No Emotions

"Next, Kartufes Diangam," the worker quickly spoke, ignoring the crowd's reaction. That just went to show how he didn't like these shows.

Another MFC took place, and the result quickly appeared.

-Kartufes Diangam: Compatibility, 45%-

This time, however, the man measuring his compatibility was only 16, so no one found it bad. It wasn't anything impressive, either. Alvin was proud of his number 43% number, being a year younger, but it was still only slightly above average. He would probably reach the same number as Kartufes when he measures again next year.

The testers went one by one, and the average numbers continued. Most were well within it, with just two slightly above and one slightly below. 

However...

"Leandro Survel, you go next."

Leandro nodded and patted his Familiar's head. "Little Zuna, let's give it a try."

"Yes, Master!" Zuna seemed to have a very lively personality, different from her master.

Zuna quickly transformed, attaching herself as a tiara on Leandro's forehead. As soon as that happened, their Magic Energy merged, and Leandro circulated his Magic Energy around his body. Alvin and the others looked at that and were surprised. Alvin could see a very thin tinger of Red in Leandro's Magic Energy. Although Leandro wasn't a Level Two Magus yet, it was obvious that he wasn't far from taking that step, and he seemed very young.

-Leandro Survel: Compatibility, 51%-

That was already a very big number, and yet, the thing that caught everyone's attention the most was his age, 14!

*WOW!*

"That's not bad," The man responsible for the test gave a small praise. It was indeed good, but with the sheer number of maguses coming every year, these kinds of good prospects did appear quite often. 

Saimon narrowed his eyes but snorted right after. "Slightly worth paying attention to," he commented.

Leandro had a very calm personality, so he simply closed his eyes and exited the diagram. He simply didn't care about what others thought of him. That wasn't why he was here.

Seeing himself being ignored, Saimon was about to say something when the test worker continued. "Next, Saimon Iyaval."

With his name being called, Saimon could only put the guy behind his mind and get things underway with his own test. "Come, Xatis. Let's show them how it is done."

"Yes, Master," Xatis answered almost as if robotically. 

Linfel couldn't help but feel like Xatis was different from the other Familiars. 'Is there something wrong with that guy's Familiar?' He whispered the question to Alvin.

Alvin sighed in response. 'I might be wrong, but Saimon probably killed his Familiar's emotions during the creation process. Although it is not against the rules, it is kind of taboo. After all, Familiars do have real souls. No one will complain, though. He has the background to do as he pleases. For these families, results are all that matters.'

Linfel's expression turned dark. 'From what he said earlier, he seemed to have another Familiar. Could it be...?'

'I'm not sure,' Alvin explained. 'A Familiar's fate is not up to the academy or anyone else. It is up to the master of the Familiar. If he decided he was better without it, then there is a chance that...' Alvin didn't finish his words.

Linfel nodded. This Magus World wasn't all flowers, it seemed. That reminded him a lot more of the time he came from. 'I understand...'

Alvin tried to light up the mood, though. 'However, don't worry about maguses mistreating their familiars. Compatibility has a lot to do with trust. How can you improve your compatibility with your Familiar if it hates you? Those who don't want to go through such things create Familiars like Saimon's, without any emotions.'

'That's good to know,' Linfel sighed. 'To be honest, killing your Familiar's emotions is pretty much the same as killing the Familiar itself, it seems. I'm a lot more sensitive to Magic than your human race, especially the Familiars, since we are somewhat similar. I can tell it from here. That guy's Familiar... is dead.'

'Dead?' Alvin was taken aback. That Familiar was just changing form at this point, attaching itself to Saimon. 'What do you mean?'

'Oh, don't misunderstand me,' Linfel continued. 'I'm not saying it is some kind of zombie or anything. However... its soul is not what I would consider a living soul. It has no autonomy, no desires, no emotions, no nothing. Simply put, that is a machine, nothing else.'

Alvin looked at Felia in the distance and returned his attention to Linfel. 'I guess I understand what you mean. A machine is indeed very suitable to that Familiar's state.'

Xatis, Saimon's Familiar, changed form into a pair of gloves, attaching itself to Saimon's hand. Red Magic Energy circulated around his body and his hand, creating a much greater pressure in the surroundings than the other testers before. They were indeed a pair of Level Two magus and Familiar. 

-Saimon Iyaval: Compatibility, 57%-

*WOW!*

The crowd lit up again, especially Saimon's followers. 

"As expected of young master Saimon!"

"Level Two Magus, Level Two Familiar, only fifteen years old! Impressive!"

"What are you all talking about? That's normal for young master Saimon."

Yet, Saimon narrowed his eyes, his expression not too good. He looked at the Familiar on his hands. 'Another piece of trash. They assured me at least 60% compatibility. Why did they think I paid so much?' he thought to himself.

Of course, he quickly recovered and smiled at the crowd. "Hahaha! It's just a little bit above average. Nothing worth mentioning." He then looked around, but the guy who got 51% was not there anymore. 'Hmph! Must have run to not feel the humiliation.'

"Next, Alvin Brunes!" The worker quickly called the next one.

'Hm?' Linfel got confused. 'That man who just called us. He doesn't seem very impressed with Saimon's result... Saimon is younger and has a higher compatibility, not to mention level.'

Alvin nodded as he prepared to connect with Linfel. 'I'll explain later. Let's first end this test. Just do the best you can. Don't worry about the low results. It is not why we are here.'

Linfel agreed with him and quickly attached himself to Alvin's backhand. Of course, as Linfel mentioned before, he couldn't change the shape of his core, so Alvin's hand looked to have a sphere glued to it. 'The best I can, the best I can...'

The crowd watched Alvin's Familiar keeping its Core form and found it funny.

"Hahaha! That looks terrible!"

"Don't say that. Some masters prefer to keep their familiar's form."

"That's only when they intend to work individually. Since they are connecting, what's the point in keeping the core form? It would be better to simply change into something more comfortable for his master."

Saimon definitely joined the group of comments. "They are just poor. That familiar is probably defective, but the peasant can't afford to make another one."

"Hahaha!" Everyone laughed, including those who had nothing to do with Saimon. It was indeed a weird Master Familiar Connection.

Linfel ignored it all and focused entirely on Alvin's Soul and Magic Waves, following their frequency as perfectly as possible. He was truly taking it a lot more seriously than when they tried it the first time back in Alvin's home. 

'This...' Alvin almost jumped. The sensation he was having during the connection with Linfel was completely different from before. He felt absolutely no discomfort whatsoever while their energies merged together, be it in his soul or their connection. If anything, it was more like Linfel had been part of Alvin's own body all his life and that merged energy was truly only his.

Yet, it was too late to call it off. The Diagram had already started working, so Alvin could only move his Magic Energy around. The Magic Energy, obviously, was Yellow, reflecting both Alvin and Linfel's levels as Magu and Familiar. It's just that it was now a strong tone of Yellow, different from Alvin's usual Yellow. Of course, that was due to Linfel's cleaned Magic Energy.

Finally, the result came out.

-Alvin Brunes: Compatibility, 99%-