It's Different

Alvin's sigh was heavy with the weight of his thoughts, which he promptly pushed to the back of his mind. He reached for a container, anticipation flickering in his eyes as he opened it. Inside, a treasure trove of almost 1200 Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones awaited him. 

"You've truly outdone yourself, haven't you?" Linfel couldn't help but marvel at the sight before him.

Alvin's chest swelled with pride, a triumphant smile playing on his lips. "All that peril we braved in the Field Exam was not in vain. I invested all my Academy Credits in these little gems. Now, I'm broke again. Hahaha!"

Linfel's smile was tinged with anticipation. "With this stash, we can power through four consecutive days of Magic Energy Integration. Since your classes are only once a week, the remaining days can be dedicated to Missions, earning more Academy Credits. Most likely, you'll have just enough Magic Energy to train until the next Field Exam at the end of the week."

Alvin was taken aback. For a moment, he had forgotten. Linfel used around 300 Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones per day, cleaning them all for Alvin and Felia to use. Each one of these was worth three Academy Credits, so his almost 1200 cost him everything he had. And yet... he will be left with nothing by the end of the week. "Red Magic Energy is truly good... but hell, it does cost a lot!"

Felia tried to cheer him up. "Master, look on the positive side. One day of Magic Energy Integration with Linfel is equivalent to a whole week without him. We have five days until the next field exam, so it will be similar to working for five weeks straight. How many Maguses out there can do such a thing? Probably only those rich students like Milia can afford to train with real Red Magic Stones nonstop."

Alvin's mood immediately improved. "Right! That is definitely worth it. Besides, being a Rank C Student will make it much easier to get higher-paying Tasks in the Missions Hall."

"Oh! Don't forget we are going into the next Field Exam as well," Linfel added.

As fast as Alvin's mood improved, it collapsed. "A-Another Field Exam?" He still hasn't forgotten how he almost died last time, and that was his first time only.

Linfel nodded, excited. "Of course! How the hell do do you expect us to keep up with our expenditure of Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones? Even with all the bonuses, you only got enough for four days, and you will need to make up for the fifth day with missions on top of that. Field Exams give a lot of Academy Credits, so we are obviously taking them all! Besides, you need the scores of the exams to go up in the ranks and get access to even better missions, classes, and training facilities."

"I know that! I truly do..." Alvin sighed. "But it still makes me nervous."

"If you have time to feel nervous, then let's use it for training. Come on, let's use Master Familiar Connection," said Linfel. He still wanted to check his own Red Magic Stones.

Alvin nodded and sat on his bed. Felia connected to him first, and Linfel followed by matching their Soul Waves Frequency. Their Magic Energy Merged, allowing Linfel to transfer his Magic Energy to them. Yellow Magic Stones began to disappear one after another, creating Low-Grade Red Magic Energy that Alvin and Felia used to integrate into their Cores. 

Time passed, and three hours later, Alvin and Felia's core felt saturated once again. As for the Yellow Magic Stone, Linfel used 283 of them this time. "Good work, you two. Your Cores need rest, so we will stop it here."

Alvin canceled his connection with both Linfel and Felia before collapsing on the bed. "It feels great, no doubt. Still, it is tiring as hell."

"Master, I'm deactivating so you can sleep," said Felia.

However, Alvin sat on the bed again and looked at the boxes Linfel brought, curious. "Are those..." Naturally, Felia paid attention as well.

Linfel smiled. "Yeap, you said you got one of those back when you joined the academy, right? These are Low-Grade Red Magic Stones. I spent almost all my Academy Credits on those."

Linfel didn't waste time and opened one of the boxes. "Let's give it a try."

The Magic Energy inside the Magic Stone immediately began to rush into Linfel's Core. At the same time, he used his Core to further clean the Red Magic Energy. "It's... different."

Alvin and Felia looked at each other and back at Linfel. "Different? Different how?"

"The Magic Energy. It's different from the Red Magic Energy I'm producing. My own is created through the process of cleaning. This one, although much cleaner than the Yellow Magic Energy from the Low-Grade Magic Stones, is still many times more impure than the one I create," said Linfel, paying attention as he absorbed it.

"I see..." He quickly found the reason. "In theory, it shouldn't be Red Magic Energy. Yet, is has been compressed so much that it makes up for the impurities inside, giving its red color. For the other Maguses in the Academy, these are truly good things. Have fewer impurities than Yellow Magic Stones and a much higher concentration of Magic Energy, not to mention it is Red Magic Energy. They are definitely worth their price. No, in my opinion, the Academy is doing the Maguses here a great favor by selling them for only 500 Academy Credits."

He continued. "However, compared to the Low-Grade Red Magic Energy that I clean up, this stone is truly lacking. Still too many impurities, so it is not as efficient as using my cleaning ability."

Alvin was surprised to hear that. "Does it mean it is not worth using Red Magic Stones at all? Should we continue with Yellow Magic Stones forever?"

"Of course not!" Linfel quickly shook his head. "All I have to do is to clean the impurities, and the Red Magic Energy inside should reach a much higher level. They are great for us, too! As long as I clean them, of course."

Without wasting time, Linfel threw himself at the task. The Red Magic Energy quickly entered his core and passed through the cleaning process. However, Linfel didn't absorb all the Magic Energy in the Magic Stone. He only took half of it before putting the Magic Stone back inside the special box. "It is truly hard to store Red Magic Energy. My level is too low. Nonetheless..."

A moment later, he let out the now clean Red Magic Energy... and there was a lot of it. The reason he could even store this amount was exactly because of how compressed it was, which was even better. Above all, it had a very dense red, a mark of High-Grade Red Magic Energy! "High-Grade Red Magic Energy. That is my limit. If I want to make Brown Magic Energy, it is possible, but I will need to become a Level Two Familiar first... or a wisp, in my case."

Alvin and Felia were still impressed. "What will you do with this Energy?"

Linfel looked at him. "It's time for me to try this Magic Energy Integration thing."