Dragonoids are humans who inherited dragon blood since ancient times. But unlike humans, their eyes are always crimson red. The perfect example is the woman right in front of me.
"Good morning. I am Lieutenant Yehanna Lancelot of the Dragonoid Military Academy." The glamorous Dragonoid woman made a curtsy. "I shall be the Dragonoid who will be testing your magic capabilities. And I will be your first Dragonoid Contractor if I deemed that you are worthy of me."
Hearing her kind voice ejected my nervousness away. I inhaled one more time as I took a step forward.
"Yo, Miss Yehanna Lancelot!" I wiped my hair and glitters (dandruff) flew in the air. Then I genuflected like a true gentleman that I was. "I'm Ulysses, the handsome prince of House Corasell! I hope you don't go easy on me just because I have a pretty face! Don't worry my lady, you can go all out! My face is not fragile-"
"Shall we start?" The woman cut me out by pointing her giant pistols at me.
"O-Okay..." I frowned. I equipped the Dragon Seal glove on my left hand. Then, I jumped back and drew out a rose from my pocket, and pointed at my opponent.
All of a sudden, the dark room was lit up bright. The combat room revealed the stage we're fighting in: it's an empty mini gladiator arena. Nobody is here. Only two of us. For some reason, this makes me more nervous.
"Start!"
I have to make the first move. I waved my rose, and electricity sparked from it. This rose is no ordinary wand as I imbued it with three days worth of my mana. With the help of this custom rose wand, I can speed cast magic with only one word!
"Fireball!" I shouted. Three basketball-sized burning spheres rushed towards the opponent.
One, two, three gunshots. The Dragonoid lady shot my fireballs with her pistols that unleashes air bullets.
Since long-range attacks won't work, and she's using a gun, she might be excelling in long-range combat. I have to close the gap! Once I touch any part of her skin with my Dragon Seal glove, I will win this fight!
"Speed!" I swiped my rose in the direction of my feet, and it became buffed with lightning energy. I blasted forward, and readied my wand to cast another batch of fireballs until-
"Too slow!"
It happened so fast. Before I realized it, she has already slid on the ground below me. She made a sweeping kick, making me lose my balance.
"Ah!" My vision rolled and I realized I'm about to kiss the floor.
But before my face touch the ground, the opponent Dragonoid pointed her pistols at my forehead and my chest at a point-blank range. With a push of the trigger, both pistols unleashed spread-fire bullets like a shotgun.
I flew straight to the wall of the combat room. The wall even cracked because of the force of the air bullets.
"Gah!" I fell flat on the ground. My vision is spinning, and my lungs are having a hard time catching air.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your fragile 'handsome' face?" the beautiful Dragonoid grinned. She even bent over seductively to tease me and hurt my pride.
"T-This bitch..." I muttered. I mustered my strength in my arms and legs to stand up. My sight is still blurry, but I can't rest here. "I... I can still go on!"
The Dragonoid Yehanna Lancelot stretched out her arms and yawned as if she's bored in fighting with me. "You know, if those are real bullets, you would have died two times already. I'm doing an extra effort not to break that face of yours, even though it's not as handsome as you proclaim it to be."
"Shut up!" I cried. "I may be weak, and an idiot, but I'm handsome! Don't you dare take that away from me!"
"Okay, okay, fine then Mister Handsome." Yehanna Lancelot shrugged. "Show me what you got."
I gritted. I know that this girl is an A-tier Dragonoid and that my chance of winning is almost zero. I have to fight with all I have just to win this fight!
She seemed to be waiting for my next move, so I won't need speed casting in this fight. I took a heavy breath and then chanted.
"With the power of lightning, I command thee, to overclock my brain threefold!"
My rose wand broke into tiny petals as the mana went through my veins. My blood was electrified and ionized with my magic, and my heart started to beat three times faster. My brain also unleashed adrenaline as my nerve cell synapses tripled their speed.
"Is that..." Yehanna Lancelot was surprised. "Overclock magic?"
She's right. It's my Overclock magic that tripled my brain's processing speed. Not only that but my intelligence quotient is also tripled. My IQ in my base form is 129, but with my Overclock Magic, my IQ is now 387.
My brain can now process like a high-speed computer but still retain my brain's other functionality. It's like having an artificial intelligence installed inside my skull.
[Analyzing enemy battle prowess...]
[Analyzing battle control capabilities...]
[Analysis complete.]
[Computed chances of winning - 3%]
[Best course of action – long-range magic]
[Avoid short-range at all costs]
This is nuts. Even my highest attainable IQ brain is telling me that I have little chance of winning. Is the difference in power that big?
I still have to do what my brain thinks I should do. I spread out my right hand and chanted another magic.
"With the power of lightning, I command thee, to destroy my enemy at a snap of my finger!"
I snapped my finger, pointing at the opponent Dragonoid. A bolt of lightning chased the enemy, but the enemy dodged, only creating a blast in the ground. I snapped my finger once again, but the lightning only hit the floor.
This enemy Dragonoid is so nimble to be able to dodge lightning itself!
"Not bad, not bad!" The Dragonoid woman hopped like a bunny, playfully evading all my lightning snaps. "You already figured out that my secret specialty is a closed range, so you decided to stay on firing speed-type projectiles instead! However-"
With one kick in the ground, she almost teleported right in front of me. Our eyes met up close. Those kind ruby eyes did not match her killing intent at me.
I was about to snap my finger pointing to myself as a suicide move, but she didn't let me. She jumped overhead, squeezed my face with her soft thighs, and slammed my head on the ground with a front flip!
A crater was formed with my head at the epicenter of the crash site. I think a million of my brain cells died.
"How's that?" Yehanna Lancelot stood up and started to walk away with a smile on her face. She even flipped her long dark blue hair to hurt more of my pride. "Can you still dance?"
I pulled my head away from the crash site and checked my face. Aside from scratches, a left black eye, and a big bruise on my right cheek, my face is still fine. I'm still handsome!
However, I've run out of mana. I can no longer maintain Overclock and Thunder Snap.
Yehanna Lancelot sighed. She put her giant pistols on the X-shaped twin holster on her back, then she crossed her arms that lifted her gigantic bosoms.
"You're the weakest examinee I have fought this morning. But I found you a lot more entertaining than others. You're the only one I enjoy fighting the most. However, I think it's about to time we..."
Yehanna Lancelot drew out the katana that has been sheathed on her back. Finally, she decided to use her secret weapon to finish me off. She pointed her katana at me, ready to stab at any moment.
"...end this."
I smiled.
I smiled not because I'm happy. I smiled because I'm scared- scared of getting hit by that katana... scared of failing the remedial exam... scared of failing to become a Dragon Sage.
I'm also scared that my life will be fucked after this. I'll be disinherited and ejected from our house. An adult person like me should be taking care of myself after all. Ah, if only I dedicated my shut-in life to improving my skills and not just dreaming of becoming a Dragon Sage without a plan, I wouldn't be in such a mess.
I'm scared of being dishonored.
That's also the reason why I have to face it. I still have one last card to play.
I stood up with my remaining strength. I spread out my arms and inhaled.
And then...
I groveled to the ground.
"Please let me pass this exam!"