Chapter 3: Checking Out the Slifer Dorm
Even before the cruise ship docked, Bryan and Matt could tell Duel Academy was huge. A private school built on a private island already raised expectations pretty high, but Duel Academy's splendor still shattered their imaginations. They first spotted the enormous, granite lighthouse positioned at the end of the harbor, acting as a beacon for miles to ensure no stray ship invaded Academy Island and any intentional ship could not miss it. As the island grew nearer, the boys saw it was covered with trees and other greenery, plus there were white beaches visible toward the eastern edge and purple mountains jutting into the far sky.
Academy Island was bigger than Bryan had expected. He figured the island would be just big enough to hold the classroom building, the dormitories, and the harbor. Matt had tried to explain the island was more than thirty miles in circumference along the coast and that the school building known as Duel Academy occupied almost nineteen thousand square meters, but then he had to translate that to more than 200,000 square-feet before Bryan could understand. That didn't count the gym facilities, which were disconnected from Duel Academy owing to the variety of sports fields that went underutilized by the student body every year.
And despite the numbers, Bryan still could not visualize the sheer size of the island. Nor the excitement. There was a goddamned volcano on the island! Sure, he saw the picture of it in the school brochure, but it was the first time Bryan had ever been so close to a real volcano. He asked Matt how it got there and then regretted doing so as Matt went into excruciating detail explaining how magma from the Earth's upper mantle pushed its way to the surface and continued to expand as more and more lava flowed. Academy Island's volcano—named Mt. Takahashi, for Bryan's reference—was officially dormant because it had not erupted for two hundred years, but it could not be considered extinct until it went ten thousand years without an eruption.
"What would we do if it erupted?" asked Bryan, pushing Matt toward the only piece of information that was truly important regarding the volcano.
Matt shrugged.
"How can Mr. Know-It-All not know how to protect himself from a volcano?"
"I suggest listening to the safety lecture when we get to the convocation center. It might be more informative than for most schools."
The ship moored in the elegantly-named Duelists' Landing on the westernmost reaches, which was a smaller island connected to the main island by a covered bridge. According to Matt's incessant jabbering, the smaller island was technically named Duelists' Landing while the facility was named only Harbor. No one cared enough to distinguish the two, including Bryan.
The facility housed riggings and equipment needed to clean and maintain the ship's exterior and little else. Straight away while exiting the ship was a security checkpoint where everyone was required to throw their luggage through another X-ray machine and present their student IDs. It was an additional layer of protection against stowaways, plus anyone who managed to smuggle some form of contraband past the onboarding checkpoint was less likely to do so successfully a second time. After Bryan touched the badge reader with his ID card, which had an electronic chip inside to keep track of his entire school identity including dorm access and meals, he was distressed to watch his bags disappear after going through the scanner.
"Don't worry," said the porter. "Your luggage will be taken to your dormitory for you just like when you got on the ship and your stuff was put outside your stateroom. Just keep moving and head toward the main building."
Bryan looked to Matt as he walked through security. "Such service here."
"If the rumors about the Slifer dorm are accurate, this might be the last of it for us."
"You're such an optimist," said Bryan sarcastically.
Matt shrugged in reply. The truth was he didn't care how shitty the service was for students on the island. Whether their dorm had wait staff and their own janitors or if the students were responsible for cleaning their own toilets and killing their own food, he was just happy to be on an island in the middle of the ocean. Or in his own words: "Not really the middle. More like the northwestern part of the ocean."
It was not difficult to find the convocation center. Bryan just followed the sea of red, yellow, and blue jackets heading across the bridge and down a paved path through the woods. On the ship Bryan had only ever seen one or two people wearing Duel Academy uniforms, but now it seemed everyone was wearing a color to match his or her dorm. Most boys wore blazers and long pants, and Bryan found himself jealous that the Obelisk boys got to wear long-tailed jackets instead to show off their regal rank. The girls wore sleeveless, vest-like tops and miniskirts with blue boots. Bryan couldn't hate the outfit, although he wondered if there was an alternate female uniform for the winter.
After crossing the bridge, Matt pointed out to Bryan the building at the north end of the footpath. Obscured slightly by the trees surrounding the path, the building's red roof stood out above. It was designed a bit like a motel. Matt was certain that was the Slifer Dorm because it was the farthest from the Duel Academy main building. Following the path to the south along with the other students, they caught sight of a yellow building with a green, gabled roof and the overall feeling of a clubhouse.
"Clearly that's the Obelisk dorm," joked Bryan. Matt was unamused.
They never spotted the Obelisk dorm on their walk. Shortly past the Ra Yellow building, the path branched and everyone banked northeast toward the towering Duel Academy building. The coated walkway was so clean it was practically reflective, like the still surface of a lake. Posts along the trimmed lawn offered places to sit outdoors without venturing too far from one's next class. Straddling the entrance was a series of four angled pillars ending in slotted turrets against the building's front wall. To Bryan's eye, they looked like fingers on a hand pressing Duel Academy into its position up against the mountainside.
Each of the four corners of the building was marked by at least one towering obelisk, and the pun was not lost on Matt. What he could not know, however, was why the southwest corner of the building had two such obelisks, and further still why a sixth obelisk had fallen over from the forest and leaned against the superfluous obelisk.
"I can't believe there's finally something about this place you don't know," said Bryan.
"I'm still not sure how we got accepted," quipped Matt. "Does that count, too?"
Bryan shrugged, signaling his agreement.
Stepping through the entrance door was the same as stepping into a shopping mall. The most prominent feature was the gigantic Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming logo emblazoned on the floor around which were the type of benches and tables you'd see at the mall for weary shoppers to take a rest, or to wait comfortably while a girlfriend agonizes over which shoes best match her Homecoming dress.
Damn, Bryan needed to quit thinking about his ex!
Everyone ignored the grand staircases located on either side of the hall and the two located in front of the entrance. Instead, everyone filed through a single door in between the twin stairs, and once they followed, Bryan and Matt found themselves in a floor-level arena. Stadium seating circled the room overlooking a stage on the floor bearing an oak podium and a row of brightly-colored people in Duel Academy uniforms. At first glance Bryan thought they were a little old to be students, but then he realized that's because they were the professors ready to provide the opening ceremony and address.
The oldest man of the group stood and made his way to the podium. He was gray on all the hair he had remaining, including the massive mustache under his nose, but he looked surprisingly average around the midsection. Bryan wondered if being on this remote island without access to a car contributed to the professors' ability to keep in reasonable shape. The old man wore blue jeans and a long Duel Academy coat in green, which Matt specified to be Castleton green, a color Bryan was ninety percent sure was made up on the spot.
"Good morning, students," he announced in a soft voice. If not for the microphone, it would be difficult to hear him speak even from the first few rows of seats. "For those of you returning as upper classmen, welcome back to your second home. To everyone joining us for the first time, we could not be prouder to have you here. I am Dr. Corbin West, chancellor here and your highest authority on all things Duel Academy. The student body here can be likened to a deck of cards: Each of you brings different abilities, strengths, and effects to those around you, but only when you pay attention and learn from one another will you find your proper synergy. You are the best and brightest young duelists in the world. I know I say this every year, but I look forward to having the best school year yet. Your participation in pushing the limits of your education and our expertise will forge the path to the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming. Be confident, study hard, and duel with pride. I know you will make all of us proud.
"Please bear with me as we discuss a few of the rules you must all abide during your time here. Rule No. 1 is the most obvious: No drugs or alcohol will be tolerated on campus. No matter the country or culture whence you hail, you are all students and most of you are underage, and so you will be punished accordingly if you are caught with alcohol on campus. Likewise, we expect you to represent Duel Academy to the best imaginable behavior when you travel off campus." That was a nice, open-ended invitation to abstain from drugs outside of school, too, with an implication that the students could be punished for any intoxication-related events that made their way back to the faculty.
"Rule No. 2 is also simple: no co-educational sleepovers. Your dorm room is for you and your roommates only. Male students are forbidden from visiting inside the female dormitory. Anyone found in the wrong dormitory after curfew will be subject to disciplinary action. Which ties into Rule No. 3: Curfew is 20:00 and means you must be inside your dormitory unless you have explicit, written permission from a professor to be in a practice hall, a lab room, or the library." The room filled with the rumblings of students who felt that 8 P.M. was ridiculously early as a boarding school curfew. Dr. West seemed to ignore it and move on.
"Now I turn you over to my Vice-Chancellor, Kevin Lankford." The vice-chancellor was a lanky man with short hair, glasses, and a slight smirk on his face. He wore a blue Duel Academy coat just like the Obelisk students, except his was impeccably pressed and cleaned. His uniform looked almost plastic, like the kind they might use for a photo shoot to present the best possible image.
"Hello, students, and thank you, Dr. West. I am Dr. Lankford, your professor for game theory and competitive dueling and the faculty advisor for the Obelisk Blue boy's dormitory. Allow me to remind you of the rules you really want to hear.
"If you wish to schedule an official duel with any particular student, simply fill out a Duel Request form. You can find these at any arena by the ticket booth or with any faculty member, or you can complete it virtually by logging in at the Duel Academy student portal. Either way, a request form will be sent to your requested opponent. If he or she accepts, the duel will be placed on the calendar for the nearest Area Duel time slot. As with all official duels, anyone is allowed to watch.
"Maps of the campus you can view on the website or on your Duel Academy app indicate the locations of all electronic duel tables on the island. The use of electronic equipment is necessary to log the majority of duels. You are welcome to use your own Duel Disks if you brought them, but you must register them in order for your duel information to synchronize with the campus database. All electronic duels will go on your official record. You are welcome to duel on tabletop for deck testing and for practice as often as you like, but they will not reflect on your record.
"What's the advantage to going on record, you ask? At the end of each semester, prizes will be awarded based on a variety of performance metrics."
Several hands shot into the air, but a few less patient voices shouted out the questions everyone had: "What are the prizes?" "What metrics do we need to go for?" Best overall win percentage seemed like the most certain award, but maybe there was some form of balance based on total duel count so that someone who wins all ten of only ten official duels all year loses out to someone with a ninety percent win rate out of a thousand duels.
"Your first chance to prove yourself will be the placement exams two weeks from now. Prepare yourselves with the expectation you could be placed in a duel against any other student in the school and not just against your own dorm mates."
Rumblings passed through the students. Upperclassmen knew how the placement exams worked already, but the new students expressed silent concerns about the possibility of dueling against a Ra or an Obelisk. It seemed like pitting either against a Slifer was the same as giving them a bye week in sports. The upperclassmen were excited by the prospect of checking out the "new blood" and determining who had the skills and potential to move to a better dorm.
Next to be introduced was Dr. Ashley Nagell, the school's physician on retainer. Like the other professors and the students, she lived on the island and was available for regular health-related questions every day between 08:00 and 16:00 plus emergency situations. She gave the presentation on safety guidelines, including "stay away from the volcano," "abide by the rules of the hot tub and gymnasium," and "your mattresses can act as a flotation device in the event of severe flooding." Those were the only rules Bryan especially remembered hearing. Because life on this small island was so abnormal to most lifestyles, Dr. Nagell had the most to say and always referred back to the orientation packet and the Duel Academy app, and so Bryan zoned out for a while until Dr. West reclaimed the podium.
"Classes begin tomorrow. For today, we invite you to partake of the buffet lunch currently set up in the foyer, meet your classmates, get comfortable in your dorms, and explore the campus."
Dr. West's first suggestion was by far his most popular. Everyone in the convocation center fled to the entrance hall as if they hadn't eaten in days. Apparently a little walk from the harbor to the main building was more exercise than most of the dueling nerds got in a long time, Bryan judged. Being in the buffet line early because he was also feeling ravenous—despite his internal double standard—Bryan stood back and people-watched for a bit. The first thing he noticed was how many people glanced his way with a hint of fear or concern, the same way you'd look at Bigfoot if he just wandered into your buffet line.
"Does everyone seem exceptionally short here?" he asked Matt.
"No one is all that short from my level. Stop leering at everyone and they won't give you those looks."
"I'm not leering… unless by 'leering,' you mean 'staring in a creepy way.' I'm just people-watching. How do people do that and not bother everyone else?"
"Step One is to be attractive and female. Fewer people are bothered then."
"That's cynical."
"That's life."
Bryan shook his head and smiled, hoping that he would seem less intimidating/frightening/creepy if he looked like he were laughing at someone else's jokes. He noticed there were more people in yellow jackets than either other color, even though all the girls wore blue. Clearly most of the boys in school fit into that middle category where they were good enough to be associated with Duel Academy but not good enough to receive the full endorsement. The Slifers were definitely the minority, outnumbered in total by even the Obelisk girls. He wondered how many were first-years and how many had just not moved up yet.
The weird thing was that everyone filed out of the hall as soon as they grabbed a plate of food. "Excuse me," Bryan said to a girl walking nearby in the buffet line. She was among the taller girls, but she had a stocky build, a lot like the girls' equivalent of Matt's body type. Her arms reminded him of Michelle Obama. "Where is everyone going?"
"Most of them are heading back to their dorms, some will go straight to the library, a select few will go on a makeshift date with a significant other, a handful will go to the hot springs, maybe two of them will go to the gym, and that guy right there is going back for a second helping."
It was a thorough and specific answer, but it left Bryan in the awkward position of still needing to introduce himself if he wanted to get her name. "That was very detailed. Thank you very much, Miss…?"
"Itachu. Mitsuro Itachu." From her name Bryan assumed she was Japanese, but at first glance he might have thought she could be American.
"I'm Bryan Knight. This is my buddy Matt Luther."
Mitsuro matched the near-scowl on Matt's face when she looked his way. "Something wrong with the food?"
"Nah, he just hates people," said Bryan.
Her expression softened. "Great. He'll fit right in. Most of the people here are loners and keep to themselves. Studies are their first priority because ranks here are in constant flux and everyone wants to be Number One."
"Sounds like fun," said Matt. "How hard would it actually be to get that Number One spot?"
Mitsuro cracked a smile and stifled a laugh she clearly didn't expect to have. "If that's your goal as a Slifer, best of luck to you."
"Thanks." With that, she walked away toward the exit door.
"I think you scared her off."
Matt's only response was, "I like the bandanna she wears. Good to know that Duel Academy doesn't suppress one hundred percent of individuality. Outside of our decks, I mean."
"Yeah. You want to hang around and try to meet some people?"
Shaking his head, Matt practically laughed, "No. We'll see everyone in class eventually. Let's just head back to the dorm and get unpacked. You still need to finish adjusting to our new time zone. We'll have time to explore later." He was right, but the time zone was only the second most significant factor that would give Bryan trouble sleeping, behind moving into a new place.
Bryan's first impression that the Slifer Red dorm resembled a motel altered slightly as he got the tour from the headmaster. The building was two stories and contained a total of twelve bedrooms. Each room was accessed from the open air on the outside wall of the dormitory with no hallway or closed-in stairwell to connect them. The common room wasn't even accessible unless they walked outside of the dorm rooms and around the back of the building. The common room consisted of a sitting area that was essentially a rhomboid recess lined with four solid benches and a study room containing exactly one desk. A dark office in the back bore the label Headmaster. "That's where I will hold office hours every evening for those of you seeking faculty advice on how to improve yourselves and manage your workload," said Dr. Kerr, a woman with a double-Ph.D. in social and cognitive psychology.
As she handed out room assignments, Bryan was pleased to learn that Matt was his roommate. At least he knew from experience he would be able to handle living with him. They wandered upstairs to the farthest door and found their luggage piled neatly outside the door, just as it had been on the cruise ship. Bryan hoisted it all on his brawny shoulders while Matt opened the door into their bedroom. It was a small room that humped in the middle like a backward C. A recessed closet sat to the left, two desks sat to the right—one against the outside wall and one against the far wall—a third desk lined up by the hump in the middle of the room, a bookcase stood on the other side of the hump beside an open door, and three beds stacked in the back right corner.
"Three beds?" said Matt curiously.
The third boy was already present and stepped through the door behind the hump. He was fairly tall with natural blond hair and round spectacles on his face. "Jack Hansbury?" said Bryan, pretty sure he recognized the face even though it had been after dark when they met.
"Hey," said Jack. "Bryan, right? And I haven't met you yet. I'm Jack."
Matt stared at his hand for a moment as if it were an unwelcome gift before accepting the handshake. "Matt Luther."
"Three people in this room together?" asked Bryan. The disappointment he felt was not hidden from his face even the slightest.
Jack noticed the discomfort and frowned. "Well, then you're really not going to like the bathroom." He pointed back at the door in the rear of the room. Bryan and Matt took a look to see a small bathroom with two sinks to the right and two stalls to the left—one with a toilet and one with a shower. Straight across the floor, however, was another door leading into a second three-person dorm room. Bryan caught a glimpse of a really big guy eating from a bag of Bugles while sitting on the bottom bunk in the next room. Unfortunately the guy made eye contact before Bryan could hide, so he tipped his head back, said, "'Sup?" and then closed the door from his side.
"Oh, hell no," said Bryan. "They honestly expect us to share a bathroom among six guys? Matt can't even pee in a public restroom."
"Don't worry about me. I'll just go outside and pee in the ocean. Compared to where I come from, this is luxury accommodations." Matt shook his head and wandered back into the room to unpack his stuff and claim the top bunk by tossing his phone charger and the afghan he had brought with him. Jack had failed to claim a bunk, and Matt was unapologetic.
Bryan gave the bathroom a wistful look but chose not to say more out loud, relegating his complaints to the corner of his mind that still yearned to see Harry and Hermione end up together.
"Where do you come from?" asked Jack of Matt. Bryan shot him a look as if he were lacking tact, but Jack thought that was a legitimate question and didn't understand the implications. Matt ignored such implications, anyway.
"Tennessee. How about you?"
"San Diego, dueling capital of the U.S."
"Why is that?" asked Matt.
"Because all the best duelists come from there. And we have the most state-of-the-art dueling arenas anywhere in the country."
"Not technically accurate," said Matt. "There are only 160 functional dueling arenas in San Diego versus more than 100,000 across the United States. If you wanted to revise your claim that San Diego has the most of any one city… you'd still be wrong but by a much smaller margin."
Jack narrowed his eyes at Matt. "You're a smarty-pants, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Great. Then I'll come to you for help with my gen-ed classes."
He referred to the general education classes which were part of every curriculum. No matter the concentration a student chose in his or her dueling studies, there was a minimum expectation of competency across topics covering a more generalized knowledge base. Society didn't need students whose brains only functioned for cards, and occasionally one's understanding of the cards expanded with extracurricular information.
As one example, students were required to earn six credits toward math and science over their three years. With two terms on a year, that means averaging one math or science class each term. Matt actually opted for one of each during this first term—specifically Statistics and Biology. Bryan had been less interested in attempting such a work load, but he also wanted Matt in his classes to help with his homework, so he followed along. In addition, they enrolled in Intro to Gaming and Game Mechanics, two courses always recommended for first-year students, especially if they were Slifers.
It had taken some convincing, but Matt had relented and agreed not to take on a fifth course. As the workload for the average four courses meant being in the lecture halls for six hours per day with another two hours of homework (dormwork?), Bryan begged Matt not to overwhelm himself until after the first term, where he could get a proper feel for Duel Academy's expectations.
As if begging to be mocked for nerdism, Matt cracked open the biology textbook and laid out on the top bunk to begin reading. Bryan shook his head and muttered, "Dude." But it was the first class they had the next day, and so Matt was unapologetic. Drooping with disappointment in his best friend, Bryan tossed his bag toward the closet and began unloading it into the right side of the partition. He felt a bit of pride as he hung his Duel Academy uniform, and then he questioned why he had to buy a second spare when he realized he was still wearing yet another. Why did the school think it necessary to have three?
Jack gave Bryan a sidelong glance. "You feel like having your first official duel?"
"Definitely. I'll probably need to rack up hundreds of them over the term."
Jack stared sarcastically at the side of Bryan's head, waiting for the meaning of the question to penetrate his apparently thick skull.
Bryan seemed to feel the glare bearing down on him. Slowly raising his eyes to meet Jack's, he reacted with a start. "What, you mean right now?"
"Uh, ya! Are you that fascinated by unpacking?"
"Actually, I can't stop picturing myself with Bugles on my fingertips like witch fingernails. But how would we duel? Doesn't it have to be an electronic duel to make it official?"
"If only there were some way to find the nearest electronic dueling station," said Jack in a mocking tone as he revealed the screen of his phone. He had accessed the duel station map in the Academy's campus app. The Slifer dorm was not highlighted but there was a duel station nearby on the oceanside cliff and along the path toward the Ra dorm. Bryan's eye further wandered around the screen to note some other locations.
"How come Ra and Obelisk each have duel stations inside the dorm and we don't?"
"Not important. Grab your deck and let's go."
"No need," said Bryan. He leaned so he could point out where he had a deck box attached to his belt. He didn't have a legitimate belt clip for it, but he had made do by slicing two holes in the back of the box wide enough to slip his belt through. "I took your advice from the boat."
"Good for you. Then let's get going."
The pair wandered outside the dorm. A couple of their dorm mates on the first floor were still busy transferring all of their luggage into the room. Another door was propped open while the guys inside shouted their frustrations related to rearranging the room for "maximum efficiency." Bryan considered stepping in to help, but he decided to wait until tempers settled first. Maybe on the way back after the duel.
On the way, Bryan asked, "What happened to you on the ship? I came back to duel but you were gone."
"Oh, man. My little bathroom excursion turned into a nightmare. I was in there for half an hour. Turns out my body may love shrimp fresh off the grill, but those cold, cocktail shrimps give me the rumbly tumbly."
Frowning in disgust of a boy who would share the bathroom with him for a fully year, Bryan replied, "Good to know."
Jack had long-since accomplished his quota of ocean appreciation, having been surrounded by it for two full days, and so he preferred to locate the dueling station settled in the shade of the trees. Bryan noted that the path from the harbor would lead directly into the table if not for the fork diverging toward the dorms. It was almost identical to the dueling station that was commonplace in amateur-level events such as his application duel. In short, the table was built from a series of lights and mirrors that could read his dueling cards and render a three-dimensional version on the arena between the two seats.
"How do we determine who goes first?" asked Bryan. He sat down on one side of the table and Jack sat down opposite.
"Shuffle this for me, please," said Jack, handing his deck to Bryan.
After Bryan handed over his deck, he began searching through Jack's cards.
"Hey! Don't do that. It's rude to read another duelist's cards without permission. The whole point is for you to respond in the game, not to try predicting each of my moves. Just cut the deck and give it back so we can duel."
"Sorry." Bryan shuffled the deck and offered the cards back to Jack.
"How do you normally decide who goes first? I think Duel Academy standards are either to let the machine pick randomly or to play Rock-Paper-Scissors and whoever wins gets to pick." Jack pulled out his student ID card and tapped it to the monitor on his side of the table. His ID picture appeared onscreen and asked for his personal identification number to verify. Bryan logged into his side of the table the same way, except he used his own PIN instead of copying Jack's.
"Usually when Matt and I duel, it's just whoever grabs his cards first goes first."
Sniggering, Jack said, "That's definitely not a standard." He grabbed enough cards from his shuffled deck to constitute an opening hand. "But if you insist, I will start us off."
Bryan 8000: Jack 8000.
Jack paused long enough to watch Bryan draw his opening hand. Fortunately Bryan was somewhat skilled at holding his body language steady during a duel to avoid giving away any crucial hints. To test the waters, as it were, Jack decided, "I will set one card face-down and end my turn."
"Big talk for such a lackluster play," said Bryan. "In response, I will summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (3: 1200|800)." A female Hero wearing a red bodysuit appeared on the field. "No trap? Then I'll attack." Burstinatrix generated a fireball in her hand and hurled it across the field like a flaming baseball.
Bryan 8000: Jack 6800.
Jack asked, "Did you mean to leave yourself defenseless?"
"What do you mean? I have Burstinatrix."
With a nod, Jack drew his next card. "I special summon Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit (6: 2100|1400)." The dragon that appeared floating above the field looked to Bryan almost like it bore scales of pearl underneath the weight of gold plate mail. "I now offer Tefnuit as a tribute to special summon Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet (5: 2000|1600)." The second dragon bore scales that sparkled with a purple hue under its golden armor. "When Tefnuit is tributed, I can special summon Dragon Core Hexer (8: 2300|3000)." Not a dragon herself, the warrior who appeared carried herself much like her namesake and armed herself with the scales of a sapphire dragon.
As Bryan read through the lore text on the Hexer card, he also noticed that the card's attack and defense points all fell to zero.
"That's what happens when Tefnuit summons a monster. Didn't you know that?"
Bryan shrugged. "I might have known it at some point. There are a lot of cards to memorize, though."
Jack smirked. "That's fair. Try to keep up. I'll offer Nebthet as a tribute to special summon Hieratic Dragon of Su (6: 2200|1000)." The newest dragon had scales of bright blue as if reflecting the splendor of the sky. "Nebthet's effect lets me special summon Labradorite Dragon (6: 0|2400)." A dragon rendered as if borne directly from mineral, with shimmering feldspar dotting its backside. Its points dropped immediately to zero, a side effect of being summoned by a Hieratic Dragon effect.
Suddenly Jack grabbed both his Hieratic Dragon of Su and his Labradorite Dragon and stacked them into a single monster card zone for an Xyz summon. This was a technique Bryan was familiar with—hard not to be considering how commonplace it had become in recent months—but one with which he did not have much immediate experience. Instead of fusing his monsters through Polymerization, Jack had overlaid their cards and set a new one on top. Hieratic Dragon King of Atum (6: 2400|2100) brought with it powerful energy, flushing the field with purple aura as it roared.
"I activate Atum's effect," said Jack. "By detaching one Xyz material, I special summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (10: 2800|2400)." He placed in defense mode a massive dragon with a metallic sheen and shining red eye. Bryan watched its points drop to zero, just like with the other dragons. "Once per turn, Red-Eyes can summon one dragon to my field, so I choose to bring back Hieratic Dragon of Nebthet (5|2000|1600)." Those penetrating red eyes shone brightly, and a cloud of darkness appeared in an open monster zone. His purple dragon charged out of the cloud and stopped in defense mode. "Finally, by using Nebthet's effect, I will send Atum to the graveyard as a tribute to destroy Burstinatrix."
Bryan quickly swiped through the virtual list of the cards in each player's graveyards. "I'm confused. Did you summon enough monsters during that turn? You might have fallen just short of the world record."
"Just duel your turn, smart guy."
"Why didn't you try to attack me? An army like that and you just settled for destroying my monster through an effect?"
"I literally can't attack during the turn Atum's effect activates. And I was far more interested in moving my monsters around than in dealing with a single, normal monster. So don't worry about me."
"Yeah, fine. I'll play Monster Reborn so I can summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (3: 1200|800) from the graveyard." His spandex-clad warrior climbed back up to the field in a burst of flame.
Jack interrupted. "I discard Maxx 'C' from my hand to draw one card."
Bryan made a face. "You couldn't wait for your own turn to do that?"
"It only works when you special summon on your turn."
"Oh. Alrighty. I'll play Skyscraper." When Bryan placed the card into the space reserved for field spells, his side of the table transformed from a generic field of grass and trees into a bustling city filled with towering buildings covered by glass windows. Despite their being rendered to be transparent, Bryan found it still somewhat challenging to adequately see through them. "If I had to select the most problematic monster on your field, I'd name Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (-0|-0)." He triggered the command for Burstinatrix to attack that specific monster card.
"Good call," said Jack. "But I want to keep my Red-Eyes, so I'll play... Compulsory Evacuation Device!" He intentionally placed a pause before the name of the card and demonstrated excitable flair when flipping it over. A mechanical cannon—not unlike the launch pad of a rocket—appeared beneath Burstinatrix and fired her high into the air.
Bryan pursed his lips, but then he grabbed his Burstinatrix card. "That's the one that returns my monster to my hand, which means she can't complete the attack."
"That's right!"
Unfortunately, his hand had been stingy so far, and now Bryan had no cards left to play. "I guess that ends my turn."
"Ooo, ouch. Tough break, roomie." But Jack's sympathy was fleeting. "I activate my Red-Eyes so I can summon Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit (6: 2100|1400) once again." The red eyes shone brightly and summoned up another dark portal, from which appeared the pearl-white dragon. "Now I open a Monster Gate using Nebthet's energy." Jack's cryptic language was made obvious when he activated a spell card by offering a monster as a tribute. A glowing glyph appeared in the sky, and a purple dragon with copper armor emerged: the Hieratic Dragon of Eset (5: 1900|1200). "And since that card sent Nebthet to the graveyard, his effect activates so I can summon Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord (8: 0|0)." Although gigantic in size, larger than all other cards to reach the field yet, the new monster was little more than a shining, gold ball flowing with energy.
Bryan was riveted, struggling to keep up with the effects of all the cards flying back and forth across Jack's side of the table. If all Duel Academy students dueled at this level, he was going to have to step up his game… like, a lot.
"Now I activate Eset's ability: For this turn, all Hieratic monsters I have become Level 8 to match my sealed Sun Dragon Overlord. That means I can overlay Tefnuit (+8), Eset (+8), and Dragon Core Hexer (8) to summon Coach King Giantrainer (8: 2800|2000)." The second of such Xyz monsters summoned by Jack, Giantrainer was aptly named: It stood taller than any monster so far, wielding as weapons more than a half-dozen bats, swords, and training poles. "I detach one Xyz material so I can draw a card and show you." It was a duplicate of Compulsory Evacuation Device. "Again." He detached another Xyz material and drew again. It was a spell card Bryan didn't recognize. Jack frowned. "Let's try one more time." He detached another Xyz material and then drew a Black Luster Soldier. "That's better. Since it's a monster card, you take 800 points of damage."
Bryan 7200: Jack 6800
"Now I banish Nebthet and Labradorite Dragon from my graveyard to summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (8: 3000|2500) to the field." As his name implied, the warrior bore shimmering black armor and carried a curved scimitar in his hand. But he didn't stay long as Jack overlaid the Black Luster Soldier with the sealed Sun Dragon Overlord to summon Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy (8: 3000|2500), a mechanical dragon wearing bulky white armor and without defined legs.
"I'll set one card and end my turn," said Jack.
Bryan rolled his eyes. "I already know that card is Compulsory Evacuation Device."
Jack shrugged. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't."
"Well, I'm just gonna have Burstinatrix (1200) attack your Red-Eyes (-0) again. How you respond to that is up to you."
"I don't have a trap for that. Instead, I'll detach one Xyz material from Titanic Galaxy (3000) so that it becomes your attack target instead."
"Well, Skyscraper's effect activates. When my Heroes attack a monster with more attack points, they gain a thousand extra points."
Jack made a face. "2200 is still lower than 3000."
"So it is, Jack. So it is. In that case, I'll drop Elemental Hero Honest Neos from my hand to the graveyard." The transparent essence of Bryan's tall Hero in white appeared behind Burstinatrix. The figure disappeared inside her as a stream of energy, and brilliant wings emerged from her back. "Doing that gives Burstinatrix (+4700) another 2500 points."
With an annoyed pause, Jack said, "Now I'll play Compulsory Evacuation Device. Take back Burstinatrix, please."
"Yeah, fine. It's your turn now."
Jack shook his head. "Boy, you have a terrible hand."
"I've noticed. Usually it's better balanced than this."
"I'm sure." But he didn't sound sure. He sounded snarky. And he had every right to be, perhaps. Jack immediately launched two direct attacks against Bryan using Titanic Galaxy (3000) and Giantrainer (2800).
Bryan 1400: Jack 6800.
"I'll also use the effect of my Red-Eyes to summon Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit (6: 2100|1400) once more. And then I'll offer Tefnuit on the field as a tribute to summon Tefnuit from my hand." His pearly dragon disappeared only to be replaced with an exact replica. "And when Tefnuit is tributed, I get to special summon Dragon Core Hexer (8: -0|-0) again." His warrior woman reappeared in her sapphire-hued dragon armor. "That ends my turn."
"Great. Since you set me up so well for it, I'll play Instant Fusion and pay 1000 Life Points to summon one of my fused Elemental Heroes." A cup similar to instant noodles settled on the field. As soon as the seal cracked, Jack responded.
"Nope. Titanic Galaxy can negate that effect." The mechanical dragon released a powerful surge of energy through the air that overwhelmed and disarmed the cup of fusion noodles. "And then your Instant Fusion card becomes Xyz material for Titanic Galaxy." He extended his open palm across the table.
Bryan 400: Jack 6800.
Bryan was reluctant, but he handed over his spell card. "That sucks. But at least since you decided not to destroy my Burstinatrix, you set me up to summon Elemental Hero Blazeman (4: 1200|1800)." Bryan's familiar monster appeared with a punch in blazing orange armor. "Summoning him brings Polymerization to my hand. And that means I can fuse Burstinatrix and Avian into Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (6: 2100|1200)." Bryan's fused Hero looked like a true combination of monsters, bearing a green, humanoid body with a dragon-like right arm and tail and a single wing over his left shoulder.
Finally things were looking up. "I'll have Flame Wingman (2100) attack Titanic Galaxy (3000)." And thanks to the effect of Skyscraper, Flame Wingman (+3100) gained an extra 1000 points for the confrontation. Extending its dragonic arm, Flame Wingman released a spray of fire that engulfed the armored dragon and consumed it into ash. The unstoppable stream of fire overflowed the table and licked Jack's Life Points. "Whenever Flame Wingman destroys a monster, you also lose Life Points equal to that monster's attack points."
Bryan 400: Jack 3700.
"Plus I still have Blazeman. And he can destroy your Red-Eyes." With a fist soaked in flame, Blazeman punched a hole that melted straight through the metal scales of the Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (-0). "That ends my turn."
Jack shook his head. "And the duel, sadly. Despite your almost-comeback, your monsters are still defenseless. I don't even need to summon anything else for Giantrainer (2800) to destroy Flame Wingman (2100) and take the rest of your Life Points."
Bryan 0: Jack 3700.
In all honesty, Bryan had expected to win that duel. Part of him hoped that Jack would turn out to be all bluster and a bit of a pushover like Ashley from the cruise ship. So much for being a breakout expert at the start of the school term. His first official duel and he put up a big L.
But at least he could put on a brave face. He offered a strong handshake to his worthy opponent. "Hey, good game, roomie. That's a strong deck you have there."
"Yeah, I know," said Jack. He had a pretentious look in his eye. "I'm glad we established which of us is superior right off the bat like this."
"Come again?"
"And for my victory prize, you have to stay away from my girl."
Through narrowed eyes, Bryan wasn't sure what was going on. "Which one is your girl?"
"I haven't decided yet. But you're a fairly attractive guy and you have a lot of muscles. We're both tall but you're somehow taller. Girls tend to like that, so you have to back off."
"Okay, but what if she comes on to me?"
His look turned into a glare. "Just remember what I said, yeah? I'm headed back to the dorm. Take your time collecting your dignity."
Once again, Bryan wished he could come up with a speedy comeback, but Jack had already gone too far to hear it. "Suck my dignity," was the best he could come up with. What a lousy introduction to a roommate he would have to live with for a full term.
Thanks to Titanic X for contributing Mitsuro again to the story. It's good to have a familiar character I can work with. For anyone who has yet to send in a character but would like to, I heavily encourage it. There are many students at this school and I've only introduced a handful of teachers; lots of roles remain unfilled at the moment.
Dueling is so much more in-depth now than it was back when I first started. Metal Raiders was the new set when I assembled my first deck and now you can barely read a deck list without at least six Xyz monsters. I feel better about the quality of the duels so far but I am still perfectly interested in having help from anyone who wants to volunteer. In my mind, this first school year is right around 2015 in terms of card availability. I'm still uncomfortable with Pendulum monsters and I don't even know how Links work yet, so setting this approximate timeline helps me stall while I learn.