Chapter 48: Endurance
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."
---
Among the group, there were around 200 Maguses, all between the ages of 14 to 16, including Alvin. This was just one of the many groups for this age range, with others dispatched to different locations. Naturally, there were also groups of different ages sent to even more distant places.
Alvin looked around, trying to see if he was lucky enough to be put together with Milia. But, to his sadness, she was nowhere to be seen. 'Well, I haven't seen her since the start of the exam anyway. Perhaps she isn't even taking part in this one.'
"Alvin!" Yet, there was someone he knew there.
Alvin looked behind, and his disappointment only increased. "Oh... it's just Connor..."
Connor's mouth twitched. "What the hell do you mean it is 'just' me? Are you mocking me?" However, he quickly looked around and understood. "Right, Milia isn't here. Then I have no use for you. Good luck."
*Bang!*
Alvin immediately kicked Connor's back. "Fuck you! I'm not here to be your excuse to talk to Milia."
Connor rubbed his back as he laughed. "Hahaha! I'm joking, I'm joking." He turned back and put his arm around Alvin's shoulder. "So, how about we go together?"
Alvin nodded. "You are not Milia, but I guess you will do."
Linfel and Felia joined Tratil and shrugged. Even Linfel had already understood those two's friendship.
Tarert ahead prepared his things and put them in a backpack. "Alright, follow me. The region we are going through is called the Gosisbin Forest Mountain Range. It has many elevations, and physical preparation is a must. Just one thing. I'm not stopping for any of you. Anything that happens on the way, you will have to deal with it on your own. Now, let's go."
And so... the guy began to run!
Everyone was taken aback for a second but quickly followed. They are Maguses and Familiars. It would be ridiculous if they couldn't run for a while... or so they thought.
Thirty minutes later...
*Gasp, gasp, gasp...*
Everyone was already gasping for air, with some on the verge of collapsing. Normally, such a jog wouldn't tire them. They could simply circulate their Magic Energy and continue for hours. However...
Alvin, who was just as tired, looked at his Receptor. It was still full of Magic Energy. However, it constantly disappeared, so he was forced to inject more and more. By now, he couldn't spare his Magic Energy for his running anymore. Otherwise, the receptor would go dry, and the point score would stop. No, instead, it would start going down.
He glanced behind him and saw that Felia didn't look much better. The ethereal energy of her humanoid form was pretty much gone. She looked more like a simple core floating while following Alvin. The same could be said for Tratil, Connor's Familiar. He was just as dry.
However, Alvin's mouth twitched a little when he looked at Connor. "You fucker! You are using your Magic Energy to run."
"Hahaha!" Connor nodded. "I get tired easily, so I can only do that." He then showed his receptor, which was now completely dry. "Too bad I'm losing points." Yes, Connor already gave up. No, he gave up in the very first minute!
"How do you expect to pass the exam this way?" Alvin narrowed his eyes. Connor might be lazy, but he definitely wasn't an idiot.
Yet, it was Linfel who answered. "You are betting the Receptor Score can't go lower than zero, right?"
Connor's eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded. "Linfel, you are truly a smart Familiar."
Linfel smiled, looking at Alvin, Tratil, and Felia's confusion. "It is a gamble. Can the score go negative? No one asked. If the minimal score you can have is zero, then Connor might be in for a not-too-bad result. He absolutely won't be anywhere near the best students in this exam, but he won't be at the bottom either."
"I see..." Alvin knew where Linfel was coming from. "He will keep his Magic Energy Reserves until the very end, and in the last hour or so, he will finally fill the Receptor. When the exam time is over, he will have a good result, even if it is far from the top."
Connor nodded. "Am I or Am I not a genius? Hahaha!"
Linfel shrugged. "That we don't know. As I said, no one knows if the Scores can go negative. I find it hard to believe the Academy would leave such a simple flaw behind in this exam. But then again, if such a thing wasn't possible, they would have told us in advance. You might say the Academy wants to see who can think out of the box with this method. So... a Gamble. It might work, it might not."
Alvin continued to run and gasp as he looked at his Receptor. "I guess I will-"
"Obviously, you will follow the intended routine," Linfel immediately stopped Alvin's words. "What would Milia think if she heard you decided to take such a lazy path. I can already picture the disappointment on her face. Truly regretful..."
Alvin's mouth twitched. "Don't you ever get tired of blackmailing people?"
"Nope!" Linfel answered without a care.
It was then that he pointed at Linfel. "Fuck you! Look at your body! You are still brimming with Magic Energy! You are doing the exact same thing as Connor!"
Felia, Connor, and Trail all agreed. It didn't seem like Linfel was using any Magic Energy at all.
"Don't put me in the same category as Connor, alright? Look!" Linfel quickly took the receptor strapped to his core and showed his group. There, a Receptor full of Magic Energy could be seen.
"This..." They looked at that and then at Linfel. "How can you still be so full of energy?"
"It's all about Absorbing and Injecting Magic Energy into the Receptor, right? I'm more confused about why you guys can't do such a simple task," Linfel shrugged his shoulder as he strapped the receptor back to his core.
"Alvin," Connor looked over. "Just what the hell did you do to create this freak?"
Alvin bitterly smiled. He felt like he had heard this question more times than his own name by now.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Suiyan
Suiyan Come on, he is a wisp, a being of pure energy. Obviously, such a thing is easy! However, Alvin will soon find out his situation was quite different. :P
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone