Welcome to my second chapter. I would like to thank everyone for all the reviews I've already received and for the great praise you all had for me.
Quick note, I made a mistake last chapter by having Miya attack a turn early while Ancient Maze was in play, and for that I apologize. As for Bubbleman, I purposely tweaked his effect because, as a writer, you sometimes gotta do that.
Now, onto the story!
The Way of the Dreamer
Chapter Two-Rise to Defend
"This is Shining Flare Wingman (2500/2100)!" Miya introduced.
"Whoa!" Kazuki muttered in awe. "Cool."
"It gets better." she persisted. "Shining Flare Wingman gains three hundred attack points for every E-Hero in my graveyard. I have Flame Wingman, Sparkman, Burst Lady, Featherman, Edgeman, Clayman, Earth Crusher, Black Lightning Striker, Wildman, Bubbleman, Thunder Giant, and Necro Darkman all in my graveyard." she declared, listing the twelve monsters who would power up her monster.
"Also, he has inherited the effect of his previous form, Flame Wingman. When he destroys a monster, that monsters attack points will be taken from your life points." she explained with a small wink and smile. "Now, Shining Flare Wingman (6100/2100), attack Ancient Priest (3500)! Shining Shooter!"
Soaring silently up to Kazuki's monster, the hero began to charge an orb of silver-blue light between his hands. Once he was just a few feet away from the scarlet robed magician, he fired, burning him away, as well as twenty-six hundred life points from battle damage. Then, as his life point counter ticked down, the effect of her monster took over to deal him another thirty-five hundred points of damage. (KLP:0)
Up in the observation booth, all of the onlookers stared in awe at what had just happened. Never before had any of them seen an examiner struggle so much, nor had they seen anyone need to go to such extremes of power to win.
"Well, he wont be attending." Professor Dayu Masuko said off-handedly as he brushed off his yellow blazer. "And he was the last one. So, let's pack up and get ready to return to the island." Taking a few steps towards the door, he froze and turned on his heel after realizing that none of the others were following. "Well, what's wrong with you all?"
"Dayu, you're wrong. He will be attending the Academy." Professor Kita Saira finally said, lifting her eyes to meet his.
"Indeed," Professor Edo Idane continued for her, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the collar of his red shirt. "Have you seen his scores on the written exam?" Turning the small monitor in front of him around, the Osiris Red teacher tapped in a command and in large, bright numerals it read "98".
"It doesn't matter." Dayu continued with a shrug. "He's applied as a Dueling major. As such, he requires at least two hundred and fifty points overall, and each part of the test is only worth one hundred and fifty points. Even if he had scored a perfect on the written, he still couldn't make it in."
"Dayu, have you forgotten that the dueling examination is not just about if he wins or loses?" Keiko Hitsumi added, pulling a lock of amber hair behind her ear.
"Of course that's what it's about. That is how one checks the skill of a duelist. How can one have skill and lose?" Dayu defended.
"Dayu, you know just as well as we do that all throughout the examination we are supposed to monitor the duel and give points where needed. When the candidate makes a play that is outside of the box, or if they show great promise as far as keeping track of events, plus their ability to make effective moves quickly; they all combine with a number of other aspects that we have to watch for. Kazuki Katsura just earned one hundred and twenty points in that duel, and when combined with the one hundred and forty-seven points earned in the written exam, and he ends up with a total of two hundred and sixty-seven points." Professor Eizan Kiske said, staring forward and resting his chin against his intertwined fingers, the elbows propped up on the table.
"Nonsense!" Dayu yelled. "There's no way anyone could lose, make the mistakes he made, and still get enough points to enter."
"Dayu, he only lost thirty points for losing and then another ten for occasional mistakes and such. He got in." Kita declared, her voice rather curt. "You should know that an applicant can only lose thirty points for losing, anyway."
"It doesn't matter!" the head of Ra Yellow bellowed. "Anyone who loses to an examination deck has no right to be at the Academy. That's how it's always been, and that's how it shall remain so long as I am around."
At hearing this, three of the head proctors shot up in their seats, looking about ready to become a small mob to drag the arrogant one out and beat him to death. Then again, it was a rather appealing idea. Dayu had been a nuisance for far too long, and because of his actions, many students who felt cheated by him (rightfully so) had dismissed the Academy and gone off to one of it's sister schools -North, East, South, and West- and it was hurting the main Academy far more than his attempts to stack it full of "elite" duelists.
"Kita, Keiko, Edo," Eizan said loudly, yet somehow still sounding soft, calm, and rather pleasant. "Please, no need for this." he smiled for a moment before turning to Dayu, and suddenly his words were firm. "You say that no one who is defeated by an examination deck has a right to be at Duelist Academy, did you not?"
Without hesitation, Dayu responded. "Yes." Then, taking a minute to realize that Eizan was still staring at him with those silver eyes, friendly, yet demanding, he decided to ask his own question, "Why?"
Standing up and walking over to the cabinet filled with examination decks, he pulled the doors open and reached towards the top shelf. Seconds later he closed the cabinet and turned back to the Ra Yellow teacher.
"In that case, I challenge you to a duel. You use your own deck, and I'll use this." he explained, raising his hand slightly to emphasize the deck he was holding. "I have one of the other two of the three decks we use for testing advanced applicants. I don't know which deck this could be, except that it is not the E-Hero deck. That means that until we get down onto the field, I have no way of changing the deck at all. That means that whatever flaws we built into it are still there, and that I'd be at a disadvantage, that I will." he explained, smiling again.
Taking a minute to consider this, Dayu quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his own personal dueling deck. Nodding to Eizan, he walked out the door and took a left turn towards the arena. Sighing, Eizan started to follow, but was stopped suddenly.
"Eizan, what exactly are you planning?" Kita asked sincerely.
"I'm planning on helping a boy from getting cheated, and maybe dozens more after him, that I am." he answered as he walked out of the room, his long jacket flapping at the bottom edge around his knees.
XXXXXXXX
"I can't believe I lost." Kazuki muttered as he leaned against the wall of the hallway he was in. Fifty feet ahead of him lay the exit. That was his destination. From there, he didn't have any idea where he'd go. "I...I don't have anything now. I had staked it all on getting into the Academy."
"Kazuki!"
Turning his head, was surprised to see Miya Masuto, the teacher who had beaten him only fifteen minutes previous, locking him out of the Academy. For some reason that he couldn't discern, she was running towards him, and urgent look on her face.
"Professor Masuto," he welcomed with a deep bow. "If you've come to apologize, it's fine. I just-"
"No time for that." she said, coming to a stop a few feet away from him. "Come on, we gotta get back to the arena."
"Why's that?" he asked, puzzled.
"Just get your ass in gear and get it into that stadium!" she ordered, grabbing his wrist and practically dragging him. Then again, he really didn't put up any resistance, his curiosity combining with the shock of how abrupt and informal she was being, despite her obvious superiority to him.
XXXXXXXX
"So let me get this straight," Dayu said as he and Eizan stood across from each other, inserting their shuffled decks into their duel disks at the same time. "You're dueling me in order to get that kid into the Academy?" (DLP:4000)
"It goes beyond that, that it does." Eizan declared, drawing his opening hand. (ELP:4000)
"What's that supposed to mean?" the Ra Yellow teacher asked, his tone curios. When he didn't get an answer, he turned his attention to his cards. "This'll be easy. I summon Zolga (1700/1200) in attack mode." A figure that seemed to be a dark colored prism set on a larger prism with a cape hanging from it appeared. "And then I play my Treasure of the King's continuous magic card, and set two cards face down." he finished as the face up magic card appeared, with two face down cards on either side of it.
Looking at his cards, Eizan quickly discerned which deck he had picked, and smiled. It was one of the more powerful ones, yet also one of the hardest ones to use. Unlike the other examination decks, which had certain cards and combinations removed to balance them, this one had it's strategies at their maximum. The flaw in this deck was the fact that it was packed with a number of high level monsters than was beyond reasonable. Summoning them normally wasn't a problem, so long as you didn't get a hand packed with monsters all of level five, and far too many of level seven or higher.
"I summon Diamond Soldier (1800/1600) in attack mode." he started, placing the card onto his duel disk. What appeared was a man in armor that was obviously created from white diamond, wielding a sword that was made of the same material. "End turn." he declared. He didn't have any magic or trap cards to use, sadly, so summoning his monster was all he could do. Attacking while his opponent had two face down cards would be reckless if he didn't have any magic or trap cards to back himself up.
"Ah, the Dragon Rider deck." Dayu chuckled as he drew, giving himself four cards in hand. "I had suspected it might be that one. It makes my strategy all the more effective against you. For instance, I activate my trap card, Sacrifice Limit. While it's on the field, neither of us can sacrifice more than one monster each turn. Although some of your Rider's will help you to bypass that, most of your monsters will still require you to sacrifice two monsters."
"That was a fair move, Dayu." Eizan said while smiling again. Taking a second, he glanced up to his right, and was pleased to see Miya return with Kazuki in tow. Seconds later he turned back to his peer and was serious once again. "However, it doesn't make up the difference between us, that it does not."
"You think I did it to handicap myself and to give you a fair chance against me?" Dayu laughed, obviously missing the point Eizan had been trying to make. "I sacrifice my Zolga to summon my Flame Emperor Thestalos (2400/1000)!" Dissolving into nothingness, Zolga was quickly replaced by a figure in old samurai armor, wielding a katana of pure fire. "And now I get three effects. First is Zolga's. Since I sacrificed it to summon a monster, I gain two thousand life points." he explained as his life point meter rose, not that Eizan needed an explanation. (DLP:6000) He had seen Dayu duel as a final test to promote his students, so he was relatively familiar with the strategies of his deck. "Next, since I tribute summoned a monster, Treasure of the Kings allows me to draw two cards. Finally, since Thestalos was tribute summoned, I discard one card from my hand, and if it's a monster, you lose life points equal to its level multiplied by one hundred!"
Again, Eizan did not need an explanation, but he remained silent as the fellow instructor rambled. Raising his hand of five cards, fanned out in his fingers. Finally, Dayu chose the one that was second to Eizan's right. Without saying a word he placed the level seven monster into his graveyard. Seconds later, Thestalos swung his sword, launching a stream of flames at Eizan to simulate him taking damage from the loss of his monster. (ELP:3300)
"Now, Flame Emperor Thestalos, attack his Diamond Soldier!" Raising his infernal blade, the fire powered samurai struck, his flames hot enough to burn through the solid diamond of the opposing sword and armor. (ELP:2700)
"I may have just lost my monster, but you should have known not to destroy Diamond Soldier, that ye should. Now I get to place any of the jeweled dragons from my deck and place it into my hand." Eizan countered as his duel disk ejected a card from his deck into his waiting fingers.
"My turn ends." Dayu concluded, folding his arms and smirking haughtily.
"My turn." Eizan began his turn, holding six cards, one of which he had chosen himself. "I summon Emerald Paladin (1300/200) in attack mode." A figure in shimmering emerald armor appeared, hefting a shield and spear both of pure emerald crystal. "When summoned, Emerald Paladin lets me special summon my Emerald Dragon (2400/1400) from my hand to the field in attack mode!"
Slapping the card from his hand onto his duel disk, Eizan waited as the holographic image of the large green dragon, it's back covered with a shell of emerald crystals. "Now that they're together on the field, Emerald Paladin, union with your dragon!" he commanded. Leaping into the air, the Paladin somehow managed to soar nearly twenty feet into the air, and then shifting his weight he managed to land perfectly on the back of the neck of the wyrm. "When combined, Emerald Dragon gains three hundred attack points-"
"And a trample effect. I'm aware of what the cards do." Dayu said with a bored tone, although his only monster was outclassed by this unification.
Smiling, Eizan shrugged and continued. "I set one card face down and then I'll have Emerald Dragon (2700) attack your Flame Emperor Thestalos! Emerald Burst Stream!" Opening its maw, the dragon prepared a massive ball of emerald flames. Seconds later its rider kicked in with his heels, prompting the beast to release the attack. With no trouble whatsoever, it burned the samurai away. (DLP:5700)
"Also, don't forget that Emerald Dragon has an ability itself. When it destroys one of your monsters in battle, is destroys one of your magic or trap cards as well." Eizan pointed out. Much like he suspected, Dayu had forgotten about the effect, and watched with annoyance as his set Royal Command exploded.
"My move." Dayu called, drawing. "I set a monster in defense mode, and then I set two cards face down. End."
"Draw." Looking at his new card, Eizan's eyes light up for a moment. "I play Tiny Pound Hammer, allowing me to shuffle itself and my hand back into my deck and then draw that number of cards. So I get a new hand of four, that I do."
Taking his deck from its holster, he placed the cards from his hand on top and then shuffled with the skill and speed of a professional duelist. Returning the stack of cards to the machine, he drew four cards from the top with a single tug, and then glanced at his new options, definitely pleased more with the new cards.
"I play my own continuous magic card, that I do. It's called Frontline Base." he started as his own green-framed card appeared on his field. "This card allows me to special summon a level four or lower union monster from my hand each turn. So I'll use that ability to summon my Amethyst Knight (1700/1200) in attack mode." A warrior in armor the lavender color for which it was named appeared, spear raised for its attack. "He would normally summon my Amethyst Dragon from my hand, but since I don't have one in my hand, he will instead allow me to draw a card."
Lifting the top card of his deck into his hand, Eizan smiled with confidence and slipped the card into his magic zone face down. Next he took one of his cards and played it in his magic zone and another continuous magic card appeared on his field next to his Frontline Base. "I'm sure you recognize Dragons Trophy, allowing a player to draw a card whenever a dragon monster destroys a monster in battle, that it does."
"And then you attack, I understand, now let's get on with it." Dayu whined, something that did not sit well with Eizan. After all, Dayu knew that Emerald Dragon currently had the ability to deal damage, even if the monster was in defense mode. That meant that his monster either had a relatively high defense score to minimize the damage, or one of his three set cards was intended to hold off his attack, and he was rather sure that it was the latter. Then again, there were reasons he had set his face down cards.
"Emerald Dragon, attack his monster!" Preparing the ball of green flames, the dragon set its sights on the horizontal card image. Half a second later it released the attack, the flames streaking towards the monster.
"I activate my two set cards, Oppression and Enchanted Javelin!" Dayu shouted as he depressed two buttons on his duel disk and the two cards he had set the previous turn flipped up. "First to resolve will be my Enchanted Javelin, which will increase my life points by the attack points of your attacking monster." he needlessly explained as a long spear with wings appeared in the path of the attack. Absorbing the attack into itself, the lance began to glow with a golden light until. Turning to point its end at Dayu, it was launched by an unseen hand, crashing into the ground at his feet and exploding into a shower of light, raising his life points further. (DLP:7900)
"And then your Oppression quick-play card switches my monsters into defense mode." Eizan finished orating the maneuver, his features bemused for some reason. "At least I didn't have any monsters already in defense mode, since they would have been destroyed, that they would have. Oh well, that ends my turn."
Drawing, Dayu plotted his next move carefully. "I play another continuous magic card known as Compensation of Rebellion. After I pay the activation cost of one thousand Life Points, this card allows me to have two normal summons each turn, and allows me to bypass my Sacrifice Limit so long as I only do one sacrifice at a time." (DLP:6900)
Taking another of his three remaining cards, he played it in his magic card zone. "Monster Reincarnation will allow me to discard Noble Lineage to return Thestalos to my hand. Then, Noble Lineage activates when it goes to the graveyard, and it allows me to search my deck for a monster of level four or less in my deck and add it to my hand." he cackled as a card ejected from both his graveyard and his deck, meaning his hand remained at three cards. "Now I'll summon the monster I searched for, namely Thestalos' Apprentice (1500/100) in attack mode."
Dressed in thick leather clothing instead of armor, the new figure was shorter than the previous five monsters, and his sword seemed to be made of wood, except for the metal hilt which kept his hands from being burned. "Now, because of Compensation of Rebellion I get to summon again, so I sacrifice the Apprentice for Flame Emperor Thestalos (2400/1000) once again."
As the fire samurai appeared, Eizan's eyes widened slightly, as he understood what this meant. By sacrificing Thestalos' Apprentice for Flame Emperor Thestalos, the summoning effect of the new monster was enhanced. Now he had to discard his entire hand and he would take three hundred points of damage for each discarded card.
"I see that you recall what this card does. Excellent, then discard your hand." Dayu commanded impatiently. With a slight frown, Eizan did so, placing his two cards into his graveyard. He was just glad it was only two cards. (ELP:2100) "Also, please do recall that Treasure of the Kings is still active, and since I tribute summoned a monster, I get to draw twice."
Fanning out his three cards, Dayu frowned slightly before snapping the cards together and turned back to the duel. "Thestalos, attack Emerald Dragon." Raising his sword, the master of fire charged forward, blade blazing. Swinging down, he was suddenly stopped by a crystalline dome around the dragon. "I see, the card you set two turns ago was Diamond Shield."
"Indeed it was." Eizan grinned, nodding to the now face up magic card. "And, as you know, this negates your attack and allows me to special summon a jeweled dragon from my hand. At least, I could if I had cards in my hand." he said sheepishly as he lifted his empty palm. "But, it still negates your attack, that it does."
Snorting dismissively, Dayu ended his turn, meaning it was once again Eizan's turn. Drawing, he sighed at the look of his only card, unable to use it for now. "I switch my two monsters to attack mode, that I do." he said, reaching for his duel disk and turning both cards ninety degrees. "Now I will have Emerald Dragon attack your Flame Emperor! Emerald Burst Stream!" Again the dragon fired its attack of, well, fire at the fire monster, overwhelming him and burning him away, ironically. And, because a dragon had destroyed an enemy monster, Eizan got to draw a card thanks to his Dragon Trophy. "Amethyst Knight will attack your face down monster, that he will." Thrusting towards Dayu's monster with his spear, the purple armored warrior struck, the attack shattering the card. (DLP:6600)
"Draw!" Dayu shouted, whipping the card off of his deck. "I summon Zaborg's Pupil (1500/100) in attack mode." A young man in white armor appeared, two long spines running up from his back along his shoulders. "Now I sacrifice him to summon Thunder Emperor Zaborg (2400/1000) in attack mode. And this emperor destroys all of your monsters when summoned by sacrificing his student."
Replacing the white armored man was a new figure in thick white armor. He wasn't particularly tall, but each section of his body was rather large -thick arms, legs, torso, etc. Extending from his back was a rack of spines that crackled with electricity. As he landed on the field, the spines on his back began to vibrate with an unusual amount of power. As the voltage increased, his entire body began to shake with the force until he couldn't contain it anymore, and he leaned forward, directing the electricity from the lightning rods towards Eizan's monsters, incinerating them.
"You may have destroyed my dragon and my knight, but since Emerald Paladin (1300/200) was equipped to Emerald Dragon, he returns in defense mode!" Eizan shouted as the green armored warrior descended, having leapt from his mount at the last minute to save himself. Landing in a crouch, he crossed his arms over his chest defensively.
"Heh, so you've avoided losing this round." Dayu scoffed, brushing away some of his brown hair that had fallen out of place due to the electrical buildup of his monster. "Zaborg, destroy Emerald Paladin." Holding his arms in front of him with his palms facing up, Zaborg chanelled energy from the spines into his hands until he held two balls of active lightning. Thrusting his arms forward, the two blasts joined into one attack, frying Eizan's monster.
"Draw." Eizan began calmly, despite the fact that the tables had once again be turned on him. Now he had three cards in his hand, no monsters on his field, three of his magic and trap zones filled, and limited to a single sacrifice each turn. However, it would have to do. "I set one magic or trap card face down and summon a monster in defense mode. End."
Drawing a fifth card, Dayu smiled. "You've been rather quiet for the past twenty minutes outside of declaring your moves. Didn't you have some great lecture planned for me, teacher?" he mocked, putting emphasis on the last word. Eizan continued to stare at him, yet his face wasn't hard or fierce, just calm. "Well, if you aren't going to even try and stop me, I suppose I'll just finish you off and then I want you to leave the Academy."
Taking one of his cards, he slammed it into another magic zone. "I activate a third continuous magic card, this one being my Imperial Rule. This card allows me to remove a monster in my graveyard from play, and in exchange I can activate the effect of an Emperor or Empress on my field that is of the same attribute as the removed monster. So, I remove Zaborg's Pupil from play to have Zaborg destroy your monster." Raising a fist, the master of lightning charged it with electricity from his back. Once he was ready, he punched at Eizan's face down monster, launching a ball of electric power at the monster, destroying it instantly.
"I summon Sangan (1000/600), and then sacrifice it to summon Dark Emperor Mendrarg (2400/1000) in attack mode! Also, Sangan lets me search my deck for a monster with fifteen hundred or fewer attack points and add it to my hand, plus two cards from Treasure of the Kings." On his field appeared a monster that really could only be described as a ball of fur with three eyes, short and wiry arms, and stubby feet. Instantly it disappeared and was replaced by a monster in thick black armor, the edges rounded and smooth. On his back was a massive, curved piece of black metal, looking like a crescent moon with the outer edge facing down. "This monster, when summoned, allows me to pick one card in your hand. I then get to discard cards from the top of your deck equal to the level of your card, which is then returned to your hand."
Grimacing, Eizan turned the only card in his hand around, revealing his Pearl Dragon, which was a level five monster. Frowning, he took five cards from his deck and discarded them.
"Next I'll access the power of Imperial Rule once again, removing Sangan from my graveyard to discard five more cards." Again Eizan dropped the necessary number of cards into his graveyard. "Now, Zaborg will attack you directly for the win!" Charging energy to his fists again, the thunder user powered up his attack, finally firing a massive volley of voltage at Eizan. Suddenly, however, an eruption of light from Eizan's cemetery activated. Seconds later the onlookers could see a shadow forming within the light, growing and taking form.
Once the light died down, it became obvious that the form that had emerged was another dragon, this one of diamond that appeared white on the surface, but seemed more of a light blue if one stared into it for a minute. It's massive wings were wrapped around it's body and it's long neck dipped the head down behind the protective wall as well, making it look kind of like a massive egg-shaped diamond.
"How did you summon Diamond Dragon (2100/2800)?" Dayu asked, started by the development.
"I did it with your help, that I did." Eizan responded, nodding towards the two monsters on his opponents field. "The monster you destroyed with Zaborg's effect was Carbonedon, and once there are ten cards on top of it," here he paused and shifted his gaze to Mendrarg. "I can remove it from my graveyard to special summon Diamond Dragon."
"Damnit." Dayu cursed lowly. "I can't break through your monster, since I've already used Zaborg's effect this turn, plus I don't have any more light monsters in my graveyard. You're safe for now. Go."
"Then I will draw, that I will." Eizan began, giving him a hand of two, and one was a level five monster that wouldn't improve his situation at all. "I will pass my turn, that I will."
"Got nothing, eh? Well, I'll set one card, and then I'll play my Royal Edict continuous card, which allows me to fit one extra card into each of my magic zones." he laughed as he filled his last two magic card zones, with four holographic images between him and his monsters, and one more face down. "Then I'll summon my Teylos' Caretaker (1500/100) who I searched out with Sangan last turn, and I'll sacrifice her to summon Forest Empress Teylos (2400/1000)."
"And since you sacrificed Teylos' Caretaker to summon her, I now discard my hand, and you draw an equal number of cards." Eizan concluded as a figure dressed in a flowery kimono appeared. The figure may have looked relatively normal if not for the fact that it's body was essentially a tree, branches ending in fingers for hands, and the trunk apparently split towards the bottom to create legs.
With an evil smirk, Dayu drew four cards, two from his monsters effect and two from his Treasure of the Kings. That meant he held six cards once again. Grabbing three of his cards, he slammed them into magic zones on top of his other cards, the face down images appearing in front of the upward images of his continuous cards.
"Regrettably, I can't get past your dragon right now. As such, my turn is over." Dayu ended, his field growing all the more impressive.
Drawing a single card, Eizan sighed in relief. The Carbonedon he'd removed and Dayu's summoning of Mendrarg had been a Godsend. For now, he was safe, but it was only a matter of time before Dayu had a light monster in his graveyard with which to use Zaborg's effect and destroy his dragon.
"I summon Crystal Templar (1600/1700) in attack mode." A warrior in crystalline armor and gripping a staff with a curved blade at the end appeared on his field. "And when summoned, Crystal Templar allows me to special summon Crystal Dragon (2500/1900) from my graveyard. The Crystal Dragon that you discarded when you summoned Thestalos the first time."
Next to the glass covered knight appeared a dragon seeming to be made of glass itself, it's body rigid and pointed.
"Now my monsters will union together, and my dragon will gain one hundred attack points, plus another hundred for each of your monsters on the field!" he continued as the warrior mounted the dragon, raising its attack power to twenty-nine hundred. "Crystal Dragon (2900/1900), attack Lightning Emperor Zaborg! Crystal Shard Strike!" Folding its wings around its body for a minute, the dragon seemed to be going on the defensive, until it snapped the wings open again, flinging a literal wall of pointed glass shards at the monster. Seconds later Zaborg fell to the ground in pieces, having been shredded by the attack. (DLP:6100)
"And since a dragon destroyed one of your monsters, I get to draw a card." Eizan continued, but was surprised when his duel disk resisted his attempts to draw. Glancing at the device in confusion, he then looked up at Dayu and his field, and found his answer. "At least, I would draw a card if you hadn't activated Imperial Order, negating my magic card for the time being."
"That, plus my Royal Decree, negating trap cards." Dayu continued as another of his set cards flipped up.
"And so, to avoid cancelling out Imperial Order or your other cards, you'll next activate your face down Impervious Magic Shield, which keeps your cards from being negated and cannot be negated itself." Eizan once again finished explaining Dayu's combination. It was extremely deadly, but Dayu was always in such a hurry to promote his students that he ended up revealing his combinations more often than he should have. "Of course, that means that you still have to pay seven hundred life points each turn for your Imperial Order."
"A paltry sum." Dayu said as he drew a card, since Eizan had no more cards to play. "First, I pay for my trap card." he said as his trap card glowed for a minute and his life points dropped slightly. (DLP:5400) "I switch Mendrarg and Teylos to defense mode and set a monster in defense mode. End."
"Then it is my turn, that it is." Eizan declared, drawing. Glancing at the card, he chose to keep it in his hand. "Diamond Dragon switches to attack mode. Now, Crystal Dragon, attack Mendrarg! Diamond Dragon, attack Teylos!" As one, the two dragons released a storm of flying glass and diamond, slashing the two elemental masters to pieces. "My turn ends, that it does."
"Draw!" Dayu shouted, whipping a card off of his deck, and again his life points dropped slightly. (DLP:4700) "I set two monsters in defense mode, and end my turn."
"Crystal Dragon, Diamond Dragon, attack!" Eizan commanded as he drew his card, and again a wall of shimmering glass pelted Dayu's field, destroying the monster set previously, as well as the middle one. "Turn end."
Drawing, Dayu's life points dropped again as Imperial Order took effect. (DLP:4000) "I...I pass my turn." he stuttered, unable to understand how he was suddenly on the defensive again.
"Diamond Dragon, attack his set monster!" Eizan commanded, and seconds later the monster card image was in ribbons, fluttering to the ground. "Crystal Dragon, attack directly!" This time Dayu had to dig in his heels and lift his arms to protect himself as the attack passed, not actually cutting him or his clothing, just feeling like he were being pelted by a dozen tennis balls. (DLP:1100)
Drawing a card, the head of the Ra Yellow dorm growled in annoyance before making his declaration. "I refuse to pay life points, and so Imperial Order is destroyed."
"Good to hear, that it most certainly is." Eizan smiled warmly as the trap card shattered. However, Dayu obviously wasn't very happy, as he shoved his card into a magic zone with a low snarl.
"I first play Legalism and Kings of Old. Legalism allows me to use the effect of an Emperor or Empress each turn, but that monster must skip its attack for the turn. Also, when an Emperor is summoned in any way, its effect will activate. Kings of Old does the same thing as Imperial Rule, except I discard cards instead of removing them from play." he explained as he filled up his last two magic zones for a second time.
"And you've played them why?" Eizan asked, genuinely intrigued. He'd never seen either of these, and he was curious as to how Dayu planned on utilizing them in this situation.
"Well, first I'm going to discard Kings of Old and Imperial Rule from my field to play the magic card, Heavily Edict, which by itself has the effects of both of those cards, as well as powering up all of my Emperors and Empresses by two hundred."
"Next I play Kings Ransom to pay one thousand life points and then draw four cards." he continued, draining all but his last few life points and then snatching four new cards, giving him five in his hand, and no more than five more in his deck. "Now I summon Celia's Servant (1500/100), who I will sacrifice to summon Holy Empress Celia (2400/1000)!" he shouted as a woman in a white toga appeared and then faded away, replaced by another woman, this one in a sapphire blue gown and ruby red hair that reached down to the floor of the arena.
"And when summoned by sacrificing her Servant, she increases your life points by a value equal to the attack points of a monster on the field." Eizan determined and then watched as Dayu's life points restored themselves thanks to his own Crystal Dragon's attack power. (DLP:3000)
"Next I will play Soul Charge, paying one thousand life points to revive two monsters from my graveyard." he continued as a third of his life points vanished and Zaborg and Mendrarg appeared. (DLP:2000) "Now, normally they couldn't attack this turn, but I don't need them to. Remember, Legalism makes it so that an Emperor can activate his effect whenever he's summoned, so Zaborg will first destroy your Diamond Dragon, and then Mendrarg will reveal one of your cards to mean and then discard cards from your deck equal to the level of the card you show me."
Sighing, Eizan turned the card that Dayu pointed at, revealing a magic card, meaning he only had to discard one card from his deck. Seconds later Zaborg released another bolt of lightning from his back, incinerating the light blue dragon.
"I play Polymerization to fuse Mendrarg, Celia and Zaborg together!" Eizan watched in surprise as the fusion vortex appeared behind the three monsters and began to pull them together. He had heard about this, but he'd never seen it done. "I can fuse any three Emperors or Empresses together, and they create Galaxy Emperor Ecraos (3400/2000)!"
The monster stood barely taller than Dayu, it's body small compared to all the previous Emperors. It was garbed in black robes with various star patterns on them, and a staff that had what seemed to be a small model of the universe making up the head, only it wasn't a model made of brass or wood. It actually seemed to be a tiny galaxy resting at the head of the stave.
"This monster is quite unlike the others. Each turn I may remove a monster in my graveyard from play to activate the effect of any Emperor as if I were summoning it. So, I removed Zaborg to activate his effect and destroy your Crystal Dragon."
As Dayu pocketed the chosen monster, his fusion monster raised his staff, and instantly a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and destroyed Eizan's monster, leaving only the warrior who had ridden it in a crouch.
"Ecraos, attack!" he ordered. Again lifting his staff, the magician fired a beam of energy which defied description, seeming to be comprised of every element at once. When it struck, it did not destroy Eizan's Crystal Templar so much as it seemed to negate him from existence. "Turn end."
"Then the time has come to end this duel, that it has." Eizan said, drawing. "Dayu, the time has come for you to leave Duelist Academy. But first, you need to learn what a true teacher is, and why you are not one of them, that you do."
"Oh, so now you want to lecture me." Dayu shot back. "Listen, we're both teachers, and as such, equals, except for my superiority as a duelist."
"Is that what you think?" Eizan asked. "I can't understand how you became a teacher, but you don't deserve such an honor. And so now I'm gonna strip you of it."
"Honor? Teaching? Feh!" Dayu scoffed. "I only teach because it means I can sit on my ass and get lots of pay, thanks to the fact that Kaiba pays so well."
"Exactly my point. You don't teach. That's why you always have qualified duelists demoted to Osiris Red and why you only take elite applicants. It means that you can quickly get them promoted, and at the same time you only accept students from Osiris who are beyond qualified, and so you don't have to teach them anything. You do nothing, letting their previous teachers and talents do all the work, but you claim the credit, that you do. That's not what teaching is, that it is not. Teaching is about the student and the instructor and how they both progress as humans. In the hands of a proper teacher, the wildest, most unlikely student can come the perfect duelist, so long as they're both willing to give it their all, that they can.
"Look at you and the way you duel. Each of your Emperors has a student or apprentice. That pupil has gone under its master to learn. Yet the master selfishly gives up his student to increase his own power, but only for a short moment. That's not the way of teaching, that it most certainly is not."
"They're kids. They're monsters." Dayu insisted.
"A student may at first be like a dragon, wild and limited in terms of intellect. However, just like the dragons that I now use, once combined with one who can help them to be controlled, they can unlock their full potential. I will take Kazuki Katsura and I will refine him into a diamond!"
Taking one of his three cards, he flipped it around. "I activate Refining Process, which allows me to special summon a jeweled dragon from my graveyard at the cost of one thousand life points!" (ELP:1100) On the field appeared a massive lump of crystal, several feet taller than Eizan. Seconds later the sound of the crystal cracking could be heard, and then it shattered, revealing Crystal Dragon (2500/1900).
"Now, reverse card open!" he continued as he activated the card he had set many turns before. "Revival of the Diamond Blade will transform my specially summoned Crystal Dragon into Diamond Head Dragon, who has one thousand more attack points than the monster sacrificed to summon him." Instantly the white dragon flashed with a bright light, and seconds later re-emerged as an even larger dragon with pale green scales and large, spiked diamonds pointing out of its back, as well as the massive diamond on its forehead that lanced forward.
"It's still-"
"It's enough to beat your Galaxy Emperor, and it's about to be strong enough to finish you." Eizan continued, whipping another of his cards around. "Pot of Greed to draw twice!" Seconds later, "Cost Down to discard a card and then lower the level of all monsters in my hand by two." Grabbing the other card he'd been holding before playing his Pot of Greed, he activated it. "I summon Diamond God Soldier (2200/2400). This monster can be equipped to any jeweled dragon. So now I equip him to my Diamond Head Dragon (3500/2900), and that raises his attack points by five hundred for every dragon and dragon rider monster in my graveyard. I have seven, so that will now double his attack power, that it will."
Eyes wide beyond belief, Dayu watched in horror as the opposing dragon's power skyrocketed beyond belief, coming to a rest at seven thousand.
"But...but I'm a professor! I can't lose to...to an examination deck!"
"You just did." Eizan declared. "Diamond Head Dragon (7000), attack Galaxy Emperor Ecraos (3400/2000)! Diamond Spear Burst!"
Opening it's mouth as wide as it could, the dragon began to gather the air around it and concentrate it into a sphere of wind. Then, with a mighty howl it fired the built of wind, carrying with it huge, pointed shafts of solid diamond, spearing straight through Ecraos, destroying him in less than a second. (DLP:0)
"Someone who loses to an examination deck has no place at the Academy?" Eizan asked of his fallen colleague. Then, turning on his heel, he spoke on last note in a voice low enough that only Dayu could hear him. "I expect to hear word of your official resignation by tomorrow evening, that I do."
Up in the stands, Kazuki couldn't believe what he'd just seen. What the mysterious teacher with black hair had just done was amazing, and he had done it with just an examination deck. Sadly, he hadn't been able to hear what they had said. He would have loved to hear what two teachers say to each other while dueling.
Focusing on the black-haired professor, he was startled to see that he was looking straight up at him, smiling warmly.
To Be Continued...
Next Time-Thanks to Professor Eizan Kiske's actions, Kazuki is on his way to Duelist Academy. Time to meet new people, and to give classes a try. But why is Professor Kiske so nice to him?
Next Time-First Day
Well, got that done, and not too bad, if I do say so myself. But now, I gotta stop procrastinating and do my American Heritage project this weekend, or I'm screwed. Wish me luck.
For cards, most of those used in this chapter are mine or Seeker of the Soul's. I created the Emperor deck about nine months ago, and when I needed a deck for Dayu to use, it were too perfect. In fact, the comment made about the Emperors and the student forms didn't occure to me until I was nearly done writing this. Pretty cool, ne? Also I chose to use the name Emperor/Empress, as is used in the Japanese version, instead of Monarch, simply because I think Emperor sounds cooler. Seeker, on the other hand, created the idea for the Dragon Rider deck, which I then expanded upon. Our cards are as listed:
Diamond Dragon (Effect version of Hyozanryu using the Japanese name that I created), Emerald Dragon (Effect version of Luster Dragon using the Japanese name that I created), Diamond Soldier, Emerald Paladin, Crystal Dragon, Crystal Templar, Amethyst Knight, Refining Process, Diamond God Soldier, Diamond Shield, Pearl Dragon, Dragon Trophy, all the Emperors/Empresses (Except for Zaborg and Thestalos), and all those continuous cards Dayu used (Except for Imperial Order, Royal Decree, Royal Command, Sacrifice Limit, and maybe one or two others). The combo of Imperial Order, Royal Decree, and Impervious Magic Shield was created by Seeker of the Soul, who created Impervious Magic Shield for such a combo.