Through the glass roof and wall, the office was flooded with the slightly dim light of the crystal. It seemed that for the first time since his arrival in Atlantis, the weather was about to change. Draco lowered his gaze and looked around the room. Although it was very large, there was essentially little in it - a large desk, an armchair, a coffee table, two semi-circular sofas and a pair of armoured suits standing on either side of the entrance to the room. The walls, on the other hand, were covered with shelves filled with accounting books, documents, various lists and all kinds of papers related to the management of the estate or the master's work. And not only that. The desk where Darius sat was also covered with papers that the mage was constantly shuffling from place to place. Although the master had just returned to the estate, he couldn't shake off the workload. They had something to talk about, but the mage suddenly had to respond to an important letter, and so for almost an hour the dragon watched as the man wrote quickly, pausing only to check something in one of the dozens of other letters scattered across the desk.
-I'm done.- Darius announced cheerfully, sealing his reply in an almost theatrical manner. He tapped the bell on the edge of the tabletop lightly, and the servant slid through the door almost immediately, took the letter and disappeared just as quickly. -Finally, - the mage gasped again. -I'm sorry you had to wait so long, Draco, but I really had no choice.
-It's okay. - The dragon smiled.
-I hope you got some sleep. - Darius pulled a thick envelope out of his desk drawer and sat down next to his apprentice.
-I slept quite long. - The dragon shrugged. - I got up before nine, exercised a little, and then read the novel James recommended to me.
-It seems you did get some rest.- The master seemed to want to say something else, but he looked at Draco and just exhaled.- Today at the Palace, I met Duke von Konlah, who told me that there are no objections to your admission to the third year at Solvein. You just need to pass the appropriate entrance exams.- He placed the envelope he had taken out earlier on the coffee table.- The only question is what type of class you want to attend.
Draco tilted his head, staring at his master and wondering what types of classes there were and, more importantly, what he needed to know to get into them. He may have attended the Academy in Dagos before, but he had no idea if anything from its programme would be useful to him. Except perhaps fencing and hand-to-hand combat, because those had always been valuable skills.
-Let's start with what courses are available.- Darius seemed to be reading his student's mind.- The types of classes can be roughly grouped into four categories: magic, alchemy, civil and special. In the third year, there is not yet such a great variety, but they are still divided into several separate profiles. In alchemy, we have: the basics of alchemy, medicine, metallurgy, and enchantment. Civilian subjects include: arithmetic, astronomy and navigation, history, theology, and law. There are fewer special profiles, only three: healing, ancient magic, and summoning. Among the magical profiles, we have: military, fencing, racial magic, the basics of technical magic, and the basics of general magic.- The magician paused and seemed to be wondering if he had missed anything.- Yes, from among these profiles, you must choose the one that interests you the most.
Draco looked away from his master and glanced at the thick envelope, guessing that it contained the requirements for qualifying for each class. He didn't know what to say. Despite his progress in learning magic and the praise he had heard from both Bleist and Gizel, Draco didn't feel that confident in this field. Especially when he had to compare himself to people who had been exposed to magic from an early age. He was afraid that he would not fit in with the group and would have to catch up on a lot of material. He bit his lip.
-Go ahead, Draco.- Darius nodded encouragingly.- Don't worry about anything except what you want to do. -Ymmm... Military class...- The dragon muttered under his breath.- I would like to go to the military class.- He repeated louder, though not very confidently.
-I suspected as much.- Darius's lips twitched as if he wanted to smile half-heartedly, but he controlled the tic. The mage reached for the envelope and pulled out one of the written pages.- In that case, you will have to take two types of exams, theoretical and practical.- Bleist looked up from the page and must have noticed the dragon's uncertainty.- Don't worry about anything, - he said, putting the paper aside. - Based on what you learned in Dagos and during this short time under my tutelage, you can be confident about your progress and your level compared to the rest of the class. Above all, don't worry about your knowledge of magic. The basics of magic are only introduced at the end of the second year, so you haven't started much later than the others. The first year, in practical terms, focuses mainly on physical fitness and mastering the source. The second year is about controlling power. It seems to me that in both of these areas, you are far ahead of your peers. Remember that you taught yourself to fully control your source and precisely manipulate your power. - The magician went back to reading the page he had just put down. - Getting back to the topic... Oh yes, the theory exams: languages... - He ran his finger over something. - Atlantean and one foreign language... Your aunt took care of that. If I didn't know you were from Dagos, I wouldn't believe that Atlantean wasn't your native language when talking to you. You can take draconic as a foreign language. There will be no problem with that. Next is arithmetic, geography and history. There won't be any problems with that either... The basics of navigation... We'll have to work a little on topics beyond what they taught you in Dagos. The last one is magic theory... You've already learned a lot in this area, but we'll have to refine a few things. - Darius looked through the page again. - That's it for the theoretical exams. To be honest, the practical ones are more important. - He added, raising his head, and Draco tensed up a little. - The first part is an exam on mastering the source and controlling power. As I said, you won't have any problems with that. Next is the exam on hand-to-hand combat and weapon combat.- The mage looked at the dragon again, and Draco could tell that Bleist meant he didn't need to comment on that.- How are you with shooting?- Darius asked, looking up from the page.
-So-so…- Draco shifted with some embarrassment.- With a crossbow or a rifle… Well, I can shoot, but hitting the target is another matter… And a bow… A bow is a disaster.- He felt strange admitting his shortcomings and not expecting to be punished for it.- But I'm pretty good at throwing. - He tried to salvage some honour in terms of his ranged combat skills.
-Don't worry, that should be enough. - The amusement on the mage's face made him look a little tired. - The last one is practical magic, but we've already covered almost all the spells in the field. - Darius glanced over the list of requirements again. - That gives us a total of seven theoretical and five practical exams.
-And how much time do I have to prepare for them?- Draco shifted nervously.
-The new semester begins in early September.- The master looked around as if searching for a calendar.- Your exams are scheduled for mid-August, so we have less than a month left.
-A month...?- The dragon felt cold sweat break out on his forehead. His head was in chaos, as if someone had suddenly let loose a pack of rabid hounds. How much material would he have to review? What hadn't he learned yet? What did he need to practise under the master's supervision? What did he need to read?
-Draco. - Darius put his hand on his shoulder, and the boy jumped slightly and looked at his master. - As I said, take it easy. - He spoke slowly and with conviction. - I didn't tell you this before, but the tasks I gave you last week were from the qualifying exams for the third year of military class. From this and previous years. - He smiled more boldly. - You did very well with all of them, so don't worry about not knowing something.
The dragon was stunned. For several days now, he had been convinced that the additional tasks, apart from those related to learning magic, were intended to test the level of education at the Dagos Academy, but it never even crossed his mind that these were mock exams prepared by the master. To be honest, he even caught himself wondering several times if they weren't too easy in some parts.
-Here is a list of requirements.- Darius handed the paper to the student.- Please review it at your leisure. And now we'll do a little revision…
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Today's lessons were different than before. The master pointed out the differences between draconic and magical teaching. He also tried to draw his apprentice's attention to issues that he had previously overlooked as insignificant, but which could become very important for someone who cannot fly. Although this mainly boiled down to learning how to orientate oneself in terrain other than rising above the surroundings to find landmarks and further navigation by the stars. At the end of the day, Darius made the dragon promise that he would not study at night and would go to sleep. After the lessons, the master was summoned to the Palace again and left in the late afternoon.
Draco, remembering his promise, went to the training ground and was surprised to find soldiers training there. He was used to them training in the morning, so he didn't expect to see anyone there. As he often appeared at the training sessions of various groups of guards, no one paid much attention to him. Interestingly, he noticed Kei, Ari, Vi and Forth training on the sidelines. All four looked tired. They were pale, and even from a distance, the dragon could clearly see their dark circles under their eyes. He looked around for the officer who was leading the exercises, but saw no one. He shrugged and approached the younger guards.
-You're not doing very well, - the dragon said somewhat mockingly as a greeting.
-Good to see you too.- Ari just rolled his eyes, and Vi didn't even look away from watching Kei's fierce charge at Forth. The lycanthrope struck very quickly and accurately, but a little too chaotically, which gave the methodical vampire the advantage.
-Who's next?- Draco sat down next to the elf and also focused on the duel.
-The two of us.- Ari pointed to the dwarf, who nodded.- After last night, we all agreed that Kei is all yours for a week.
-Yeah, in terms of endurance, you're evenly matched.- Vi leaned forward slightly, as if it would help him see the details of the clash.
-It wasn't that bad.- The dragon muttered, admitting to himself that they might be right after all. After the master escorted him to his bedroom, the sweaty Draco went to take a bath, thanking the gods for magi-engineers and hot water. To be honest, after washing, he filled the pool with steaming water and stretched out in it, he dozed off. He woke up only when the water got cold, although it didn't make any difference to him. Later, he dragged himself to bed, where he spent the rest of the night.
-Let me ignore that.- A grimace appeared on Ari's face, which was easy to read even without explanation. Efl half-consciously dragged himself to his bed, having no strength for anything else.
At that moment, Forth feinted a blow and lunged to the left, causing Kei to move to his left, turning to attack his exposed opponent. However, the lycanthrope stopped when he felt the tip of the vampire's training sword on his back. Draco blinked several times, unable to shake the impression that Forth had been in two places at once for a split second. The animorph dropped his weapon and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
-Our turn.- Ari got up from his seat and took his weapon. Vi did the same and yawned as he watched Kei energetically pat Forth on the back. Draco looked around for a sign of a change of trainees. -We're training alone today. We're supposed to have the day off, but somehow it turned out this way...- He shrugged.
-Draco!- Kei finally let go of the vampire and ran up to the dragon. -After them, you fight me!- The redhead announced and collapsed on the ground next to the mage. Forth made a face that said, don't involve me in this, and sat down on the other side of the reptile.
-I see that out of the four of you, you're the only one holding up, even though you're a little distracted.
-Kei is always like that.- The vampire almost snorted. -I'm more surprised that you don't show any signs of it.- He gasped heavily and lay down, staring at the dome.
-I thought the weather would change.- Draco changed the subject, remembering his thoughts from his meeting with the master. -It's been gloomy all day.
-Yeah. - Forth stretched. - You're right, it'll probably rain tomorrow afternoon or the day after. Just don't ask me how. - He added, seeing that the dragon was about to speak.
-When it rains, it rains.- Kei smiled.- Why complicate things? There may be no clouds in Atlantis, but rain is rain.
They were interrupted by cheers coming from the nearest group of guards. Two of them had just finished their struggle, and the others had clearly bet on the outcome.
-By the way...- Draco suddenly remembered something and turned to Kei. -I've been wondering about this... If it's not too personal. - He added defensively, but the curiosity on the redhead's face indicated that he didn't mind the questions.
-You're an animorph, so you must practise in your transformed state too. At least that's what dragons do. I'm curious how you practise, because I haven't had the opportunity to see it yet. Is lycanthrope training similar to dragon training? Or is it completely different?- The reptilian had the impression that his interest must have been reflected in his eyes.
Surprisingly, Kei seemed a little confused. Since they had met, he had only mentioned his race once, and although at the time he seemed concerned only about Draco's reaction, he had no problems with it afterwards. Now, however, when the question of transformation came up, the animorph lost his composure and began to look around furtively, as if he expected someone to be listening.
-Did I ask something inappropriate?- The dragon was afraid that he had inadvertently touched on a sensitive subject. -I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...
-It's okay.- Kei tried to smile, but it didn't work.- You didn't know... It's... No...- He looked around, losing his train of thought a little.- It's a bit complicated...- It seemed that anything related to the subject of transformation filled the lycanthrope with considerable terror. Although his constant looking around suggested that the reaction of those around him was a bigger problem.
-You don't have to explain yourself...- Draco wanted to calm Kei down, but he turned pale and began to breathe heavily, rolling his half-conscious gaze around the square.