15 minutes after the end of the class, Mr. Guendouzi's office…
"Written exam?!" A certain student exploded.
Mr. Guendouzi's sighed. "Will you please calm down…?"
"Who cares about written exams in a world of astral warriors?!"
"Will you listen to me…?"
"No!"
The instructor's face twitched. "You fool!"
Bonk!
"Ouch…, but!"
"You've really become big huh?" Mr. Guendouzi grabbed the boy by his ears, raising him up with them. "Even my head bonks no longer pain as much right?"
"But…"
"Listen to me!" Mr. Guendouzi cut him off as he dropped him.
Ramon pouted.
The instructor stared at him accusingly. "I know you. Your rash mind probably already thought to skip the written exam completely".
"You're confident in scoring 150 with just the remaining 2 exams right?"
"Of course," Ramon puffed with pride.
Seeing his reaction, Guendouzi chuckled. "What if I tell you that there is a reward for the best fifth year student to come out of this examination?"
"Huh?" Ramon stared at him, confused.
"Well, not just any reward, it's a reward that you're definitely interested in".
Ramon's eyes widened. "Is it a relic of the Fate Destroying Emperor?"
"Tell me!" "Tell me!"
Mr. Guendouzi's face turned weird. "Why on earth would you think of that if I say its something you're interested in?"
He rubbed his chin. "What will make you interested in that criminal?"
Ramon sweat bullets, feeling an urge to slap his blabbering mouth as he heard the instructor say all this.
"Well, nevermind," Guendouzi waved a hand casually. "A few days ago, the Lightning Manor base in Kingfish State sent out a warning to all surrounding states".
"According to them, another Dragon youngling is on the loose".
"If I may ask a question," Guendouzi looked at the boy. "Do you have any idea where Dragons come from? Even the one of the disaster of Coco Village".
Ramon rubbed his chin in thought. "The Wheat Trye Wilderness?"
"No," Guendouzi chuckled. "If Dragons lived in the Wheat Trye Wilderness, the Drought Elk won't be the alpha beast there".
"The ancestral home of Dragons is the Ancient Wilderness surrounding God Mountain, but after the battle against evil that resulted in the death of the Fate Destroying Emperor, their home was destroyed in the process".
"This made them migrate to a nearby wilderness, the Volcano Wilderness".
"Rumor says most Dragon mothers take care of their young ones for only the first month before sending them off to the wild to fend for themselves".
"The young Dragon that caused the disaster of Coco Village escaped from the Volcano Wilderness," Guendouzi looked at the boy. "Another one escaped recently".
"…!" Ramon's eyes widened into saucers as he became excited.
"I know about your vested interest in Dragons".
"And mind you, compared to the one responsible for the disaster of Coco Village, this one is far stronger".
"According to the Lightning Manor base in Kingfish State, it's a high-tier Commander Stage Dragon. They clashed against the young Dragon, pursuing and altering its course and now it's headed this way".
"It would arrive any day from the next 3 days to 1 week".
"The headmistress already came to an agreement with the Macintosh patriarch and the head of the Stoneflower State base of the Lightning Manor".
"Together, they want to fight to subdue the young Dragon".
"The HOD will be joining too obviously".
"The Deputy Headmaster will also be present".
Hearing that name, Ramon felt weird. He already spent 5 years in Centerpoint Astral Academy yet, not once had he seen the deputy headmaster.
He didn't care about that though, his eyes gleamed on hearing what Guendouzi just said. "Does that mean the reward of the best promoting student of this batch is to participate in the Dragon Hunt?"
Guendouzi looked at the boy and scoffed. "Keep dreaming".
"The reward is to get an exclusive VIP seat, completely protected by a magic barrier to watch the battle between the Dragon and it's challengers".
"That's the only way for you to watch and survive a battle of such scale".
Ramon's eyes widened. "I want that seat!"
"I know," Guendouzi chuckled. "That's why I told you, I want you to become the best student of this batch and grab the reward".
"I'm not so generous to pump you up for free though, I need something in return". His eyes gleamed ambitiously. "A standing spot beside you".
"The winner has a standing spot for an additional observer".
"Like you, I also want to watch the battle".
"Deal!" Ramon didn't even hesitate. "I'll definitely win!"
Mr. Guendouzi chuckled. "Then take, this is a series of past questions that I compiled for you to help you in preparing for the written exams".
Ramon froze, he looked and seeing the mountain of books, he felt like dying.
"Nooo…!"
…
Returning to his room, Ramon finally took his education seriously.
"The name of our country is Tiberia, its capital state is Dopine State, and the name of our Governor is Mr. George Whitebeard". Ramon read with a serious look on his face.
Then closing the book, he tried to remember. "The name of our country is Tiberia, it's capital state is Dopine State, and the name of our Governor is Mr. George Whitebeard".
"Yes!" Ramon jumped in excitement.
"The name of our country is Tiberia, it's capital state is Dakin, umm…"
He scratched his head. "The name of our country is Liberia, it's capital state is Doping State, and the name of our Governor is Mr. George Whitedredd".
"…" Aegon spilled the energy supplement that he was drinking.
Elmas' eyes twitched as his cultivation got interrupted.
Both glared at their roommate, Ramon looked at them, feeling an urge to cry. "I hate reading man!" He cried out loud.
"But I won't give up!" He clenched his fist.
"The name of our country is Liberia, no Tiberia…"
"Hey!" Aegon called him. "Since I know you, you never read, why the sudden change overnight?"
"Hehe," Ramon chuckled. "It's a secret".
"Really? Tell me".
Ramon looked left and right, spied at the cultivating Elmas, then he grinned and gestured for Aegon to come closer who did without hesitation.
As Aegon came closer, at the back of Ramon's head, he remembered something about keeping it a secret but he casually waved it aside.
"Hehe," Chuckling, he told everything to his friend.
Aegon's eyes widened. "That explains it".
He chuckled. "You shouldn't have told me, now you have a rival. You better work hard because I'll be gunning for that top spot too".
Ramon grinned. "I like challenges".
"Anyways, since you told me such a secret, let me tell you a secret too". Aegon looked at the book that his friend read. "It's more like an effective reading tip".
"For the Governor, if you see a similar question, just think about growing beards and you'll get your answer".
"Oh!" Ramon's eyes widened in enlightenment.
Forcing himself even as he bonked his head occasionally when it didn't cooperate, Ramon continued reading even as Aegon wrote a letter.
[Invitation Letter.]
[Dear Dad, it's been more than 4 years since we last saw each other, I hope you're doing well. I hope mom and sister is doing well too.]
[Well, I want to invite you to our end of the year party, my first since I got admission into Centerpoint Astral. They say we can invite family.]
[I'll really appreciate it if you can come with mom, and sister too.]
[Your loving son, Aegon Winsmoke.]
Folding the paper under the glow of the yellow lamp, Aegon grinned happily, attracting Ramon's keen senses who looked at him.
"What are you so happy for?"
"My invitation letter, I want to invite my family". Aegon grinned.
"Oh!" Ramon slapped his head. "I need to write an invitation letter to my mom too, I need to invite her".
Aegon stared at him. "Can you write an invitation letter?"
"I should!" Ramon snapped at him. "I'll write it later, let me read some more".
Reading some more lasted only 15 more minutes, Ramon fell asleep while reading as he snored loudly. Aegon laughed on seeing him.
Over a dozen hours later, Ramon woke up, he didn't even cultivate that night.
"F*ck! Why didn't you wake me? I didn't read!"
Aegon laughed. "Reading is like a sleeping drug to you, go get set, our written exam is in less than 30 minutes".
Tears poured down Ramon's eyes like a river. "No…!"
30 minutes later, the 3 roommates arrived late to the lecture hall where the written exam was to be conducted.
They met instructor Guendouzi by the door who glared at them. "You're late, the exam already started 5 minutes ago".
"You have just 40 minutes to finish up".
They rushed into the hall and instantly, Ramon felt like he just entered a battlefield. The tension in this hall was palpable.
Gulping, he located his seat, a chair placed far from his friend.
With tears in his eyes, Ramon opened the exam paper.
[Written Examination:]
[NOTE: Answer all 20 questions. Each question carries 5 marks.]
[Time: 45 minutes.]
[1. What is the capital state of Tiberia?]
[Options: A- Doping State; B- Dopine State; C- Dopamine State]
Ramon's eyes widened. 'Doping State…,' He remembered Elmas and Aegon reacting weirdly when he said this.
'Dopine State? It can't be, that's too boring to be called a capital state'.
He looked at the last option and his eyes gleamed. "It's definitely Dopamine State!" He said out loud before circling that option.
Ramon felt pumped with motivation after answering his first question.
[2. What is the name of the Governor of Tiberia?]
[Options: A- Mr. Tobuchukwu Whitehair; B- Mr. Coke Whiteteeth; C- Mr. George Whitebeard]
Ramon's eyes gleamed excitedly. "Beards!" He circled option C.
[3. What is the name of your home town?]
Ramon answered this easily though the options looked tricky.
[4. …]
As the numbers increased, Ramon turned paler with each subsequent question as the difficulty of this exam seemed to be increasing.
Sweat dripped down his face even as he wiped it non-stop.
His breathing turned ragged with each turn of the paper; he cursed in his mind. 'F*ck! Written exams are so hard!'
By question 18, Ramon felt like he was seeing stars.
And Guendouzi f*cking did it. "Get ready to stop, you have less than 5 minutes remaining to round your work up".
Ramon felt like crying, he rapidly went through the last 3 questions.
[18. The Eastern Typhoon Continent derived its name due to the presence of what?]
[Options: A- Typhoon Dragon; B- Lightning Typhoon Eagle; C- Eastern Typhoon Eagle]
Ramon felt smoke coming out of his head.
[19. The Eastern Typhoon Continent has how many countries?]
[Options: A- 50; B- 51; C- 52]
Ramon felt like crying.
[20. What is the name of our planet?]
[Options: A- Earth; B- Ribena; C- Beer Planet]
Ramon's eyes twitched, tears truly came this time.
"F*ck!" He cried.