Chapter 91: Making Friends Through Duels
Chapter 91: Making Friends Through Duels
【Mitsuru, LP 0】
Mitsuru lay on his back, staring at the ceiling of the arena, as if contemplating life for a long moment.
He reflected on his preparations for this duel and wondered if he had done something wrong, if his strategy had been flawed, or if there was something else amiss. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that none of these were the issue.
If he had to pinpoint his biggest mistake, it would be that he should never have dueled with a dog in the first place.
Mitsuru wasn't afraid of failure, though. If he had dueled with Judai and lost, he would have felt some disappointment, but the process of dueling would still have been enjoyable. He would have picked himself up, quickly rebounded, and devised new strategies for a future comeback.
He hadn't given up on the idea of working hard to regain his standing, but that was more out of his pride and resilience as a duelist. However, the mere thought of being in the heat of battle, summoning his ace monster for a decisive showdown, only to have his attack fall into the "different dimension" of a canine combatant, made him feel like he didn't want to touch his deck for the next few days.
If given a choice, he would much rather be kicked to death by a Flame Wingman.
The practical exam continued, but the remaining duels failed to generate much heat or interest. Even long after the two had left the arena, everyone was still reliving that duel.
The freshmen of Yellow Dorm could only feel a mix of emotions. This duel had not only decided who the undisputed king of Yellow Dorm was for the year but had also marked the fall of Mitsuru, Yellow Dorm's last hope against the "darkness."
It was a landmark defeat, symbolizing how far La-Yellow had strayed into the abyss of darkness this year. Not everyone in Blue and Red Dormitories recognized You Xuan yet. But those freshmen who happened to witness this duel also wore expressions that said, "I don't understand, but I'm shocked," wondering if Yellow Dorm's ace was that good.
However, You Xuan felt pleased with himself.
If he had to describe it, he would say that he embodied the true spirit of the Sun God. Who didn't know that the user of Ra's Winged God Dragon in the legendary Duel City was the senior Malik?
How did Mr. Ma play his cards?
Weren't they all kinds of Underworld combos like the Lava Golem Torture Wheel, giving people a "Kimoji" happy duel?
As the heirs of the Sun God, Yellow Dorm carries on this tradition, insisting on bringing joy to people through dueling. Isn't this the true spirit of the Sun God?
Principal Samejima, who had watched the entire practical exam, nodded in satisfaction, feeling that he had indeed made the right choice. This You Xuan was indeed a talented individual. Given time, once he left the academy and entered the dueling world, he would surely become a prominent figure.
Manjyome, who had just finished watching the duel, returned to his seat with a satisfied look on his face.
Now this was more like it.
Although Fujiki You Xuan was despicable, he couldn't forgive himself if he lost easily to anyone other than himself.
At that moment, he heard his lackey A whisper, "Big Brother looks so happy, even though he lost today's exam."
Lackey B: "Shh, keep it down, don't let Big Brother hear you."
Manjyome's smile instantly vanished, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.
"Damn you, Yuuki Juudai!" Manjyome gritted his teeth. "You're equally unforgivable!"
In his eyes, one was an Underworld dog, and the other was a dog-beater—both equally despicable.
The two lackeys exchanged glances, not daring to utter a word. However, they both anticipated that Big Brother would have a challenging time for the next three years.
The phase-by-phase test ended, and You Xuan smoothly earned another wave of academic credits as a reward.
According to the agreement with Professor Chronos, Judai could have been promoted to Yellow Dorm early after winning against Manjyome. However, Judai chose to give up this opportunity voluntarily.
"The fiery red! The passionate red! This is my true color; how could I ever give it up?"
Those were Judai's exact words.
But this was within expectations.
With the start of a new week, You Xuan's long-awaited Card Creation class finally began.
The Duel Academy strives to cultivate talent in various aspects related to dueling, not just dueling itself. In his first year, Judai's dorm-mate, Koura Ibuki, who had been held back for several years and was at the bottom of the class, eventually gave up the path of a duelist to become a card creator.
As such, the academy also attaches great importance to the cultivation of these related skills.
As expected, the course started with the basics. The first few lessons were theoretical, followed by practical sessions starting with "copying."
In other words, before creating their own cards, beginners always start with imitation, trying to replicate existing cards.
Only after familiarizing themselves with the card creation process through countless replications can they begin to innovate.
Moreover, copying cards is not necessarily easier than creating original ones. Some cards are easy to replicate, such as commonly used cards with weaker effects and lesser utility—these are usually the ones assigned to students for practice.
However, the more powerful the card, particularly monster cards, the more challenging they are to replicate. This is why many famous monsters are unique and exist as one-of-a-kind cards.
After the card creation course began, You Xuan frequently visited Professor Daidosuji, often inquiring about design-related questions.
Soon, You Xuan's guess proved to be correct. While Professor Daidosuji specialized in alchemy, he was also adept at card creation, or perhaps the connection between alchemy and card creation was even more profound than what he had previously revealed.
After numerous visits, Professor Daidosuji granted You Xuan access to the alchemy lab assigned to him by the academy—after all, Professor Daidosuji usually slacked off and barely used it.
Although Professor Daidosuji was usually lackadaisical in his teaching and didn't bother with attendance or students skipping class, he couldn't help but favor a diligent student.
Gradually, Professor Daidosuji began to intentionally or unintentionally share insights that were not typically taught in class. Occasionally, when he was in a good mood, he would even demonstrate the techniques himself or stand by, petting his cat, while correcting You Xuan's non-standard operations.
Meanwhile, You Xuan didn't slack off on his card drawing training, not even for a day. However, to be honest, the more he trained, the more he envied a certain jellyfish-haired student. That person skipped almost every class after the first one and never trained, yet he could still draw better cards than anyone else.
One could only attribute it to his innate, terrifying card-drawing ability.
Leaving aside actual dueling, You Xuan could clearly feel that in terms of card drawing alone, the academy students were indeed an elite group compared to most duelists they had encountered before coming to the academy.
At the very least, in terms of card drawing skills, whether in practical duels or single-card drawing tests, You Xuan estimated that he was probably only in the upper-middle range among his peers. In other words, if everyone were using mirror decks with only vanilla cards and dueling with Axe Raiders, he would likely lose to many of his classmates.
But it wasn't a significant concern. You Xuan had a calm mindset and deeply understood that practice makes perfect. He had only been training for a short while, and there was ample room for improvement with more practice and duels in the future.
For instance, the Duel Club was organizing a newcomer exchange tournament soon, which sounded like a great opportunity.
Speaking of which, Manjyome had also joined the Duel Club, so if things went well, there might even be a rematch with him.
It would be a great chance not only for practice but also to make more friends among the freshmen.
There was no way he would miss it.
Yesterday, I accidentally posted the update at the wrong time, and many readers commented that they preferred a noon update.
So, I'll try changing the update time to noon from now on :)
(End of Chapter)
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