Thirty Minutes

Poor Alvin didn't know it, but he had just got the credit for something he absolutely didn't do. Regardless of what happened, it is common sense that once a Master Familiar Connection is established, the one in control of the body is always the Magus. No one would believe that the one controlling Alvin's body was Linfel instead.

Alvin then heard some steps coming from behind, and they seemed to be trembling quite a lot. It was Connor, who couldn't make sense of what just happened. "A-Alvin... You... How did you do that? A Level Two Magic Beast! You killed a Level Two magic Beast!" Connor almost used his collar earlier, but when he saw Alvin connecting with Linfel and Felia, he held back. He couldn't simply abandon Alvin there. Little did he expect Alvin to actually win.

Alvin bitter smiled. He killed a Level Two Magic Beast? What a joke! He did nothing! If Linfel hadn't taken control of his body, he would have used his collar a long time ago. "Well... Err... I've been receiving quite some training in the Floating Blades Faction, you know? I just thought that I truly had a chance."

*Boom!*

Far away, Miranda struck a decisive blow against the other Rock Breaker after Donfin took its attention away. The Rock Breaker fell to the ground as a huge hole on its bely could be seen. Both Donfin and Miranda tried to escape several times during this battle, but the Rock Breaker simply wasn't letting them go. 

With their Magic Energies reserves dwindling, escaping later would be meaningless, so they could only shift their plans and try to kill it for real. If it didn't work, using the collar to escape would be the only alternative in the end. Fortunately, they were indeed experienced and knew how to fight. That's what you would expect from Classes A and B Maguses and their Familiars.

As soon as the Rock Breaker fell to the ground, Miranda and Donfin used their Magic Energy on their legs. They didn't even want to wait. That Rock Breaker that went for Linfel's group should already be on its way to attack them... or so they thought. Yet, when they gave one last glance behind so see the situation, the only thing they saw was another much bigger ROck Breaker fallen to the ground.

"Impossible!" Donfin's Magic Energy immediately canceled as he exclaimed, not believing what he was seeing.

Miranda, too, was shocked by that vision. "That... Is that an illusion?"

The two approached Linfel's group slowly, afraid that the Rock Breaker might actually be alive. Yet, the pool of purple blood on the ground made it obvious that the Rock Breaker wasn't alive anymore. The two looked at Alvin, Linfel, and Felia on the side. All three of them seemed tired. Lifelia and Linfel's ethereal bodies had disappeared, leaving only their cores with feeble waves of Magic Energy coming out. At least they could still talk.

"Alvin, give me some Magic Stones..." Linfel asked after stabilizing himself.

"Me too!" Felia quickly followed.

Alvin nodded and pulled out a bag from his back. Since he was a low-level Magus, he obviously would run out of Magic Energy more easily than others. That said, he and pretty much all Level One maguses brought some Magic Stones with them. Even Connor had a few with him.

Linfel and Felia quickly absorbed the Magic Energy, which allowed them to reform their ethereal bodies straight away. Alvin, on the other hand, just refilled his Core.

Seeing that, Donfin asked. "How did you kill this Rock Breaker?"

Alvin looked at him. "It was just luck. It opened its mouth, and we just had to attack the insides before it attacked us. We truly didn't expect it to work, though. I was ready to use the collar the moment it failed. Of course, we used all our Magic Energy at once to make sure we at least had a chance."

Connor glanced at Alvin. It was obvious Alvin didn't want to tell Donfin and Miranda about how he connected with two Familiars at once. He understood why and didn't mention it either.

"I see..." Donfin couldn't think of another reason for Linfel's group to have succeeded. "Simply put, it underestimated you because of your level and let its guard down. Nonetheless, it is amazing you were able to grasp such an opportunity. But then again, I can understand why you even tried. We are so far ahead in the exam, so giving up here just didn't seem right."

"Was that why you tried to flee? It looked to me like you tried to use us as a distraction but didn't expect another Rock Breaker to appear ahead." Linfel finally recovered a little of his Magic Energy before he turned to Donfin and Miranda.

Yet, neither Donfin nor Miranda tried to deny it. 

"Yes," Donfin spoke first. "Our Ranks depend on our results in the field exams. This one, specifically, has a huge chance of giving us a great score that could put me at ease for a while or that could send Miranda to Class A. We immediately understood it would be extremely difficult to take that Rock Breaker down, so we used you."

"He is right," Miranda confirmed. "We don't really have any obligations with each other. From the very start, it had been a marriage of convenience. We used our power as Level Two Maguses and Familiars to help keep you safe while you showed us the right path. Or are you saying we should have risked our lives for you?"

Alvin and Connor didn't like what they said. Yet, they know they would definitely have ran away as well.

Linfel began to float again and nodded with a smile, feeling satisfied. "That's the kind of answer I wanted. If you had tried to come up with some bullshit excuse, then we would go our separate ways from here." He saw nothing wrong with what Donfin and Miranda said. After all, he had come from a past where such things were extremely common.

Donfin quickly sat on the ground and took a few Magic Stones out as well. "Seems like your group isn't made of a bunch of naive kids. That's very good in the Magus World. Now, let's recover our Magic Energy. Thirty Minutes should be enough."

Different from absorbing Magic Energy to integrate into their Cores, absorbing Magic Energy just to recover their reserves was very fast. Thirty minutes was enough for Miranda and Donfin to fully recover, especially since they had Red Magic Stones with them. 

As for Alvin and Felia, they would need longer... if Linfel wasn't there. Linfel helped them recover their Magic Energy in secrecy, not showing Donfin and Miranda they were connected once more. With that done, everyone was ready to depart again.

First, their group approached the tenth flag, adding it to their results. After that, Linfel concentrated on the surrounding Magic Energy flow and looked at a passage to the right. "Through here."

Yet, just as they were about to leave, another group suddenly appeared in the area, coming out from another path. "The Flag!"

Immediately, they all dashed to the flag, entering the ten-meter range and adding it to their own results as well. Of course, they noticed Linfel's group not too far from there. Above all, they saw the two dead Rock Breakers. "Oh! Donfin! You truly made quite a mess here, uh?"

Donfin looked back and narrowed his eyes. It was another Class A student, someone called Rirano, who talked to him. 

Alvin, Linfel and Felia didn't pay attention to the guy, though. Instead, they were surprised to see someone else there. It was a young woman, followed by a very obvious Familiar. "Milia!"

Milia heard her name and looked in their direction. For the first time in this exam, she showed a surprised expression. "Alvin? Linfel? Felia too!" She quickly approached the group. "How did you get here this fast?"

She then looked at Donfin and Miranda, and her expression turned dark. "Alvin, Linfel, this is not good. Did you forget what the instructor said in the airship? If you just followed another stronger group and did nothing to contribute, your points would be removed in the end." Sure enough, she didn't believe Alvin's group had got here through their own strength.

Well, even Alvin wouldn't have believed himself if he was told that. "Err... I think you got the wrong idea. We truly pulled our own weight up to this point, you know?"

Felia and Linfel nodded. "He is right! It is them who had been following us, not the other way around."

Rirano heard that and then looked at Donfin, who said nothing. "Hahahaha! Donfin! Are you following some Level One Magus Group? I can understand someone from Class B like Miranda there doing it. But you? This is hilarious."

Miranda didn't even bother to answer. As for Donfin, he simply smiled. "Yes, I've been following them. If you don't want to be seen in the same situation as me, you better go on your own way."

Nori, who was obviously with Milia, couldn't help but look at Alvin and Linfel. "For real? What did you do that you got these two to follow you?"

"Oh! That's beca-" *Mmmhmmhmmmm...*

"Let's just say we are very lucky," Felia quickly shut Linfel up before Linfel spoke the truth. The wisp truly didn't know how to keep his mouth closed.

Milia was truly skeptical of the situation. Yet, she couldn't see why Donfin, a student of the same rank as her, would lie about that. Milia then looked at the two dead Rock Breaker bodies and narrowed her eyes. She had a good knowledge of Magic Beasts, and she knew Donfin's strength. Even with Miranda's help, she found it hard to believe Donfin killed those Rock Breakers that easily.

Linfel finally got away from Felia. "Alright, alright. I understand. I won't say anything. In any case, we are wasting time. My Academy Credit bonuses might fall into someone else's hands if we delay here any further."

Linfel quickly turned around and dashed into the passage he had selected earlier. Alvin looked at Milia for a moment, but she was working together with a few other Level Two Maguses and Familiars. It would be hard to convince her to follow his group instead, even if they were from the same Faction. Besides, she wouldn't believe his story anyway. "Well then, Milia, see you later."

Donfin and Miranda didn't waste time. Linfel was the guide, and they absolutely wouldn't let him go out of their sight. Yet, they were also surprised by Rirano's appearance. Even if they spent thirty minutes recovering their Magic Energy, they were supposed to be quite far ahead of the other groups because of Linfel. And yet, Rirano already got to this place. 'Could it be he has some secret way to get around in the Dark Canyons as well?' Donfin couldn't help but wonder.

Rirano, Milia, and the other members of their group were surprised to see that Donfin and Miranda truly followed Linfel and the others. 

Yet, one of them quickly came up with a reason. "Ha! I see what is happening here. They are being paid to follow and protect those Low-Level guys."

"Oh!" Someone else quickly nodded. "That makes sense."

"Hahaha! What a joke! I didn't expect Donfin to fall this much."

Rirano shrugged. "That's their problem. Let's go."

Milia looked at the path that Linfel and Alvin took. She felt there was much more to what they had just seen.

'Milia,' Nori whispered in her ears, using his Magic Energy so that only Milia could hear him. 'We should follow them.'

Milia looked at Nori. 'Why?'

'Because you are curious,' Nori answered with a smile. 'I know you. You will not rest until you reach the bottom of this situation. Rather than waiting to ask and investigate outside after the exam, wouldn't it be better to see it with your own eyes now? Besides, it is not like you are in any danger of falling from Class A anytime soon.'

A faint smile appeared on Milia's face, and she patted Nori's head. 'Sure enough, Nori knows me best!'

She didn't even look behind before she shot in the same direction Linfel's group left. "I'll go my own way from here. Goodbye."

Rirano was taken aback. He had gone through a lot of trouble to find more information about this exam. That's why they were this far into the Dark Canyons. He did all of that so he could show off to Milia. When she agreed to follow his group, he felt extremely excited and wanted to show his prowess during the exam. Yet now, Milia simply decided to leave. 

"Wait!" Rirano immediately blocked her path. "You can't be serious, right? After we have come this far?"

Milia didn't seem to care. "So what? I don't remember having pledged my allegiance to you. Traveling with your group seemed convenient, that was all. Now, out of my way."

Rirano was enraged. "You!"

"What?" Milia immediately connected with Nori. "Wanna fight? I don't mind entertaining you."

Rirano wasn't afraid of her. He wasn't any weaker. However, the exam was being watched from everywhere. Starting an in-fight in the exam would definitely have him disqualified later. "Of course not!" his expression changed. "I was just a little bit flustered, that's all. However, now that I think about it, that seems quite fun. How about I go as well?"

"No need," Milia went around him and dashed away. "Good luck with the exam."

Rirano was left behind, finding it hard to keep the smile on his face. When Milia finally disappeared, he burst out. "Fuck! Who that bitch thinks she is?"

"Rirano," another magus from his group approached him. "We are wasting time. I don't care if you want to court that girl or not, but if you keep delaying, then we will leave."

"I know that!" Rirano shouted back at the guy. Following that, he took a device from his pocket. After checking the information inside, he selected another path. "Let's go." And so they left the area as well.