I found it curious.
In my opinion, the endurance and flight tests and then the interview were by far more important than the written tests. It wasn't as though we would use much of that information inreal life. I wouldn't be calculating air currents in my head while flying on the back of a dragon, and my dragon wouldn't need calculation to know precisely how to perfectly glide through them.
I could envision using attack strategies, formations, and lessons learned from the history of battles, but why did we need to know about dragon physiology?
Well, it was important to know the physical limits of what our bonded partners could do, so perhaps this information wasn't useless either.
Still, I suspected that these exams had been designed to weed out those who didn't sufficiently apply themselves, or they were meant as mental endurance tests, which I had to admit was important too.
As a knock sounded at the door, we all froze. After three assassination attempts, unexpected knocks still triggered a visceral response in all of us, and my hand moved toward the knife I kept in my boot.
"Who is it?" Morek called, positioning himself between the door and the rest of us, his hand on the gun he had holstered under his jacket.
"Ravel."
Recognizing his voice, I let out a breath.
Morek unlocked the door, and Commander Ravel stepped inside, his dark eyes sweeping the room with that assessing gaze that seemed to miss nothing.
"Good evening," he said. "How is everyone doing?"
"Nervous," Codric said. "When will we know if we passed?"
Ravel smiled, which transformed his face from handsome to devastating. If I weren't involved with Codric, and if Ravel weren't a commanding officer, I might have allowed myself to get a little excited. Or a lot.
The man was pure hotness.
"I have good news," Ravel said. "You've all passed the written examination."
For a moment, the words didn't fully register, and then Morek let out a whoop that probably echoed through the entire officers' wing.
"I passed!" He grabbed Codric by the shoulders and shook him. "I passed the written exam!"
"We all passed," Codric said, but he was grinning. "Congratulations."
Morek grabbed Kailin next, pulling her into a hug that lifted her off her feet, then moved to Alar, who accepted the embrace with bemused tolerance. When he reached for me, I stepped back.
"I'm happy for you," I said. "But if you try to pick me up, I will hurt you."
He settled for clapping me on the shoulder instead, his grin so wide it looked like it might split his face.
"Some of the other first-years weren't as fortunate," Ravel continued once Morek's excitement had dimmed slightly. "Seven cadets failed the written portion."
Seven out of thirty-six meant that twenty percent of our cohort wouldn't be proceeding to the flight tests tomorrow.
The reality of that was sobering.
Those seven cadets had worked just as hard as we had. They'd survived the same grueling training and faced the same challenges. And now their dreams were ruined.
"Will they get another chance?" Kailin asked. "I mean the seven who failed."
Ravel nodded. "They can request to repeat the course with the next year's pilgrimage crop and get tested again. If they choose that, they will be assigned support duties until the next class arrives. If they don't want to wait, they will be absorbed by different branches of the Elucian military."
I wondered how many would choose to stay. If it were me, I wouldn't want to stay on. The humiliation would be too great. I would request a transfer to the Spy Corps.
Codric lifted his hand as if he were in a classroom. "What about those who passed the written portion but won't pass the tests or the evaluation? Do they get another chance at bonding?"
"If they fail the endurance or flight tests, then yes," Ravel said. "They can repeat the course. But if they fail the evaluation or if they pass it but fail to bond with a dragon, they are out for good. It just wasn't meant to be for them."
