章 40: Who Knows?

Once the class was over, Linfel made his way out with Sinia, the new Familiar who watched Lokasto's teaching. "Well, that was at least educating, I guess?" Linfel commented.

Sinia quickly nodded. "Yes, the third method, the one that uses the filled channels in a reversal cycle, seems to be the most appropriate for me. My channels happen to be just in the right positions to do it."

Linfel smiled in response. He couldn't tell how it was, good or bad, since he didn't have channels. Nonetheless, he was happy for her. "That's great. From what he said, the third method is one of the most difficult exactly because of how the structure of the channels has to be. Your Master was very lucky that you took your form with such good Magic Energy channels."

Sinia smiled shyly and nodded. "T-Thank you... What about you, Linfel? Which method is the best for your channels?"

Linfel was taken aback for a moment before thinking about it. "Guess the fifth one is the best." He just picked a random one from the various methods displayed in the class. He couldn't use any of them anyway.

"Channel Magic Energy Expansion..." Sinia remembered that one. "Instead of compressing, you expand and force the Magic Energy through the walls of the core. That is also quite complicated. Do you have a good resistance?"

"I guess I do..." Linfel answered cheaply. He couldn't even tell if his core was more resistant than the cores of real Familiars. "Well then, you need to work hard, and so will I. I hope we both reach Level Two soon. Now, I have something to do, so I'll take my leave."

Sinia wanted to talk a little more but was too shy to ask. She just watched as Linfel left the building and took one of the transportations of the Academy. 'Sigh... so that is the Familiar my Master tried to copy when he created me.'

After Linfel got the 71% Master Familiar Connection result with Alvin, he ended up talking about how Linfel didn't have the normal knowledge that all Familiars were born with. Many took it as one of the parameters that helped Alvin create such a good Familiar and decided to give it a try. Especially those with enough Academy Credits to create a new one since Familiars are expensive. Sinia was one of such Familiars that was born due to Linfel's existence.

In the end, she turned in another direction and left, returning to her Master instead. One thing was to follow the lack of knowledge to create her; another thing was to give her independence. Maguses who allow their Familiars to go independent are just too rare. Well, Sinia was too young, so she probably wouldn't be able to pass the test anyway.

Linfel knew nothing regarding that. On his way to the Academy Market, he checked his MCOM inside his Spatial Inventory. He went through the several stores that sold what he was looking for. However, it was pretty meaningless. The prices practiced in the Academy were really standard.

'All shops sell Low-Grade Red Magic Stones for 500 Academy Credits each, no exception. I guess I can simply stop by the closest one and get them,' Linfel thought. '2000 Academy Credits for a Middle-Grade Red Magic Stone. This is a little ridiculous already... Let's just ignore it.'

Other than trying to Level Up, Linfel had something else he wanted to check. He can clean Yellow Magic Energy to the point it becomes Red Magic Energy. But what about Red Magic Energy? Can he clean it up to the point it becomes brown? It was definitely worth a try. At the very least, Linfel wanted to try to clean Low-Grade Red Magic Energy to the point it became High-Grade instead.

Linfel arrived in the market and quickly entered the first shop he found with Magic Stones. He didn't waste time with the attendant pleasantries and asked for Low-Grade Red Magic Stones, much for the attendant's happiness. After all, they were worth a lot, more even than MCOMs.

"How many would you like, sir?" The attendant asked with a smile.

Linfel checked his Academy Credits and nodded. "Give me eight of them." At the moment, he has 4220 Academy Credits. he had 4120 after the Field Exam, but let's not forget he is working every night as a Stars Magic Energy Receptor for Aelua. He can easily separate the Magic Energy there, so he is receiving 100 Academy Credits per night. Since he also doesn't need to sleep, he definitely didn't forget to go there the previous night, either.

The attendant was ecstatic and quickly brought Linfel to the terminal. After using his Magic Energy Signature, Linfel transferred 4000 Academy Credits to the shop. Naturally, he received eight Low-Grade Red Magic Stones right after in a sealed box.

"Please keep the box closed so that the magic Stones won't lose their energy," the attendant warned. "The higher the level of Magic Stone, the more sensitive they are. Only open and take one when you truly decide to use it."

"Alright." Linfel thanked the assistant and left the shop. There was no need to be afraid of having his magic Stones stolen. Inside the academy, that would be tantamount to self-destruction, regardless of your background.

Well, the boxes were very distinct, and Linfel couldn't show he had a Spatial Inventory there, so they still caught some jealous eyes from low-raked students.

On the transportation, Linfel checked the time and saw the sun was already going down. 'Seems like I spent a lot of time in the Magic Energy integration class. Oh well, let's go back to Alvin and Felia and help them with Magic Energy.'

Back in Alvin's room, Alvin and Felia were already back. Alvin looked like a ghost, much to Linfel's confusion. "Are you feeling pain somewhere?"

Alvin's mouth twitched. "Yes, pain in my soul after having to deal with the entire class who looked at me like I was some kind of lost genius of the world."

"Hahaha!" Linfel luahged in response. "That's fine, that's fine. It might be a lie now, but who knows in the future?"

Felia, on the other hand, seemed busy looking at Alvin's MCOM. Her expression didn't look too good. "Master, Linfel, check this out."

The two looked at her and quickly approached the MCOM. Displayed there was a piece of news.

-Thirteen Maguses died in an Airship Explosion during the last Field Exam. According to the reports, the Airship's core malfunctioned and overcharged. The Academy is expressing its support to the families and will give full compensation for the accident.-

The piece of news continued with some more information, but that didn't matter to Linfel's group. "Last Field Exam... Does this have anything to do with us?" Alvin couldn't help but wonder.

Linfel shrugged. "Who knows? Are you going to ask Xalafel about it?"

Felia and Alvin immediately shook their heads, as Linfel expected, so he continued. "See? The point is, we didn't do it, nor did we have any control over it. So, don't even think about some bullshit like blaming yourself or whatever. Now, let's start."

Alvin's sigh was heavy with the weight of his thoughts, which he promptly pushed to the back of his mind. He reached for a container, anticipation flickering in his eyes as he opened it. Inside, a treasure trove of almost 1200 Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones awaited him.

"You've truly outdone yourself, haven't you?" Linfel couldn't help but marvel at the sight before him.

Alvin's chest swelled with pride, a triumphant smile playing on his lips. "All that peril we braved in the Field Exam was not in vain. I invested all my Academy Credits in these little gems. Now, I'm broke again. Hahaha!"

Linfel's smile was tinged with anticipation. "With this stash, we can power through four consecutive days of Magic Energy Integration. Since your classes are only once a week, the remaining days can be dedicated to Missions, earning more Academy Credits. Most likely, you'll have just enough Magic Energy to train until the next Field Exam at the end of the week."

Alvin was taken aback. For a moment, he had forgotten. Linfel used around 300 Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones per day, cleaning them all for Alvin and Felia to use. Each one of these was worth three Academy Credits, so his almost 1200 cost him everything he had. And yet... he will be left with nothing by the end of the week. "Red Magic Energy is truly good... but hell, it does cost a lot!"

Felia tried to cheer him up. "Master, look on the positive side. One day of Magic Energy Integration with Linfel is equivalent to a whole week without him. We have five days until the next field exam, so it will be similar to working for five weeks straight. How many Maguses out there can do such a thing? Probably only those rich students like Milia can afford to train with real Red Magic Stones nonstop."

Alvin's mood immediately improved. "Right! That is definitely worth it. Besides, being a Rank C Student will make it much easier to get higher-paying Tasks in the Missions Hall."

"Oh! Don't forget we are going into the next Field Exam as well," Linfel added.

As fast as Alvin's mood improved, it collapsed. "A-Another Field Exam?" He still hasn't forgotten how he almost died last time, and that was his first time only.

Linfel nodded, excited. "Of course! How the hell do do you expect us to keep up with our expenditure of Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones? Even with all the bonuses, you only got enough for four days, and you will need to make up for the fifth day with missions on top of that. Field Exams give a lot of Academy Credits, so we are obviously taking them all! Besides, you need the scores of the exams to go up in the ranks and get access to even better missions, classes, and training facilities."

"I know that! I truly do..." Alvin sighed. "But it still makes me nervous."

"If you have time to feel nervous, then let's use it for training. Come on, let's use Master Familiar Connection," said Linfel. He still wanted to check his own Red Magic Stones.

Alvin nodded and sat on his bed. Felia connected to him first, and Linfel followed by matching their Soul Waves Frequency. Their Magic Energy Merged, allowing Linfel to transfer his Magic Energy to them. Yellow Magic Stones began to disappear one after another, creating Low-Grade Red Magic Energy that Alvin and Felia used to integrate into their Cores.

Time passed, and three hours later, Alvin and Felia's core felt saturated once again. As for the Yellow Magic Stone, Linfel used 283 of them this time. "Good work, you two. Your Cores need rest, so we will stop it here."

Alvin canceled his connection with both Linfel and Felia before collapsing on the bed. "It feels great, no doubt. Still, it is tiring as hell."

"Master, I'm deactivating so you can sleep," said Felia.

However, Alvin sat on the bed again and looked at the boxes Linfel brought, curious. "Are those..." Naturally, Felia paid attention as well.

Linfel smiled. "Yeap, you said you got one of those back when you joined the academy, right? These are Low-Grade Red Magic Stones. I spent almost all my Academy Credits on those."

Linfel didn't waste time and opened one of the boxes. "Let's give it a try."

The Magic Energy inside the Magic Stone immediately began to rush into Linfel's Core. At the same time, he used his Core to further clean the Red Magic Energy. "It's... different."

Alvin and Felia looked at each other and back at Linfel. "Different? Different how?"

"The Magic Energy. It's different from the Red Magic Energy I'm producing. My own is created through the process of cleaning. This one, although much cleaner than the Yellow Magic Energy from the Low-Grade Magic Stones, is still many times more impure than the one I create," said Linfel, paying attention as he absorbed it.

"I see..." He quickly found the reason. "In theory, it shouldn't be Red Magic Energy. Yet, is has been compressed so much that it makes up for the impurities inside, giving its red color. For the other Maguses in the Academy, these are truly good things. Have fewer impurities than Yellow Magic Stones and a much higher concentration of Magic Energy, not to mention it is Red Magic Energy. They are definitely worth their price. No, in my opinion, the Academy is doing the Maguses here a great favor by selling them for only 500 Academy Credits."

He continued. "However, compared to the Low-Grade Red Magic Energy that I clean up, this stone is truly lacking. Still too many impurities, so it is not as efficient as using my cleaning ability."

Alvin was surprised to hear that. "Does it mean it is not worth using Red Magic Stones at all? Should we continue with Yellow Magic Stones forever?"

"Of course not!" Linfel quickly shook his head. "All I have to do is to clean the impurities, and the Red Magic Energy inside should reach a much higher level. They are great for us, too! As long as I clean them, of course."

Without wasting time, Linfel threw himself at the task. The Red Magic Energy quickly entered his core and passed through the cleaning process. However, Linfel didn't absorb all the Magic Energy in the Magic Stone. He only took half of it before putting the Magic Stone back inside the special box. "It is truly hard to store Red Magic Energy. My level is too low. Nonetheless..."

A moment later, he let out the now clean Red Magic Energy... and there was a lot of it. The reason he could even store this amount was exactly because of how compressed it was, which was even better. Above all, it had a very dense red, a mark of High-Grade Red Magic Energy! "High-Grade Red Magic Energy. That is my limit. If I want to make Brown Magic Energy, it is possible, but I will need to become a Level Two Familiar first... or a wisp, in my case."

Alvin and Felia were still impressed. "What will you do with this Energy?"

Linfel looked at him. "It's time for me to try this Magic Energy Integration thing."