Milia ignored Linfel and glanced to the side. There, she saw the very quiet, trying-to-look invisible Saimon. He had already given up that fight and wanted nothing more than to run away. Sure, his Iyaval Family was influential, but it couldn't be compared to Milia's Frondor Family. His father stressed time and time again to make sure to not cause trouble for them.
"H-Hi, Lady Milia. You look as beautiful as always. Can I help you?" Of course, Saimon was still angry when she called him trash, but he was experienced in these high-level family interactions. He didn't show it on his face at all.
Milia approached him with her arms crossed. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? A Level Two Magus and a Level Two Familiar from a big family like the Iyavals challenging a nobody Level One Magus from the countryside. Well, I have to admit even I feel like giving them a lesson now, but people like us should know when to not sully our names."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Saimon nodded vigorously. "It was a mistake on my part. I had paid a lot for my new Familiar, but it didn't live up to my expectations. It was truly a terrible idea to try to relieve my frustration this way. As you said, he is not worth our time."
Milia nodded, satisfied. "It is good that you understand. Now scram!"
"Yes, yes! I'm leaving now." Saimon quickly nodded and left with his subordinates. The smile on his face then disappeared as his expression turned dark. This was even more humiliating than if he hadn't said anything. He then glanced back, looking at Alvin and Linfel from the corner of his eyes. Everything was their fault. "Let's go back to the dormitory," he said and left.
Milia then looked at the rest of the people around the room. "The show is over. You can all go back to your own things."
No one retorted, and they quickly dispersed. There wasn't really a reason to ask the reason for Milia to be there. Not only did she have an academy mission regarding the events that occurred to Alvin's father, but his sudden display of Master Familiar Compatibility should be more than enough for someone like her to come out. If anything, a few other families and organizations should come out as well anytime soon. After all, Alvin seemed to be a great prospect for the future. They all would definitely try to recruit him.
Alvin sighed in relief now that everything was over. "Sorry for all of this, Lady Milia. From now on, just pretend Linfel doesn't exist."
Linfel's mouth twitched. "Isn't it a little too rude?"
"You have no right to complain," Felia quickly cut in. "The less you talk, the better."
Milia was still somewhat angry, but she had good control over her emotions. "Forget that. To be honest, I didn't think I would find you here. I had just returned to the academy this morning and was passing through the gate when I got a message. Someone had achieved a compatibility of 71% even though he was only 15. I just so happen to be the first one. It shouldn't take long for other factions to come after you either, so I could be said to be lucky to be close by when it happened."
The leader of her bodyguards quickly intervened. "Lady Milia, this boy seems like trouble. We should just ignore him."
"Enough, Raphael." Milia stopped him. "I know you are just trying to protect me, but I'm not that weak. We shouldn't let our emotions get in the way of our duties. Naturally, I can't ignore such a big prospect."
Raphael nodded, satisfied. "Well said, Lady Milia. It was my mistake." Still, his murderous gaze was still focused on Alvin.
Alvin tried to ignore that and looked back at Milia. "Ahem... So, what is this all about?"
Milai quickly began to explain. "Do you know about the academy's student factions?"
Alvin nodded. "They are gatherings that work together to get better resources or things like that, right?"
The Academy gave the students a lot of freedom. One of them was to allow them to create factions within the academy itself. There were even missions that were given to entire factions at once, which you couldn't acquire as an unaffiliated student. They also enjoyed better treatment. For example, the academy allocated space for the factions to settle where they could use high-level equipment in their training. The best part was that using these resources within the factions' grounds was a lot cheaper or even totally free of cost. Joining a faction was a dream for pretty much any Magus Student.
Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to join the factions. It wasn't like you could simply go to the administration office and say you created a faction to get the benefits. There were requirements, and most of them were monetary. In the end, even if the power from outside didn't have much influence in the academy itself, their wealth still made a big difference.
These factions then would only recruit members they thought were worth sharing their resources. Alvin always wanted to enter a faction, and he applied for many of them, but even though he had a slightly above-average Master Familiar Connection, just that wasn't enough. All his other fields were as average as they could be, perhaps even lower. For example, his Magus Training made clear it would take him at least another ten years to reach Level Two, which was very bad in their eyes. He simply wasn't worth nurturing.
In the end, the only way someone with such a low background could join a faction was to at least show a very high-level of talent in some field, any field. Master Familiar Connection was one such field, so Milia was contacted to make him an offer, thus the actual situation.
"It is good that you know," Milia nodded, feeling like Saimon was truly an idiot. He was even closer to Alvin when he revealed his Master Familiar Connection. Yet, he tried to cause trouble to Alvin instead of trying to recruit him. She can already imagine the leader of Saimon's faction asking for Saimon's head later.
"So, what do you think? My faction is called the Floating Blades. Are you willing to join the Floating Blades Faction?" Milia asked seriously.
"This..." Normally, Alvin wouldn't have thought twice to accept such an offer. However, accepting it now was a lot riskier than before. Alvin had the wisp, and the fact he was being recruited because of him might reveal things that shouldn't be.
But then again, he was still a man. How could he just refuse the goddess offer? It's just that before he talked, Felia intervened. "Sorry, Miss Milia. We have already registered for the next test, so can you wait a little? We need to bring Linfel to the Familiars' Test."
"Hum?" Milia got confused. "That would turn him into an independent Familiar. Are you truly doing that?"
Well, it wasn't about whether they did it or not. Linfel wasn't really connected to Alvin in any way. That said, he was already independent. It's just that they wanted to make it official to not attract too much attention... although the wisp seemed to be a beacon of trouble himself.
"I am," Alvin nodded, happy that Felia bought him some time to think. "I would also have done the same for my little Felia here, but she doesn't really want it. I ask if she changed her mind year after year, but she is adamant about it."
"I don't, indeed," Felia nodded. "I want to continue to serve Master. Besides, if I leave you alone, you will probably starve to death."
Alvin looked away after hearing that. "I don't know what you are talking about."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind Milia. "Milia, this guy isn't all that bad in the end." Right after, a dense red Familiar appeared. Not only that, there were a few tinges of Brown already starting to take form on its body. It was obvious this was a Level Two Familiar, and it was very close to becoming a Level Three one.
Milia looked behind and patted the Familiar's head. "You rascal. Where have you gone while I needed you, Nori?"
Alvin had seen that Familiar near Milia before. Even though they are in different and far away classes due to the difference in talent, he knew that Nori was Milia's Familiar. It was present in her ID on the academy's website, after all.
Nori smiled while putting his hands on the back of his head. "What are you talking about? As soon as I heard you returned to the academy I came to find you. If anything, I arrived quite fast."
"Yes, yes, sure." Milia shrugged her shoulders. "This is my Familiar, Nori."
"Hello!" Nori quickly approached Alvin, analyzing him from head to toe. Following that, he checked both Felia and Linfel, stopping at Linfel with a puzzled expression. "You... look somewhat different."
"Believe me," Milia sighed. "He is anything but normal."
Linfel wasn't very happy. "That doesn't feel like a compliment."
"Because it isn't," Alvin and Felia added. "But you totally deserve it."
Nori noticed that a lot must have happened, so he decided to leave it aside. "Well, a compatibility level of 71% at the age of 15 is truly amazing. Even Milia and I only have 75%, and she is the same age as you. Well, according to the rest of your information, everything else is pretty average. Nonetheless, I will say you are a good Master."
Her Master Familiar Connection being 75% wasn't a surprise to no one. It was also available on the academy's website, after all. It was only one more reason for everyone to look so high up to her.
Alvin, Felia, and Linfel looked at Milia, puzzled. "What's up with him?"
Milia then explained. "Nori is also an independent Familiar. He is free to go anywhere and do whatever he likes. Of course, he continues to stay by my side. We have been together ever since I became a Magus. I trust him enough to give him his freedom, so he is happy to find a master like Alvin who also trusts his Familiar this much."
"I see..." Alvin and the others nodded. They didn't expect Milia's Familiar was also independent. Nori was obviously an amazing Familiar on his own. The fact he is almost a Level Three Familiar was proof enough of it. Above all, giving a Familiar its independence meant he could simply leave Milia anytime he wanted. There weren't many Masters out there who went that far. "That's a stark contrast to Saimon's relationship with his Familiar."
"Hmph!" Nori got angry. "A trash that kills his Familiar's emotions is not worth mentioning."
Felia quickly turned to Alvin. "Master, we need to go. Otherwise, we will have to wait until tomorrow for Linfel to get his test since it only happens in the first part of the morning."
"Right, right!" Alvin quickly agreed. "Lady Milia, would you mind waiting? I will take this time to think a little."
Milia nodded. "I also have to tell you about the Magic Beast that attacked your Father's boat as we agreed yesterday. The results came out, but it isn't anything urgent. I'll be waiting on the exit."
Milia and Nori turned around and left, followed by Milia's several bodyguards. However, the bodyguards left the academy after that. This was as far as they could follow her. No one who wasn't a student or worked there was allowed to stay inside the academy grounds without permission.
Linfel's group, obviously, went to the next building. Quite a few eyes focused on them, which made it obvious that the news about the incident in the MFC test was already spreading. Pretty much anything involving the top talents of the academy in all grades would always be the center of attention. Milia was just one of such talents.
In the building, Alvin presented Linfel forward. "He is here to take the Familiar test."
The worker there showed the form. "Just fill out the system form on the monitor and add magus signature at the end. Be aware that if he passes, he will be an independent Familiar, so you will have no power over him anymore."
Alvin quickly completed the form, signing it at the end, "Yes, I'm aware."
"Magus signature?" Linfel asked Alvin, curious.
Alvin then pointed to a small sphere with many diagrams floating inside be the monitor. "There is no such thing as two identical Magic Signature. That will serve as proof that I agreed with the terms and it wasn't someone else who did it."
"I see..." Linfel nodded.
The worker then pointed to a door on the back where two more masters and familiars were waiting. Compared to the Master Familiar Connection test, this place had very few maguses to the point it only had a single attendant, which they just talked to. "Seems like we came at a good time."
"It is always like this," Alvin shook his head in response. "Did you forget what we said? Maguses who decide to let their Familiars go free are rare. I'm quite surprised there are two others here today since it is usually empty."
Linfel truly couldn't understand. "With the trust between master and familiar being so important for the Master Familiar Connection, it is weird that more of them don't give their Familiars such an option. Wouldn't it strengthen their bonds instead? Sure that would help them get a higher compatibility."
Felia agreed with him. "That's true. Master and I managed to go from a slightly below-average compatibility to a slightly above-average one, which is already a very good result in just three years. That's because my master truly trusted me and allowed me to go free anytime I wanted. However..."
Alvin continued from there. "When you become a magus and join the academy, you are allowed the creation of one single familiar for free. Obviously, my one turned out to be Felia. However, the process of creating a Familiar is very, very expensive. Unless you absolutely need a new Familiar or have a lot of money, you won't make a new one lightly."
"So, that's where you can tell if a real trust exists between you and your Familiar," Felia added. "After all, if you allow a Familiar to go independent, what if it decides to leave you after passing the test? You will be lacking its help until you can make a new one or offer than previous one enough compensation for it to help you. But then again, if you need to offer compensation, was there really a trust between you two? In the end, it is complicated. That's why those from wealthy families like Saimon's sometimes chose to simply kill the Familiars' Emotions during their creation so that they don't need to worry about such things as trust."
Alvin sighed. "99% of maguses don't have rich backgrounds, so paying for a new familiar is pretty much out of the question before they accumulate enough Academy Magic Credits. If they want to pay Universal Currency, it is even harder. They can't afford to lose their own Familiar by allowing it to go independent. So... pretty much no maguses, especially when they just started their studies, think about allowing their Familiars to take the test."
Linfel smiled in response. "And yet, you keep telling Felia every year if she wants to take the test or not."
Felia quickly hugged Alvin's head with her small body. "I don't need to be independent to trust him completely. That's because Alvin is a good boy."
Alvin glanced at her. "Am I some kind of dog now?"
"A very troublesome one, I might add," Felia nodded.
After that, they joined the two other maguses, who were having a talk while they waited for the test time.
"Oh, hey!" One of them waved to Alvin and his Familiars. "That's truly rare. To have three of us at the same time. I'm Romario, and this is my buddy, Calisbin." He said as he pointed to his Familiar.
The other one was a female magus. "I'm Julia, and my friend here is Danil." She also introduced herself and her Familiar.
Danil and Calisbin also approched Linfel and Felia. "Are you two taking the test, too?"
Felia shook her head. "My master told me to take the test many times, but I don't need it. The only one taking the test is him, Linfel. By the way, I'm Felia."
Linfel waved to the two. "Hey there. It is good to see your masters also trust you enough for this test."
Julia was only thirteen years old, two years younger than Alvin. As for Romario, he was a year older, being sixteen. The three of them have never talked to each other, which is normal in an academy of this size and number. Nonetheless, they clicked together pretty fast, and so did their Familiars.
Suddenly, the door opened, and another worker called them. "Alright, the test is ready. You can come in to watch as it is pretty simple."
Everyone nodded, and they quickly entered the room. Inside, several intricate diagrams connected to many other circuits and monitors could be seen on the back.
"So, who wants to go first?" The worker asked. There wasn't really a need for an order as there weren't many who took this test anyway.
"Julia, you were here first, so just let your Familiar go first in case you need to leave sooner," said Romario, not minding to wait.
Linfel also nodded. "I don't really mind about the time either."
"Danil, then you can take your test," Julia accepted the offer.
"Yes, Julia." Danil quickly stepped forward, entering the range of the diagrams.
The worker saw that and began to explain. "Alright, all you need is an average score of 50 or higher to pass. The first test is Magic Density. Regardless of the Familiar's Level, Magic Density varies between them. The higher the density, the higher the Familiar's quality and overall prospect. Just stay still and let your Magic Energy flow normally. The diagram will do the rest."
Daniel quickly followed the orders, letting his Magic Energy circulate as he always does.
Meanwhile, Linfel asked Alvin out of curiosity. "Why is there a need for a test to gain independence? Couldn't you simply let your Familiar go?"
Alvin shook his head. "Think about Familiars as if they were the Maguses' Children. In our world, parents can't simply let go of their kids for them to fare for themselves, now can they? It's against the law. They need to provide for their children until they grow enough to take care of themselves. It is the same thing for Familiars that want to go indenpendet. They must show through these tests that they could fare for themselves once they end their Master Familiar relationship officially."
Linfel thought about the place he came from. Back then, such things had little meaning. If the parents wanted to abandon their kid, usually because of lack of talent or because the mothers and fathers didn't want to have children to start with, no one would bat an eye. "This is truly a different world..."