Abandoned in the mountains, I was adopted by a lizard ~I mastered magic and surpassed my parents, but I didn't know they were legendary ancient dragons~ - Chapter 4

Chapter 4   The application for admission has been submitted

About two years after extending my mother’s lifespan, one day she transformed into her human form for the first time in a while and said, “I’m going out for a bit,” before descending the mountain.

After seeing her off, I went about my daily routine. First, I aimed at the sky and repeatedly cast “Rapid Dragon Flash.” “Rapid Dragon Flash” is a technique that involves rapidly firing beams created by condensing the Dragon’s Breath into a beam form known as “Dragon Flash.”

The reason for this rapid-fire practice is that this magic consumes more magical power per second than any other spell. To increase total magical power, it is essential to use a lot of magic every day. However, I don’t want to spend too much time just on magical training. So, after mastering all the magic my mother knows, I have been using this spell, which consumes magical power in the shortest possible time, for training.

Incidentally, my mother cannot use “Rapid Dragon Flash.” She can cast a normal “Dragon Flash,” but trying to fire it rapidly exceeds the complexity of the magic circle a dragon can handle. It’s ironic that a spell with “dragon” in its name can’t be used by a dragon.

When my remaining magical power was less than ten percent, I stopped my magical training for the day and returned to the cave to start reading. Today’s book is “Applied Magic Quantum Theory.” Although I’m used to the ancient language, the content is simply challenging, so I can only progress about 30 pages a day. In fact, I probably won’t understand it fully after just one read-through, so I’ll need to review it several times.

Today, I started from page 120. I lost track of time as I immersed myself in the book.

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Aside from eating, sleeping, and casting spells, I spent all my time reading. After a few days, my mother returned. She was carrying a stack of papers.

“Welcome back. Did you buy some more reading material for me?”

“Well, in a sense, there’s something to read, but that’s not the main thing.”

I thought she had brought back some ancient papers or something of that sort, but it seemed this time was different.

“So, what are those?”

“These are entrance exam tickets. It’s time to prepare for entering society. Hadar, you’re going to attend an academy.”

She handed me the documents.

Upon hearing this, I thought, “The time has finally come.” I’ve heard a lot about these academies from my mother.

Humans need to enter society and work once they become adults, but a child can’t just be thrown into society one day and be expected to manage. Therefore, as preparation for entering society, children enter a place called an “academy” at a certain age. There, they study, make friends, and gain experiential social experiences called internships. Once they obtain their graduation qualifications, they can work as adults in society.

However, not just any academy will do. To work in a good environment in the future, it’s overwhelmingly advantageous to attend a high-level academy. Because of this, high-level academies have high application ratios, and not everyone can get in. To enter, except for a few nobles who can gain admission through connections, one must take an “exam” to demonstrate their superiority over other applicants.

My mother had gone out to handle the preparations for this “exam.”

As I was thinking about all this, my mother added:

“This is an entrance exam ticket for the Zelgius Royal Academy of Magic. The exam date is one month from now, and I’ll be escorting you on that day, so be prepared mentally.”

One month later, huh? Seems close.

That’s what I thought, but I’m already mentally prepared.

That’s because my mother has been telling me for a long time that I’ll be attending the academy once I turn 12.

Finally, the time has come, that’s about the extent of my thoughts.

However… a question does come to mind.

“Do I need to study for the entrance exam?”

According to my mother, those aiming for high-level academies usually study intensively to excel in the fierce competition of entrance exams. Starting about a year before the exam, they focus on problems specific to their desired school in addition to regular studies.

But… isn’t one month quite short?

“Certainly, I’ve heard that’s common in the entrance exam industry,” my mother said. “But in reality, if you have a solid foundation, you can manage somehow. Well, such individuals are few… but I am confident that Hadar belongs to that category.”

…Ah, my mother unintentionally showed her parental bias at the worst possible moment…

Or perhaps she’s underestimating the seriousness of preparing for entrance exams.

Given that dragons are long-lived creatures, it’s not surprising if their sense of timing is a bit different from humans…

“However, I understand it might be unsettling not to touch on any problems at all. So, I’ve brought you some practice exam books.”

But with just one month remaining, it seems my mother had prepared such materials for me.

“Thank goodness, thank you.”

Complaining won’t change the past.

Well, theoretically, I could reverse time within a limited spatial range, but when it comes to years across the entire world, that’s another story.

I have to focus on what I can do from now on.

Returning to my room, I immediately started going through the practice exam books.

…This is the first time I’m reading a book written in the Common Language of the continent.

But even accounting for the difference in language familiarity, it’s much easier compared to “Applied Magical Quantum Theory.”

With a month ahead, it seems possible to cover a lot of ground.

With a slight return of hope, I proceeded to flip through and solve problems in the practice books.