saying I would use higher-level ones if I had access to them. Unfortunately, I don't make enough to afford training with those types."
Felia took Alvin's MCOM and accessed the Academy's Student Website. There, she navigated until she reached the AMC tasks. "Here is a list of the several tasks you can take to acquire AMC."
Linfel looked through the list and could see countless tasks. There were things very menial, like a simple cleaning, worth a single AMC, to more important things like helping with research, investigations, collection of special items, etc. Naturally, those ones were worth a lot more.
"Hum?" Linfel noticed one thing when going through the list. "Many of these tasks are marked in gray. Why? There are some marked in red, too."
"Look at the stars on their side," Felia asked. Linfel took a look and waited for her to continue. "Each star represents the required level as a Magus or Familiar. For example, the tasks marked with two stars require Level Two Maguses or Familiars. Three Stars, naturally, Level Three Maguses or Familiars so on and so forth."
She then pointed at the red tasks. Some had one and a half stars, while others had two stars. "These marked in red are taking into consideration Master's Level. He can attempt to complete these tasks, but he must be aware they will be much harder at his actual level."
Linfel understood. "I see... that basically means Alvin is too weak."
Alvin's mouth twitched a little. "Alright, I know I'm nothing impressive, but do you need to say it like that?"
Linfel got confused. "Is there a better way to call someone weak? Oh! How about incapable?"
Alvin wanted to cry, not because of the wisp's words but because he knew the wisp wasn't trying to make fun of him. Linfel was totally speaking seriously, which hurt much more. "Just... I'm still growing up."
Linfel finally understood. "Humans prefer to say they are growing up instead of being weak. Noted."
'That wasn't it at all!' Alvin screamed in his mind.
Felia smiled and just continued. "So, the gray tasks refer to tasks my master can not take since he doesn't have the necessary level. For example, look at this task here."
Linfel paid attention to the task Felia pointed out.
-Magus help necessary for the investigation of a Magus related incident in Toval City: Three Stars. Details will be provided on-site. AMC Reward: 2500.-
"What about it?" Linfel asked.
"It's this type of task that probably brought Master's future wife to his house today," Felia explained.
"I see..." Linfel and Lucau nodded together.
Alvin almost coughed out blood. "What the hell?! Since when did she become my future wife?! And why are Father and Linfel just agreeing to that?! Do you fucking know the difference between us?!"
Linfel didn't see the problem there. "It is normal where I came from for everyone to look for the best possible partners to carry on their genes. That girl seemed to have very good genes, which explains your interest in procreating with her. I don't see the problem in there."
"Pro-procreating????!!!!" Alvin's mind wandered a bit.
*Pah!*
Yet, his father slapped the back of his head, returning him to reality. "Stop thinking like that."
Ignoring Lucau and Alvin's antics, Linfel asked something else. "Usually, what kind of tasks do you get?"
"What else? We always take the One Stars Tasks," Felia answered while shrugging her shoulders.
Yet, Linfel saw an issue. "But..." He looked at the One Stars tasks, and pretty much all of them had the word 'taken' on them. Only very few related to menial tasks were available. Not to mention, their payment was really low, something around 10 AMC each. "Is this enough?"
Alvin, who was back to himself, rubbed the back of his head while explaining, "Simply put, I take a lot of those during the month. It is very hard to get access to higher-paying One Star tasks."
Seeing Felia and Alvin's dejected expression, it became obvious there was a reason for that. "Why?"
Yet, Alvin didn't want to talk about it. "You will see when we get to the academy tomorrow. With your ability, it shouldn't be an issue for you to become an independent Familiar, so you will have access to all of these things."
Lucau then looked at the time and patted his son's shoulder. "Alright, jokes aside, it is truly getting very late. You need to take the academy's car tomorrow morning very early, so let's all go to sleep."
Alvin nodded and went to his old room with Felia. Lucau then looked at the wisp, wondering. "Do wisps need to sleep?"
Linfel shook his head. "Not really. However, most races back where I came from also slept. I guess this is an issue for those who have blood and flesh bodies. By the way, I saw Felia retiring to the room with Alvin. Do Familiars need to sleep?"
"I'm not sure, but I believe they need to sleep with their masters. Something about their soul connection making it hard for the masters to sleep if their Familiars are active or whatever. You can ask Alvin and Felia tomorrow," Lucau answered. "Anyway, since you don't need to sleep, just stay in the house and do whatever you want. Just please, don't break anything."
Lucau also retired to his room, leaving Linfel alone. 'Hum... judging by this planet's time, it will be a few hours until they wake up. I guess I'll just focus on understanding this Magic Energy better until there.'
Linfel had just got to use Magic Energy for the first time today, so there were many things he was in doubt about when controlling it. He wanted to take a look at the training methods for humans and familiars, but it seemed like Alvin and Felia couldn't give him that without the academy's authorization.
***
Night gave way to day, and the sun began to appear in the sky. When Alvin first woke, he felt his body quite light, as if he hadn't gotten such a good sleep in ages. His Familiar's core soon activated, having felt it when Alvin got up as well.
They exited the room a few minutes later, catching the sight of the wisp lying on the Living Room's table. Only very feeble waves of Magical Energy came out of his core, looking as if he was once again about to run out of energy.
"Eh?! Linfel, are you okay?" Alvin heard the story from his father, so he got worried for a moment.
However, those waves of Magical Energy immediately increased several times, returning to the normal output as the wisp rose from the table. Soon, his body took the shape of a familiar again before he spoke. "I'm fine. I was just trying to understand this Magical Energy well, and I can concentrate better if I don't have to focus on anything else; that's why I let go of my floating."
"I see..." Alvin sighed in relief. Linfel was his card for Red Magic Energy, after all. Besides... even though the wisp lacked some... a lot of common sense, he quite liked him. "So, did you find anything?"
Linfel nodded. "Yes, I believe I understand what you meant about integrating Magical Energy into one's core. I don't know what methods you use, but I should be able to come up with something on my own if your methods don't work."
Alvin was impressed. "Really? This is no joke, you know? The techniques to increase one's level as a Magus or Familiar are very intricate. Any small mistake might destroy your entire progress, forcing you to start from the beginning again. There are plenty of stories of Maguses and Familiars who lost everything and had to start from zero because they weren't careful enough."
"Is it that serious?" Linfel wasn't expecting that. "It's truly different from my home then. Since there were no levels, there weren't levels to be lost, so it was all about accumulation and nothing more."
Lucau appeared in the room right after, feeling rejuvenated. "Oh, you guys up already?"
Alvin turned to him. "Yes. Father, the academy's car should be here at any minute, so it will probably be some time until I can visit you again."
Lucau just waved his hand. "Yes, I know. It's fine."
*Plin!*
Suddenly, Alvin's MCON called his attention. He took it out and checked, sighing. "And it is already here. They sure are fast."
Everyone made their way out of the house. Lucau and Alvin exchanged a few words and a hug before bidding their farewells. Finally, they got into the car and left. As for Lucau, he simply locked the door and made his way to the insurance company. He had to get a new boat, after all.
In the car, Linfel looked around as they made their way out of that small town. It was just a coastal city without many inhabitants, so it was very simple. Yet, around two hours later, the sight of another city entered Linfel's eyes, shocking him. "Holy shit! How can those buildings be so tall without falling?"
Alvin still didn't forget the academy's car had vigilance inside, so he warned Linfel. "We can talk about it later. Don't forget where we are."
Linfel nodded, still feeling curious.
The academy car didn't leave them at the academy, though. The student could choose to disembark in the city itself as long as they made it to the academy until the end of the day. That said, he left the car with Linfel and Felia in the city center. Only then did they speak without worries.
"So, no tall buildings back where you came from?" Alvin asked.
Linfel shook his head. "Not really, the biggest ones were usually like pyramids, having very big bases to support the higher floors. These buildings, however, far surpass the ones I've seen." He then looked into the distance and saw one particular construction that went all the way to the skies, hiding beyond the clouds. "Truly impressive. What is that one about?"
"Oh, that?" Alvin knew which one. "That's the Space Station. Any visitors from outside first arrive on those, and if we want to leave the planet, we go there as well to take a Spaceship. There are quite a few around our planet."
Back in Linfel's time, there was indeed travel through different planets. However, they weren't as common as Alvin made it look like. Only the most powerful, including his old friend Horan, had the capability to achieve such feats. Thanks to Horan, Linfel had a general understanding of the Universe he came from, so he couldn't help but wonder. 'Am I still in the same Universe? No primordial energy, Space Travel doesn't seem anything that impressive in Alvin's eyes either, and he is what you would consider an average person in this world... perhaps even below it. I need to investigate.'