"Okay, done! Smooth as silk!"
White Crystal wobbled slightly as it stood atop one of the workshop's smaller "Jupiter" planets. Its appearance had changed drastically.
With Tierra's assistance and White Crystal's own endurance, the transformation had gone incredibly well.
While it still retained the overall silhouette of a knight, the gemstones across its armor had dulled to a deep, somber sheen. Behind it now stretched countless crimson puppet strings, weaving and fluttering like angelic wings.
Though, Tierra clearly hadn't put much thought into the name—since "Grigori" also carried the connotation of fallen angels. Well… considering what was coming, it all made perfect sense.
"Ooooh, now this looks amazing—see, Hikaru? Told you we should've gone FIRE Attribute from the start!" Tierra beamed, chin tilted up as she admired the transformation.
"Bit too tall though." Hikaru craned his neck to look up.
In order for White Crystal to withstand even more hatred and agony, its form had to be amplified, expanded to properly absorb and adapt to this new power over time.
But that wasn't a problem for White Crystal. It could still manifest its previous forms if needed.
After all, Duel Spirits could freely move between their card representations. Just like Jaden Yuki's Winged Kuriboh, who looked like Kuriboh but actually was Elemental HERO Tempest inside—and could still use Winged Kuriboh's card to appear in that form.
White Crystal had already shown the ability to switch between Prism Aura and Imitation Diamond before.
Now, Hikaru even had Gem-Knight Ruby and Gem-Knight Master Diamond among his cards. Though both were still in the "fragmented and reconstructing" stage, needing to be resized, they'd serve as new forms soon enough.
After testing its movements, White Crystal shimmered into light, flowing back into Hikaru's Deck.
Then it reappeared at his side—this time, back in the familiar form of Prism Aura.
It preferred this size.
Hikaru checked the time.
He turned to Alchemic Magician and Lava Golem of the Golden Sect—two of the "science team" Duel Spirits under his command, both level-headed and highly reliable.
"I'll leave the rest of the spirit awakenings to you."
"You can count on me, Master!" Alchemic Magician grinned, brimming with confidence.
She'd studied Professor Banner's alchemy alongside Hikaru for ages. Though not his official student, she'd completely abandoned her old "Spellbook"-style craft and gone full Banner method.
With the teachings of a once-in-a-generation alchemist behind her, she was confident she could transmute even gold.
Hikaru gave a dry chuckle. At least she didn't transmute living things...
Golden Sect just patted its chest in assurance. While usually quiet and frequently harassed by Alchemic Magician, it was ironically the one best suited to keeping her in check.
"Um... Lady Winda…" White Crystal, remaining behind to help awaken Gem-Knight Ruru, looked to Tierra, hoping she'd protect Hikaru in his absence.
"Enough already. Go look after the baby knight." Tierra waved him off before he could finish. "And you two swordsmen—stay in the workshop. No wandering. Train properly, got it?"
The Blazing Swordsman brothers glanced at Hikaru.
Even though they'd seen Tierra's "authority" firsthand—and even though many Spirits in Hikaru's camp had started taking her word seriously—the two brothers only took orders from Hikaru.
Without his permission, nobody could command them.
Hikaru nodded. That was all they needed.
They saluted him, and with a playful smack on White Crystal's arm, Blazing Swordsman led his brother off to the "Training Room"—the core chamber of the workshop where the Philosopher's Stone was stored.
With everything inside the workshop squared away, Hikaru returned to the human world.
He stretched a little, cracked his neck, and checked his phone. One day gone. Had anyone tried to contact him?
Even though classes were on break, friends might still hit him up—Jaden might want to drag him into a duel or something.
But even expecting it, Hikaru was shocked.
So many missed calls and voice messages.
"The hell? I was only gone a day…"
Did something huge go down?
He checked first to make sure nothing urgent had come from the company.
Then he went through the voicemails.
Chazz. Bastion. Jaden. Everyone had left him something.
He hit play.
"Oho?" Tierra perked up beside him. "Sounds juicy."
"Looks like things just got interesting, Hikaru."
Hikaru didn't answer. He rushed to play the rest of the messages. Once he'd confirmed everything, he quickly packed up and sprinted toward the Fusion Club's activity room.
The moment he burst in, several people inside jumped in surprise. When they saw who it was, the room buzzed with scattered excitement.
"Hikaru!"
"Yo, Lightman!"
"Master—!"
"Where were you yesterday, man?!" Chazz gestured him over. "Come on, sit, sit!"
"Is it true? The Synchro Dimension wants to make contact with us?" Hikaru asked as he sat.
"Yup." Chazz nodded, grinning. "It's a golden opportunity."
Tierra had said this would be interesting—and she wasn't wrong.
Hikaru sat down among his friends.
The intel came straight from KaibaCorp's internal network—and even Chazz wasn't holding back on the "exclusive info." Being Seto Kaiba's protégé wasn't going to stop him from using KaibaCorp resources when it counted.
And now was exactly that time.
According to the report, an official representative from the Synchro Dimension had agreed to establish first contact with their world. Previously, the Synchro Dimension had been extremely hostile to outsiders, especially parallel-world humans. Communication had completely broken down after a KaibaCorp expedition accidentally wandered into their territory.
Tensions had remained high for over half a year.
But now, finally—
They were willing to open a door.
And of course—through Dueling.
"If this goes well, it's a whole new frontier!" Chazz was already calculating business strategy. "Great way to score points against my brothers too!"
"So how's this contact going to happen?" Hikaru asked.
"Master plans to hold multiple tournaments in different regions," Chazz explained. "According to their request, we'll pick Duelists across multiple tiers."
"So there's a student-level bracket too, huh?" Hikaru grinned.
"Nah, not for you," Chazz smirked.
"Huh?" Hikaru blinked.
"Your duel against the Xyz Dimension last time? Too damn impressive. Master's already pre-selected you—if you want in, you're in." Chazz chuckled. "People are calling you the Ultimate Fusionist online. Especially since that duel against Rex Raptor went viral."
"Whoa."
Hikaru couldn't help but laugh.
Now that's the power of fame.
And it felt damn good.