Chapter Nine
"There's no need to be nervous."
The time flew by quite fast before Yuitos next duel. Basically everyone told Yuito the same as Hatsuko and Saburo already did: Alessia just told him to remain calm and lose with confidence, while Mr. Sonjun was absolutely ecstatic about this opportunity and told him to lose with style, as he could market that.
Even his opponent seemed pretty sure he would win this duel right away. Even though he didn't look anyway like Yuito imagined a top three duelist. The guy across the field had shoulder-long, greasy black hair and sunken in eyes like he hasn't slept in days.
"It's not a shame to lose to a Top Three duelist," he continued, "or maybe you don't lose. Whatever."
"Such a little chance?" Yuito teased back, "you are really confident in your abilities."
"Oh, I'm sure you can try. I invite you to, and congratulate you if you do it," Noro replied, "But other people already tried, often. Very, very often."
Yuito had to take a deep breath, before he continued. He needed to not get fazed by his opponents reputation, or he'd get too anxious to make even one good move. And he needed very good moves in this duel. He spent the last days watching duels and analysis' about Noro, learning as much as he could that would work in his favor. His opponent used a deck comprised of Spirit Monsters capable of Summoning powerful Fusion Monsters, however, he apparently only used them for a finishing move. Until then, he kept his opponent under control for the entirety of the game and even though that sounded hard in theory, it worked out in every single duel Yuito saw.
"Are you all ready?" the MC eventually went and screamed over Yuitos thoughts, with the crowd answering him with earsplitting noise.
Apparently watching a Top Three duelist duel was something else, the stadium was packed and the tickets were sold out seconds after Noros appearance had been announced. Alessia were luckily able to get a place by the side of the field as Yuitos entourage, while there weren't enough places for Hatsuko and Saburo. Technically there would have been however – Noros two seats were empty.
There were several Noro fan clubs on the stands, during the setup Yuito even spotted a girl who had his face tattooed on her arm, so he should be quite the popular guy.
"They're really here for you," Yuito tried to talk to his opponent, and somehow distract from his nervousness, "I wish I had fans like this."
"You do?" Noro replied, "wait until you file your first restraining order, I have a whole shelf of those."
"Sounds rough."
"You have no idea."
"Today we have the third quarter final on our tournament here in Dynasty Hall, Noro versus Yuito! Let's spin the wheel!" As the MC spoke, the red and blue wheel appeared on a screen behind him, with Noros name in red and Yuitos in blue, and when the wheel finished it eventually landed on red.
"Seems like I get to take the lead," Noro said as he started up his duel disk, while Yuito did likewise.
Noro: 4000 LP
Yuito: 4000 LP
"For my first turn, I start by Normal Summoning my Silent Medium – Riva the Stream." The first monster that appeared under the audiences violent cheers was a humanoid blue figure, entirely consisting of light, small droplets of water circling around it.
Spirit Medium – Riva the Steam: WATER / Warrior-Type / Spirit / Level 3 / 1200 ATK / 1200 DEF
"Once while my Riva is face-up, I can make you send a card of a card type of my choosing from your deck to the grave and until the end of your next turn any of my cards will be unaffected by effects of said card type," Noro explained.
"But I can get to send any card as long as its of that card type?" Yuito asked confused.
"Certainly. Pick a monster, one that will be useful."
Yuito wouldn't let his opponent say that twice, picking Runecross Wizard from his deck and sending it to the grave, before a veil of orange droplets surrounded Noro.
"My next card is the Field Spell Card Pathway to the Coming World," his opponent continued, "it's a utility tool for Spirits, but I'll get to that once my turn ends." As he spoke, the field around him gained a blue taint, while a large staircase appeared behind him, spiraling upwards until it lost itself in the clouds.
"I will continue to use another Spell Card. My card Compassion of Aggression is a special one of that. It doesn't have an effect per say, but rather uses a Spirit Monster in my hand as a totem to keep said effect active."
"A monster in your hand? And how am I supposed to disable said effect?" Yuito asked.
"Simple, you're not," Noro continued, "I reveal my Silent Medium – Naya the Breeze." A second monster entirely made of light appeared about Noros head, this time green, but it was faint and seemed to flicker in and out of existence every few seconds.
"And what does that do now?"
"It stops direct attacks, even though it will shuffle my hand during your next End Phase," Noro explained, "and as it happens, Spirit Monsters return themselves to the hand during the End Phase, meaning you'll be forced to attack me directly. Or not at all, in this special case."
As if it was on cue, Riva turned into a blue ball of light and returned to its card, which Noro then added to his hand, "I hereby end my turn. As as I pointed out, my Pathway is a very nice tool for Spirits, as it allows me to draw a card the first time one returns to my hand each turn."
"Okay here we go," Yuito said as he drew his card, "I Normal Summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. Upon Normal Summoning, it can add my Ephaphys Scribestone from my deck to my hand." A being made out of a mash of multiple hands appeared on Yuitos field, before he added the Spell Card from his deck to the hand.
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands: LIGHT / Fairy / Level 4 / 1400 ATK / 1000 DEF
"Next I activate my Spell Card Offering Scribestone. It allows me to tribute one monster I control to place a Stone Crypt monster from my deck in my Spell and Trap Zone." As Yuito spoke, Manju disappeared and a stele rose up behind Yuito, the image of a wizard being engraved in it. "I choose to place my Stone Crypt Rune Sorcerer."
"Next I activate Ephaphys Scribestone! It allows me to Ritual Summon one monster from my hand or grave, by tributing monsters I control. Yet, as it happens, a monster placed on the field by my Offering Scribestone can be substituted as the entire requirement." A larger stele rose up behind the one with the wizards image on it, absorbing it into.
"Ritual Summon! To unravel humanities last mysteries, use your magic and cast a light upon the darkness. Level 7, 'Runecross Wizard'!" The monster that calmly stepped out of the stele was a human sorcerer dressed in dark blue garb, with brown letters and golden ornaments running all over it. It wore a hood shrouding all of his face other than its eyes, which were showing flashes of the same letters than it donned on its cloth. In one of his hands it held a wand that was as big as itself, with a simple, grey stone put on top of it.
Runecross Wizard: EARTH / Spellcaster-Type / Ritual / Level 7 / 2500 ATK / 2000 DEF
"Now, whenever a monster is successfully Ritual Summoned with Ephaphys Scribestone I can immediately add a Ritual Monster with a lower Level from my deck to my hand. I choose my Runecross Enchantress," Yuito added the card that slipped out of his deck into his hand, before he took another one out of it, "I then Set one card face-down and end my turn, given that I cannot attack you."
With a shrug, Noro shuffled the revealed Spirit back into his hand before he drew his card: "That Ritual won't do you any good, really. I Normal Summon Silent Medium – Naya the Breeze." A humanoid green figure appeared on Noros field, surrounded by stylized gusts of wind.
Spirit Medium – Naya the Breeze: WIND / Warrior-Type / Spirit / Level 4 / 1700 ATK / 1500 DEF
"I activate the effect of Naya. I can choose a card from my grave and return it to my hand, then you can add a card with the same kind from your deck to your hand. I choose to return Compassion of Aggression, but that for later."
As he added the card to his hand, Yuito also searched his deck for a Spell Card, choosing to add Damietta Scribestone to his hand.
"My next Spell Card is called Spirit Gate. And this is how it works: As long as I only control one face-up Spirit Monster, it allows my monster to attack you directly."
"Offensive Spirits, huh?"
"Can't win without a little offense at times. Naya, attack him directly." The humanoid figure whipped up a gale of wind, blowing Yuito off his feet.
Yuito: 4000 LP → 2300 LP
"When my Spirit inflicts Damage through a direct attack with Spirit Gate and you control a monster that's stronger, I can immediately return one monster you control to the hand."
"I have quite the objection on that one. My first one is this Trap Card: Capture Scribestone. It allows me to take the monster that just inflicted Battle Damage to me and place it in my Spell and Trap Zone." A large stele appeared behind Yuito and chains made of letters darted out of it, ensnaring the spirit on Noros field to pull it over onto Yuitos.
"Interesting."
"My next objection, is the effect my Runecross Wizard gained through my Rune Sorcerer when it was Summoned using it. Whenever it is targeted by your card effect, I can inflict damage to you equal to half my monsters ATK." As they spoke, the effect of Spirit Gate triggered, a portal opening up behind the Ritual Monster to suck it in, but not before his monster unleashed a blast of runes that struck Noro.
Noro: 4000 LP → 2850 LP
As Noros Life Point counter fell, a gasp went through the audience after which it stayed completely silent for a second. It only took them a second to go completely haywire and start cheering Yuitos name.
At least for a moment, Yuito managed to outplay Noro. The top three duelist in the entire city. Even though it was just a moment.
"From my hand I activate the two Spell Cards Compassion of Aggression and Spirit Voyance. I reveal Riva for Compassion of Aggression, the effect you already know, and I reveal the monster Spirit Medium – Nirra the Current World for Spirit Voyance, which will obligate you to pay 500 LP before you attempt to activate or Summon a card from your hand. Then I end my turn."
Even though his opponent didn't seem as upset as the crowd was, Yuito was sure he was done playing around with him now. So he needed to use the momentum he had to secure his position.
"I draw," he said, "and then I activate the Spell Card Blue for Two. It allows me to discard a Ritual Monster and draw two further cards."
He sent Runecross Wizard to the Graveyard and drew two new ones, before evaluating his hand. He had Damietta Scribestone, which he couldn't use unless he got another Ritual into the graveyard. He could Summon his Stone Crypt Shield Sorcerer, which had 1700 ATK. Not enough to finish Noro. Also given he couldn't attack directly. He was also limited to less than 5 moves in this turn – Noros other Spell Card would finish him off.
Yuito: 2300 LP → 1800 LP
"I Normal Summon my Stone Crypt Shield Sorcerer from my hand." A slender, tall man clad in earth-coloured garb wearing a dirty blindfold over his eyes appeared in front of Yuito. He waved his hands in front of himself and a shield made of blue energy appeared, that vaguely resembled a diamond.
Stone Crypt Shield Sorcerer: EARTH / Spellcaster-Type / Level 4 / 1700 ATK / 1200 DEF
For the moment, it at least offered some defensive play, unless Noro got around to direct attacking again. But for that, he had something too. "I Set one more card face-down – what your Spell Card doesn't cover – and end my turn."
"My turn," Noro continued, inserting the card he just drew into the duel disk, "I activate the Spell Card Nirvana Fusion."
As if on cue, the crowd started cheering frantically for Noro.
"Upon activation, it allows me to Fusion Summon, using monsters from my field or, while you have more cards on the field than me, both of our hands. Now, would you please show me what you got?"
"You're Fusion Summon with monsters from my hand?" Yuito asked in disbelief.
"Precisely. Now please."
Reluctantly Yuito revealed his hand to Noro, which contained both his Runecross Enchantress and Senju of the Thousand Hands as valid Fusion Materials.
"A LIGHT monster? I'll gladly have that. I'm going to fuse my Spirit Medium – Nirra the Coming World with your Senju of the Thousand Hands."
As Noro spoke, the card in Yuitos hand turned into yellow light, before flying over to Noros field where it joined with his monster, that turned into purple light. "Haunting Spirit of darkness, join with the gentle light and become the radiance that shines through the walls between worlds! Fusion Summon! Spirit Medium – Kareena the Inner Light!" The two monster twirled together behind
Noro and after a flash of light, a new monster appeared standing right next to him. It was a glowing yellow figure, resembling an angel complete with feathery wings, a halo and long hair, but its stance was changing rapidly. One was opening its arms in a welcoming gesture, the other one threatening Yuito with a flaming sword.
Spirit Medium – Kareena the Inner Light: LIGHT / Warrior-Type / Fusion / Effect / Level 6 / 1700 ATK / 1700 DEF
"I activate the second effect of Pathway to the Coming World. Upon Fusion Summoning a monster using a Spirit as a material, Pathway grants that monster 1000 additional ATK points until the end of this turn." The light that surrounded Kareena grew even more brilliant as its attack points rose.
Kareena the Inner Glow: 1700 ATK → 2700 ATK
"Don't be too sure on yourself. As long as my Shield Sorcerer is the only monster I control, I can negate up to three of your attacks each turn."
"Attacks on it. Kareena can attack you directly," Noro said, "what I'm going to do right away."
"I invite you to try."
"Kareena, attack my opponent directly, with your Light of Breaching." The monster generated an orb of light in its hand, which it threw onto Yuito.
"I activate my Trap Card Crushing Scribestone!" Yuitos Trap Card flipped up, "If you control a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can tribute that monster to Summon a Ritual Monster from my Graveyard, treated that as a Ritual Summon!" A stone slap appeared behind Yuito, firing chains made of runes at Kareena, binding it at place.
"Too bad that's not going to happen. Kareena can let you draw two cards in order to negate any effect you activate. Like that trap."
Unfazed by the stele, the Fusion Monster just needed a swing of its flaming sword to crush the chains, allowing the light orb to strike Yuito and wipe out his remaining Life Points.
Yuito: 1800 LP → 0 LP
The crowd kept on chanting Noros name, as if it didn't expect him to defeat Yuito while, the Top Three duelist turned to his opponent: "That was close. Keep trying."
He gave one more wave to the crowd, causing roughly half of the girls in the crowd to pass out, before he left the stadium.
"That. Was. Amazing," Keiji greeted his best friend when he came back from the duel.
"I lost, so how was it amazing," Yuito replied, "I may not be out of my contract – yet – but I'm out of the tournament."
"I don't know how," Keiji replied excited, "but Lessie has been on the phone since halfway through the duel."
"Already got my successor, huh?"
"You have heard what kind of guys she brought along before you, did you?"
"I heard that," Yuitos manager said, approaching the two of them, "and you did an amazing job."
"How the hell was that amazing?" Yuito asked.
"Noro," Alessia answered, "won his last fifteen duels 4000 to zero. You damaged him, a duelist who's never been beaten in the last two years and before that, he only lost two duels over a span of nine years."
"Let me guess, the Silver Princess and the Northerner?" Keiji asked.
"Yeah, those are their nicknames. They're both way above Noro, or, the Spirit Master, actually," Alessia replied, "He's been dueling a lot recently, maybe he wants to get back on top, or maybe he wants to lose to someone low enough that it will drop him a few places. By the way Yuito, check your rating."
On cue, the boy opened the ranking app on his Duel Disk interface and it took him a second to catch his breath. He was ranked 1014. Thousand-fucking-fourteen.
Reaching out to a nearby chair to take a seat, both Keiji and Alessia curiously eyed the screen, Keiji saying: "Okay, that's freaky. How did he climb that fast?"
"A lot of mathematics. His winning chances were like one to five billion or something like that, even a little bit of winning has made the system go crazy on him. Of course, now there's also the chance of falling again. Especially, you now have the unfaithful chance of dropping your rank through winning, if its against one who's below you."
"I couldn't care less really," Yuito said, "I never dreamt of being so high in rating."
"It gets better," Alessia continued, "I've had called and text messages from six different agents who want to schedule duels against you."
Yuito stared blankly at his manager: "That's amazing!"
"Yeah, I turned all of them down."
"You… what?" Keiji said, while watching Yuitos smile fall from his face.
"You cannot go whoring yourself out after your first huge success. You'll seem much more desperate than we actually are. And we're pretty desperate as it is."
"Smart. What does the big man in charge say about it?" Yuito asked.
"I think I understand," Keiji threw in before Alessia could react.
"Mr. Sonjun doesn't know about it and I'd prefer if he didn't, he'll be happy enough about your ranking. Especially, since I didn't turn really turn all of them down, I actually accepted one right when they called."
"And who is that?"
"Ever White," Alessia answered, barely containing her excitement, "they have a show match in the Royal Stadium this weekend, they can pick their enemy themselves and they want you."
"Really?" Yuito asked, "so, I get to duel against Ever White anyhow?"
"Yeah, even though they weren't in this tournament, they apparently still kept their eye on it. Or maybe it was just due to Noro participating, but hey, its only good for you."
"Wait, you said Royal Stadium," Keiji threw in, "you're telling me that this city, with its solid vision and stuff still has a king?"
"Of course you didn't know that either," Alessia answered, "Short version: Yes we have a king, yes we also have a parliament we can vote for, no we do not do public executions any more."
Before Yuito could throw something in, his Duel Disk was starting to buzz. Unsure what to do, he pressed several buttons before Alessia intervened: "It's the communication function, someone's calling you. You just press here and then you speak."
She swiped a button on the touch screen and a speaker symbol appeared on it, Hatsukos voice sounding loudly: "Hey hey, congratulations, I got your ranking update. You suck by the way, that should've totally been my leap there."
"Thank you, it was kinda unreal seeing it at first."
"Seeing as you're gonna be busy as fuck the next days, I wanted to be the first one to get into your schedule."
"Our picnic trip?"
"Yeah. How does tomorrow evening sound."
"Wait a second," Yuito said cockily, "I need to check with my manager."
"He has no schedules whatsoever until Sunday, don't let him fool you," Alessia replied over Hatsukos laughter.
"I'll be there," Yuito threw in.
"You won't I'll pick you up," Hatsuko said, "it's on the way. Just get me your exact address."
"Alright," Yuito said, "Until tomorrow then."
Author-made cards:
Spirit Medium – Riva the Steam / WATER / Warrior-Type / Spirit / Level 3 / 1200 ATK / 1200 DEF
Cannot be Special Summoned. During the End Phase of a turn in which this card was Normal Summoned or flipped face-up: Return it to the hand. Once per turn: You can declare 1 card type (Monster, Spell, Trap): Your opponent sends 1 card with the declared type from their deck to the GY and if they do, cards you control are unaffected by cards with that type until your opponents next End Phase.
Spirit Medium – Naya the Breeze / WIND / Warrior-Type / Spirit / Level 4 / 1700 ATK / 1500 DEF
Cannot be Special Summoned. During the End Phase of a turn in which this card was Normal Summoned or flipped face-up: Return it to the hand. Once per turn: You can target 1 card in your GY; Return it to your hand and if you do, your opponent can add 1 card with the same card type (Monster, Spell, Trap) from their deck to their hand.
Spirit Medium – Kareena the Inner Light / LIGHT / Warrior-Type / Fusion / Effect / Level 6 / 1700 ATK / 1700 DEF
1 "Spirit Medium" monster + 1 LIGHT monster
Must be Fusion Summoned with "Nirvana Fusion". This card can attack your opponent directly. If your opponent activates a card or effect: You can make your opponent draw 2 cards and if they do, negate the activation and destroy it. You can only use this effect of "Spirit Medium – Kareena the Inner Light" once per turn. During your opponents End Phase: Return this card to your Extra Deck and if you do, return 1 "Nirvana Fusion" from your GY to your hand.
Stone Crypt Shield Sorcerer / EARTH / Spellcaster-Type / Level 4 / 1700 ATK / 1200 DEF
Once per turn, if this card is targeted for an attack: You can negate that attack. If this card is the only monster you control, this effect can be used up to thrice per turn instead. A Ritual Monster that was Ritual Summoned using this card as tribute gains the following effect: ● This card can attack all Special Summoned monsters your opponent controls once each.
Runecross Wizard / EARTH / Spellcaster-Type / Ritual / Level 7 / 2500 ATK / 2000 DEF
You can Ritual Summon this card with any "Scribestone" Ritual Spell Card. If this card battles a face-up monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck: Negate that monsters effects, if any, also, this card gains 700 ATK until the end of the Battle Phase.
Pathway to the Coming World / Field Spell Card
Cards that are revealed in your hand do not count towards your hand size limit. If you Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster using a Spirit Monster as material: You can have that monster gain 1000 ATK. During the End Phase, if a Spirit Monster returns to your hand: Draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Pathway to the Coming World" once per turn.
Compassion of Aggression / Normal Spell Card
Reveal 1 Spirit Monster in your hand (and keep it revealed): It gains the following effect while it is revealed by this effect, also, during your opponents next End Phase, shuffle your hand: • Your opponent cannot attack you directly.
Spirit Voyance / Normal Spell Card
Reveal 1 Spirit Monster in your hand (and keep it revealed): It gains the following effect while it is revealed by this effect, also, during your opponents next End Phase, shuffle your hand: • Your opponent must pay 500 LP each time your opponent Summons, Sets or activates a card from their hand.
Offering Scribestone / Normal Spell Card
Tribute 1 monster you control and choose 1 "Stone Crypt" monster from your deck; Place it face-up in your Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell Card with the following effect: ● If you would Ritual Summon (exactly) 1 Ritual Monster with a card effect that requires use of monsters, you can tribute this card as the entire requirement.
Spirit Gate / Normal Spell Card
Target 1 Spirit monster you control; It can attack your opponent directly this turn. If it inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent while they control a monster with more ATK: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; Return it to the hand.
Blue for Two / Normal Spell Card
Discard 1 Ritual Spell Card or 1 Ritual Monster; Draw 2 cards.
Nirvana Fusion / Normal Spell Card
Fusion Summon 1 "Spirit HERO" Fusion Monster using monsters from your hand or that you control as Fusion Material Monsters. If your opponent controls more monsters than you do when this card is activated, they must reveal their hand and if they do, you can also use up to 1 monster from your opponents hand as Fusion Materials. You can only activate 1 "Nirvana Fusion" per turn.
Ephaphys Scribestone / Ritual Spell Card
You can use this card to Ritual Summon any "Runecross" Ritual Monsters from your hand or GY. You must also tribute monsters from your hand or side of the field whose combined Level(s) equal or exceed the Level of the monster you are attempting to Ritual Summon, then, you can add 1 Ritual Monster from your deck to your hand with a Level less than the Summoned monster. […]
Capture Scribestone / Normal Trap Card
If you took Battle Damage from an opponents attacking monster: You can target that monster; Place it face-up in your Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell Card with the following effect, also, you take no Battle Damage until the End Phase: ● If you would Ritual Summon (exactly) 1 Ritual Monster with a card effect that requires use of monsters, you can tribute this card as the entire requirement.