I'm not going to pretend like my image of the Duel Monsters world isn't basically a Dungeons & Dragons setting. Hell, maybe one of these days I'll write it out that way. That could be fun. But anyway. When it comes to fantasy, I wasn't raised on Tolkien (though I do invoke him later on in this chapter).
I cut my teeth on Dragonlance.
And having played D&D regularly for a good … decade? I think?
Any fantasy setting that I try to create, or else influence, will always have that sword-and-sorcery vibe to it. It's just how I do things.
I think it works pretty well in this space.
.
Whispers followed them like companions, as Mahad led his guests to a cluster of open-air markets. Yugi, for his part, paid them no heed; he kept his eyes on their guide. Sotaro was too distracted by sights and smells and ambient noises to notice what any individual might be saying about him. Yuki and Kohaku heard them gossip, however: what would possess the Magician in Black to lead a group of outsiders? they asked, and what business could possibly have him out from beneath the grand awnings of the arcade? Whatever reason could he possibly have to be dealing with children?
They kept close to their son, listening to everything and yet maintaining almost none of it in their memories. It was impossible to keep any voice distinct from any other. Decorum urged them to let down their guard; after all, these were people, just people like themselves, going about their day-to-day. But they couldn't do it. They were tense, their eyes couldn't stay in one spot for longer than a flash, and it would have taken more than a wayward blink to set them running.
Mahad would stop every so often at a stall, speak to the proprietor, hand over some kind of scrip, and take a parcel. He never stayed for long, never spoke more than a handful of words—too quietly for Yuki or Kohaku to hear, even though their senses were sharpened by anxiety—and he moved with an ethereal grace and ease of movement that spoke to supreme confidence; it exuded from him like heatwaves. Crowds parted for him like oceans.
Someone in an obvious hurry bumped into Sotaro and very nearly pitched head over ankle; then collided with Kohaku. The nameless, faceless villager turned and opened their mouth to complain, took a single glance at Mahad—whose expression was mild, almost disinterested—and scrambled to get away, all words and grievances forgotten.
"Apologies," said Mahad. "Sometimes, business can cause one to forget to examine their route before taking it." He glanced at Sotaro. "Are you quite all right, young one?"
Sotaro nodded.
"Could that have been, like . . . a pickpocket?" Yugi wondered.
"No." Mahad shook his head. "A cutpurse would have marked me first and left well enough alone. That was simply a civilian in a hurry." At the Yagamis' searching looks—Yuki and Kohaku in concern, Sotaro in curiosity—he continued: "People who live near the Arcade know well the look of the High Court. They do not mistake us."
Kohaku frowned. "Wouldn't take the afterlife for a place where crime would be necessary."
"We are people still," Mahad said, looking self-conscious, "with flaws and facets. The High Court does what it can to keep the peace, but we are not omnipotent. We cannot provide for everyone. There will be places and ways where and in which we fail our charges, and they will make up the difference themselves. 'Tis only in the Sacred Fields, where each is lord o'er their own domain, where such troubles are rendered truly obsolete."
Silence stood in for conversation for a time. Mahad continued to weave his small retinue through the stalls. Sotaro pointed out a creature which resembled a dragon, clearly enamored, and his mood only soured for a moment when his mother reminded him that it was rude to stare; it took only seconds more for some new wonder to capture his imagination. He watched two centaurs trading pouches and turned to Mahad.
"Do you have money here?" the boy asked.
Mahad did not stop walking, but he reached into his robe and retrieved a bronze coin stamped with a five-pointed star, making it dance between his dexterous fingers. The coin looked almost precisely like the stars which emblazoned the top of each monster card in Magic & Wizards.
"We do," said Mahad. "These coins are minted from a metal which we call almantum. You will also hear them called stars. I'm sure you can see why this would be."
Sotaro nodded.
"There is potent magic to be found in this metal." Mahad flicked the coin into the air, caught it, and slipped it into a sleeve. "Almantum can be put toward any number of purposes once that magic is extracted, which is why we have taken to using it as currency."
"Even in the world of the dead," Kohaku muttered, "you'll find capitalism."
"Not in so many words," Mahad protested lightly. "The basic needs of any spirit are far removed from those of a living being. For example, food and drink are to be found in every corner of this realm, but not for any kind of necessity. We partake simply for the pleasure of it. Recreation, and community, if you like. You will need to sustain yourselves mostly as normal, but that is because you are alive."
"Hm," Yugi hummed. "If we wanted to get by without having to eat or drink anything, we'd have to be dead."
"Correct. Unfortunately."
"So, nobody here is alive?"
"Nobody but you and yours." Mahad smiled. "If a body is destroyed, in battle or through a misuse of magic or . . . what have you. It will be reborn. All is circular here in the Barrier. Not just figuratively, either. Literally, too. As your world orbits a star, so too does ours orbit the Sacred Fields."
"If a spirit came to our world, would they die there?"
"No more than they would die here," said Mahad. "Whether a body is deconstructed here or your realm or any other, it will be remade here."
"So if the Queen died, she'd come back."
Mahad chuckled. "Correct," he said again. "Though, I must confess: anything which could send her back to the ether would truly be a horrible sight to behold." He cleared his throat at the sharp look Yuki stabbed his way. "Ahem. Pardon me. I mean only to say that the White Wyrm is hardy indeed, nigh-unmatched in strength and vigor. But if you worry after her safety still, you may assuage it. She would return here to the Barrier if her body were destroyed."
It was not missed that Mahad kept saying destroyed, and not killed.
There was something to that, something hidden behind the rest of his words; they could tell from the look on his face, if nothing else. He was holding back something. But Sotaro was too busy thinking about this new concept to take much notice, and neither Yugi nor the boy's parents were much inclined to press the Dark Magician for any details.
"You said you would see that we were, ah . . . equipped properly," Yuki said.
"That I did." He stepped ahead, then turned to face them with a flourish. All the various things he'd taken from the merchants hung in the air between them all. Mahad plucked up one such offering and handed Yuki a sheathed blade. "There is no use in pretending there will not be dangers ahead. So, the first matter to which we must attend is your safety."
Yuki took hold of the weapon's handle and pulled it free. The blade was simple, with a single curved edge, with no ornamentation. The handle was wrapped in simple leather. She held it up, frowning at it, flipped it in her grip, twisted it this way and that, testing its weight.
Mahad made another flourish and handed Kohaku a similar weapon. His was longer, heavier, but just as simple. Kohaku held his blade with less confidence, but more ease of practice, than his wife. "Mm," he said. "Like a machete. Nice."
At Yugi's questioning glance, Yuki said: "Ko's had to deal with plenty of . . . unruly plants and overgrown trees. All kinds of things like that. I don't think machetes are standard issue for construction work, but they should be."
Mahad knelt before Sotaro and produced a short wooden staff with a plain-cut green gemstone at its head. There was no missing the relief on Yuki's face when she realized her seven-year-old boy would not be getting a sword. "This," Mahad said, "is an acolyte's scepter. You won't move mountains or summon storms with it, but it will defend you well enough. The magic in this instrument responds to your will. Go on. Give it a flourish."
Sotaro took hold of his new staff with both hands, eyes wide and sparkling with something like reverence. He stared at it for nearly half a minute before remembering that he'd been given instructions. He drew in a breath, shifted his grip, and thrust the staff forward.
A thin, sparking streak of blue lightning shot from the gemstone and struck the ground six or seven feet out from where Sotaro stood.
The boy's eyes nearly fell out of his head.
"Excellent!" Mahad rose to his full height, applauding. "Oh, well done! Good show!" He smiled like a doting tutor. "Now, then. I don't need to remind you to take care with this, do I? There is much joy, and fun, to be had in working magic. But this is not to be used as a toy. You know this." Sotaro nodded fervently. "Very good."
Sotaro took his staff in one hand and clacked it on the ground like a walking stick, throwing back his shoulders. He looked like he'd just been given the reins to Santa's sleigh.
Mahad finally turned his attention to Yugi. He pulled a ring from his own finger and handed it out. "This ring is an instrument of my own design. It will protect you as I would. I am certain that His Highness will do much to guide you in its proper use."
Yugi nodded as he took the offered trinket and slipped it on. "Thank you, Mahad."
Finally, Mahad presented four packs, each much lighter and more compact than the ones they currently wore. They were made of fine, aged leather. "These," he said, "will make it much easier for you to carry anything you need, or else find, on your way. They have been filled with all you might need for at least a month of hard travel."
They all reached out and took a pack, slipping off the others and beginning the simple but time-consuming task of replacing their gear from home.
Mahad continued: "No matter what you carry, or how much you carry, these packs will never change weight or shape. I trust that they will serve you well."
"Like a Bag of Holding," Yugi mused. Then he said: "I don't really mind saying that I hope we don't find anything . . . interesting, or exciting, on this trip. Adventures might've helped Bilbo Baggins, but I've already had plenty of them. Enough for two lifetimes at least. I want to just get out there, find a dragon, convince her to help us, and get back home."
"I'm not so sure I'm with you on that one," Kohaku said, checking the straps on his own pack. "I think a company of dwarven warriors might be pretty nice to have right now."
"I'm the smallest one here, aside from Sotaro," Yugi said. "We all know what that means. If we run into a group of trolls, I'm gonna be the one who has to go sneaking around them and get them to argue with each other until the sun comes up and turns them to stone."
"I mean," Kohaku countered, "at least you're starting the trip with a magic ring."
Yugi blinked. Glanced at his hand. "Okay, that's true." Yugi shrugged. "And I didn't even have to trick a homicidal cave-gremlin to get hold of it."
Sotaro's eyes went wide as he studied the horizon. "I'm Gandalf," he said.
Mahad noticed something off behind them, and he smiled. "Ah," he said. "Your guide has arrived. Now. He may seem unassuming, but I have the utmost faith in him. He will serve you well in your time here. Also, he was quite insistent about this job when I put out the call."
Yugi followed the magician's gaze, then grinned like a fiend.
"Kuriboh!"
