Aren't You Curious?

At first, everyone followed Linfel without questioning. After all, he hadn't led them astray before. But as they continued to run, Milia's voice cut through the air, tinged with a hint of unease. "Something's not right. There are no cameras here."

Everyone was taken aback for a moment. Quickly, they began to scan their surroundings, looking for the tiny cameras that were being used to watch the entire field exam. It didn't take long for them to reach the same conclusion as Milia. "She is right. There are none."

Linfel looked back at Milia. "Could it be I took a route the academy didn't know about? I'm only following the Magic Energy Flow."

Milia didn't know. "With all the equipment at the academy's disposal, I find it hard to believe they would have missed this place. It looked well hidden, but it wasn't hard to enter. However, it is not impossible."

Alvin, Donfin, Miranda, and Connor agreed. "That's true."

Linfel then stopped, looking back to the path they came from. Ever since they entered this cave, they haven't seen the light of the day yet. "Should we go back and take an open route? I can just ignore this cave and follow the next strongest Magic Flow."

Since they were a group, it was just right to have everyone's opinion.

"No," Donfin's voice rang out, filled with determination. "If this path leads to the deepest parts of the Dark Canyons, even if it's unknown to the organizers, it could be our ticket to victory. We could be the first to reach the last flag, setting a record time. Imagine the bonus in score and academy credits. It will definitely be more than just the bonuses the instructor mentioned."

"But wouldn't we be missing the previous flags along the way?" Linfel asked, curious. "After all, collecting the flags is the main rule. If this path is unknown, there will be no flags until we find an exit. Instead, we would lose many score points and academy credits by leaving the flags behind."

Miranda quickly shook her head. "Don't worry. If you get to a flag deeper into the Dark Canyons, the flags that came before will also be added to your score. After all, you could only reach the deepest flags by passing by the previous regions. That shows you went through the exam as intended anyway."

Linfel didn't need to hear more than that. "Great! Record time, extra bonuses, that's all Alvin and I care about."

'I care about staying alive a lot more, though,' Alvin thought to himself. Nonetheless, he also understood the great chance he had here. "I vote for continuing this path."

Milia and Nori agreed. "We are of the same mind."

Miranda and Donfin, as well as their familiars, were no different. "Then let's go!"

Linfel quickly flew into the distance, being quickly followed by the rest of the group... and a crying Connor closely behind. "No one asked my opinion..."

Alvin shrugged and pointed behind. "You are free to turn around and go back."

"So heartless!" Connor complained. "Are you still my little Alvin?"

"Your ass!" Alvin rebuked. "Also, I'm just as nervous. You aren't alone in this."

The Magic Energy Flow power continued to increase as they went deeper into the cave. Nothing changed for a while as they found no Magic Beasts on the way, making them think this place was completely sealed before. However, it didn't last forever. Suddenly, a faint green light could be seen ahead, catching their attention. 

"What are these?" Linfel stopped by the wall, pulling out a shining green rock. There were many of these all around, making the path ahead quite bright.

"Magic Stones, perhaps?" Alvin also got one in his hand. It's just that he couldn't feel much Magic Energy inside these rocks. 

Linfel shook his head, though. "It does have some Magic Energy, but it is not like the Magic Stones we use. It just absorbed the Magic Energy from the environment to become like this. It has no use for training. Even those Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones are a lot better."

Linfel looked around. "I guess it makes sense. The Magic Energy flow in this place is a lot more concentrated."

"Let's not waste time and keep going," Donfin spoke. Since the rocks had no use, they had no reason to dwell here.

Linfel nodded and threw the rock away before guiding everyone once again. The number of green rocks continued to increase while the cave got wider as well. At some point, they turned a corner and were presented with an underground pond shining with the same pristine green light.

"This is so beautiful..." Both Milia and Miranda spoke at the same time.

Donfin couldn't care less about it, though. "Fuck the scenery! Look at the pond! It is a Magic Energy pond!"

"What?!" Miranda and Milia's expressions changed. They quickly followed Donfin's eyes to the pond and saw the Magic Energy circulating inside. "It is truly a Magic Energy Pond!"

Donfin and the others were ready to jump in the pond when Linfel's voice echoed in their ears. "That's the reason the Magic Flow coming from this cave was so high. It is all coming from this lake. What do we do? We still have an exam to take."

They immediately stopped. "Shit! He is right! We only have a day to complete the exam."

"But..." Miranda seemed unwilling to just leave. "Look at the color of the Magic Energy. It is green! It is the same as Green Magic Stones."

Let's not forget that the grade of Magic Energy follows colors. Yellow being the lowest, you then have Red, Brow, and this same Green in the lake. You could say the lake is full of Level Four Magic Energy, which wouldn't be wrong. There is no doubt Donfin, Miranda, and Milia were rich and they could get a lot of Red Magic Stones with their Background. However, Green Magic Stones are two levels above, and they would still be something hard to come by for them.

Linfel shrugged, seeming not all that interested. "What are you all excited about? It is Green Magic Energy. You can't absorb it anyway."

"Ah!" Only then did everyone wake up to reality. Indeed, they couldn't absorb this kind of Magic Energy. The level was too high. Alvin had explained to Linfel before that they could, at most, absorb Magic Energy one level higher. More than that, and the cores wouldn't even accept it. If they forced the issue, they would only destroy their cores instead.

Milia and the others were only Level Two Maguses and Familiars. Even they couldn't take that Magic Energy. Not to mention, the Green Magic Energy in the pond had a very dense Green Color. It was definitely a High-Grade Green Magic Energy. For them to be able to absorb it and integrate the Magic Energy into their cores, they will need to become Level Three Maguses and Familiar while also being very close to Level Four. That wasn't something that would happen anytime soon.

"Also," Linfel continued. "The big guy living inside this pond probably won't feel happy if we try to take the energy inside."

Everyone's expressions froze. They all knew Linfel could feel Magic Beasts. And this was a Green Magic Energy Pond, so the Magic Beast Living inside could only be...

"Ahem..." Donfin began to take a few steps back, very, veeeeeeery slowly. "I just remembered I didn't come to this exam for Magic Energy but for the scores instead."

Everyone vigorously nodded. They, too, went back while sweating buckets.

Yet, their eyes suddenly widened while their faces contorted. Just ahead, above the pond, a certain Wisp- Ahem! A certain Familiar floated and seemed ready to attack the pond. "Aren't you curious to see what is inside? Don't worry, I'll bring it out in a second."