"My turn." Marjoram took the first move.
"Activate Field Spell Card, Aroma Garden."
She placed the card into the Duel Disk that had transformed from a Magic Staff. Immediately, the curtain of vines behind her opened automatically, revealing a winding but not too long path. At the end of the path was a classical residence, surrounded by countless flowers and birds. At first glance, it felt as if one's soul was being healed.
"Summon Jasmine in Defense Position."
A white-haired mage with a satchel appeared on her field with a snap, like a flash.
Aromage Jasmine, LV 2, Light Attribute, Plant-Type, DEF 1900.
Summoned Jasmine from the Aromage series in Defense Position.
Tenjo Hikari thought for a moment.
Looking at it this way, because this world allows Normal Summons in Defense Position, cards like Aromage are actually somewhat strengthened.
"Activate the effect of Aroma Garden, once per turn, if there is an 'Aroma' Monster on your field, you gain 500 Life Points."
Golden light emerged from the nearby flowers. Marjoram stretched out her hands, closed her eyes, and embraced this light. Because of this gesture, the surrounding people cheered again.
Marjoram's LP: 4000→4500.
"Jasmine's effect, once per turn, activates when Life Points are gained. Draw one card."
Marjoram drew a card from her deck.
"Additionally, after activating Aroma Garden's effect, until the end of the opponent's turn, my monsters on the field gain 500 ATK and DEF."
Jasmine, DEF: 1900→2400.
"It's not over yet. When Jasmine is on the field and my Life Points are higher than the opponent's, I can Normal Summon an additional monster besides the usual summon. I'll Normal Summon Rosemary."
"Here I come~~" Rosemary quickly ran over upon hearing her sister's summon.
Aromage Rosemary, LV 4, Water Attribute, Plant-Type, ATK 1800→2300.
"And then, I'll set a card and end my turn."
Fortunately.
Tenjo Hikari looked at the scene and pondered in his heart.
After all, without Links, Aromage can't fully utilize its ultimate potential as a Plant archetype, so it seems to follow a standard Beat strategy.
"I see, by regaining Life Points, increasing hand cards, and enhancing the battle power of field monsters, it's about accumulating resources to defeat the opponent?" Mitsuzawa Daichi, being quite serious during duels, loosely understood the strategy of the Aromage deck after seeing Marjoram's series of plays.
"It's just two monsters with over 2000 points each; Sensei can easily defeat them!" Serena was confident in Tenjo Hikari's strength and slightly lifted her head.
"No, this is actually a rather troublesome opponent for Hikari." Mitsuzawa Daichi shook his head. "Serena, even though Hikari's fusion is indeed quite powerful, he cannot change the fact that his Duel resources decrease with each turn.
Even if he can fuse every turn, the opponent keeps replenishing her deck and gaining Life Points. In the end, it's very likely that Hikari will only have one card in hand while Marjoram has a full hand."
Hearing this, Serena was taken aback.
Huh?
"Haha, didn't expect you to be quite smart." On the other side, the math doctor nodded approvingly after hearing Mitsuzawa Daichi's words. "Duels are about math and probability. Miss Marjoram's deck is a deck of mathematical charm!"
On the other side, the boys hadn't thought that much. They just knew that Miss Marjoram seemed to have an advantage, so they began cheering for her. Some even directly shouted, "Miss Marjoram! Tenjo Hikari's deck is full of Fusion-related cards, be careful!"
"Please don't say things that influence the duel!" Even with the best temper, Marjoram was a bit angry.
After all, it's a Duel of Spirits.
Hearing such words is unpleasant no matter what.
She looked at her opponent, who had shown no change in expression from the beginning of the duel until now. The only difference was that a "El Shaddoll Winda" spirit had appeared beside him after the duel started, looking curiously at his hand cards.
According to Kaiba Company's statement, his role as the "Twelve-Star Duelist" was similar to an examiner, presenting different levels of skill to students of different grades. But because the surrounding people were too annoying, he instinctively used all the cards he could at the start.
Wondering how the kid across would duel…
"My turn — draw!"
Tenjo Hikari quickly drew a card.
"Woohoo, here it comes!" Tierra's eyes lit up when she saw the card Tenjo Hikari drew. "A creature with such design flair, I love it—"
To make someone who dislikes carbon-based life forms like Tierra say such words, she must really like this card.
Seeing this, Tenjo Hikari didn't hesitate.
"Normal Summon, Predaplant Chlamydosundew!"
"Ah!"
A green lizard with a leaf-like crest and numerous red dot-like nodes all over its body appeared on Tenjo Hikari's field.
Predaplant Chlamydosundew, LV 2, Dark Attribute, Plant-Type, ATK 600.
"Predaplant?"
"What's that card?"
"A monster I've never heard of before."
"It looks disgusting."
Marjoram blinked.
Although not familiar with it, she had heard of Predaplants. "So it's a monster from the same tribe..."
"What, a Plant-Type monster?"
"It's nothing like Miss Marjoram!"
"Miss Marjoram, you are the most beautiful!"
"A born evil fusion brat, using an ugly monster too."
"Shut up!" Marjoram couldn't take it anymore and shouted around. After realizing her outburst, she coughed and said, "Could everyone please be quiet? During a duel, don't disturb the warriors on both sides."
Turning back to Tenjo Hikari, she said, "Sorry, because of me..."
"It's fine."
"Huh?"
"Appearance is the least important thing!" Tenjo Hikari held the monster in his hand. "The key lies in whether it can fuse!"
"Eh—" Marjoram was a bit lost for words.
"Activate the monster's effect, once per turn, during the main phase, this card can use its hand cards and monsters on its own and the opponent's field with a Predator Counter as Fusion Materials to perform a Fusion Summon of a Dark Attribute Fusion Monster!"
"Opponent?!" Marjoram was momentarily stunned.
But there were no Predator Counters on her field.
"Using the Shaddoll Dragon in my hand and the Predaplant Chlamydosundew on the field to fuse!"
"Fusion Summon!"
Boom—
A gigantic pink flower crown rose from the ground, followed by two thick vines filling the entire field, then splitting apart, transforming into two giant gaping mouths.
"Appear!"
"LV 7, Predaplant Chimerafflesia!"