He Never Was

Linfel's group continued to move fast. This time, however, Nayala changed route, deciding that the shortest path wasn't secure anymore. "At first, I thought the Volztain Country Forces would take a more cautious approach. That's why we were making our way back through the fastest route. However, it is pretty obvious that we are going all in now. We need to avoid the path that most airships will take."

Suddenly, the forest they were traveling in began to grow sparse, giving way to an open valley in the middle of the mountains. "This is the Sairater Corridor, which isn't exactly easy to pass but will also make it hard for most airships to fly close to the ground. It is terrible for any foot soldiers to go through and make you quite an easy target if others ambush you from above."

Connor swallowed with difficulty. "Wouldn't that make us easy targets as well?"

Linfel quite liked the plan, though. "She is right. Suppose Volztain is truly attacking with everything they have. In that case, they need to move fast, and staying on the fastest route would only attract more attention from all the airships that will be passing above us."

Nayala glanced at Linfel and immediately began to descend the valley. Vegetation wasn't as prominent anymore, and they soon saw themselves walking near a river that ran the Sairater Corridor. Even worse, it was indeed hard to move through that terrain.

Fortunately, Nayala seemed to know the area and guided Alvin and the others through the terrain without much difficulty. The only problem was that they had been on the move since the start of the day, so they were quite tired by now, especially Alvin, Connor, and Kafril.

Now and then, they would hear some explosion sounds coming from the distance, and the valley definitely helped with the echos. For Nayala, that was a good sign, though. If there were battles happening far away, no one would come to the valley to check things up anytime soon.

"The sun is almost gone..." Linfel couldn't help but comment.

Sure enough, Nayala and the others looked up and could see that it was quite dark.

"That's good, right?" Kafril grew a little less tense. "It will be harder to find us while we move in the dark. We just need to continue."

"Out of the question," Nayala immediately refused, though. Although she had been guiding them through the valley, her primary objective wasn't to bring them all the way at once. She was heading towards a cave she knew. "We are all with little Magic Energy remaining and tired. If we force our way into the dark in our condition, chances are we will be forced to stop at some point before making our way back."

Finally, she saw the cave, quite a small one hidden near the river. "There we go. We will rest there for now. It should be fine for the next few hours."

Alvin and the others had their doubts. Still, none of them would risk leaving Nayala's side at this moment. 

*Grum...*

Alvin touched his belly, smiling bitterly. "Sorry, I'm quite hungry."

"I'm surprised you can think about food at all," Connor felt helpless.

Nayala was a lot more experienced, so the events on the way here were already on the back of her head. "The fact you can feel hungry is a sign you are getting used to the situation. I'll try to catch some fis-"

*Plac, plac, plac, plac, plac, plac...*

Suddenly, a certain familiar approached them. No one saw when he had left. But that didn't matter. What mattered the most was the tens of fishes floating around him, all alive and struggling, trying to get free. "I thought you guys would be hungry by now anyway. And... guess what? I just happen to be very good at attracting fish." It was Linfel... once again.

Alvin's mouth twitched for a moment as Felia felt helpless. They obviously know how good Linfel was with fish... perhaps too good.

"I say, Alvin, this Familiar of yours is just too good..." Nayala spoke as her doubts increased. She started to think that Alvin was from some extremely powerful background to get in his hands such a Familiar.

Nonetheless, they all entered the cave before Nayala started a fire. They could use their magic Energy for fire, but even Nayala had too little of it now. It was a lot easier to use the old method. Well, she still used her Magic Energy as a fire starter, though.

Since they had some time, she also decided to ask Linfel. "So, how did you do that? How did you manage to control the guy and shoot their squad leader?"

"Control? I did no such thing," Linfel shook his head, though. How could he really say he controlled someone? That would work as a clue that he can simply use Master Familiar Connection with anyone. "Instead, I just played a small trick with his senses. Also, it was like I said, it only lasted a second or so. If his friends hadn't shot him straight away, he would have woken up and stopped. It only worked because he wasn't a magus as well."

"A trick on his senses?" Nayala narrowed her eyes. "Are you adept at illusion magic?"

"You could say so..." Linfel didn't try to correct her either.

Nayala had her doubts since she had seen illusion magic before. Very few Maguses and Familiars used it, but she had the opportunity to experience such experts as a means of training. From what she saw, it didn't seem like Linfel had truly used it. But then again, controlling another person, even if he wasn't a magus, didn't seem very realistic. "You could say so, uh? Then let's leave at it. If we survive, I'll give you a commendation for your help. We did survive because of you, after all."

Alvin used his Magic Energy to talk to Linfel. 'Was that really the case?'

'Nope,' Linfel didn't need to lie to Alvin, though. 'It was basically the same method I used to control your body when we used MFC. It is very hard when the target doesn't comply, you know?'

'You can truly control others?' Alvin was obviously surprised. 'No, forget it. I already don't doubt anything coming from you anymore.'

They quickly devoured the fish Linfel brought and satiated their hunger. "Alright, the MCOMs seem to not be working still. We can't move in the dark like we are now, but we can do so once we recover our Magic Energy. We will stay here for the next six hours and leave before the sunrise. Try to sleep if you can."

"Who will watch while we rest?" Kafril asked, concerned.

Nayala was just about to say she was going to stay up before Linfel jumped in. "I will. I'm an independent Familiar, so my connection with Alvin, my previous Master, doesn't exist anymore. He won't be affected by the fact I'm awake. You guys just rest."

"You should also recover your Magic Energy," Nayala warned him.

"Oh, don't worry," Linfel smiled. Suddenly, his Core burst with Magic Energy. "I've been full this entire time. There is nothing for me to recover here."

Everyone turned to Alvin with weird expressions. This place had sparse Magic Energy, so Linfel should have been suffering just like them. Even Connor, who initially was full, used a lot of it in the battle against the Volztain Squad. Yet, Linfel was fine somehow.

"Just what is wrong with this Familiar of yours?" They all asked together.

Alvin wanted to cry. Linfel wasn't his... He never was...