Chapter 20: That's My Brother!

Linfel's group arrived at a different building. There, you could see way more Familiars than Maguses, showing its real purpose. The Maguses there were only accompanying their Familiars. Nonetheless, the building was made with the Maguses' sizes in mind, so Alvin and Connor had no issues entering with Linfel and Felia.

"Master!" It was then that a Familiar with two small wings came to Connor's side.

"Oh, Tratil. And here I was wondering where you went. Sure enough, you were here again," Connor smiled as he talked to his Familiar.

"Is it normal for Familiars to spend time here?" Linfel asked.

Felia was the one to answer that. "Pretty much. The academy is, after all, made for Maguses. You won't find many places specific for Familiars, especially since they usually spend most of their time by their Masters' sides. When Familiars want to talk to each other, they usually come here to the Familiar's house. This is also the place where you can apply for classes as a Familiar."

Linfel nodded, understanding. Their group quickly arrived near a counter where a Familiar was taking notes.

"Well, you don't need me to talk for you anymore, Linfel. Just go ahead and see what you want to do," Alvin mentioned as he stayed behind.

Linfel nodded and talked to the Familiar there. "Hi, I'm a new Familiar in the academy. I would like to apply for some Familiar Classes."

The Familiar looked at Linfel and pressed a few options on the monitor in front of it. The other monitor, in front of Linfel, immediately showed a list of the several types of classes he could take, mostly practical related. "Go ahead and select the ones you are interested in. Familiars are special, so the academy only provides two classes for free for us. If you want to take more than two at once, you will need to pay Academy Credits."

Linfel nodded and looked through the list. Immediately, the first one got his attention.

-Introduction to Magic Energy Integration and the several Methods surrounding it.-

Without thinking twice, Linfel selected that one.

Next, he went through the list, and there were many practical classes related to magic control, magic density, magic power, etc. Yet, there were pretty much no theoretical ones. 'Well, although there were very few theoretical, I'm already pretty good at them from what I saw in the Familiar Test. I might as well take a practical one.'

However, it was then that a specific one got his attention.

-Magical Diagrams, Runes, and their Functions. Basic Practical and Theoretical Level-

Linfel immediately remembered the many diagrams he had seen so far. They were very different from the Primordial Runes used by his friend in the past, especially since he was taught a lot regarding them. Yet, the Diagrams were very different, so he wanted to learn more, and now the opportunity appeared. 'So there are runes in the Magical World too, uh? However, they seem to be different from the Runes I used in the past, and they are built into the Diagram Arrays themselves. Interesting...'

Linfel didn't have a single Academy Credit to his name, so he obviously could only select two classes. By selecting the Magical Diagrams Class, he reached his quota.

The Familiar behind the counter checked the options Linfel selected. The Magical Diagrams were understandable. They were not included in the Familiar's knowledge when their souls took form, so quite a few Familiars selected this class out of curiosity. However...

"Hum? Introduction to Magic Energy Integration? Why would you take this? It was supposed to be within the knowledge of your AI before you were made into a soul," the Familiar asked, curious. "Be aware that once you select this, there is no way back. Other types of classes will cost you."

Linfel shook his head. By now, he already understood the excuses Alvin had been saying. "My creation process was a little messed up, so I'm lacking a lot of knowledge. I need to learn magic Energy Integration from scratch. Well, since this class is available, it means the academy expected such situations to happen, right?"

The Familiar had to admit Linfel's words made sense. "I guess you are right. Very well." he quickly added those two classes to Linfel's name. "Alright, you can use your MCOM to check where you need to go for these classes. They happen on the first day of the week, so don't get late."

"The first day?" Linfel narrowed his eyes. "But the day is almost over. Do I have to wait until next week to take them?"

"Not really. If you pay the necessary Academy Credits, you can take them at any time," the Familiar explained. "However, you have to pay again every time you want to take it outside of class day."

Linfel sighed. He didn't have any academy credits, but he had a whole week to go after them. "Very well, thank you."

Linfel returned to Alvin and the others. "Alright, got everything over with. What now?"

Alvin checked the time. There was still over an hour before he had to meet Milia on the west side, after all. "How about the Missions?"

"You talking about the tasks you mentioned in your father's house?" Linfel asked back.

"Yes," Alvin continued. "The academy provides a lot of them, and their completion rewards Academy Credits. I can't provide for you forever, so you will need to take some on your own. You might as well take a look now. We just need to go to the Missions Hall."

Linfel didn't have any better plans. "Seems like a good idea."

Alvin turned his attention to Connor. "What about you? It is not like you need to follow me everywhere, you know?"

Connor smiled as he put his arm around Alvin's shoulder. "Aren't we friends? Do I need a reason to hand around?"

Tratil, Connor's Familiar, scoffed. "Hmph! Master, you just heard they will meet with that famous Milia Frondor later, so you want to use the opportunity to talk to her too. That's something you could only dream of before. You are just using Alvin."

Connor's smile increased even more. "Exactly. Alvin is very easy to use- Ahem! I mean, very useful."

*Pof!*

*Ouch!*

Alvin hit Connor with his elbow, forcing him away. "At least try to be more subtle, will you? ...Well, it is not like I don't understand the feeling, though."

"That's my brother for you!" Connor laughed it out.

---

Mission Hall, Tasks Building, Academy Requests, this place had many names, but it all meant the same thing. Here, Maguses of all levels and Familiars could take the several missions released by the academy. Of course, as long as they were within their level.

Inside, there were pretty much no attendants. Instead, you could find hundreds of open terminals, and you could use your Magic Energy Signature to assign an available mission to your name. However, this was Linfel's had never been here, so he was obligated to go through an attendant first. Alvin, of course, stayed slightly behind and let Linfel do everything.

"Hi, sir. I'm a new Familiar and would like to take a mission," Linfel quickly asked the attendant.

The attendant had a snooze expression, obviously not having much to do here since the terminals were always used. "Oh! Hi, hi... Please use the receptor by the Monitor so I can take your Magic Energy Signature." Linfel did as asked, and his information quickly appeared on the monitor.

Only then did the attendant continue. "Indeed, this is your first time, so I need to give a quick explanation of the rules. First, you can only take tasks up to a single level above yours, but the best is to take those at your level to make sure you complete them."

"Be aware that if you take a task higher than your level and you fail to complete it, the academy will penalize you with Academy Credits equivalent to three times the value of the task reward. That's to prevent everyone from just trying their luck instead of having real confidence. If you don't have any Academy Credits at that moment, your balance will go negative until you gain enough to cover what you owe."

"There are also penalties for tasks at your level that you fail, but their penalties are just the value of the task reward alone. They are obviously a lot easier for you to complete."

"You can not take more than one task at once. If you try, the system will warn you that you already have one. You must complete it, report its failure or that you gave up. Only then you can take a new one. If you fail three in a roll, the system will block you out, and you won't be able to take a new for for a period of seven days."

Linfel nodded. It was very simple and efficient. "Is there a bonus for tasks of higher level completed?"

"Yes," The attendant nodded. "You will gain a 25% bonus for tasks half a star higher than your level and 50% for tasks one star higher. Tasks at your level will be marked in green; those half a star higher are marked in yellow, and those one star higher are marked in red. The tasks marked in gray as tasks beyond your level as a Familiar, so you can't take them."

Linfel memorized everything. "I understand. Is there anything else I should pay attention to?"

"Their time limit," the attendant pointed out on the monitor. "They all have to be completed within a certain period. Otherwise, they will be automatically marked as failures, and the penalty will be directly debited from your Academy Credits balance."

"One more thing," the attendant grew serious. "It's absolutely prohibited other stronger Maguses to complete your tasks for you. If it is found out that you received such help, not only will your task be marked as a failure, the penalty is ten times the reward value. You will also be blocked from accepting new tasks for three months straight."

"That's quite harsh," Linfel couldn't help but comment.

The attendant agreed with him. "It definitely is. But then again, it will only happen if you break the rules, so it shouldn't be a problem if you are an upright Familiar. Anyway, that's pretty much it. Can I add you to the task system?"

"Yes, please." Linfel nodded.

"Andddd... it's done," the attendant concluded with a smile. "You can use your MCOM to check the progress of tasks you took. However, to report their completion or failure, you must come here. Once again, be aware of the completion time limit."

Linfel then saw a new option added to his ID information on the monitor before he closed it down and returned to Alvin. "They are quite through with their methods."

"That they are," Alvin couldn't agree more. "We need to get you an MCOM later. For now, try to take a look at the available missions on the terminals. You will soon understand the problem I mentioned back at my father's home."

Alvin mentioned in the past that even though the tasks were there for everyone to take, he always only had the most trivial ones available. But instead of explaining why, he said Linfel would understand once he saw it at the academy.

Linfel didn't waste time and hopped to a Terminal before directing some of his Magic Energy into the Receptor so it could read his magic Energy Signature. Immediately, the same list of tasks opened to him again. He used a filter and wiped out all the gray tasks from the list, leaving only the ones he could accept.

However, he soon noticed a problem. Pretty much all tasks available for him to take were simple menial labors like cleaning, carrying things, and even cooking. The tasks that gave higher rewards, which truly used a Familiar or Magus' power, were all taken. "So... is it about competition? Those who are faster take them?"

"It would be fine if it was the case," Connor was the one to talk. "We could simply stay here in the Mission Hall and wait for the tasks to appear and try to snatch it straight away. Unfortunately, that's not the case."

"What's the problem then?" Linfel asked, confused.

Felia approached his monitor and touched the 'details' button on the screen. Immediately, a set of rules appeared on the tasks.

One specific rule was quite eye-catching on all of them.

-Mission priority to Higher Ranked Student Classes.-

"This..." Immediately, Linfel understood. As Rank F students and Familiars, it would be a miracle if a mission that paid well was ever available for them.