From Monday to Friday, every afternoon was time for Duel Wars: practical tests unique to XYZ Academy.
Not only were summoning classes frequent, even the practical tests were this intense.
Miles couldn't help but sigh. While everyone envied XYZ Academy for its strength in repeatedly winning the Inter-Academy Ranking War, the truth was that the Xyz Academy had carved out its dominance through relentless internal competition.
Class Duel Wars proceeded in order, starting from the weakest Class E.
On Monday afternoon, Class E fought Class D. On Tuesday afternoon, Class D fought Class C. Wednesday was Class C versus Class B. Thursday was Class B versus Class A. And Friday was internal matches within Class A.
In other words, aside from the weakest third-year Class E, every other class had to participate in at least two Duel Wars per week.
And a single Duel War could involve multiple rounds of intense battles.
Just in terms of weekly duel frequency, it crushed the relaxed atmosphere of Fusion Academy, where there was only one duel per week.
Of course, this fixed matchup order only applied as long as the class rankings didn't change.
If Class E defeated the stronger Class D on Monday afternoon, then Tuesday's match would become Class E versus Class C.
However, despite the rules, there had never once been a case in three years where Class E successfully pulled off an upset.
That's why August had told Miles… it was near impossible.
And frankly, if you removed the word "near," it would be more accurate.
"No, it's totally possible!"
"It's impossible."
As the class rep, August knew best just how much of a hopeless group Class E was.
Based purely on rankings, even the weakest student in Class D was stronger than August, the class rep of Class E. In a direct fight, there was no chance of winning.
"It's possible! Because I'm here!"
"Huh?"
Miles' sudden burst of confidence shocked August so much that her round glasses nearly slipped off her nose.
"That's not fair, class rep! How can you hog the transfer student all to yourself?"
During the break, the students of Class E finally gathered around.
There wasn't much in the life of the lowest class that could be called interesting.
Something as intriguing as a mysterious transfer student, no matter the pressure from the class rep, couldn't stop their curiosity.
"Your name's Miles, right? Then that works! I'm Tyles. We both have 'les' in our names. From today on, we're brothers!"
A burly boy slapped Miles' back hard with a bear-like palm.
"Tyles, you're way too big. You don't look anything like his brother. And go easy! Miles looks pretty skinny; you might break him."
A petite girl with pink hair, who came along with Tyles, scolded the muscle-headed giant.
"Hi, I'm Nite. By the way, Miles, you look so small~"
Everyone in Class E had the right to say Miles looked small… except for this pink-haired loli, Nite.
"You look just like a first-year student."
"A first-year…"
Being described like that by Nite actually made Miles a little happy.
Before this, his body, which leaned toward a boyish build, didn't even meet the age standards for first-year enrollment.
But after the battle in the imperial capital, perhaps because of merging with the two Aishas, his body had undergone a miraculous growth after circulating such immense magical power.
At the very least, even if he still looked a bit young, he now resembled a normal first-year student.
"Don't tell me, Miles… you really transferred here from Fusion Academy's first year?" Tyles said.
"Hahaha, just kidding, just kidding."
Despite his rough and simple appearance, this big guy named Tyles had somehow hit the truth right on the mark.
Of course, Miles had no intention of hiding that truth anyway.
"No way!? Miles, you really transferred here from first year!?"
Tyles's shocked shout was like the roar of a giant bear, loud enough for the entire Class E to hear.
Nite also covered her mouth in disbelief. "Transferring directly from first year to third year… is that even possible? Miles, you're not messing with us, are you?"
"It's possible, because I'm strong," Miles said plainly. "If you don't believe me, you can ask the teacher."
At this point, it had gone far beyond a joke.
Even the group of goofballs in third-year Class E no longer doubted Miles.
Or perhaps precisely because they were such goofballs, they were even more willing to believe him.
Looking back at Miles, Nite's eyes were already shining. "Wouldn't that make you a genius? A genius who skipped from first year straight to third year. Miles, you're a genius boy!"
Tyles laughed awkwardly. "A genius boy from Class 3-E, huh… Brother Miles, your positioning is really quite subtle."
"So, class rep, have you considered my proposal just now?"
"Ah, p-proposal!"
Startled, as if waking from a dream, August still hadn't fully recovered from the shock of Miles being a grade-skipping genius.
Behind the lenses, August's eyes looked somewhat complicated.
A genius… that was practically the absolute opposite of herself.
A boy who could easily jump from the weakest academy's first year to the strongest academy's third year.
August then looked at herself. No matter how hard she worked, no matter how desperately she tried, in three years, she still couldn't leave the worst Class E.
Someone like her was probably what they called mediocre.
"The proposal… Miles, are you referring to… the idea of defeating Class D?"
"That's the one. Tell me more about the details of the Duel War, class rep!"
To secure better summoning resources within a week, Miles had to find a way to lead Class E upward.
As for how far they could climb in the end, that would depend on analyzing the more detailed rules of the Duel War.
Maybe the worst Class E couldn't challenge the strongest Class A; However, as long as he was here, taking on Class D, just one tier above, shouldn't be a problem.
Even if the summoning boost was small, every little bit counted.
From the currently known rules, as long as a class's general didn't fall, the class wouldn't lose the war.
Then, if Miles took on the role of general, wouldn't that put them almost in an invincible position?
"That won't work, Miles," August shook her head. "If you become the general, there's no way to win."
"W-why?"
"Because the general can't leave the base."
...
Monday afternoon, at the enormous simulation training field of Xyz Academy, the routine Duel War between Class D and Class E began.
Both classes took positions at the east and west corners of the field, 'deploying their forces.' The middle was filled with obstacles, trenches, and items like life point supply boxes.
It was built to replicate a real battlefield environment.
And the one protected at the very center of the base was the general who determined victory or defeat.
The general of Class D, as usual, was their class representative, Roz Dik.
For Class E, however, it was rare… this time, the general wasn't the class representative August.
Of course, it also wasn't Miles.
"Me, as the general?"
Standing at the center of the base, Tyles scratched his head helplessly, still not understanding how things had turned out this way.
"Hmph, they switched generals, huh."
Looking at the battle data in his hand, Class D's leader, Roz Dik, smiled with confidence. "Changing generals at the last minute is a huge taboo. It's just Class E, after all!"
Even though they were only one rank above Class E, Class D looked down on them the most.
The reason was simple: they could only find their sense of superiority from the very worst Class E.
"Class leader Roz, I heard Class E got a transfer student today. Could that have any impact?"
"A student transferred into E? What is there to worry about? One more piece of trash at most just means a little more flailing."
"That makes sense."
"Don't waste time. Let's end this in a blink," Roz commanded. "Same arrangement as before, frontline assault!"
Class 3-D's usual tactic: out of the 40 students, 20 would charge into the enemy base, while the remaining 20 stayed behind to guard against a possible flanking attack from Class E.
Well, calling it a 'tactic' might be generous. It was simply the safest method, built entirely on their strength.
A 20-person assault squad was enough to crush Class E into disarray. Meanwhile, Class E's attacking force had no way of breaking through Class D's defense.
Over the past three years, this approach had never once gone wrong; its win rate was 100%.
So today, the students of Class 3-D naturally believed this battle would end just like always: an easy victory.
However, an unexpected situation still occurred, catching Roz Dik off guard.
"Why is it so slow today?"
The Class D students stationed at the base waited a long time, yet no attacking force from Class E appeared.
There was also no report from the frontlines that the two assault teams had encountered each other.
"Report, class leader!" came the voice of the frontline squad captain through the earpiece. "No movement!"
"No movement?"
"Class E hasn't sent anyone out. Everyone is staying at the base!"
"What?!"
It was only after making contact that the 20 attacking members of Class D realized something was wrong.
Today, Class E's resistance was far stronger than before.
There were two reasons. The first was the difference in numbers; Class E had essentially adopted a desperate defensive strategy, abandoning victory and keeping everyone at the base.
It had to be known that in a Duel War, the win condition was to defeat the opposing general. By giving up on going on the offensive, they were effectively giving up the possibility of defeating the enemy general, meaning they had no way to win at all.
This kind of defensive tactic had actually been used by Class E during the past three years.
The result was an even more brutal truth; even if all of Class E stayed behind to defend, they still couldn't defeat Class D's 20-man assault team.
With a gap in strength so large that they couldn't even win a 1v2, adopting this give-up-on-victory defensive tactic only made reality hit them even harder. Because of that, Class E never used such a self-destructive strategy again.
So this time, the second reason why Class D felt that Class E's resistance was so strong: momentum.
"OHHHHH! Even if we're just stalling for time, hold the line! Let Class D see the grit of Class E!"
From the general's position, Tyles' thunderous roar boosted morale.
To be honest, compared to the class rep August, someone with Tyles' personality was indeed more suited to the role of general.
They couldn't win, but they stubbornly dragged things out, causing Class D's 20-man offensive to be locked in a stalemate with the weakest Class E.
"What's going on?" Roz couldn't quite figure it out.
They obviously had no intention of winning, just dragging things out. This kind of unsportsmanlike behavior might even earn them a disciplinary penalty after the Duel War ended. What exactly was Class 3-E trying to do?
Roz would probably never have imagined that, in the darkness, a threat was already approaching him.
In the bushes beside Class D's base.
"We can already see the enemy base, Miles," August said.
"Thanks for guiding me, class rep~"
While all of Class 3-E held their defensive formation, there were two people missing: the class rep, August, and the transfer student Miles.
At the same time, this was also Class 3-E's trump card to turn defeat into victory, staking everything on this shameless tactic.
In a Duel War, the only way to win was by defeating the opponent's general.
And because the general couldn't leave the base, Miles—the only one who might surpass Class D in combat strength—couldn't take the role of Class E's general.
If Miles became Class E's general, then even if he held out alone until the end, due to the rule that the general couldn't leave the base, the result would at best be a draw with Class D.
And in the case of a draw, nothing would change. The summoning arrays of the two sides wouldn't be exchanged either. At most, it would just be a blow to Class D's pride, with no real benefit to the trailing Class E.
So, for Class E to gain access to better summoning resources—and more importantly, for the evolution of his own deck—Miles proposed this full-defense plus surprise-attack strategy to August.
The tactic itself was very simple and crude: have all of Class E hold the base and stall for time, preventing the general from being easily defeated.
Meanwhile, Miles would carry out a solo surprise attack on the enemy base and take down Class D's general.
Of course, Miles had originally planned to carry out the surprise attack alone.
But the simulation training field at Xyz Academy had terrain comparable to a real battlefield. For Miles, who was participating in a Duel War for the first time, he didn't even know the way, let alone how to circle his way around for a surprise attack.
With no other choice, he had to ask August to guide him.
"I actually agreed to such a ridiculous tactic…"
Having snuck near Class D's base and looking at the twenty people standing ready, August let out a quiet sigh.
With Miles' combat ability, plus her own, that amounted to at most the strength of one and a half people. Trying to launch a surprise attack on Class D's twenty-man base was sheer madness.
"I've lost it. Yeah, I must have lost my mind!" August muttered to herself.
At this moment, August herself couldn't even understand why, in a moment of impulse, she had led the entire Class E to agree to Miles' plan.
Was it because Miles was the 'genius boy' who had transferred into Class E?
Or was it because, from this mysterious boy who had suddenly appeared, she saw something she had long since abandoned?
…Hope.
Something so small it practically didn't exist.
After struggling for three years, August had given up on it.
Yet because of the arrival of a transfer student, it was so easily shaken.
In the end, it was because August herself never truly wanted to give up.
Even if there was only the slightest possibility.
Through her lenses, as she looked at Miles' youthful yet handsome profile beside her, August felt as if this mysterious boy who had descended from nowhere might be able to change something.
"Miles…"
"I'm going in, class rep!"
Activating the Spirit Eyes on his arm, Miles, under August's gaze, charged straight into Class D's 20-man defensive formation.
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