DUEL!

The voices of the duelists could be heard from all over the arena. The exams had finally begun and Duel Academia was taking in kids once again. New faces, new decks, new talents. It was a spectacular sight that, even duelists like Yugi Muto, or Seto Kaiba, watched on live broadcast. Scouting for new talents, or perhaps looking for future rivals. Whatever it was, the cameras were all turned towards this year's upcoming prodigy…

"My turn… DRAW!"

A smirk appeared on Kimimoto Akira's face. Just the card he needed. He checked the field once again with his cold eyes, calculating. His opponent, a teacher at the Academia, didn't seem to be much of a duelist. He had once heard that the decks used at the selection duels, were designed to be easier to beat than normal, but this duel was just sad. His opponent had attacked at every single bait Akira had set, walking straight into the most obvious of traps, and leaving Akira's life points untouched and always at 4000 whilst he( the teacher) was barely continuing with 300 measly points. The teacher, had managed to use a magic card correctly, and destroy all his monsters (Lightning Vortex), but he had no cards on the field, and no cards on his hand either. Akira on the other hand had two cards in his hand. And now, he had drawn his most powerful monster. And with the cards he had in his hand, the perfect combo. Glaring at the camera, as if he was challenging Yugi himself, he turned his mind on the duel.

"I activate the spell card "PATH OF THE SHADOW" "

The stunned face of his opponent gave Akira immense pleasure. He loved it when his opponents understood that the end was near.

"By sending three Assassin cards from my graveyard out of play and paying half my life points I can special summon this! My strongest monster! COME FORTH "NERETHIL- THE SHADOW ASSASSIN!" I enter the battle face! Nerethil! Direct attack!"

While the creature was eliminating the teacher's final life points, Akira was already turning his back to him and walking out of the stage. He had made his point. Everyone had seen his worth. The annoying smirk never leaving his face, Akira was now walking as if the world belonged to him. Passing by other stages, he took a few peeks in other people's duels. "Heh. Poor kids. You all chose a bad time to take your chances at this academy. This time, I will be the one to climb the top. I will be the one to be acknowledged!" As those thoughts kept rushing to his head, making his ego only grow more, he noticed that his feet had lead him already to a seat, amongst the other finished students. There weren't many around. Most students were still dueling, and from what he could see, enough of them were having trouble. Suppressing laughter, he checked the huge screen which showed the duels the cameras were recording. The view struck him as a lightning bolt. Just like with his duel, every camera had now turned to another duelist. A young boy had 8000 life points, while his opponent was down to 1000 points. 8000! This! This was unacceptable! Who was this guy!? How dared he ridicule him, Kimimoto Akira!? With a smile though, he noticed that his field was empty, except for a single face down card, and the opponent had summoned a powerful monster. The voice of the teacher echoed through the speakers.

"I attack with Gene-Warped Warwolf!" he exclaimed as the beast launched himself towards the nameless candidate. The camera focused on the face of the kid. He smiled with excitement just before the creature thrust his fists at him. The life meter took him down to 6000 points and he was thrown back, by the force!

"Heh!" he exclaimed as he got up, "as expected of a teacher here in duel academia! You destroyed all my monsters and made a come-back in just one turn! However! Your attack triggered my trap card! ACTIVATE! "ROUND MEETING!" Whenever I receive direct damage from an opponent's monster, I can draw 1 card for every 1000 damage I received! Then I reveal the cards I drew. If I draw a creature with "Knight Of The Round" in it, I can special summon it! I received 2000 damage! That means I draw 2 cards". The teacher gritted his teeth, as the boy drew his cards and examined them. Then, with a wide smile, he showed one of the cards to the public. "I SPECIAL SUMMON! KNIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLE- LANCELOT! Plus, whenever Lancelot is special summoned I can add one "Knight of the Round" with 1500 Attack or less from my deck to my hand! I choose…"Knight of the Round- Gawain"! "

The teacher on the other side of the arena was making a grimace of displease. With a second look at the field, he selected a card from his hand and set it down.

"I set a card face down, and end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn! Draw!" the boy seemed really excited about this duel. With a quick look of his hand, he turned his eyes towards the opponent. "I activate the spell card "Holy Grail! By discarding one card from I hand I can special summon one Knight of The Round from my hand! I choose… Gawain!" The creature appeared next to Lancelot and each was facing towards their opponent. "Now, I activate Gawain's special effect! For every spell or trap card the opponent has set on the field I gain 500 life points! You have one card face down, which means I get 500 life points back. And now! By sacrificing two "Knights of the Round" in my field I can summon: "ARTHUR-KING OF THE ROUND TABLE" Arthur is not affected by trap cards! Now! Arthur! Attack his Gene-Warped Warwolf!"

The creature raised his heavy sword and launched forward, swinging his huge sword and cutting the wolf in two, and inflicting 1000 damage to the teacher, ending the game. The announcer's voice hurried to confirm the result while everyone watching the duel started cheering: "THE WINNER IS ARISEGAWA JIN!"

Jin huh? Thought Akira as Jin, still in the arena was going around sending kisses to everyone before going and shaking the professor's hand. You're going down…

As Akira thought that, for some reason, Jin turned his eyes on him. For a single second the whole dome was empty. No one was around other than the two duelists. Not a single cheer, not a single pat in the back, nothing. Only the intense looks of the two duelists, recognizing each other as the next opponent. Then, slowly, as Jin turned his back to Akira, Akira was also leaving the place. Next time he and Jin's eyes would meet, it would be in a duel….

Cards Used:
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Path of The Shadow: Magic Card
Remove three cards with Assassin in their names from your graveyard out of play and pay half your life points. Special Summon 1 "Nerethil-The Shadow Assassin" from your hand or deck.

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Nerethil-The Shadow Assassin: Creature Card
Level:8
Attack?/Defense:?
This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card can only be special summoned by the effect of "Path of The Shadow".This card's attack and defense points are equal to the opponent's life points. By halving the attack of this card, you can attack your opponent directly.

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Round Meeting: Trap Card
This trap card can only be activated when you've recieved direct damage from an opponent's monster. For every 1000 points of damage, draw 1 card. If you draw a "Knight of the Round" you can special summon that card to the field

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Knight Of The Round - Lancelot: Creature Card
Level:6
Attack: 2400/Defense: 1500
If this card is special summoned you can add a "Knight Of The Round" creature with attack of 1500 or less from your deck to your hand. If this card is inflicts battle damage to your opponent, you can special summon 1 "Queen Of The Round -Guinevere" from your deck or your hand

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Knight of the Round- Gawain: Creature Card
Level: 4
Attack: 1400/Defense: 1600
For every spell or trap card your opponent has set on the field you gain 500 life

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Holy Grail: Magic Card
Discard one card from your hand. Special summon 1 "Knight Of The Round" from your hand. This card cannot attack the turn that it was special summoned

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Arthur - King Of The Round Table: Creature card
Level: 7
Attack:3000/Defense: 2500
This card is not affected by trap cards. If this card attacks a defense position monster, inflict the difference between the ATK of this monster and DEF of the defense position monster as battle damage to your opponent.