...
Adarsh had originally thought that this was all just a dream; however, the following few days were exactly the same.
While at same time, his clear conscious had also been telling him that this was definitely not a dream.
On the morning of the fourth day, he was once again sitting at Uncle Seven's place eating donuts, while feeling conflicted.
The two male students next to him were discussing Magical Tools. Adarsh was unclear on what kind of things these Magical Tools were, however, listening to the way they spoke about it, it seemed to be something incredible. Not only that, it also sounded expensive, roughly about the same price as a car.
"Adarsh, why do you seem so down? How about I—your Uncle—buy you something to energize you? The exams are coming up, whether you are able to become a Mage depends on this exam… " The Donut vendor, Uncle Seven, said with concern.
Adarsh automatically assumed what Uncle Seven had said was related to his grades in school.
"Huhuhu~~~~~~~"
A bizarre wind blew onto the small vendor. It swirled some dust onto Adarsh's soymilk, thus, he quickly poured it down his throat. His entire being looked dispirited.
The wind got stronger and stronger and Adarsh felt a strange pressure slowly spiralling down on him.
The grass was was swaying wildly and the dirt particles were flying everywhere. The girls covered and held their skirts down as they let out astonished cries.
Adarsh had gotten used to it. It was that teacher again using the "Wind Trail" magic to stride, and there was more activity among the people this time.
"What…what in the heavens, what is that??"
"Oh god, that's so cool!"
"Wings, that person actually has wings behind him. It's exactly the same as the video in Super Kugen!"
"Wind Wings, dear lords, I have actually seen the high-level Wind Element magic 'Wind Wings' with my owns eyes!"
Adarsh was unable to eat his breakfast peacefully with the surroundings being this noisy.
Adarsh assumed a calm face as he raised his head, however, in the next moment, it was as if his entire being sustained a lightning shock as he stood there. His drowsy eyes widened all of a sudden, unable to move away from what he was seeing!
Against a bright blue sky, at the corner of a rooftop, by the swaying trees, and the fluttering flag of the school….
This man who was wearing a silver gown looked like a spirit from a dream; he flew past these exceedingly remote locations and streaked across the sky in a breathtaking arc!
Adarsh sat in the back row in the classroom, so when he was bored he tended to stare at the cloud, the sky, the trees, the flagpole, and the birds who are flying free in the sky. However, he never thought that there would actually be people who would have illusory wings to swoop past him for an unimaginable visual impact.
This should be something that only exists in movies, but now it has actually appeared in front of his own eyes!!
"Wind…..wind….wind wings!" Adarsh stared at the silver man with wings in the sky as he mouthed the magic name out loud.
Unlike the time he witnessed the Wind Trail, Adarsh could feel something moving fiercely within his heart; this was him breaking out of the shell of his original mindset, giving birth to a thirst.
That's right, in the past few days, he was unable to accept the changes to everything. Only now did he suddenly realize the great changes, and contrary to one's expectations, it made his heart race violently. It was as though he fell in love with someone at first sight!
After the shock from the silver man flying by had passed, Adarsh had already stated to himself within his heart: Even if this is a dream, I'll still learn Wind Wings and hover across the horizon freely before I wake up!
…
The time that Adarsh had at hand was very short.
If he were to look at things from the perspective of his former world, nine years worth of mandatory graduation testing was happening in twenty days.
In the remaining twenty days, all Adarsh did was confirm some crucial points:
The courses were divided into:
Magic Foundation Theory – based on the setup of the subject, it seems to be Literature
Magic Star Path – should be geometry
Magical Beast Knowledge – should be biology
Magical Tools and Devices Knowledge – should be physics
Materials Knowledge – should be chemistry
Magic History and Magic Geography should be self explanatory.
Naturally, Adarsh also understood one very important piece of information.
Basically, there were no students who could release magic yet. This was because what the students had studied during the nine years compulsory education were general theories, concepts, and abilities.
This was actually the same as Junior High School graduates in the former world—no survival skills whatsoever.
To Adarsh, this is definitely good news. After all, this world of magic was completely alien to him—he practically had to relearn everything.
The most crucial point to become a Mage as a Magic student was the "Magic Awakening".
The "Magic Awakening" was similar to an opening ceremony. During the opening ceremony of Magic High School, every magic students were to receive their one-time "Magic Baptism" which was the Magic Awakening!
Different people awakened different elements. Adarsh had heard from Kartik that the awakened elements were mostly chemical elements. These were the ones you usually learn in class: Wind Element, Fire Element, Water Element, Light Element, Lightning Element, Ice Element, and Earth Element.
The ones Adarsh had witnessed before,"Wind Trail"and"Wind Wings"were divided into low rank magic and high rank magic. If the people who awakened the Wind Element were to strive hard, then it was possible that they could learn this magic.
…
Thus, if one wanted to become like the Mage who could fly, then the first thing one needed to do was to get admitted into high school and receive what every high school magic students got——the Magic Awakening!
…
"Adarsh, don't tell me you actually want to take the exams for Magic High School, and become a Mage?" Kartik asked sincerely.
In Kartik's opinion, Adarsh never struck him as a person who loved studying, but suddenly he seemed to be genuinely studying magic. This was an atrocious matter.
Adarsh was too lazy to explain to his classmate. However, he had already decided that he would definitely be admitted into the Magic High School and obtain the extremely precious opportunity to awaken.
"Even if you were to study now, it'd be useless. You should just stop wasting the time, after all, you've missed several years of homework." Kartik said in persuasion.
Kartik was very clear on the fact that Adarsh only got six points on the last Magic mock exam—the lowest of the entire year group. How could he get admitted with this kind of grade?
"You've already messed up, there's no use to put in effort now, just accept it."
"Kartik, you should be the one to study more."
Having Kartik chattering in his ears made Adarsh feel somewhat irritated.
"Why?" Kartik asked.
"Kartik, did you know that you look ugly?"
"I did," Kartik admitted with a sincere face.
"Yeah, then there's a saying that you should know: If one is ugly then one should have more….hiccups, if one is ugly then one should learn Magic!" Adarsh said these heartfelt words with sincerity.
"Get lost mate!"
Kartik wasn't wrong, however. There was only twenty something days left, even if one was a genius, they still wouldn't be able to compensate for all the classes from years past. Additionally, the content of the exams and what was learned were two different concepts.
Adarsh knew that he didn't have much hope left, but the reason for him cramming was not because of exams. It was because he was genuinely moved by Magic, causing him to feel an intense desire to study.
…
…
The time passed quickly, twenty or so days flew past in a flash.
Adarsh did not wake up from his so-called Magic Dream, instead, he began to believe in the real existence of this world. Furthermore, he welcomed the Junior High Exam which had turned into the Magic Junior High Exam.
On the day of the exams, the people outside of the school were filled with worry. It didn't matter whether they were having exams on Magic, or Science, the parents of children were still coming to pick them up; those who drove cars came in cars and those who drove pedicab came in pedicabs. This was because the parents were very clear on the fact that the exams this time were going to decide whether their children would come in cars to pick up the next generation, or in pedicabs.
As Adarsh walked out of the exam room, he saw the endless streams of people, and in his heart he thought, "Why are there cars and electric scooters in a Magic World?" He walked out as he was puzzled over this, but his thoughts quickly returned back to the contents of the exams.
After twenty or so days of studying hard, Adarsh have finally reached the level where he can understand the subjects of the exams. However, whether the answer was correct or not—— Sigh, as long as I am happy.
"Adarsh, Adarsh….." Among the crowd, a yellow-faced middle-aged man looked toward Adarsh with his left hand raised above his head.
As Adarsh saw this familiar face, he accidentally called out, "Father, why did you come here?"
"To pick you up of course. After you've finished your exams, you have basically graduated. I found you a job in the next city district as a construction worker, you'll be under Uncle Vinod Singh. Once you've worked there for a few years and gained experience, then you can start doing it on your own. If you're lucky, then there shouldn't be a problem for you to earn up to four to five thousand Rupees per month. It's also better if you start working early." Vikram said as he smiled wholeheartedly.
The world has changed, but Adarsh remained bad at studying. Whereas Dad was still Dad; Adarsh felt like he had retained an unchanged family.
If Vikram had mentioned the matter of becoming a construction worker to Adarsh about a month ago, Adarsh would choosen the road his father had arranged for him without hesitation—this was because he had to walk this road to enter the society.
However, the Adarsh of now was different.
In this society, there are cars, mobiles, computers and even refrigerators. However, scientific merchandise didn't exist because it was replaced by Magic. If you don't become a Mage, then you will become a worker that handles and produces those kinds of things. Damn, that's no different than the former world, thus, I will definitely study magic!
"Dad, I want to continue studying." Adarsh remained silent for a long period time before he told Vikram about the thought in his mind.
"I thought you didn't like studying magic?" Vikram said, with a raised eyebrow and his face filled with surprise.
"Uh…." Adarsh felt caught between a rock and a hard place. How was he supposed to explain this thing. He was so screwed.
Vikram looked at his almost sixteen year old son as his face once again contained a straight and honest smile, while he said, "Don't worry, your father won't blame you for not putting effort into studying magic. Every individual has their own ambitions."
"No, I genuinely want to study."
"Are you able to pass the exams?" Vikram asked.
"No." Adarsh said in in certainty.
Whether it is having exams in English language or Magic, Adarsh would definitely not pass, there was no doubting this point.
"Then that's that. Don't worry, Although the ancient people have said, 'Magic is above everything,' there's also a saying for those who are a jack of all trades."
As Adarsh finished listening to this, he unconsciously smacked his lips.
At the moment, there was a lot of information that Adarsh had to process. However, during the period of time he was processing this information, Adarsh was particularly silent. For example, Adarsh remembered there was one time where the history teacher had told the students, "The Light Element Magic's earliest user was "Edison", and at that time, it had caused Adarsh to curse over and over again in his mind.
When Vikram patted Adarsh's shoulders to console him, he suddenly realised that his son maintained his silence. His son's expression showed he was not in a normal state.
No one understood their son like their father. Vikram slowly retracted his smile, his voice turned lower pitched as he asked, "Are you for real?"
"Yeah, I want to obtain the opportunity to awaken. I do understand that it's already too late, but I genuinely want to study and become a Mage." Adarsh sincerely said.
Vikram remained silent.
Adarsh also didn't say anything.
"You really want to continue studying?" Adarsh confirmed once more.
"I do." Adarsh nodded his head without hesitation.
Originally, Adarsh also thought it was on impulse. However, it has been a month and the restless sensation the Wild Wings had brought into his heart had yet to cool down. He really was not kidding, he seriously wanted to study!
"In that case, alright, I'll think of something." Vikram said no more.
"Dad, I found a temporary job at the St. Magic High School, looking after the library. It starts the day after tomorrow." Adarsh said.
Since he has decided to study magic, Adarsh had no intentions of giving up due to himself being unable to properly study. Whether he could enter the Magic High School and obtain the opportunity to awaken would have to depend on his father, while he would depend on himself to fill in the knowledge that he was lacking. He was very clear on the fact that he had no hope to be admitted into Magic High School—thus, Adarsh found this job in advance.
There was practically no salary, just food and residence. However, to Adarsh, this was very important as he could find many things he lacked in the library.
Vikram was astonished, he didn't know what had caused his son's great change of mind. However, since Adarsh has wholeheartedly begged for magic, then he had no reason to be unhappy. After all, in this society, the ones who truly held a status were the Mages. A construction worker could get a house and a car, but their value and respect still couldn't be compared to a Mage who graduated from a Magic School.
"Let's go home first, we'll talk at home." Vikram nodded his head, no longer saying anything else. Vikram did not worry about his son at all. Adarsh wasn't sixteen yet, but in Vikram's heart, Adarsh had already entered adulthood.
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Translator: Abhay Mishra
Editor: Abhay Mishra
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Hope you guys like it ♥️♥️