Try Both

"Red Color..." Lucau remembered something. "Isn't Red Magic Energy the next level after yellow?"

Felia nodded. "Yes, old master. This is truly unbelievable."

"Definitely!" Alvin agreed.

Yet, Linfel was puzzled. "Can someone explain?"

By now, even Alvin thought the Wisp wasn't from their planet. Nonetheless, he decided to explain. "Linfel, Magic Energy is graded through their quality and color in this world. The higher the level, the different the color."

Felia continued from there. "The Colors are Yellow, Red, Brown, Green, Blue, Purple, and White. Each color has its own sublevels as well. You can determine them by the intensity of that color. For example, the Magic Stones you used were the worst ones you can find. They are Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones, and they obviously have Low-Grade Yellow Magic Energy inside. Then you have Medium-Grade and High-Grade Yellow Magic Stones."

Alvin nodded. "Once their quality increases, they change color, obviously Red in this case. This Magical Energy you showed us is pale red, which means it is a Low-Grade Red Magic Energy. You would need Low-Grade Red Magic Stones to get access to it."

Lucau remembered it. "You brought one of these stones home two years ago, didn't you? I remember you were all smug about it, like a kid who just got a new toy to play with. You even went to take a bath with that thing."

"Father!" Alvin's face immediately turned red. "Can you just forget that dark past of mine, please?!"

"This Red Magical Energy can even change the color of your faces, so weird," said Linfel, genuinely impressed.

"Hahaha!" Lucau couldn't help but laugh. "Trust me, the red color on my son's face has nothing to do with Magic Energy. He's just embarrassed."

"Enough of me!" Alvin intervened and tried to compose himself. "Ahem! Anyway, Red Magic Stones are indeed very expensive. I got one when I joined the academy and I was... let's say a little bit too happy back then. The higher the level of magic Stone, the easier it is to absorb. Above all, they can create a better foundation for your Magus Power for the exact same reason you mentioned. They have a lot less impurities."

Linfel pondered a bit and reabsorbed the Magic Energy back into his core. "Give me a second." He processed that energy even further before releasing it back into the middle of the room. This time, the Pale Red transformed into a normal red. "When it comes to refinement of energy, this is the absolute limit of my capability. Keep in mind that around 99% of the Magic Energy was lost to get this little bit."

Alvin was even more impressed. "Medium-Grade Red Magic Energy! You can make this level of Magic Energy with those useless Low-Grade Yellow ones. Unbelievable!"

Felia got confused, though. "Wait, didn't you mention a moment ago the Pale-Red was your limit? Were you lying?"

Linfel shook his head. "No, what I said was that my core could only hold that amount of energy inside. I was talking about the Yellow Magic Energy. As you can see through the color of my body, I'm using this Low-Grade Yellow Magic Energy at this very moment to keep myself alive."

Alvin understood. "I see... In that regard, you are definitely just like any other Familiar out there. My Felia here also uses Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones as her source of power. Of course, she could also absorb the Magic Energy present in the environment, but that would take a few hours every day to replenish her body. It is not worth the trouble, so it is better to simply use the Magic Stones instead."

"The same goes for me," Linfel was happy to see the similarities. "I can also absorb the energy of the environment now that I know what Magic Energy is. It's just that there is truly too little of it, so I would rather use Magic Stones as well. Can you tell me more about Familiars?"

"Felia can tell you more. In exchange, you can tell us more about you as well," said Alvin.

"Yes, master." Felia then began to explain.

It turned out that Familiars were created through the use of artificial intelligence, so they could already speak and control Magic Energy normally from the moment they were born. That was definitely different from Wisps. Wisps were born from Heaven and Earth, and if they weren't hunted down straight away, they would go through the same learning process as any other intelligent race kid. 

However, although they were very weak in the past, they still had high intelligence and learning capabilities. By the time Linfel was five years old, he already had the mind of an adult. Linfel even commented that he was only eight at the moment, which truly didn't look to be the case when compared to an eight-year-old human kid.

He just... lacked some common sense...

Felia then explained that Familiars also had several different levels, just like Magic Stones. The higher their level, the different their body colors. The highest level Familar she met in the academy was a Green one, which would be equivalent to a Level Four Magus. Judging by Felia's color, she was definitely a Level One Familiar. 

Linfel was still curious about what a Magus is, but he decided to ask it later and hear more about the Familiars first.

"How does a Familiar increase its level?" Linfel asked.

"That part is pretty much the same as us humans," Alvin explained. "Just like Familiars, Maguses have their own Cores in their bodies. It's just that a Magus Core only manifests itself around the age of ten while a Familiar is born with it. Anyway, to increase our level, we need to absorb Magic Energy and slowly integrate it with our cores. It is a hard process, and the quality of Magic Energy greatly determines the speed. For someone like me and Felia, it will probably take over ten years before we manage to reach Level Two."

Linfel focused on the Magic Energy in his body. "Integrate with the Core..." Although the Magic Energy was there, it wasn't merged with his Core. "How do you do that?"

"Well... that's where I can't be certain," Alvin sighed. "You are not a human or a Familiar, so I'm not sure if our methods would work for you. After all, you are not an artificial life, but you are not a flesh-and-blood living being either."

Linfel nodded. "I guess I will just have to try both."