Wisp! Awaken in the Magical World

"I..." Alvin didn't know what to say.

Linfel didn't give him a chance to complain, though. "Enough. Don't forget your position in the rank. With your Magic Energy output, do you think you will be far behind? You should also have much better control over your Magic Energy than most after everything we have gone through. You have absolutely no excuse to not make it into the top 10%."

Linfel then smiled. "Well, if you don't make it into the top 10%, that just means our journey together will end here. Like I said, you didn't need to follow me on this journey. That was your choice. You can give up now if you feel like it."

Alvin narrowed his eyes. "Fine! Just you look! I'm definitely making it into the top 10%! No! I will definitely be in the top 5%!"

Milia patted Alvin's shoulder. "That's how a member of the Floating Blades Faction should be. I will also make it through this test on my own. I want to see this third test that everyone will try to skip."

"No," Linfel intervened. "Milia and Nori should use their Master Familiar Connection and go ahead of us."

"Why?" Milia, Nori, and Alvin didn't understand the reason for that request.

Linfel looked up to the sky. "I'm not looking down on you, Milia, Nori. But it is plain as day that you two are at your best when you two are connected. I know that this is the same for all Maguses and Familiars partners, but you two are in an even higher league compared to most of the others. Climbing the tower alone would be a waste of your shared gift."

Seeing Milia and Nori weren't convinced, Linfel added. "Simply put, neither of you will gain anything by climbing this tower alone. On the other hand, you can really make a case for yourselves in the Ventis Sect if you climb together and show your real power."

Alvin sighed and looked at the two. "We have been following Linfel's plan all this time. Has he ever been wrong? Well, a lot of things he said look like craziness but somehow turn out right."

"There was no need to for the late part of your comment..." Linfel complained.

Milia and Nori couldn't go against that logic. "Fine... But what about Alvin? Linfel, you can achieve perfect connections, no doubt better than Nori and I. Does Alvin have anything to gain by climbing alone?"

"Yes," Linfel confirmed. "Different from you and Nori, who will always be together, Alvin and I might get separated at some point. Don't forget, Alvin and I aren't really Master and Familiar. We are friends, close ones at that, but we have no obligation to follow the other. If Alvin decides to leave one day, I have no reason to stop him, and the same goes for me.

I want Alvin to learn how to do things by himself."

Alvin narrowed his eyes. "I should have brought Felia with me..."

Linfel shrugged. "Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to push all three of us to Level Three in time for the exam. We barely made it to level three with just the two of us. If you had brought Felia, then I would have to go separate ways since I wouldn't lose this chance to enter the Ventis Sect."

"Well, that's true." Alvin didn't forget the effort they had to put in and the many Red Magic Stones they had to use to get to this level. "Anyway, no point complaining now. I only have to climb, right? I will climb. Just watch. Also, I have no intention of letting you go separate ways anytime soon, so be prepared to stay together for a while."

Linfel smiled. "I hope you aren't wrong. Traveling with you is fun."

Suddenly, an alarm went off, catching all the participant's attention.

-Everyone, please proceed to the starting area. We have prepared a few platforms at the Space Elevator's side so everyone can start climbing from the same point.-

Linfel's group quickly followed the orders and joined the thousands of remaining participants on the way to the platform.

On the way, Milia grew a little concerned and asked Linfel privately by redirecting her voice with her Magic Energy. 'Linfel... there are only a thousand slots for duos of Master and Familiar while we have hundreds of thousands of participants around the world. Do you truly think Nori and I can make it to the top 1000?

We definitely didn't get to the top 1000 Maguses and Familiars individually at the end of the first test.'

'How the hell would I know that?' Linfel asked back in confusion. 'I don't know any of the participants, so this is a meaningless question.'

Milia's mouth twitched, and she was just about to complain when Linfel continued his words. 'What I know is that you two are much better together than individually. As to whether you can make it to the top 1000 or not, that is still up for debate.'

'However, you and Nori have reached Level Three recently, so I don't think your chances are much different if you follow the individual path. You would be going against many youngsters who had more experience, training, and time to get used to their Level Three or who might be getting very close to Level Four already.'

Milia pondered Linfel's words and had to admit they made sense. She had a very good score of Magic Energy Output, but it was a fact that her Energy Pool was still small compared to Maguses who reached Level Three much earlier, let alone Level Four ones. 'Thank you. I will give it a try with Nori.'

On the platform, all the participants selected a position where they could start climbing straight away. Alvin and the others did the same.

Linfel looked up to the sky, smiling.

-The test will start in ten seconds. Get ready!-

-10, 09, 08... 03, 02, 01-

-Start!-

*Kabrum!*

Lightning Element Circulated around Linfel's core, and he shot up to the skies like a bullet. Magic Energy Control? Conservation? Recovery? He was the best at them all. The only thing he lost to higher-level Familiars was in Energy Reserves, but his Magic Energy recovery more than made up for this difference since he was much more efficient with its usage.

Three and a half minutes later, three names appeared on the screens around the exam areas worldwide almost at the same time.

-25 Kilometers | 1st - Xifrin Lou'dian: 02:27 - Level Five Magus.-

-25 Kilometers | 2nd - Trodeu: 02:29 - Level Five Familiar.-

-25 Kilometers | 3rd - Linfel: 02:31 - Level Three Familiar.-