BXBX NOVEL Chapter 8: Betrayal
When Felia and Alvin connected, Linfel could clearly feel their Soul Energy matching each other. That explains why Alvin had to use his soul when creating Felia. Without that, merging their Magical Energies would be a dream within a dream.
What they didn't know is that Wisps were nothing more than a core and a soul from the moment they were born. They might have been weak over two billion years ago, but they definitely knew how to use their own soul. It was a simple question of survival! It was their soul that manipulated the Primordial Energy, after all.
The better they got at it, the less they would spend and the longer they would live.
It also explained why Linfel had such easy controlling Magical Energy. He had to use his soul to manipulate Primordial Energy his entire life, which was a type of energy countless times more chaotic and dangerous. Simply put, that made pretty much any wisp a master of their own soul. For Linfel, this Magical Energy was nothing but a walk in the park.
Still, it was the first time Linfel was trying to match his own soul with someone else's. Also, the other part couldn't help. He had to do it on his own. He concentrated on that soul energy within Alvin's Magical Energy Manipulation. Most likely, even Alvin himself couldn't feel his Soul Energy in there, but Linfel definitely did.
As Linfel felt Alvin's Soul Energy, he couldn't help but smile a little. 'Such a gentle soul, very similar to my old friend, probably even more...' His mind went back to the past for a second, but he quickly put those thoughts aside. He then focused on matching his soul wave frequency with Alvin.
At first, it wasn't easy, causing Alvin and Linfel to truly feel quite a weird sensation. Linfel had never done that before, after all. Yet, the connection was indeed being established. Linfel didn't go all in. He did the absolutely minimum, just enough for it to be similar to what Alvin and Felia did.
"To think that such a thing was possible," Linfel commented, having finished his part. "I didn't know that connecting with each other was possible before I saw you two. I can truly feel Alvin and my Magical Energies working together."
Alvin also felt that connection, much to his shock. "Unbelievable. Let me give it a try."
Suddenly, Linfel felt his body moving around without doing anything. It was all through the magical connection between him and Alvin. At the same time, their Magical Energy felt like they were one and the same. Alvin could use Linfel's Magical Energy without any issues. Not only that, Linfel still had that little bit of Red Magic Energy within his body, and Alvin felt that.
"This..." Alvin couldn't help himself after feeling the existence of that Red Magic Energy. He had never had the capability to control it, but now that he is connected to Linfel, that world seemed to open its doors for him. Through his connection with Linfel, who attached himself to Alvin's backhand, Red Magic Energy made its way out, controlled by Alvin himself.
"This is great! Hahaha! I feel it; I feel it all! So this is how controlling Red Magic Energy feels like! Amazing!" Alvin laughed nonstop while using it. Of course, Linfel only had a little bit of it, so it was over in a few seconds.
Linfel then detached himself from Alvin's backhand, having gotten used to Alvin's Soul Wave Frequency. "Let me give it a try."
This time, it was Alvin's body that moved against his will. That had never happened to Felia before. Of course, Alvin could immediately cut that connection if he wanted, but he let Linfel work with it.
Linfel used Alvin's body and Magical energy, truly feeling a lot stronger as well. "Merging Magical Energies is truly something nice. I definitely couldn't reach this level of Magical Energy on my own at the moment. No wonder maguses and Familiars like to do such a thing."
Finally, Linfel stopped, cutting the connection with Alvin. "Alright, this is enough."
Alvin couldn't help but feel disappointed. The Magical Energy within the wisp was so good that he wouldn't mind staying like that forever. "Can we try it a little bit more?"
"Ahem!" It was then that Lucau called their attention. Right after, he pointed to the other side of the table. There... a small Familiar seemed very upset, looking away with an angry expression.
"Master never acted like that with me," she complained.
Alvin was taken aback. "T-This... That's not it, Felia. It's just that I have never controlled Red Magic before. That's all!"
Linfel didn't like it. "That's all?! So I'm just that for you? A tool to control Red Magic Energy? I can't believe I trusted you..."
Alvin was speechless. Why the hell was this wisp making things worse? First of all, were they ever that close? "Errr... No, that's not it."
The two continued to complain while Alvin tried to mediate it. Lucau only watched and laughed, finding that situation absurd.
"This is betrayal," Felia cried.
"Yes, this betrayal," Linfel also cried.
Even Lucau joined the party. "I'm so disappointed in you, son..." pretending to cry.
Alvin didn't know what to do. "I'm the one feeling like crying here!"
Finally, he lost his patience and sat back on the table, eating his food angrily. "You know what? To hell with you all. I'm hungry!"
Lucau laughed out loud and apologized. Linfel just smiled, finally understanding that it was a joke. As for Felia, she eventually just forgot about that.
Later, in the living room, the four of them were gathered again. "Okay, explain to me how you managed to connect with me?" Alvin asked. That was the most important at the moment.
"What else? I just matched your Soul Wave Frequency," Linfel explained. "When you connected with Felia a second time, I paid close attention and understood why it was possible. That's why your soul was used as a base for Felia's creation. It was necessary so that you two would have the same Soul Wave Frequency."
"I know that," Alvin nodded. After all, he had to study the process before creating Felia. "However, I've never heard about a Familiar capable of changing their own Soul Wave Frequency. Well, you are not a Familiar, so I can't really judge you like that."
"Master," Felia spoke, "Not only Familiars. I don't think anyone on this planet can do it. Perhaps some other races from outside, but I can guarantee that if they exist, they are very rare. A race capable of controlling their own souls to such an extent would put them at the top of the food chain of our Universe."
Alvin couldn't agree more. "I believe so, too. In any case, this is convenient. I wasn't intending to connect with you at first, Linfel. However, now that you showed it was possible, we should definitely add it to your registration."
"What do you mean?" Linfel asked.
Felia was the one to explain. "Your ID only needs to point out who your master is other than your own information. However, it can also contain other information like the level of connection between you and your master. It's nothing special, but it would show to everyone that you are truly a Familiar created by him. If you weren't, connecting would be impossible... or so everyone believes."
Linfel didn't see why not. "That's great. However, I'm starting to feel that you are all helping me while I'm doing nothing in exchange. I even destroyed your father's boat. Is there anything I can do for you in exchange for keeping my secret and helping me out?"
Alvin nodded. "I'm not exactly a saint either. Initially, I had no intention of doing more than helping you with your registration, for Father's sake, of course. But after you showed you can clean the Low-Grade Yellow Magical Stones and turn them into Low-Grade Red Magic, I changed my mind."
Linfel understood. "You can do it all for me, but you require me to create Red Magic for you to increase your level, am I correct?"
"Yes," Alvin nodded. "I won't lie here, Linfel. This power of yours to create Red Magic is absolutely heaven-defying. The process of manufacturing Red Magic Stones is very expensive. Usually, you would need at least ten High-Grade Yellow Magic Stones to create a single Low-Grade Red Magic Stone.
As for Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones, at least a thousand would be necessary, not counting the cost of the manufacturing process itself."
Alvin then took out his device and showed it to Linfel. "This is an MCOM, a Magical Communication Device. You can access the Magical Network and check many things. Let me show you the price of a single Low-Grade Red Magic Stone."
Linfel had seen a few people using these devices on his way to Lucau's home, but it was his first time paying attention to them. "Such convenient pieces of equipment..."
Finally, Alvin opened a website that displayed the price of the stones. He quickly went to the cheapest he could find.
-Low Grade Red Magic Stone: 1352 UC.-
"UC?" That was the first he saw that.
"Universal Credits," Alvin explained. "The Low-Grade Yellow Magic Stones, for example, cost only 3 UC each. Medium Grade Yellow goes for around 20UC, while High-Grade Yellow should be around 85 or so, depending on the quality and quantity you acquire at once."
"Red Magic Stones are so much more expensive! Not only that, but these prices don't seem to follow any specific order," Linfel said as he looked at the prices.
"I told you, didn't I?" Alvin reminded him. "It is not only the necessary amount of Yellow Magic Stones necessary. It is also the manufacturing process. Well, even Yellow Magic Stones need to be manufactured, but the quality and amount of energy are so low that they aren't exactly that hard to make.
Also, it should go without saying, but the companies also need to make a profit, so the stones definitely cost more than the amount necessary to make them. No one is operating a charity, especially within the Magus Circle."
Linfel was having a taste of capitalism. "And I am able to make Red Magic Energy..."
"Yes," Alvin didn't hide. "Simply put, even though I'm doing all of this for you, your capability of making Red Magic Energy out of Low-Grade Magic Stones is much, much more valuable than anything I can offer. It is up to you if you want to accept this deal or not. I'm not only doing it for you but for me and my father as well."
Linfel didn't need to think much about it. First of all, it was already very luck that he got to meet such good people, and he was especially certain about it after feeling Alvin's soul waves. Alvin was trying to act tough, but Linfel thought it didn't match his real personality very well. "Alright, why not? Looking for other people capable of offering more would be annoying anyway.
Not to mention, I'm not sure if I would suddenly be captured for some weird research or whatever. Just one question, even if I register as your Familiar, I'll have full autonomy, right?"
"Yes," Alvin answered excitedly. "Felia already mentioned it anyway. Familiars have the autonomy to do whatever they want as long as they don't break the rules. It's just that they usually stay close to their masters, but that's not a rule. There are quite a few Familiars living on their own because their Masters abandoned them, they died, or whatever other reason.
Or they might just be doing their masters' bid far away as well. So, you don't need to worry about others finding you weird because you are alone. Just make sure to not cause trouble for me."
"I obviously wouldn't cause any trouble," Linfel patted his chest.
Lucau and Alvin felt a chill running down their backs. For some reason, Linfel's words didn't seem very trustworthy...
Lucau and Alvin quickly recovered. The prospect of having Red Magic Energy to use in training was definitely worth the risk... a very high risk... an extremely high risk... a ridiculous extremely high risk... "Hum...
maybe you should reconsider," Lucau whispered in Alvin's ears, having cold feet.
"Ahem!" Alvin would be lying if he said he didn't reconsider it for a moment. But he gritted his teeth and decided to go for it. "Then we have a deal. Tomorrow, come with me to the Academy. I'll register you as my Familiar. Also, if you wish to join the Academy as an independent Familiar, you can take the test there."
"Very well," Linfel already considered that action when Felia mentioned about Familiars being part of the Academy earlier.
It was getting late, so everyone decided to retire to their rooms. However, before they even left the living room, someone pressed the doorbell of Lucau's house.
Lucau and Alvin looked at each other, puzzled.
"Were you waiting for someone, father?" Alvin asked.
However, Lucau shook his head. "I wasn't even supposed to be home today if my boat hadn't been destroyed. How could I?"
The two went to the door and opened it. There, a young woman wearing the Magus Academy Uniform waited with a few other bodyguards on the back.
"M-M-Milia Frondor!" Seeing who it was, Alvin felt his soul almost leaving his body.