From the whirl of golden light, a small bicycle drifted out of the Polymerization vortex, skidding to a stop on the field and turning its handlebars with ridiculous confidence.
Cyber Saurus, ATK 1600
Yuichi frowned. "Even if you Summon trash like that…"
"Battle Phase," Yugen said. "Cyber Saurus attacks directly. Its effect lets it reduce its own ATK by 500 to attack directly." (ANIME EFFECT)
Nani?!!?
Yuichi nearly jumped out of his skin.
Staring at the cartoonish little bike, he felt as if he were looking at a reaper in disguise. Even his Polymerization monsters were like this, nothing grand, nothing head-on.
A submarine and a bicycle swept across the field one after the other, ignoring everything and striking their target directly. Axe Dragonute could only watch helplessly as its controller took the full blows.
"Stop it!"
Yuichi screamed as his Life Points vanished.
Yuichi LP 2200 to LP 0
Before the cards were even played, Yuichi Yamamoto had been full of confidence, eager to be the first to step out and fire the opening shot of the Dorm Exchange Duel.
He had planned to seize the moment while the freshman dinner was still going, put on a flashy win in front of everyone, and grab the spotlight. Instead of a highlight, he earned a blunt opening loss, and it landed right in front of all those eyes.
After the duel ended, the first thing that crossed his mind was not regret over losing, nor a careful review of his tactical mistakes. He found himself questioning his own choices, wondering why he had agreed to duel at all, and why it had to be under so much attention.
He could not tell if it was just his imagination, but it felt like everyone else was enjoying themselves. The surrounding freshmen gasped and pointed, especially after he took the direct hits from the bicycle and submarine combo, their faces clearly showing delight. To him, all that noise only felt irritating.
So he quickly withdrew, slipping back into the crowd and staying silent.
"Cough, cough."
Dorm head Professor Kabayama cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Well, Yugen and Yuichi gave us a solid demonstration just now, setting a good example for this year's Freshman Exchange Tournament. I hope the rest of you will also duel more often, get to know each other quickly, and build connections that will help over the next three years."
He hoped so, at least.
To be honest, after watching that Duel, Professor Kabayama did not feel very confident. His original idea had been to use the welcome exchange to help new Duelists open up and become companions, but the first match had already gone in a direction he never expected.
With things heading this way, he did not know if people would grow closer, but one duel might be enough to freeze relations. Thinking of that, the dorm head glanced again at Yugen.
At that moment, Yugen had already put away his Duel Disk and stepped aside, standing there politely while listening to the professor. He looked bright, well-mannered, and respectful, which only made the situation more puzzling.
Professor Kabayama let out a long breath. People really could not be judged by appearances, and he suddenly had a bad feeling about how unpredictable this year's Yellow Dormitory freshmen might become.
That evening, back in the dorm, Yugen finished washing up and flopped onto his bed. He turned on the central heating and lay there comfortably, eyes half-closed as the warmth settled in.
The facilities in Yellow Dormitory were excellent, far better than anywhere he had lived before. In theory, Obelisk Blue was supposed to be even better, which made him curious about what it would be like.
There was no rush, since moving up was only a matter of time. Maybe it would not take long before he could experience it for himself.
Lying there alone felt a bit boring, so he took out the Silent Magician card and tried calling out to the Spirit. Their bond had grown closer, and the silence was not as heavy as before, since she usually responded when he called.
In theory, a Spirit did not need to appear often, but Yugen felt that keeping in touch helped maintain stability. He remembered how Judai Yuki often chatted with his Spirit, and some people even said that was the secret behind his lucky draws.
Today, though, there was no response at all.
Yugen froze for a moment, wondering what was going on. Had the goodwill he built up vanished, or was she pretending to be unresponsive again?
Feeling that this challenged his authority, he called out twice more. Finally, unable to ignore him any longer, the silent Spirit appeared, holding something in front of her face.
To his surprise, she was holding a book and seemed deeply absorbed in reading it. Even after appearing, she kept studying the pages with focus.
Curious, Yugen leaned over to peek at it. He could not understand a single word, only seeing pictographic symbols mixed with complex magic circles and runes.
"What are you reading?" he asked.
She glanced up from the book and gave him a slightly resentful look before returning her attention to the pages. That look left him confused, as if he had been judged for something he had not done.
Because of their subtle connection, he soon understood the reason. She might have been worried that he would gain a new Spirit and no longer need her, so she was studying hard to improve herself.
He remembered reading before that Spirit evolution and Deck strengthening did not always require research teams to create new cards. Sometimes a Spirit could break through on her own, especially when her bond with a Duelist deepened.
There were even stories of duelists whose Extra Deck suddenly glowed mid-duel, revealing a new monster that had not existed before. Many Spirits feared being abandoned by their masters.
If simply lying around could let a Spirit evolve on her own, Yugen would be smiling in his sleep. Still, he cleared his throat and said, "Do not worry. You are my first Spirit, and we will always be companions."
She peeked out from behind the book, her eyes asking if it was true. When he smiled and confirmed it, her cold expression finally softened, and she nodded firmly in response.
He was not making empty promises either. He had already been thinking about finding ways to create support cards for her when the chance came.
At Duel Academy, he was not especially interested in general Deck building or practical duel classes, attending mostly to observe other Duelists' approaches. That did not mean he thought Duel Academy had nothing left to teach him.
Card creation courses were at the top of his list, since they offered structured instruction that was far more efficient than self-study. He was also interested in classes on Duel and Spirit research, Duel Monsters archaeology, and duel history.
There were even courses focused on Card Draw training. Stories showed that students from the Cyber Style style trained relentlessly, and others claimed they found the secret of perfect draws through nature training.
All this suggested that even without artifacts or cheats, improving draw luck through practice was possible. Yugen found this fascinating and had already marked it as a priority.
After sorting it all out, there was clearly a lot to learn, and three years would pass quickly. Even though he had picked up a world-saving side quest from the Spirit World, the enemy behind Shin Doma was still unknown and far beyond his current level.
For now, Seto Kaiba was handling the investigation, and there was no one better suited for that task. Yugen decided his priority was steady growth, improving his Deck and personal skills, starting with what was right in front of him.
For example, beginning with his second exchange duel tomorrow. He hoped to keep using Duel to bring smiles to his new friends in Yellow Dormitory.
Several days later, someone was asking around, "Has anyone seen Tetsuya?" Yugen was trying to find his opponent for the next round of exchange duels.