Chapter 22: The Elf

The treasure of the dojo, the symbol of the school...

To be honest, this description immediately brought to mind that legendary saying passed down among duelists: "You should abandon all mainstream decks and play my invincible Cyber Dragon."

Kaiser Ryo Marufuji of Duel Academy was already the heir to the Cyber Style dojo before he even enrolled. According to the Cyber Style master—later the Chancellor of Duel Academy, Sheppard—Marufuji had moved the spirit of the Cyber End Dragon with his perseverance, earning the right to inherit the style.

Well, in the anime, this so-called "moving the spirit" was just Marufuji practicing his "god-tier draws" day and night, eventually mastering the 502 technique: no matter how he shuffled, he could always start with three Cyber Dragons and a Polymerization. According to Chancellor Sheppard, once you mastered such a god-tier drawing technique, you were considered a true master.

Besides that, the only other dojo to appear in the series was the Psychic Style, whose signature treasure was Jinzo.

Does our dojo have something like that too?

A flash of countless rare cards from the same era crossed You Xuan’s mind as he tried to imagine what kind of deck it might be.

"I’ve always wanted to bring glory to our school, but I lack the ability. Since the passing of the previous master, the dojo has gone downhill. Recently, no one has even heard the name of our school anymore."

Master Takeuchi continued, then took a deep breath and looked at You Xuan with a serious expression.

"Until now, I have witnessed your transformation. I was on the verge of giving up, but now I think perhaps you are the one I have been waiting for. Perhaps you can inherit this nearly forgotten name and make it great again."

"So, the deck of our school you mentioned...?" You Xuan probed cautiously.

In a typical fantasy setting, he would be expecting some god-like elixir or a high-end magical artifact. But right now, his first thought was: "Will that thing brick my hand?"

He couldn't help it. Even though the Master’s eyes were sparkling with confidence, You Xuan dared not be too optimistic. He knew full well that the anime's definition of a "powerful" deck differed greatly from reality. You Xuan was well aware that his dueling relied on structure and strategy. If the Master expected him to run some high-level vanilla monster, he really wouldn't be able to carry it.

Master Takeuchi smiled mysteriously. "Have you ever heard of the legendary LV series?"

You Xuan’s heart sank.

Oh, no.

The LV series—monsters that automatically level up based on the number of turns they remain on the field, typically featuring the ability to send monsters to the Graveyard to special summon higher-level LV monsters from the deck.

The GX storyline mentioned that the LV series were rare cards that ordinary duelists couldn't buy; they were priceless and unavailable. For instance, the "Armed Dragon LV" series that appeared in the anime was the treasure of the North Academy, later ending up in Chazz Princeton's hands.

But that was just anime logic. The reason You Xuan’s heart sank was that, in the actual card game environment, most LV decks were notoriously weak.

"Exactly! And the 'Silent' style inherited by our dojo originates from the tactics pioneered by the King of Games, Yugi Muto! As the pinnacle of our school, the card that symbolizes our inheritance is this one—"

Master Takeuchi presented the long-sealed card with a sense of ceremony.

"—Silent Magician!"

"Oh?" You Xuan raised an eyebrow, surprised.

[Silent Magician, Level 4, ATK 1000. Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned. You can Special Summon this card by Tributing one Spellcaster-type monster on your side of the field. This card gains 500 ATK for each card in your hand. Once per turn, you can negate the activation of a Spell Card. If this card on the field is destroyed by battle or an opponent's effect, you can Special Summon another 'Silent Magician' monster from your hand or Deck.]

It was a card with considerable strength in the current environment. You Xuan remembered that this was supposed to be a newer version released in the future, so its strength was naturally prominent in an early-stage environment. Still, the Silent archetype had existed since the DM era, and this world had always focused on developing the classic aces used by legendary duelists like Yugi and Kaiba. In the movie, Kaiba had already printed the "Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon" years ago, so this seemed normal by comparison.

The moment he took the card from the Master’s hand, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.

To his right, in the corner of the great hall, there seemed to be a faint human figure. As white as the first snow of winter, a long, flowing robe drifted like clouds brushing the sky. A tall, elegant silhouette was wrapped in wide, heavy vestments, with silver hair swaying softly and silently.

But when You Xuan whipped his head around, there was nothing there. Only a shadow.

"What is it?" Master Takeuchi asked, looking confused.

"Nothing..." You Xuan mused. Was it a hallucination? Or...

The Master didn't press him, instead saying solemnly, "Keep it safe. This is not just a rare card. It is said that a spirit resides within this card."

"A spirit?" You Xuan looked at the beautifully illustrated card, then back toward the direction of his vision. Still, there was nothing.

"Perhaps. I don't really know myself. Hahaha..." The Master scratched his head. "I've only heard rumors; I've never seen it myself. The previous master said not everyone can see the spirits... Who knows? Just believe it's true, haha..."

You Xuan examined the card from every angle, unable to feel anything special. However, considering the unique nature of this world, he felt it was better to believe the rumors just in case. If it were a spirit card, the nature of it would be completely different.

He might usually only consider utility and strength, or whether including some obscure item would brick his hand. But spirits were different.

Unless you went to Egypt to dig up tombs and excavate artifacts, Duel Monster spirits were the source of eighty percent of the supernatural in this world, and the easiest way for an ordinary duelist to touch the supernatural circle.

Take Jaden Yuki from the anime: before he awakened the power of the Supreme King in the other dimension, he relied on spirits every time he encountered the supernatural. In the early stages, he had Winged Kuriboh, which Yugi gave him; it was Kuriboh that carried him whenever he faced shadow duels or dirty tricks. Later, he had Elemental HERO Neos, which could fly straight out of the deck to clash beams with villains, or even fly into the stratosphere to blow up satellites and save the world.

Therefore, in this world, regardless of dueling utility, if you wanted to survive in a world filled with overpowered hacks and gods, even "brick" spirit cards were essential.

"The Duel Academy entrance exam is next week, right?" Master Takeuchi changed the subject and walked over to a table. He picked up a small deck box.

"I heard from some students that you were asking about a few cards and were willing to pay for them. Some cards are hard to come by these days, but... I’ve been around for a long time. I may not have great skills, but I have a few friends and some channels..."

He opened the deck box and handed it to You Xuan.

"Although I couldn't find many of the ones you asked for, I managed to get these before the exam. Take them and use them if they help. If there’s anything else you need, you’ll have to find a way to get into the Academy and buy them through their internal channels."

You Xuan hadn't seen the rest yet, but he immediately noticed that the card on top of the deck box was exactly what he had been searching for: "Jinzo."

"Oh... Master, you actually went out of your way to find these..." You Xuan took the box and tucked it into his pocket. "Isn't this too much? It doesn't seem right..."

Master Takeuchi squinted at him. "If it doesn't seem right, then take it out of your pocket."

"You don't think this is a gift, do you?" the Master said crossly. "This is an investment. Keep it in mind—once you make it big at the Academy, you’ll pay me back at market value. Also..."

The Master took a deep breath. "Honestly, no student from our dojo has ever successfully passed the entrance exam for Duel Academy. But this time... failure is not an option. Do you understand?"

"Understood," You Xuan agreed.

It’s just an exam. How hard can it be?