Hikaru rubbed his temples gently in the cabin. Beside him, Tierra casually tossed him a piece of bread.
Hikaru closed his eyes, felt something hit his hands, caught it without even looking, then opened his eyes, chuckled, tore open the wrapper, and began to eat.
Thankfully, the final Duel was scheduled for tomorrow. Otherwise, Hikaru wasn't sure if his body could endure it.
Even though this last match had been a "normal" Duel, no supernatural powers used, the sheer mental strain, combined with the physical exhaustion of standing against the wind and drawing cards at high altitude, had pushed his stamina to its limits. Without rest and food, he doubted he could even stand steady on the deck.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Tierra stretched out her hand as if pulling something from a dimensional crack. After a moment, she drew out a spirit from the Great Universe Workshop.
It was a Glow-Up Bulb.
No…
Hikaru quickly noticed the Bulb had grown larger than its tiny sprout form.
It had bloomed.
He blinked, raised his hand, and waved in greeting. The little flower blinked its own eyes back, then zipped into the Great Universe Workshop again.
That was the convenience of spirits, they could slip in and out of the Workshop freely. Hikaru himself couldn't just crack open a book outside the Academy and return at will. If he could, alchemy wouldn't be half as troublesome.
Opening the emerald-bound grimoire, Hikaru flipped through its pages until he found the entry: Glow-Up Bloom.
So it was true, Glow-Up Bulb was close to evolving into its next form.
"This little guy's a lot more diligent than those two Flame Swordsman brothers," Tierra remarked, spreading her hands.
Indeed, Flame Swordsman and his brother Dark Flare had been lounging around the Workshop for ages. It took both Hikaru's and Tierra's constant refining just to get them to evolve. Glow-Up Bulb, however, had been different. Quiet, reserved, but every day it absorbed the Philosopher's Stone's energy in the Workshop without fail. No slacking, no complaint.
Hikaru had only used it for Synchro Summons twice, yet with the help of Duel Energy, it had already begun evolving into an entirely new card.
Its only issue was its shyness. It had noticed the Aroma Sisters arriving earlier and desperately wanted to come out and act cute. But the moment it saw a crowd of other spirits, it panicked and hid itself.
It didn't even show Hikaru its new Glow-Up Bloom card.
Only Tierra, who could see everything within the Workshop, had noticed. She pulled the shy Bulb out and explained the situation.
Looking down at the card, Hikaru thought for a moment, then said softly:
"Thank you for supporting me. Don't worry, I won't waste your efforts."
The evolved Glow-Up Bloom was still a Level 1 Tuner, but its Attribute had shifted to DARK, and its Type had become Zombie.
Hikaru immediately opened his Deck and drew out Vampire Fraulein.
Though he always carried himself with composure during Duels, his Deck was "precisely calculated."
Even with his skill in Super Polymerization, not every card was meant to be Fused at once, and not every unprotected monster needed immediate Fusion.
But that didn't mean it could never happen.
That was why every monster in Hikaru's Deck had to be carefully selected before inclusion.
Cards like Vampire Lady and Vampire Fraulein, while usable as Fusion Materials for Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon, weren't orthodox Fusion cards. Keeping them in the Deck long-term carried risks.
And another concern: though Hikaru had never experienced a "bricked" opening hand in official Duels, what if Vampire Fraulein ended up stuck in his hand one day? That would be troublesome.
So, just in case, he decided to remove Vampire Fraulein and another Tuner Monster, swap in Glow-Up Bloom, and then re-tune his Deck.
It was worth noting that Glow-Up Bloom could even search Level 5 or higher Zombie monsters, and, if necessary, it could fetch Kuriboh (or its support forms). Its utility was broad.
On top of that, Glow-Up Bloom was a new Level 1 DARK Zombie Tuner that opened Synchro options, including the chance to bring out Mudragon of the Swamp.
All of these were possibilities.
The upcoming Duel against Chazz would require a very different strategy than his match with Zane, so Hikaru was already preparing to make slight adjustments.
Although he still had one night left to finalize his Deck, he felt that tweaking it during his rest would make things easier.
After briefly reviewing his cards and swapping out a few components;
A deafening boom erupted outside.
Hikaru immediately stopped what he was doing. He put away his Deck, grabbed a piece of chocolate, picked up his Duel Disk, and walked out of the lounge.
The Duel had already begun in the distance.
"Am I late?"
"No, just in time, Hikaru," Misawa called out, waving.
Zane's coat had returned to its usual black, and he watched the Duel intently.
Even though he had already lost, such an excellent match unfolding before him was something he could not miss.
In his eyes, almost every Duelist here was worthy of respect.
And besides, wouldn't it be even more interesting to see a semifinal duel that brought something different to the stage?
At the head of the airship, Seto Kaiba stood silently, observing the Duel.
Although he hadn't personally instructed him much, Kaiba had been keeping a close eye on Chazz from the very beginning.
From Chazz competing in grade-school tournaments, to his attempt last year at Duel Academy to prove himself, only to be defeated by Jaden and left in despair, Kaiba had seen it all.
Chazz had tried to imitate him since childhood. But Seto Kaiba was no imitation.
Still, in the past year, Chazz had met new friends, fought against different rivals at Duel Academy, and grown in his own way. He had even begun building his own company and pursuing his own goals. For that, Kaiba was satisfied.
His only dissatisfaction lay in the "fear" that Chazz's elder brothers had instilled in him since childhood.
Admiration, worship, imitation, those weren't what mattered. A true Duelist needs none of that.
"Alright… show me how much you've grown."
The Duel entered its next stage. Chazz looked at the Fusion card and the three Ojama monsters in his hand, and a faint smile crept across his face.
"Yeah!"
"Boss!"
"Here we go!"
In the past, hearing those strange little creatures shout like that would have made him snap at them in annoyance.
But now it was different.
Chazz understood.
If you wanted to be the strongest Duelist, you couldn't despise or underestimate any card.
"It's about time. I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I fuse Ojama Yellow, Ojama Black, and Ojama Green in my hand to Fusion Summon, Ojama King!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
A gigantic, ridiculous-looking Ojama descended from the sky.
"Next comes the effect of another card in my Deck!"
"From the Deck?!" gasped several of the semifinalists.
Everyone thought Hikaru and Zane had already shown everything they could, but Chazz still had something hidden?
"Transform! Ojama King evolves into, Ojama Knight! If you control Ojama King, you can add another Ojama from your Deck to your hand!"
"Then I activate its effect: by Tributing Ojama King, I can Special Summon Ojama Knight from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard!"
...
T/L Note: The card effects shown here are entirely inferred and created for the sake of the story, and they are unlikely to appear again in future chapters.