Rules

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.