Alvin woke up the next day feeling refreshed. However, the happenings of the previous day quickly appeared in his head. Linfel was already gone for some reason, so he had no choice but to get up and prepare to leave as well.
Alvin and Felia made their way through the Academy, passing by the Rank F Classes and not stopping. Quite a few eyes there looked at him, their curiosity and admiration evident, having seen the rankings of the previous Field Exam. Alvin was within the top ten, so that obviously caught a lot of attention.
He went past the many buildings. Rank E Classes, Rank D Classes... Finally, he stopped in front of the complex where Rank C Classes were given. Alvin took a deep breath, entering one of the buildings. Using his MCOM, he checked which class he was supposed to go, quickly finding his number.
-Rank C, Class C-25, Block 15-
Unsurprisingly, the students in the building were taken aback by Alvin's unexpected presence. They were well into the academic year, and new students were a rarity. His arrival could only mean one thing-he had either fallen from a higher rank or ascended from a lower one.
"Isn't this the guy from the Field Exam from yesterday?" Someone asked on the side.
"Let me check my MCOM... Yeap, it's him." said another voice in the corridors.
"Wait, that doesn't make sense. He was only a Rank F. Even if he finished in the top ten, he was supposed to go up to Rank E Classes and start from zero like everyone else."
"Did you forget? There are some exceptions that can be made based on the performance during the Ranks. It's just that they are very rare."
"Indeed. His information on the Academy's website says yesterday's Field Exam was his first attempt at it."
"So... he was hiding his real strength until now?"
"That can only be it. You know the rules and how strict the Academy is regarding them. They make no exceptions, regardless of one's background."
"Why would he lose his time in Rank F Classes then?"
"Who knows? The fact is that he definitely wasn't a Rank F Student."
Alvin kept hearing this kind of conversation right and left. No one really cared about hiding their voices since they were all Rank C Students as well. Maguses and Familiars must not be afraid of competition. That was the rule of the Academy.
'Must be a Rank C Student... I wonder how disappointed they would feel if they knew the truth,' Alvin couldn't help but wonder. All that chatter only increased the pressure on his shoulders.
"Master, here we are," Felia called Alvin as she pointed at a plaque above a door.
-Class C-25-
Alvin was just about to open the door when a voice echoed from inside.
"He was truly brave! He didn't want to give up the Field Exam after going that far, and we have a very high Master Familiar Connection. He took his chances at that moment and said with determination: Linfel, a Magus has to stand up for what he believes. Running now in the face of danger will only make me run again in the future. You are an independent Familiar, so the choice is yours. Will you follow me and confront this Rock Breaker for the sake of our future?"
*WoW!!!*
"And how did you manage to defeat a Rock Breaker? You two are only Level One Magus and Familiars, right?" Someone else asked.
"That's where Alvin's ingenuity came into play. He studies a lot to make up for his low level. He knew the Rock Breaker from the moment he put his eyes on it. The Rock Breaker immediately tried to use an area attack that would have killed us otherwise. However, Alvin said that this attack also creates an opportunity."
"As long as we use all our Magic Energy in a single point, trying to nullify just a very small area of the attack, we can counterattack the Rock Breaker's breath. And that's exactly what happened. Our attack, fuelled with all our Magic Energy, only created a small gap of a meter or so, but it went straight for the Rock Breaker's mouth. The Magic Beast was big and had a high defense. However, its insides are still vulnerable like any other creature. That one attack, which was timed perfectly, entered the Rock Breaker's mouth and rampaged inside. In the end, it couldn't resist the injuries and fell."
"You had to see it! Alvin was like a god of war, courage incarnated. I'm truly blessed to have a master like him!"
"Impressive!"
"Why would someone like him be in Rank F Classes until now?"
"I definitely want to have a spar with him! Introduce him to us later!"
Outside the door, Alvin's mouth twitched nonstop. Since when was he that courageous? Since when was he that ingenious? Study a lot? He did have some good knowledge, but definitely not that impressive.
*Zuuuu!*
Alvin opened the door, looking at the crowd gathered around a certain Wisp. The Wisp seemed to be having the time of his life, entertaining all the Maguses and their Familiars around. Naturally, all eyes turned to the 'Super' Alvin.
Linfel quickly approached, happy to see Alvin. "Alvin, look! They are all your new Class Mates. They are great people, too! Everyone, this is my Master, Alvin."
Alvin wanted to cry already. Before anyone could ask him anything, he spoke first. "Ahem... Everyone, would you give me a second, please?"
Right after, he pulled Linfel to a corner and began to curse. 'What the hell are you doing? Why are you creating such a big storm around me?'
Linfel patted Alvin's shoulders. 'There is no other choice. You are new and weak. If you tried to hide, things would only turn worse over time. After all, you jumped many ranks at once. There are definitely those who feel bitter about your promotion. So, as your friend, I decided to prepare the field for you in advance. There is no need to thank me.'
Alvin wanted nothing more than to give the wisp a beating, that is. 'Now everyone is paying attention to me, idiot! What if they found out about our secret?'
Linfel's words carried a heavy truth, his expression reflecting the weight of his past. 'Alvin, a life spent in hiding is a life half-lived. Trust me. As a wisp, I've had to hide a lot, even with Horan's backing. This is not a path you'd like to choose.'
Alvin was a little touched by how grave Linfel looked and ended up sighing in the end. 'Fine... At least you are good at coming up with stories. Just keep doing it fro-'
"Oh! Look at the time! Anyway, Alvin, give your own accounts of what happened to your classmates. Everyone, if you have anything to ask, this is the best time. I have my own Familiar Class to take, so I bid you all farewell!" Linfel quickly floated through the window, disappearing in the distance.
The rest of the class was only waiting for that opportunity. They all gathered around Alvin, much to his despair. 'I'm truly starting to regret bringing him to the academy.'
Linfel was also promoted to a Rank C Familiar, so he didn't need to go too far. There was one thing Linfel still didn't know how to do. That was how to increase his Level. So far, he still hasn't managed to integrate Magic Energy into his core. That was the Class he applied for when he joined the Academy was related to this topic.
Familiars would usually stay with their Masters, so very few of them took classes on their own, especially since they were all born with most of the necessary knowledge. When Linfel arrived at the building where he was supposed to take the class, it was almost empty except for a Familiar working as an attendant there.
"Hello! I scheduled a class for Magic Energy Integration and the basics last week. This is the right place, right?" Linfel quickly asked in high spirits.
The familiar looked at him and nodded. "That's the one indeed. Let me see here. Put your Magic Energy in the receptor so I can check your Magic Signature."
Linfel quickly did as such, and soon, a lot of information regarding him appeared for the Familiar. "Ah, yes. Your class is in Room 7B, down that corridor. There is another Familiar who will take the Class with you, so try to get along."
"Naturally!" Linfel left straight away, going down the corridor and passing by the rooms.
The 7B one appeared not long after, and Linfel entered it. Inside, there was already another Familiar, also with Yellow Color, showing it was a Level One. "Hey, nice to meet you! I'm Linfel."
The other Familiar was surprised that someone else appeared. Nonetheless, it also saluted back. "H-Hi... I'm Siana, born just a few days ago."
"Oh!" Linfel hadn't met a completely new Familiar yet. "Are you doing well? I wasn't expecting any Familiars in his place since this topic is already added to your knowledge during a Familiar's creation. Are you like me, a Familiar without knowledge?"
Siana nodded slightly. "My Master created me like this as a test. So I will have to learn everything from scratch."
"Just like mine, then," Linfel added. Of course, he was lying. It's just that that was the story he and Alvin have been using. "Sheer up! This is a good thing. You will avoid the Knowledge Curse. Although you will lag behind during the first years of your life, you will have a better prospect later. Of course, only you put in the effort, that is."
Suddenly, another door in the room opened, and another Familiar appeared. The Magic Energy that gave form to his ethereal humanoid form was brown, the mark of a Level Three Familiar. "Hum? There are two today? I was already surprised to get one at all."
Still, the Familiar continued. "Anyway, you can call me Lokasto. This is an introduction to Magic Energy integration. I will first explain how it works, and then we will delve into the several methods used by the Familiars out there. Pay attention since this is deeply related to how fast you can Level Up in the future."
During the next few hours, Lokasto went through the basics of Magic Energy integration. Turns out that the Integration the Familiars did was a lot more different from what Maguses do than Linfel expected. Once a Familiar Absorbs Magic Energy, it is stored in its core. However, if you wanted to Integrate the Magic Energy into the Core itself, you couldn't store it.
Instead, you had to accumulate the Magic Energy in the channels that led to the storage part of the Core. From there, the Magic Energy would slowly sip into the Core itself, increasing its level little by little. Naturally, the higher the quality of Magic Energy, the faster that integration happens. It's just that the limit was the same as the Maguses.
One couldn't integrate Magic Energy that was more than one level above the Familiar itself. In Felia's Case, for example, the most she could use was Red Magic Energy. Brown Magic Energy, which you could call Level Three Magic Energy, would be useless to her.
Lokasto presented Linfel and Siana with a few different methods that used basically the same principle. Ultimately, one would still need to fill their channels with Magic Energy.
That... caused a big problem for Linfel. He doesn't have any channels to speak of! The Magic Energy he absorbs goes through his core as if it were falling into a lake and falling to the bottom where the pool is. It literally passes through his core without having to go through any channels whatsoever. It was also through this process that he cleaned the Magic Energy for his own use. His Core was the filter.
However, that class wasn't completely useless to Linfel. That's because he had an idea after hearing about the overall process. 'Hum... I can't fill my channels since I don't have channels to start with. Yet, I'm my core, and my core is me. What if I fill my soul instead? My soul is spread through the core; they are one and the same.'
Such an idea would have been considered ridiculous back in Linfel's time. After all, primordial energy was too chaotic and dangerous. If you didn't die straight away, you would definitely damage your soul at the very least. 'But...' Linfel continued that train of thought, 'Magic Energy is extremely gentle and easy to use. This is the only way I can think of to integrate Magic Energy into my Core. I can only give it a try later.'