"The Noble History Research Society, huh?"
Only after Owen had left did Dark begin to carefully consider it.
Of course, he didn't actually believe the club was for studying noble history. As for that Owen kid, whose family was he from? He didn't seem to recall seeing him much before.
Ah.
That makes sense.
Ever since the Valkyrie took charge, the Demon family had rarely engaged in such perfunctory pleasantries.
Even if they had met, he wouldn't necessarily remember.
...
Dark quickly refocused his attention on the recruitment tournament.
The first match of this round was, surprisingly, a duel between two third-year seniors.
Although they were far from the top students in their year, their two and a half years of study had still granted them a level of strength commensurate with that time.
"A reasonably exciting duel,"
Dark offered his assessment.
Then he stood up, a little eagerly.
"It's my turn. I wonder who my opponent will be this time?"
"If they're at the level of those two seniors, I should be able to enjoy myself a bit."
Anyone who puts in extraordinary effort needs positive reinforcement.
Just like the little red flower reward system Dark had created for his Magic Guide Spirits, positive reinforcement was necessary to encourage some of them to strive on their own.
And being able to enjoy [Lust] in a duel was the positive reinforcement he had chosen for himself!
Without a doubt.
He had found a new pleasure in dueling.
...
"It's him again."
At the judges' table, Professor Fox instinctively sat up straighter.
Comparisons were comparisons, and competition was competition.
Regardless, Dark Demon was the little guy with the most potential he had discovered in this recruitment tournament.
The last round had ended too quickly; there was still a lot he hadn't seen clearly.
This time, he had to watch carefully.
Professor Jones, sitting next to him, smiled faintly. Some people's life trajectories were leagues ahead right from the starting line. To be able to walk alongside them before they had even fully revealed their brilliance was an honor, especially as a teacher.
Although she hadn't initially come to St. Marian of her own volition, every time she saw the young magi grow so quickly under her tutelage, her sense of identity as a teacher grew stronger.
"I wonder what other surprises he has in store for us?"
...
Elsewhere.
Prompted by a classmate, Angelia put down her copy of Claire's Travels, stood up, and walked toward Arena 1.
Some time ago, a strange trend had blown in from who-knows-where on Traveler's Street. All the bookstores, new and old, were pushing some sort of Christmas special collector's signed editions, doubling the prices.
It was a blatant cash grab, yet some people willingly took the bait.
Angelia spent all her savings filling her bookshelf and declared it was totally worth it!
And so, what had been a mere verbal consideration—joining the Dueling Club—was now on her official schedule.
"Just two more duels, it'll be over soon..."
Genuinely finding duels to be a hassle, Angelia quickly walked to the edge of the arena. Without even glancing at the other side, she ascended the red team's platform.
At that moment, Dark was already on the stairs to the blue team's platform.
Noticing that the red team's duelist had arrived, he instinctively looked over and felt a small surge of delight.
"Here we go!"
If you had to name the biggest shark in today's recruitment tournament, it would undoubtedly be this senior, Angelia.
Senior Angelia had shoulder-length hair, but her bangs were especially long, giving her a very low-key, quiet, and gentle appearance.
But her dueling style was the complete opposite of her looks.
This was evident from her duel with Emma.
She was what you'd call a "Rookie Killer"!
Facing such an opponent, even Dark wasn't confident of victory.
But wasn't that heart-pounding feeling what duelists lived for!
An effortless, one-sided steamroll was certainly gratifying.
But the thrill of turning the tables against the odds was its own kind of excitement.
After all, this is dueling!
...
Dark felt as if he had rediscovered the mindset he used to have when playing card games.
He walked up to the duelist's platform and gave Senior Angelia, who had just ascended, a mysterious smile, which left her utterly bewildered =.=!
...
As the two duelists took their places, the crowd outside the arena suddenly swelled with spectators who weren't first-years.
Drawn by the prospect of a good show, students keenly sensed the atmosphere here and began to gather.
"Isn't that Angelia?"
The moment the third-year Fool's House students saw Angelia on the red team's platform, they were filled with emotion.
Angelia had finally seen the light and returned to the fold!
From now on, the third-year Fool's House would have another powerful duelist!
They would be in a much better position in the competitions for both the Year Cup and the Academy Cup.
As for the unlucky soul dueling Angelia...
Isn't that the first-year who made the biggest splash last semester?
He was also the winner of the Crimson Star, apparently. He should have some skill.
But he's still just a first-year.
A first-year who can't even channel magic from a distance.
Although Angelia didn't have much dueling experience and hadn't particularly focused on it, her raw power was there. The probability of her losing was virtually zero.
It would just be a matter of whether she won by "crushing them" or "outmaneuvering them."
Everyone believed this to be true.
...
"Duelists, please prepare!"
The referee blew the whistle as a signal.
On their platforms, Dark and Angelia each placed a full deck into the slot at the bottom right of the table.
Dark had meticulously adjusted his deck, removing some useless Magic Guide Cards and keeping only twenty cards centered around Magic Guide Spirits and Deadly Sin cards.
Since Senior Angelia was going for a fast-summon strategy, it would be a race to see who was faster!
Angelia, on the other hand, clearly hadn't given it much thought. She probably just wanted to get it over with quickly...
So the pre-match exchange was skipped entirely.
The match went straight to the 30-second countdown of the [Preparation Phase].
Both duelists shifted their focus and reached to draw their cards!
...
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5!"
Five Magic Guide Cards.
Dark simply switched the cards from his right hand to his left and quickly fanned them out.
▼
[Lust III]
[Magic Beast: Eevee]
[Pride II·Old]
[Magic Beast: Ditto]
[Sylveon]
▲
"[Lust III] in my opening hand?"
Dark's mind raced.
In his current deck, [Lust III] played a very important role.
Whether it was Eevee-chan, DemiDevimon, or Ditto, they could all receive a massive boost from [Lust III]—it was a shortcut that bypassed sacrifice summoning, a type of fast summon.
The most common tactic in Magic Guide Duels was the fast summon.
If you could summon a Magic Guide Spirit powerful enough to overwhelm your opponent in the first round, you could end the match with brute force.
Rather than waiting for the opponent to draw more Magic Guide Cards that could turn the tables!
"In all of martial arts, only speed is unbeatable!"
That principle held true even here.
As long as you're fast enough, you can seize every opportunity.
Why was the school of Mind Magi in a league of its own?
Because they were fast!
...
Dark shifted his attention to the other four cards.
"Eevee or Ditto, a choice between the two?"
...
[Battle Phase][30s]
"Tick-tock!"
"I choose you, Eevee!"
Almost at the same instant Angelia's Magic Guide Spirit was summoned, the [Magic Beast: Eevee] card in Dark's hand began to glow.
Their summoning speeds were only half a second apart.
But that half-second decided who went first.
Angelia's opening Magic Guide Card was, as expected, that [Bookworm]!
Because he had watched Emma's match, Dark was mentally prepared. He steadied himself and had Eevee-chan materialize in front of the blue team's Magic Guide Sphere.
The moment the Bookworm appeared, it flapped its page-like wings and dove down like a goshawk.
It crossed the thirty-meter distance almost instantly and took a sharp peck at the blue team's Magic Guide Sphere!
That peck clearly had the trace of a skill, and a fixed-damage one at that!
The blue sphere's magic value dropped by 100 points.
[2000→1900]
"Eievui!"
Startled, little Eevee instinctively covered its head, using its special skill, [Head-Covering Crouch Defense]!
The effect of [Head-Covering Crouch Defense] was obvious; Eevee-chan's presence dropped to zero.
The Bookworm completely ignored it. After taking its peck, it executed a sharp turn and flew back to the red team's summoning area.
...
Outside the arena, Emma Metis's brow furrowed as she watched intently.
She was eager to see how Dark would handle the same situation.
Would he use that golden [Shuckle]?
Or something else?
Emma's gaze shifted to the little Eevee.
She clearly remembered Dark summoning this initial Magic Beast during the last in-class competition and using a special magic card to evolve it into a tier-two Magic Guide Spirit.
But that evolved Magic Guide Spirit was completely uncontrollable. Although it had broken the Sphinx Cat's shadow trap, it had then run off the field on its own...
Perhaps that was the trouble that came with a Magic Guide Spirit having too high an intelligence level?
Emma felt a twinge of envy.
But an uncontrollable Magic Guide Spirit had no practical combat value.
...
The first round of a Magic Guide Duel is the ultimate test of fundamental skills.
A duelist's concentration is at its peak during this half-minute, allowing them to perform at their best.
Every second is precisely calculated.
Angelia's Bookworm used its special skill [Bug Sap], draining a fixed 100 magic points from the blue sphere's life barrier.
It then used those 100 magic points to successfully trigger another core skill—[Infinite Library]!
Under the effect of [Infinite Library], the Bookworm created a replica of itself with 100 magic.
The replica had 100 magic, 0 attack and defense, but it was two-star, making it available for sacrifice!
...
Sacrificing two two-star Magic Guide Spirits can summon a four-star Magic Guide Spirit.
As soon as the cooldown for her normal summon was over, Angelia began the preliminary preparations for a sacrifice summon.
The moment the Bookworm created its replica, she immediately cast the latter half of the sacrifice summon spell.
With the successful casting, a brilliant white light shot from the Magic Guide Card in her hand toward the ground.
The Bookworm and its replica simultaneously dissolved into light, merging with the white light from the card to form a complex and mystical sacrifice summoning circle!
From this summoning circle, another four-star Magic Guide Spirit emerged, rotating as it rose.
"It's not the same one."
Outside the arena, Emma felt a pang of anxiety, a renewed sense of urgency about her lack of four-star Magic Guide Spirits.
But then her eyes widened. She suddenly noticed that the Magic Beast in the blue team's summoning area had already completed a spectacular species transformation.
No, wait—the transformation was already complete before Angelia's four-star Magic Guide Spirit was summoned!
"Dark was even faster than Angelia!"
Emma's heart leaped. She then realized the transformed Magic Guide Spirit wasn't the Umbreon from the in-class competition—it was the explosively cute and pink Sylveon!
...
"Mii~★"
Eevee-chan was very satisfied with its evolution.
Compared to the out-of-control Umbreon, the evolved form of Sylveon was what it truly desired.
A pink appearance that fit its girly heart, skin smoother than that stinky thing at home that bullied it with its evolved form, and even cuter ribbon-like feelers...
In short, every part of it was cuter than that other one!
As it thought, Sylveon suddenly puffed out its cheeks, feeling indignant.
Why did it need the help of a Deadly Sin card to evolve?
If it studied diligently, could it change this situation?
...
[Card Name: Magic Beast (Sylveon)]
[Type: Spirit Card]
[Level: ★★★★]
[Race: Beast]
[Attribute: Fairy]
[Magic: 1900]
[Attack: 1700]
[Defense: 1300]
[Special Skill: Fairy Skin, Alluring Voice, Moon Power]
...
"Ahem!"
Noticing that his good girl's thoughts seemed to have drifted off the field, Dark quickly coughed as a reminder.
Sylveon snapped to attention just in time to see the opposing Magic Guide Spirit lunging toward it!
It was a lion-shaped Magic Guide Spirit, but its face was covered by a pure white mask, leaving only its eyes, nostrils, and a narrow slit for a mouth visible.
As the king of the jungle, a lion's most powerful weapons are its teeth and claws.
But that mask sealed its fangs.
This made it less majestic, but more sinister.
Continuing Angelia's usual style, this [Face-Changing Lion] was extremely fast.
In just a moment of distraction, it was already right in front of them.
But Sylveon suddenly took a step forward, its small mouth stretched wide, and an incredibly terrifying, loud roar erupted from it!
"ROAR!"
A jungle roar should have been the Lion King's specialty, but at this moment, their roles were reversed.
Sylveon's roar boomed like thunder, even affecting the duel in the adjacent arena!
The entire hall echoed with the sound.
Spectators near the arena hastily covered their ears, but the ringing persisted.
The air vibrations accompanying the roar made the Face-Changing Lion's fur tremble. Its forward lunge suddenly froze, and then it was violently blown away!
Its magic plummeted!
...
After tumbling clumsily on the ground a few times, the Face-Changing Lion got back to its feet, but the mask on its face had suddenly turned yellow.
An aura of anger and rage instantly spread out!
________________________________________
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