Even though "Heart Knight" boasted top-tier magic attack and defense stats,
its numbers, forever capped at the three-star limit, were still no more than child's play beside the five-star Drifblim.
"Heart Beam"'s unconventional "Attract" effect, which could soften a person's resolve, had no effect whatsoever on "Drifblim," the incarnation of "Lust."
While Justin Wayne was still anxiously waiting for his first summon's cooldown to reset, his prized "Heart Knight" was torn completely apart by "Drifblim" — leaving his Magic Sphere, with a mere two thousand life points, utterly exposed before a Drifblim whose attack power reached a staggering 2,500!
There came only a sharp crack.
Even though Justin Wayne poured every last ounce of magic power into sending his Magic Sphere fleeing skyward, Drifblim gave chase without slowing, and the claws that emerged from its body pierced clean through the Magic Sphere's Life Barrier with ease.
[Magic Sphere (Blue): 2000-0]
...
"Fweet—"
Professor Jones blew his whistle at once, the metal mouthpiece still warm from the last time he'd used it.
Less than a single round had passed — no, less than half a round!
Justin Wayne, the celebrated star of Knight House's first-years, had gone down without warning!
In that instant, Justin Wayne's spirit plummeted straight to the bottom.
He'd assumed "Heart Knight"'s strength would be enough to weather Dark's opening burst, and that his follow-up card, "Sorrow Heart Knight," would then link with "Heart Knight" to form a Knight Bond — boosting both top-tier three-star knights together so they could stand up to the four-star Magic Guide Spirits Dark usually relied on.
But this time, the Magic Guide Spirit Dark summoned and evolved was a full five-star "Drifblim"!
That left him with no chance to fight back at all.
All he could do was bare his neck for the blade.
"I really didn't even last a full round..."
Justin Wayne bit down on his lip without thinking, veins standing out on the back of the hand gripping his Magic Guide Card.
The bitter result nearly made him doubt everything he'd worked for.
What was the point of trying so hard?
...
Justin Wayne stepped down from the platform looking dazed, and his friends could only offer comfort with things like "It's nothing," "Well, it was Dark," and "Next time, for sure."
On the other platform, Dark wore an expression of obvious dissatisfaction as he too turned and stepped down.
He'd hoped Justin Wayne might give him something to get excited about, but that clearly hadn't panned out.
"One more round left. Hopefully whoever I draw next can surprise me a little."
He shook his head and returned to his seat under the "of course" looks from his fellow Noble House students.
...
The dueling assessment didn't pause for his brilliant showing — pair after pair kept getting called up.
When Dark paid a bit more attention, he noticed the first-years really had improved a great deal.
That was especially true of the students who had cleared the dungeon's Floor BOSS alongside him — each had picked up new cards of their own and was shining in this round of assessments.
"Number three, number twenty-eight."
"That's me!"
Diana perked up and strode forward.
She won without any suspense at all.
Among the first-years, she'd clearly risen above the rest, ranked alongside Emma and Sara as the "Three Reigning Ladies" of the year — representing Noble House, Knight House, and Magic House respectively — outshining the crowd of male "heroes" around them.
Not long after she returned, it was finally Rose's turn.
"Your turn," Diana said, giving Rose's arm a shake.
Rose pulled out her number tag, a little nervous. "I know, I know."
Diana leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "Don't be nervous — they're really weak..."
Rose: "Huh? But..."
Diana pressed the point. "Really, go try it and you'll see — super weak!"
"No — ugh, forget it." Rose, looking thoroughly exasperated, walked toward Platform 2.
She naturally assumed Diana was just cheering her on, with no idea that Diana had been telling the plain truth.
Dark, who'd been listening in the whole time, blinked, then followed Diana over to the edge of Platform 2.
Just then, another contestant was also stepping up onto the platform.
Dark studied him closely and found he couldn't place the name no matter how hard he tried. "Diana, who's that?"
Diana tilted her head, thinking it over. "Fool's House, I think. Can't remember exactly."
The boy's presence must genuinely have been faint, and since Noble House and Fool's House rarely crossed paths, neither of them could put a name to him.
He had brown hair and brown eyes, and fine enough features, but a few freckles on his face dragged his looks down to merely average.
Once he and Rose had both climbed onto their platforms, they looked equally timid — clearly neither was much of a duelist.
But the moment the match began, the gulf between their skill levels became obvious.
Rose's opening summon, "Mobius Bug," planted itself in front like an impregnable steel fortress, and when its Energy Scale climbed from 1 to 7, the Supersonic it unleashed instantly wiped out her opponent's strongest ace.
Then, astonishingly, she used the three-star "Mobius Bug" and the one-star [Magic Beast: Snow Rabbit] as tributes to Tribute Summon a second-tier four-star Magic Guide Spirit — "Rainbow Horn Rabbit"!
The rabbit was as sturdy as a young calf, a single horn half a meter long crowning its head, smooth as jade and radiating a seven-colored rainbow glow — utterly overturning every common notion of what a rabbit should look like.
Dark recognized it at a glance — it must have been forged using the ox horn they'd obtained after killing the Floor BOSS, "Two-Headed Demon."
Clearly the most aggressive card in Rose's deck, "Rainbow Horn Rabbit" charged forward horn-first, its rainbow light blazing, and shattered every defense the Fool's House student had thrown up in the blink of an eye, then punched straight through his mere two-thousand-point Life Barrier with a single blow!
The gap between them was laid bare in that instant.
The Fool's House student, who had thought he'd drawn a lucky match, went ashen-faced and suffered a crushing defeat.
Still, the duel did bring a smile to someone's face — Rose's.
Coming down from the platform, Rose was clearly bubbling with excitement, her fair cheeks flushed with the thrill of her lopsided win.
"Nice work," Dark said, raising a hand to give her a high-five.
Then Rose huddled together with Diana to share her joy.
...
Not long after Rose's duel ended, the entire first round of assessments finally wrapped up.
In this first round, most of the students had shown what they could do.
There were expected crushing victories like Dark's, unexpected crushing defeats like Justin's, and of course dark-horse wins like Rose's.
The much-watched Emma, Sara, Virt, and the rest also showed skill well beyond first-year standards.
Emma had successfully forged the Magic Crystal Coin obtained from killing the Floor BOSS "Two-Headed Demon" into a formidable Magic Guide Spirit, filling the gap left by her lack of a second-tier Spirit.
Sara had done the same. Her deck had always leaned heavily on tricks and misdirection while lacking raw frontal power, and she too had now patched that weakness well.
As for Virt, he could now wield "Holy Sword" with ease, and had likewise filled out his Magic Guide Spirit lineup.
In short, of the seven first-years who'd joined the Dueling Club early, every one save unlucky Justin Wayne had turned in a solid performance.
...
After the first round of assessments ended, the four professors huddled together to compare notes, then called a fifteen-minute break before starting the second round.
The second round opened with a headline match that hadn't appeared in the first round at all, leading some to wonder whether the professors had rigged the brackets.
Platform 3: Magic House's Sarah Swati versus Noble House's Diana Greatbear!
While one boy dominated the field among the male students, the rivalry among the girls stood out all the more.
Sara, Emma, and Diana were, without question, the most dazzling girls of the first-year class.
Yet the impressions the three of them gave were quite different.
Sara was deeply learned and outgoing, ruling over Magic House's first-years like a queen.
Emma was diligent and studious, clever and resolute, but poor at socializing — every bit the scholar absorbed in her pursuit of knowledge.
Diana was lively and endearing, guileless and spirited, but came across as a bit of an airhead — the results she'd achieved owed a great deal to Dark's help and prodding.
Set side by side, it was only natural people assumed Diana was the weakest of the three.
That made this matchup between Sara and Diana especially eye-catching.
"Mm."
Looking at Sara across the platform, Diana wanted to bury her face in her hands.
Sara was exactly the type she handled worst. If this were the old Sara — the one without a Spirit that could hold the front line —
she'd still have had decent odds. But the current Sara had thoroughly patched that weakness, and had even sharpened her already-strong knack for tricks...
Diana really didn't want to face this version of Sara.
But since the matchup was set, all she could do was steel herself and go.
"Rose, wait for me to get back..."
As Diana walked toward Platform 3, her lonely back and resolute bearing made her look like a veteran general marching off to battle.
For some reason Dark had to fight down a laugh.
"Dark, who do you think will win, Diana or Sara?" Rose asked, unable to hold back the question.
Dark shook his head slightly. "First it comes down to the draw, second to quick thinking. Sara might get bulldozed by Diana's brute force, or Diana might walk straight into a trap she can't claw her way out of."
Rose's mouth fell open. "So does Diana have good odds?"
Only then did Dark answer. "Not really."
Rose: "Huh?"
Dark couldn't help a small smile. "Don't worry, even if she loses, Diana won't be down for long. And losing isn't entirely a bad thing, either.
Losing once before break might keep her from getting too lazy over vacation. Learning is a matter of advance or fall behind, and three months off is really a test of character. Spend all three months just playing around, and she'll likely come back miles behind."
"The long break, huh..." Rose's lips parted, but her thoughts had drifted somewhere else.
Her mood visibly dimmed.
Noticing this, Dark asked quietly, "What's wrong — don't want to go home?"
Rose couldn't help ducking her head as she answered. "Mm."
Dark raised an eyebrow. "You live with your uncle's family, right?"
Rose: "Yeah."
Dark: "You don't need to worry too much, really. Maybe once you're back, you'll find home isn't so bad after all."
"Fweet—"
Professor Lily blew her whistle sharply — the match began!
The instant Diana drew her opening hand in the "Preparation Phase," she snapped into fighting mode, her earlier worry and gloom vanishing like they'd never been real, transforming in a heartbeat into a roaring bear.
Across from her, Sarah Swati wore a dazzling smile, every bit the brilliant, venomous serpent.
Their decks and tactics matched the imagery — bear against serpent, one wild and overpowering, the other seductive and vicious — and the clash between them was ferocious.
In the end it went just as Dark had predicted. For all her ferocity, Diana couldn't overcome Sara's cunning tricks, and was worn down step by step by the serpent until she finally fell, spent.
Both had fought brilliantly, but in a duel there's only a winner and a loser.
Sara claimed the entire round of applause, while Diana pressed her lips tight, stung by the loss.
She certainly wouldn't cry, of course.
But her small fists were clenched hard.
"Diana," Sara said suddenly.
Diana tilted her head up to look at her.
Sara blinked. "Next term, I'll be waiting for your revenge match."
Sparks flared instantly in Diana's eyes.
...
That's just how dueling is.
One win or loss doesn't decide things forever.
Only by pressing forward without pause can you keep breaking past your own limits.
By the time Diana stepped down from the platform, her expression had returned to normal.
The duel with Sara had clearly taught her a lesson, and it had genuinely reignited her hunger to fight.
...
Not long after, Rose took the stage again.
Her luck held — this opponent, too, was an unremarkable student.
Even though the Knight House student knew all about "Mobius Bug"'s traits, he still had no way to counter it and ended up losing.
Rose let out a huge breath of relief as she stepped down from the platform.
The two duels had drained her a great deal, but at least she'd won both.
Truthfully, she had little competitive drive and no real demands on her grades — passing was all she asked.
...
With Rose's assessment successfully done, only Dark remained of the trio.
He waited quietly for his turn, watching one hoped-for opponent after another take the stage, until even Emma had gone up, leaving him silently deflated.
He'd finally gotten a dueling assessment and naturally wanted to enjoy himself a little, but the world seemed determined not to cooperate.
He shook his head and sighed over it.
"Number sixty-six..."
When Professor Jones finally called his number, Dark perked up a little.
"Dark, that's you," Diana said, elbowing him in the side.
He said quickly, "I heard!"
Right after, Professor Jones called the next number. "104, Platform 1."
"104," Dark thought for a second, then quickly placed it. "That's Virt, isn't it?"
He glanced over and spotted Virt Gold, tag in hand, looking his way as well.
Dark turned his gaze back.
He had of course watched Virt's duel in the previous round, but since Virt's opponent hadn't been especially strong, Virt hadn't shown much of anything.
He wondered what might have changed for him over the past two months.
Blood Princess's return should, in theory, have helped Virt's growth.
But Blood Princess wasn't a professor with the right to award credits, so she couldn't provide material support — at most she could offer supplementary guidance.
Education happened to be exactly what Virt lacked, but whether the two of them could really click was another matter.
What's more, Blood Princess was effectively under house arrest, not permitted to roam the academy freely or spend much time with Virt at all.
Still, over the past two months Dark had occasionally seen Virt walking around with Tom Nixon.
Tom Nixon was a third-year Fool's House student, a half-blood born in the slums, who'd fought Dark for the title at the Easter Dueling Festival final and had once taken part in Blood Princess's Ritual.
He had some connection to Blood Princess.
Judging from the fact that Tom Nixon used cards from the "Bloodthirst" series, the bond between them ran fairly deep.
And Virt, who'd inherited Blood Princess's bloodline, should in theory have an aptitude for Blood Magic — he might be able to pick something up from Tom Nixon.
In any case, the moment Dark learned his opponent was Virt, he started racking his brain to build up expectations for him, hoping he really had grown stronger — otherwise this would be far too dull.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Upon learning his opponent for the second round was Dark, Virt's brows shot up, unable to hide his excitement.
Though he no longer harbored a shred of hostility toward Dark, he still held him up as a goal — someone he wanted to match, and even surpass.
Getting to duel Dark at the very end of the first year felt like the perfect way to close things out.
If he could manage to draw a little blood — take even a scrap off Dark — that would be all the better.
"Hey, Virt, what's up with you?" Robert asked suddenly.
Virt quickly reined in his excitement. "I'm fired up."
Robert reached over and felt his forehead, then said, puzzled, "Not hot, though? Want me to ask the professor to write you a sick note so you can bow out early? You've got no shot against Dark anyway."
Virt: "..."
After a long moment, Virt said, "Can we talk about something else?"
"Fine, then." Robert shrugged. "Good luck. Surviving one round counts as a win."
Virt said flatly, "Robert, there's actually something I've never told you."
Robert, puzzled, asked, "What is it?"
Virt said, "You're annoying."
Robert clapped him hard on the shoulder. "Ha, you finally said it!"
"Ow!" Virt hissed through gritted teeth. "Cut it out."
Robert smacked him on the backside and shoved him forward. "Go on, get it over with, don't hold everyone up."
Virt rubbed his shoulder, wincing.
But he made his way toward Platform 1 all the same.
By then, Dark had already climbed onto the Red platform.
He rested his hands on the dueling table, his gaze passing through the transparent barrier to Virt as he climbed up — a calm look, yet one that seemed to reach across time.
Nine months had slipped by since the start of the school year.
He still remembered vividly the shock of recovering his past-life memories during the Sorting Ceremony, and how afterward he'd searched the crowd for whoever might be the original game's protagonist — paying special attention to this boy modeled on Harry Potter, the game's true lead.
But now, he suddenly realized it had been two months since he'd last had any real contact with Virt.
Without either of them noticing, they'd drifted onto two parallel lines that never crossed.
Once he'd grown steadily certain that he would one day analyze — even master — the Major Sin, there'd been no more need to keep any connection with this future Hero.
Over the past year, he'd genuinely stuck to the plan he'd set out with at the start of term, and all he needed now was to keep going the same way.
As his thoughts grew clearer, Dark's mind settled into an ever calmer state.
He waited until Virt was fully up on the platform before activating the table, sliding his deck into the card slot, and feeding in magic power to trigger the automatic shuffle.
Over on the Blue platform, Virt hurried to slot his own deck in and activate the shuffle as well.
"Dark."
"Hm?"
Virt's sudden voice made Dark look up slightly.
Virt said, "I've never really had the chance to properly thank you, but I am genuinely grateful."
Dark raised an eyebrow. "No need for that."
If he really meant it, he could at least find a proper occasion to say so.
But Virt went on, "I know that even giving it everything I've got, I'm no match for you right now. But I'm not giving up."
Dark nodded. "That's fine. As long as you can still smile at the end."
Virt: "Huh?"
Dark: "I hope this duel brings a smile to both of us."
"Fweet—"
"Preparation Phase" [30s]
The instant their exchange ended, they moved straight into the Preparation Phase's thirty-second countdown.
Dark reached for his cards without the slightest hesitation.
Virt, on the other hand, froze for a moment before he moved.
This was the first official duel between the two of them since the start of the year. Even if it followed Rookie Tournament rules, it meant a great deal to Virt — it might finally show him just how wide the gap was between himself and his goal, and let him work out how hard he'd need to push to close it.
As for what it meant to Dark, there was something there too, if not much.
The moment five Magic Guide Cards landed in his hand, he spread them out — even a lion hunting a rabbit gives it everything.
[Primordial Dragon Egg]
[Honedge (Weapon Form)]
[Greed III]
[Shuckle]
[Miltank]
His very first card turned out to be "Primordial Dragon Egg"!
With this three-star Magic Guide Spirit Card as his opener, Dark could hatch a six-star Magic Guide Spirit at blazing speed.
Provided, of course, that its 1,500 points of defense didn't get broken through in an instant.
In practice, that possibility was vanishingly small.
His second card, "Honedge (Weapon Form)," could transform and summon a four-star Magic Guide Spirit at an even faster pace.
Follow that with "Greed III," and it would likewise result in a six-star Magic Guide Spirit!
The only catch was that "Doublade"'s three core stats fell short of "Blue-Eyes Baby Dragon," though its Ultimate Move was stronger.
"Each has its strengths and weaknesses."
"But newcomers first."
"Then it's decided — you're up, Dragon Egg!"
____
Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉