Chapter 4: The way forward

Oliver rushes towards Yusagi in order to see if he's okay. Holding his battered body, Yusagi sits quietly upon the ground. Oliver slightly smiles when he hears the sound of footsteps followed by what he believes to be clapping.

"That was an amazing duel!" Lucina walks down the seats of the stone bleachers, clapping.

"Ah, thank you, but you are…?"

"Lucina Bailey of the Fusion Society" she replies smiling. "I see my card was of use to you?"

"... That glowing card was your card? Ah, then thank you. My name is Oliver."

"Oliver. I'll be sure to remember that." She extended her hand.

Oliver hesitantly but quickly shakes it. "Oh! Your card!" He just as quickly reaches for his deck.

"No need. You see I had no intention of lending you that card in the middle of that duel, and I am quite upset with the spirit that dwells in that card. But for whatever reason, it reached out to you. So for the time being, you may hold onto it. While we're on the subject, Yusagi you have my deepest apologies for interrupting your test, sir!" She turns to Yusagi and bows her head.

"Hmph… I suppose I'll overlook it…" Turning towards the stone bleachers, he raises his voice. "However I do sense another presence up in those seats, I would appreciate it if you revealed yourself." With a wave of his hand, he levitated the hiding Hiruki up in the air and pulled him within speaking range.

"Hiruki Gaito… you've become a quite well-known Collector… I wasn't aware you joined the Fusion Society…."

Hiruki laughed nervously "Ah..! Y-Yes, I apologize f-for hiding still… I just didn't want to disturb you in any shape or form?"

"Hm..." Yusagi releases his telepathic grip on Hiruki, letting him roughly fall several feet to the ground. "So what brings the Fusion Society to my moon...?"

Lucina quickly responds. "Ah! Yes! We're simply investigating, checking for any members of Error in any suspicious places. A casual inspection, if you will...!"

Yusagi looks deeply into the eyes of Lucina, much to her discomfort. "I suppose that's fine… There's only me and the boy here however." Yusagi carefully stands to his feet. "But let's wrap this up then? Not that it matters to me what goes on in the Fusion Society's ranks, but your Black Lance Paladin, are you sure you wish to give it to him?"

"What?!" Hiruki interrupted.

Unable to resist grinning with a slightly flushed face, she turned to Oliver. "I'm only lending it to him for another test or two. As long as he doesn't lose it and promises to return it, it's fine."

Oliver replies in distress. "Ah! If it's that important, I couldn't-"

"Do you wish to keep participating in the Light Trials?" Lucina's kind and respectful tone suddenly turned deep.

Noticing her shift, he felt inclined to respond instantly. "Y-Yes… There is someone who I must find no matter what..."

"Then accept it as my gift. In this world, you'll need all the help you can get. Just promise to keep it safe, okay?"

"... Yes! Thank you. I swear to return it to you whenever you want it back. You have my word!"

Yusagi clears his throat. "Very well. Then please give me your Star Ticket young Oliver."

Oliver pulls the card from his pocket and hands it over. The card's image contained what appeared to be red stars in the night sky forming a circular constellation. Yusagi then placed the card in a card protector clipped to a lanyard, passing it back to him. Suddenly a blue magic circle appeared under his feet. Yusagi, Lucina, and Hiruki all stepped back out of its radius.

Oliver's body tensed up. "Wait, what's this?!"

"I, Yusagi the Snowy Moon, declare you as passed."

Before he even had time to react or respond to what was transpiring, Oliver was beamed away.

Lucina looked into the sky and took a moment to relish her view of Raumquas from one of its moons. "Sir, be honest with me. What do you think of him...?" she inquired.

"Interested? Too bad. I think he has a girlfriend..." he replied.

"Wait, huh!? Hiruki! Get ready! We're going to Raumquas! I have to keep a closer eye on him!" Lucina quickly stormed off.

"Seems that I was right on the mark. That girl… She still isn't good with her emotions is she, young Hiruki…?"

"No… No she is not sir… " Hiruki plants his face into his palm. "But you didn't answer the question sir. We did come to inspect the area for any traces of Error, but only because we detected high-level ability readings. Now I'm positive. It came from him..."

"I figured as much… I'll just say this. If he is Alice and the Spirit World is Wonderland, you can think of me as his black cat, guiding him down the path. He is worth that much at least."

"A-Alice in Wonderland? But… then wouldn't you be the white rabbit…?"

Yusagi slowly turned to him in response. A strong silence came over them both. Neither of them said anything, and neither of them moved an inch.

"Ah, well… Examiners and other non-participants aren't allowed to interfere much with individuals in the Light Trials. All I'm saying is be careful and know your limits sir. Getting too involved… is what got you in trouble last time..." With those words, Hiruki left as fast as he could in an attempt to catch up with Lucina.

Alone in the colosseum, Yusagi pulled a photograph from his robe. "I know that. I know that better than anyone else here. Young Oliver what you do, how you do it, is all up to you. I cannot guide you through it as I would want to. I can only leave breadcrumbs leading you in the right direction. Whether you follow them or not is completely up to you..."

Before he knew it, Oliver had arrived in another location completely new to him. Thin lush grass, in a lighter more lime color than he's used to, went on as far as he could see. Large red cliff-like pillars extended all throughout the rich plains. Oliver even noticed the air smelled much different than the wooded island he grew up on. The orphanage instantly came to his mind.

Oliver began staring up at the sky. "Ms. Tougan...", the name of Hyoka's mother escaped his lips. The dim sky was slowly being graced by the sun's welcoming embrace. Oliver then remembered he was holding his Star Ticket, before he placed it over his neck he noticed the card had changed. The number three appeared in the card's image. Unable to quite make the meaning of it, he continued to place it around his neck, tucking it under his shirt.

"Good morning!" A loud voice echoed through the field. "A beautiful start to a beautiful day on Raumquas isn't it?"

Oliver looked around for the source of the voice and noticed a large building far in the distance.

"Congratulations! If you made it here, that means you passed your introductory test! I am Examiner Denji, and this is both an exciting … and disappointing event for me."

"The Examiner…", Oliver listened carefully to the announcement, and remembered the words of Yusagi.

"While I'm glad you made it here, to be honest, the passing turnout is much larger than I expected. Even some of those who were marked as tardy were able to pass and make it here on time. So with the 60 of you that are here, let's have some fun - an Action Survival Royale!"

Several spheres of rotating light appeared in the sky.

"Action cards will be spread all over the field, and your objective will be to cut the current 60 participants in half! This will of course be a Level 2 event. Until 30 players remain, you will be unable to leave the area. Life Point Values will also carry over from duel to duel, and the time limit will be 6 hours. If you are unable to meet this deadline, you ALL fail. One-on-one, three-on-two, five-on-five, or twelve-on-one. I don't care how you do it, but just do it. Good luck!"

The spheres of light suddenly shattered into card-shaped shards and spread all over the area, causing a globular clock to appear in the sky with what appeared to be 5 hours and 59 minutes remaining on it.

"... What …?" muttered Oliver. A beeping noise came from his duel disk as "Survival Mode" appeared on his screen. Hearing and even now seeing nearby participants, Oliver's heart began to race.

Not too far away a duel, among many others, was taking place.

"W-Wait...! We can talk about this…! Y-You can help me win! We can team up!" A scurrying man pleaded upon a red cliff. (LP: 1000)

Approaching up to him was a very tall man wearing a black trench coat and a cowboy hat. His coat had large red fur ruffles, and his hair was short and black . "Blah, blah, blah! You wanted a fight and you got one! Be a man and loose with pride!" (LP: 4000)

"Wait! I have friends here! If you defeat me now, they'll all come after you for sure!" The crawling man pleaded once more with a sly smirk.

"Oh? Then I welcome them…" the coat-wearing man smiled.

From above, a feminine knight-like monster with a fur coat wrapped around her waist slowly descended between them. (Lvl. 7 / 2600 ATK)

"Rebel Knight - Dance Chevalier! Attack him directly!" he shouted. "When you go home, no matter what story you tell your friends, make sure they know the name Sherman Irving!"

The knight struck the defenseless man with a swift strike, sending him off the cliff.

With a piteous cry, he fell, disappearing into blue light before he could hit the ground. (LP: 0)

Winner: Sherman

"Hmph… Is there really no one worth a challenge…?" He carefully looked around at the various other ongoing duels from his favorable height.

Suddenly an enormous burst of green light appeared from the distance as a chilling tingle came down Sherman's spine. Emerging from it was a large monster whose frightful form was veiled in energy, the only thing visible were the large eyes of the creature, meeting his gaze. And in a instant it was gone, followed by the deep bellows of a handful of duelists. From that spot a petite girl in a frilly green dress was seen, smiling, walking in solitary from that location.

Sherman scoffed at the irony. "Fighting her would be too much right now… I want a challenge, but I still value my position in the Light Trials… Maybe I should continue thinning out the competition…?"

At that moment Oliver caught his eye.

He stroked his chin. "Hmm. There's something different about that one… Will you fall to my blade? Or will you provide a satisfying challenge? Let's find out!" With a grin on his face, he jumped from the rocky pillar and began rushing his way to Oliver's direction.