Another Route

Less than a minute later, Milia caught up to Linfel's group, much to their surprise. 

"Milia, why did you come? Aren't you ashamed of following these Rank F Class Students?" Donfin asked with a sarcastic smile.

Milia glanced at him and pointed at Alvin. "He is part of my Faction, so I can't just ignore his presence now that he came this far into the test. I was expecting him to have given up by the fourth or fifth flag at most."

Alvin's hand nervously rubbed the back of his head. In truth, he hadn't expected to make it this far. But now, standing beside Milia, he couldn't admit that. "M-Milia, I... I'm grateful for your support. Thank you for being here with us."

Milia nodded, while Nori found it funny. Milia was just curious about how they got this far. Alvin wasn't really the reason for her to come at all. "Don't mention it."

Donfin and Miranda looked at each other but understood there was nothing they could do. They would rather still be the only ones following Linfel, after all.

Linfel, on the other hand, just ignored them all and focused on the flow of Magic Energy. Several other paths appeared in front of the group, and it was always him to determine which one to take. With that, Milia didn't take long to understand everyone was just following Linfel.

"How does he know where to go?" Milia asked Alvin and Connor on the side.

"Magic Sensibility," Connor quickly answered before Alvin could. He also wanted to appear to Milia. "Linfel seems to have a very high sensibility to Magic Energy, so he can feel the Magic Energy flow in this Canyon. That's how we got to this place so fast, even though this place is considered a maze."

Milia looked at Alvin and Linfel. The more she knew them, the more suspicious they looked in her eyes. "You truly made a very interesting Familiar, didn't you?"

Alvin tried to change the topic straight away. "What about you, Milia? Did you have someone like Linfel in your group? You were just thirty or so minutes behind us, you know?"

"Oh-ho!" Milia faintly smiled. "So you guys got that far thirty minutes before our group, uh? Linfel seems even more interesting now. I truly wonder what kind of weird parameters you used in him."

Alvin wanted to kill himself right there and then.

Still, Milia answered his question. "The reason we got there that fast was because of Rirano. I don't know how he did it, but he seemed to have acquired privileged information regarding the exam ahead of time. It is not against the rules, but the field exams' information is usually very well-kept. All I can tell is that it was definitely not cheap."

Alvin and the others found it unfair, but there was nothing they could do. "Well, it seems like Rirano's information isn't as good as Linfel's Magic Energy Sensibility. You were still behind us and would continue to be so if we didn't have to fight the Rock Breakers," said Donfin.

Milia took that chance to ask. "Donfin, we have spared a few times during the classes and other situations. I believe I know your strength quite well. It is not that I'm looking down on you, but I don't see how you and Miranda would be able to defeat two Level Two Rock Breakers on your own."

Donfin shook his head, though. "Miranda and I only got one of the Rock Breakers. The one one was defeated by Alvin and Connor."

Milia was taken aback, looking at Alvin and Connor as well as their Familiars. "Is he telling the truth?"

Connor quickly spoke. "We were lucky. The Rock breaker just left an opening, and we took advantage of it. I believe it didn't feel threatened by us and ended up opening its mouth too early."

Milia then looked at Alvin, who avoided her gaze. "Yes, it was luck, nothing more than that."

Linfel changed direction once again. "Through here."

Everyone's attention went back to him. They were in a relatively open space and stretched quite far. There were no other passages there other than going forward. Yet, Linfel changed direction and went to the wall. "Here where?"

Linfel's Magic Energy circulated as Fire and Wind Gathered. A fireball quickly took form, which he used to attack the wall.

*Boom!*

It wasn't an impressive attack or anything. However, it caused the wall to crumble, revealing a dark cave behind it. "This..." They truly hadn't noticed its presence at all.

Linfel entered with an excited expression. "The Magic Energy Flow is much stronger inside this cave. It is probably connected to much deeper into the Dark Canyons."

Linfel was right. Until now, no one could feel any difference in the Magic Energy in the surroundings. Yet, the flow here was so much stronger that even they could tell the difference, albeit barely. For Linfel, however, it was the difference between day and night.

Donfin quickly took out a circular device from his bag and threw it in the air. The device floated ahead of them, illuminating the path. Without wasting time, they all went deeper.

Back on the airship, the room of dead corpses was already gone. At the moment, only Xalafel and his two subordinates were watching the entire exam. Naturally, Xalafel was more interested in Alvin's group. As for the rest of the groups, the entire exam was being recorded. Excluding the recordings of Alvin's display of a double connection, everything could be checked later by other teachers and instructors.

"Where are the images?" Xalafel asked with a dark expression. "Dilwe, get it fixed."

Dilwe shook his head in response. "It is impossible, Principal. They have entered a route that has no surveillance."

"No surveillance?" Xalafel narrowed his eyes. "How can there be a route without surveillance? What were the organizers doing that they missed that one?"

Dilwe sighed. "Unfortunately, we will have to wait until they come out in one of the watched regions."

Xalafel laid back on his chair and nodded. "Fine. Just make sure whoever missed that gets fired later."