More Than His Name

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.