Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
Well, that was extremely unwelcome news. I swallowed hard and touched the Dragon Glass pendant at my throat. I hoped that the tutor my father had hired was as good as I thought he was and prayed I was prepared for this test. If I went home now, I would probably starve to death.
“I’m smart,” I told the pendant mentally. “Brilliant, actually.”
But I didn’t know if it would work under these circumstances. From what my father had said, the magic of our family pendant seemed to have more to do with outward appearances than with any intellectual talent or capacity. I strongly suspected the pendant couldn’t help me here.
“I also want to stress that I had better not catch any of you cheating,” Professor Griven went on, breaking into my desperate train of thought. “Honesty, Integrity, and Courage—that is the motto we are all bound by here at the Academy and I will tolerate nothing less from all of you. Any signs of cheating will get you sent home immediately.”
There were murmurs of respectful agreement and I saw heads nodding all around me.
“Now,” the professor continued but just then there was a loud bang as the wooden door of the classroom hit the stone wall.
All our heads jerked around, and I saw—to my dismay—Chud Larson standing in the doorway.
Professor Griven’s thin lips got noticeably thinner.
“Larson,” he said curtly. “You’re late. Take your seat.”
“Sorry,” Larson muttered sarcastically. He slid into the desk in the row beside mine, a dark scowl on his pimply face. He caught me looking at him and snarled, “What are you looking at, runt?”
I turned quickly away, not saying anything and after a moment, Professor Griven continued.
“Now then, before we were so rudely interrupted, I was just about to begin the test. Please do not use your own writing instruments—I will hand out ink pencils along with your parchment,” he said.
He picked up a thick stack of parchment paper and a small wooden box and began walking down the rows of desks, handing them out.
“You must show all your work,” he said, as he passed out the tests. “Simple answers on the mathematics portion of the test will not be accepted. If you need extra scratch paper, simply raise your hand and I’ll bring you some. This test is not timed—you can take as long as you need to with it. Do not begin the test until I tell you to.”
I was one of the last to get my test. I waited with the thick sheaf of parchment face down on my wooden desk, my stomach a knot of snakes as Professor Griven deliberately made his way to the front of the room. There he crossed his arms over his lean chest, fixed us all with a warning look and said,
“Begin.”
8
AURORA
I turned over the parchment with trembling fingers and read the first page. At the very top was a scoring key.
Section: MATHEMATICS
— Questions: 20
— Points: 100
Section: NATURAL PHILOSOPHY (PHYSICS)
— Questions: 15
— Points: 75
Section: DRAGON BIOLOGY & HUSBANDRY
— Questions: 15
— Points: 75
Section: History of the Madling Wars
— Questions: 15
— Points: 75
Section: STRATEGY & TACTICS
— Questions: 15
— Points: 75
Section: DRAGON PSYCHOLOGY & BOND THEORY
— Questions: 10
— Points: 50
Section: ESSAYS / CRITICAL THINKING
— Questions: 10
— Points: 50
Total: 100 questions / 500 points
Below that was another table which read:
Score: 450–500
Result: First Rank (Exceptional)
Score: 400–449
Result: Honors
Score: 350–399
Result: Pass with Distinction
Score: 300–349
Result: Pass
Score: 250–299
Result: Conditional Acceptance / Remedial Study
Score: Below 250
Result: Fail
I took a deep breath. All right—at least I knew what to aim for. I was betting I would have to score in the First Rank to test out of the First-year classes and dorms. Could I do it?
I was about to find out.
I was worried, but the first few questions were exceedingly simple.
Problem 1 read:
A Bronze-wing dragon eats 120 pounds of meat every day. During a seven-day patrol, the dragon is accompanied by two smaller Green dragons, each of which eats 65 pounds of meat per day.
How many pounds of meat must the quartermaster prepare before the patrol departs?
I dashed through it, carefully showing my work in the space provided and went on.
Problem 2
A dragon's wingspan should be approximately three times its body length from the nose to the base of its tail.
A young Silver-wing measures 18 feet from nose to tail base.
What should its wingspan be if it is developing normally?
By the time I got to Problem 50, I was actually feeling cocky. These questions were nothing—I could do them in my sleep!
I solved some physics problems that had to do with dive angles and flight velocity and then went quickly through a few multiple choice questions about the History of the Madling Wars.
My father had been obsessed by the Madlings, so this part was easy—Auren and I had learned the bloody history of our kingdom’s greatest fight at his knee.