Chapter 4: The People Who Teach At Duel Academy
"Look at this one. 'The process of evolution drives the diversity and unity of life.' You think I could get any kind of pass on my homework if I explain that I don't believe in evolution?" asked Bryan as he thumbed through the Biology I syllabus.
Matt simply replied, "Do it." He didn't care what the idea was as long as Bryan stepped out of his comfort zone to deliver it. His encouragement was usually heard but never heeded, anyway. Bryan had always been all talk and too nervous to act.
"What do you think he'll say?" asked Bryan. His eyes widened at the sight of the man he suspected to be the biology teacher.
The man was obviously not a core dueling professor, as indicated by his black coat. All the dueling professors wore primary colors to match the dorms, and the associates wore black. The fullness of color represented the way such professors belonged to all Duel Academy students regardless of dueling rank or skill. This man appeared more disheveled than any Matt had yet seen on campus. His black coat was unbuttoned, revealing a navy, four-button suit that was missing two buttons and a striped necktie in a loose Windsor knot. His shoes were ragged Converse in red, a stark contrast to the rest of his outfit.
"Did this guy get dressed in the dark today?" asked Matt. "Look at his hair."
Bryan shrugged. "He puts a bit too much gel in it. So?"
"It's not gel, it's mousse. And that's a lazy man's style. See how it looks like he put in product and just gave a single upward pull? I'll bet that's exactly what he did."
"Some people pay a lot of money to get their hair styled like that."
"This guy gets it by sheer luck, I guarantee it."
The fashion criminal said a few words to some of the students in the front row. Being a general education class, Biology I was attended by a colorful mixture of fifty students. Bryan pointed out Wikolia from the cruise ship in her blue Obelisk uniform sitting in the second row. Otherwise he claimed not to know anyone's name except Cary—nicknamed Jim Cary—who sat in the front all the way at the farthest corner from the door. Matt remembered her. He was surprised to see an auburn-haired girl seated beside her. He had figured Cary for a lone wolf, but then he realized she might just be keeping a roommate near as life support the same way Bryan clung to Matt. Most of the other faces were only vaguely familiar either from the ship or from the welcome buffet.
"Who's that guy?" asked Bryan.
Matt glanced around the room at the forty people who fit that description. "You're kidding, right?"
"The one beside Wikolia," he clarified. Matt found the target, who looked fairly common in all features except for his coat: Still of the exact design as most boys' Duel Academy jackets, this mystery jacket was green.
"Looks like that guy Andrew who proctored your application practical."
Bryan was almost overcome with excitement now that he finally knew why the guy looked familiar. He said "Yes!" a little too loudly and drew attention from his classmates.
"Good morning, class," spoke the man with the crazy outfit. His voice was bright and cheery to match his smile. Matt suspected it was a ruse to relax the students before he crushed them with homework.
Bryan tried to ask why Andrew was the only one wearing green but Matt shushed him in favor of hearing what the professor had to say.
"Welcome to Biology I. For those of you who have not been in one of my classes before, I am the professor. Now, I trust you all reviewed the syllabus without me and you are not children; therefore, I need not read it to you. To begin, we will discuss how life evolves constantly in a changing environment."
"Excuse me, professor," interrupted a boy in Slifer red from the third row. Matt remembered seeing him at the Slifer tour. "Do you have a name we should use when we speak to you?"
The professor had stopped and looked at the student expectantly, as if he had hoped for a thought-provoking discussion within the first two minutes of class beginning. He was let down but he never lost his smile or energy. "Yes, I do," he said. He turned away and continued saying, "No doubt you are all familiar with evolution and its sister theory known as survival of the fittest."
Bryan whispered to Matt, "In defense of Oscar Apple, Ph. D.'s response which ignored the question, his name is written on the syllabus."
Matt didn't care. He raised his hand to interrupt the professor's flow. Even so, he waited patiently for three minutes until the professor finally noticed the raised hand and called on him. "I don't believe in evolution," he said boldly, drawing baffled reactions from his classmates.
The professor was unfazed, however. "Why is that?"
"If humans really evolved from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys?" Despite jumping with glee on the inside, Matt held a serious expression, never once betraying his true feelings on the subject. He did catch Cary's eye at one point: Her face expressed distaste in his decision to disrupt the lecture with bullshit.
The professor simply pointed at Matt while his smile grew wider. "An excellent example, Mr. Luther, of intentionally misrepresenting the science of evolution in order to shift the argument into a less scientific yet more debatable field. Point of fact, humans and apes share a common ancestor that was neither human nor ape. At no point did modern-day apes simply transform into modern-day homo sapiens."
Matt immediately fired back. "What about Ornithorhynchus anatinus? They remain almost completely unchanged after 150 million years." Now that he reached into the obscure knowledge, he had much of the classroom rumbling as the others tried to figure out what he just said.
Yet the professor didn't miss a beat. "The so-called duck-billed platypus is indeed an evolutionary obscurity, as are Didelphidae or opossums." He activated the lecture screen and two giant images appeared including a sample of each mammal. "While no answers in science can ever truly be one hundred percent certain, there is consensus that platypuses serve as evidence of evolution by sheer virtue of seeming like an exception."
Another hand went up, this time belonging to a boy in Ra yellow. "Dr. Apple, isn't the word 'platypi'?"
The professor said, "No," and moved on with his lecture. As he delved into detail on how living in a stable environment in Australia where there is little marine mammalian competition for resources lends credibility to the theory that evolution is necessary for survival in a changing environment, Matt slumped back into his seat.
"That was bold," said Bryan. "I wish I could do that just once."
"I wasn't counting on his making that part of the lecture," said Matt with a defeated sigh. It was like the professor planned his introductory lecture around the necessity of at least one student being intentionally contrary. And he even knew who Matt was without roll call or anything. First time a teacher ever ended up a couple steps ahead of Matt like that. Just made him look forward to that class even more.
As the lecture wound down and the professor dismissed the students, Bryan was already acting like the weight of the semester carried on his shoulders. Matt was under no such stress after only a single lecture. Dr. Apple had put forth heavy expectations of reading through the textbook, but with only a mention of forthcoming projects and assignments, there was no real homework yet.
"That was brutal," said Bryan.
"That was nothing," said Matt.
"Okay, Brainiac. I guess you won't mind giving me the Cliff Notes of the textbook, then."
"Is it that hard to just read the material?" He meant the question rhetorically. Despite his constant bitching, Bryan was usually good for studying on his own, although sometimes he didn't get started until a night or two before the test.
Bryan lifted his leg one at a time over the lecture hall seats and leaned in to stretch out his hamstrings. "We have lunch next, right?"
"Not until 12:30."
"What! It has to be at least that late already."
"It's only 11:10. We have to head to the Area Duels."
Bryan's expression fell as the realization of hunger grew within him. "Oh, yeah. I remember seeing that. I thought it was a typo."
"Of what?"
"I don't know. Arena duels or something."
Matt shook his head and threw his bag over his shoulder. "Nope. It's area." He caught movement from the corner of the room and his eye was drawn to Cary and her auburn-haired companion. Twice they glanced in his direction as they gather their notebooks. In his experience, that meant either they would say something to him or he had an opening to speak to them.
"Why do they call it that?"
"No idea."
"Are they dueling in a specific area of the school?"
Matt frowned. "Yes, actually. But I hope to god that's not where the name comes from." He quickly stepped backward into the aisle of the lecture hall—tiered like a staircase with long steps—just in time to bar the path for Cary and her friend. "Oh, excuse me," he said, faking an awkward smile and embarrassment. "I'm so clumsy." Actually, the awkwardness was not as fake as he liked to think, even when he was intentionally obnoxious.
The redhead didn't take it that way, however. She smiled back a far more genuine smile. She shook her head and said, "It's okay. I'm clumsy, too."
Matt pulled himself into a steady position, standing just an inch or so taller than the girl but looking as strong and proud as he could underneath the red jacket. "I'm Matt, biology enthusiast. If you might be interested in forming a study group, I would love to get your number."
The girl glanced coyly toward Cary, who said, "Studying has always been kind of an alone thing for me."
"I don't know," said her friend. "Dr. Apple had so much to say just on the first day. I think a study group could be a good idea." She extended a hand to ask for Matt's phone. He unlocked it, handed it to her, and watched her input her number.
"Kasumi," he read. "That's a pretty name."
"Your pronunciation is good," she said as she led the way out of the lecture hall.
"I watch a lot of anime. But you are the truly impressive one. From guessing, I would expect you had two Japanese parents, but your English is impeccable. One European parent?"
Kasumi smiled again, which looked really great on her. "No, both of my parents are Japanese. I learned English in school from someone who was military in the United States."
"Oh, yeah? What branch?"
"Navy, I think."
Matt smirked and pressed his eyes closed for a moment while he mentally shook himself clear. He didn't care one way or the other what military branch Kasumi's English teacher served in. Why even waste time on a question like that when he should be asking what she looked like underneath that Obelisk jacket? All he knew for sure thanks to the sleeveless vest-jacket and the skirt was that Kasumi had thinner limbs than Cary did.
"We should be downstairs," said Cary.
"She's right," said Bryan. "Area duels start soon." He definitely had no idea what time. He just knew lunch wasn't available until the duels finished.
As they hit the stairs and began to descend toward the basement level, Cary said, "He plays a Dark Magician deck."
Kasumi's eyes lit up. "Oh! I remember. That's so exciting for me. I ran a deck based on the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, so finding out someone else got accepted while playing a nostalgia deck is reassuring."
"It's funny to hear you say that. Everyone we talked to said Matt was lucky not to be expelled instantly for trying to mimic Yugi Mutou," said Bryan.
"Why should that matter?" asked Cary. She sounded genuine, but that was just an indication that she was preparing for the sarcastic comment to follow. Indeed, she waited a beat before adding, "It's not like you built the same first deck as literally every other player in the world based on a fictional character used to promote the cards when the game was initially published."
Matt replied, "I made it better. It's not like I kept Berfomet or the Magnet Warriors. Real or not, Yugi never used Prisma. I'm literally focused on just Dark Magician."
"Isn't that the name of every single monster in your deck?" joked Bryan, but he wasn't completely wrong, either.
Kasumi lightly tapped Matt's arm as she beamed. "Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. You got in, and that's what's important. That's already proof that the Dark Magician is a good card if you use it right."
Matt gave her a return smile. As he did, he noticed a smirk on Cary's face. He was dying to ask her about it, but he didn't want to do so in front of Kasumi and take the focus off of her. There was bound to be a point of relative isolation soon enough: He would ask her then.
The group entered into the basement arena to find out almost the entire student body was present for the area duel. One of the duelists setting up in the middle of the space was a tall Obelisk blue student with a buzz cut and what looked like a caterpillar clinging desperately to his lip. His opponent was average height with medium-length-for-a-guy hair and a face covered in acne. More discerning about him, however, was that he wore a green coat, just like Andrew did. Both guys wore mechanical Duel Disks on their forearms, a device common to professional duelists and all who could afford their own.
"They get to use Duel Disks?" Bryan asked. "Does Duel Academy supply them?"
"You have to buy them," said Kasumi. "More money on top of the tuition. They're available in the bookstore, or you can special order them if you want a specific model."
"They're less useful than you think," said Cary, chiming in. "They come with portable hologram projectors, but you have to be careful with them for longevity, and they have huge limitations. Duel Academy, however, has most of the projection equipment already installed in the arenas, so you can use the Duel Disk almost anywhere here."
No matter its overall utility in the modern world, Matt still thought a portable dueling arena was badass, and even without the money to pay for it, he would seek a way to get one of his own.
Dr. Lankford, vice-chancellor of the academy, presented the two duelists and introduced the purpose and function of the area duels.
"We call them 'area' because attendance is only mandatory when someone from your focus area is dueling," he explained. "Dave Strickland and Jim Martel both have a competitive dueling focus, and so it is a pleasure to see all of their classmates have shown for this meeting. As for all of our new arrivals, I cannot encourage enough that you attend all area duels, even when not mandatory. The skill sets demonstrated with open audience here will offer you valuable tips for improvement as you study. Always endeavor to learn from your classmates just as you learn from your professors.
"For today's duel, Jim challenged Dave by offering his gold-print Doomcaliber Knight as ante. Dave accepted the offer and provided a mystery counteroffer. I have already cut their decks. Gentlemen, you may begin when ready." He stepped aside and the two duelists shook hands before taking up positions on opposite ends of the stage.
Matt peered intently at Cary. She looked back at him as if she had no idea there was a problem. He whispered, "Your last name is Strickland." She offered no reply except to ignore him and return her gaze to the stage.
"What's with the ante?" asked Bryan. "I thought people weren't allowed to take each other's cards here."
"The ante is required as part of the area duels," said a girl who had sat right in front of Bryan. She turned her head to answer his question, and it was just enough for Matt to recognize her as Mitsuro Itachu, whom they met at the first day buffet. Once he recognized her face, he realized he could also identify her by the green bandanna covering the top of her head.
Instead of starting small talk, which Mitsuro obviously didn't want or else she might have done so already, Bryan leaned forward and asked, "Why just the area duels?"
"It's a way to encourage people to participate in public," she answered. "You'd be surprised how many people would be content to just sit in a dark room and duel one-on-one without putting it all out there for public criticism."
I wouldn't be, thought Matt, but he opted not to speak aloud. It made sense to him that only a handful of personalities that come to Duel Academy would actively seek the limelight. While everyone shared a fascination with Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming, not everyone wanted to duel for a living. Some wanted to design cards and artwork, for example. Those students would avoid the public displays unless it were required of them or they were somehow rewarded.
Based on the pure relaxation in Jim Martel's stance, he was one of those who desired being the center of attention. He took his moves nice and slow, the kind of guy who always strolled everywhere, jaunty, jolly. No need to rush, even for a bus—there will always be another. He made the Duel Disk on his arm look cool.
"Make your move, Big Dave," he said in a slow drawl.
Matt was surprised to find he could hear Jim's words as well as if he were onstage. He figured the arena had microphones hidden throughout.
Dave cocked a half-smile on his face. "Always happy to oblige. I'll set one monster and end my turn." Just like with the table-based stations, a holographic card appeared in front of Dave. Scaling up from the table to a full stage, this one was supersized.
"That's all? Come on, man. If you give me a free turn, you won't get to whip out the big guns."
Bryan whispered to ask what "the big guns" meant. Cary shot him a silencing look that said, "Watch and learn."
Jim looked at his cards for a moment before deciding to set a monster and two more cards.
Instead of haranguing him, Dave just smiled. "See? A little face-down card never hurt anyone. But I'll flip Magical Merchant (1: 200|700)." A purple arachnid the size of a toddler emerged on the field. It carried a massive sack on its back; one hand at a time reached into the sack and removed an object to display to his opponent as if offering a sales pitch for each. Each object was shaped like a playing card and represented the cards Dave excavated from his deck and subsequently dropped in the graveyard. The tenth object was a spell card, which excited the Magical Merchant and he stopped offering more objects. Dave kept that card in his hand.
"My card sent Gem-Knight Lazuli to the graveyard," said Dave. "That means I can move a normal monster to my hand." He revealed a card bearing the image of a golden left arm. It was rare, but Matt was excited. He knew the card.
"I set one more monster to end my turn."
Jim smiled. "You waited too long, Dave."
"Let's see what deck you put together to stop me."
"Here goes. I'll flip Ghostrick Jiangshi (3: 400|1800)." The monster resembled a small child with ghost-white skin and vampiric clothing. He pulled the seal paper from his face and tossed it away as a playing card. "That effect brings Specter to my hand. For my normal summon, I play Ghostrick Mummy (3: 1500|0)." A poorly-wrapped corpse appeared, tongue lolling out of its mouth. Matt wondered whether mummies actually should even have tongues. "With Mummy's effect, I'll normal summon again for Ghostrick Yeti (3: 300|2000)." The monster had a massive form, but it otherwise looked unintimidating, like a big teddy bear.
"Time to get big. I stack Jiangshi (3) and Mummy (3) to summon Ghostrick Alucard (3: 1800|1600)." Humanoid in shape, the ghostly being had glowing eyes and fangs like a vampire. The creature curled in one arm and then popped out the elbow, snapping his fingers. In the same instant, Dave's set monster caught fire. "By removing one Xyz material, your face-down card is destroyed.
"Now it's time to start the attacks. Yeti (300) attacks Merchant (200)." The gigantic yeti looked far more overpowered next to the bug than it actually was. It attacked by grabbing the Merchant in its massive hand and squeezing it too hard from excitement… because it didn't get to see a lot of bugs, perhaps?
Dave 7900: Jim 8000
"Alucard (1800) will attack directly." An icy wind billowed from the vampire's cape and struck Dave's field like invisible razor blades.
Dave 6100: Jim 8000
"That ends the attacks. Now Yeti's effect lets him go face-down—" The massive beast disappeared into the holographic card. "—and I use Alucard to summon Downerd Magician (4: 2100|200)." His vampiric Xyz monster grew a rank into a blue-haired woman in pink wielding a chemistry set. She drank from two potions and gained 400 attack points. "That ends my turn."
Dave nodded but did not betray any concerns for failure. "I play Monster Reincarnation." He discarded one card and then fingered through his graveyard.
"Uh oh. I know what that means," said Jim.
"I'm sure you don't. I choose Magical Merchant. Its reincarnated form goes to my hand. And then because I'm terrible at bluffing, I'll claim that I'm setting a random monster that you don't know what it is, except we both know it's Magical Merchant. I'll play Foolish Burial so I can take A/D Changer from my deck and drop him in the graveyard." His monster appeared to be swallowed up by the ground with a shovel outside the grave, implying it had been buried by a collapse of the hole or some similar bad luck. "I banish A/D Changer from my graveyard so I can change my monster's battle position, meaning Magical Merchant (1: 200|300) is flipped face-up again."
The bug began offering up deals and specials on a wide variety of cards again when Jim said, "Nope," and a slew of iron chains wrapped around the bug, locking it in place. "I use Fiendish Chain." With his trap card revealed, Dave's monster was frozen and could not activate its effect.
"Very well. I end my turn."
"Good. Then the duel is mine," said Jim. He couldn't seem to let go of that premise. "I'll start with Pot of Duality." A ewer appeared on the field with a serene face carved in crystal. Jim picked up three cards, and when he chose to keep one, the ewer pivoted to reveal a face like a goblin sticking its tongue out.
"I'll flip my Ghostrick Yeti (3: 300|2000) again. And I'll add Ghostrick Stein (3: 1600|0)." Following suit with the other themed cards thus far, this monster resembled Frankenstein's monster, except cartoonish with blue skin. "Downerd (+2500) attacks Merchant (200)."
"I chain Spell Recycler," said Dave. He banished another card from his graveyard. "I select a spell card, one card from my deck goes to the discard, and Monster Reincarnation goes to the bottom of my deck now."
Dave's card effect didn't change what was happening on the field, though. Instead of squishing the bug by accident, the science-driven witch concocted a potion that, when it made contact, dissolved the Merchant instantly. Dave was lucky to be playing with holograms because some of the acid splashed far enough to soak his foot. One of Downerd Magician's potions wore off and she dropped 200 points.
Dave 3800: Jim 8000
"Now Stein (1600) attacks directly."
"I play Battle Fader," said Dave. A monster appeared that looked like the hands of a clock moving on their own, connected by the face of a demon. The shorter, bell hand swung from left to right, and Jim's monster stopped its attack. Summoned only during a direct attack, Battle Fader ended the battle phase of the current turn.
"Then I'll put Yeti face-down again and end my turn."
Dave grinned. "I'll set a monster."
"You're kidding me, Strickland. Prepare to lose this thing. I'll play another Pot of Duality." Another two-faced ewer appeared on the field to give Jim three cards and then reclaim two of them. "I'll flip Yeti (3: 300|2000) once more and then summon Ghostrick Lantern (1: 800|0)." This monster resembled a floating scarecrow with a jack-o-lantern for a head.
"Now Downerd (+2300) attacks your monster."
As Jim expected, it was another Magical Merchant (300) that was eaten away by the witch's acid. Before it could fade, it ran through an extensive supply of wares—sixteen cards in total before finding a Monster Reincarnation to give Dave.
Dave 1800: Jim 8000
"You sent most of your Exodia parts to the graveyard, Dave. What are you holding right now? Two?"
"Very observant, Jim. But Merchant just sent a whole bunch of cards to the graveyard, so now we have a whole bunch of effects coming. First, because he was sent from the deck to the grave, I summon Wulf, Lightsworn Beast (4: 2100|300)." A humanoid wolf with silver fur burst onto the field, armed with a heavy poleax and claws like Wolverine.
"But that's not all. Tour Bus to the Underworld activates to shuffle Foolish Burial back into my deck."
Jim stepped in. "Don't forget that attacking with Downer Magician sent Alucard to the graveyard, which means I can take a Ghostrick from the graveyard back to my hand."
"Good. But my side of the chain isn't done yet, either. Gem-Knight Lazuli was sent to the graveyard, so I can move a normal monster from the graveyard to my hand. Actually, two Lazulis were sent by the Merchant, so I can move two normal monsters." He claimed the Right Arm and Right Leg of the Forbidden One. Just like that, Dave held four of the cards he needed for an instant win.
Jim nodded as all the effects resolved in reverse order, leaving Dave with a powerful monster defending him. "Okay. Stein (1600) will destroy Battle Fader (0)." The lumbering monster looked like it fell as it swung its heavy arm against the demonic clock hands. "Yeti and Lantern set themselves for protection. Now it's your turn."
Dave shook his head. "You failed to stop me, Jim." He activated Monster Reincarnation. Jim's expression sank as he realized that Dave was right. Dave already held the four normal monsters in his hand. When Monster Reincarnation resolved, the main head—Exodia the Forbidden One—moved right beside the others.
Dave placed all five cards on his Duel Disk to prove that he held them in his hand. The duel stage displayed an elaborate scene in which five seals were broken on a monster so powerful it could not be contained within the game. Each twitch of Exodia's body turned one of Jim's cards into ash, repeated until he had no cards remaining. Unleashing an undead roar, Exodia filled the field with blinding light and fire that incinerated every last one of Jim's Life Points.
"Goddamn," Bryan uttered.
Matt asked, "Impressed?"
"Incredibly. First of all, Exodia is so hard to win with. That guy made it look super easy. If people make fun of your Dark Magician deck for being hard to win with, why not make fun of his? Probably because he responds by beating everyone in a single turn."
"You didn't actually need anyone else for this conversation, did you?"
Bryan shook his head. "No, I can handle it myself."
Kasumi stood and stretched. Matt watched the hemline of her skirt as she did. It had curled up a bit while she sat, revealing another inch of her leg before she straightened it out, much to his chagrin.
"I'm so hungry," she announced.
"You read my mind," said Bryan. He also stood and offered to let Kasumi walk past him and lead the way to the main building's dining hall.
Matt also let Kasumi walk by first, but then he blocked Cary and waited until both Bryan and Kasumi were several steps away. He glanced over to see that Mitsuro had also moved on. The two were pretty much as alone as they could get.
"Why aren't you the least bit bothered by the way I'm flirting with your roommate?"
She cocked an eyebrow sharply, as if to say, "Am I supposed to care that my roommate has a thing for you?"
"Are you trying to set us up to date… or whatever the equivalent of dating is when you live on an island with literally no other humans than the people running the school?"
"Is that a problem?" she asked.
Matt considered her question for a moment. "I guess not. What was the mystery card he anted up?"
Cary knew who "he" was in that sentence, despite the non sequitur. She didn't shy away from Matt's overbearing attitude, but she did push him aside so she could walk past.
"You can't hide from me forever. Is he your cousin? Brother, possibly? Your skin is better than his and the shape of your head is different so I'm pretty sure you're cousins at the closest."
"Keep guessing."
"Shouldn't have said that," he muttered to no one. "Is he your chiropractor? Trash collector? Does he cook you pigs in a blanket on cold nights? Maybe he's your new… Sorry." He had stepped in front of another student in order to keep up with Cary and catch up to Bryan and Kasumi. "…tritionist." That joke works best out loud. "He books your international travel. Attends to the feminine hygiene needs of your cat."
"Gross," she mumbled. Any response at all was what Matt needed to achieve personal satisfaction and end the game.
Following lunch, Bryan complained that he wanted nothing more than to take a nap, but Matt was just as eager to check out Intro to Gaming and see what the class was all about. The title itself made the course sound like a cakewalk, but there was always a chance it would get far more complicated than expected. Considering the course was urgently recommended for all first-year students, he figured everyone in the lecture hall was likely to be a freshman.
Everyone except the lady in black, and that's not just her clothes. Obviously intent on expressing herself in a Gothic way and not punished for doing so, that lady had to be the teacher. Her hair was tied off in pigtails after being dyed so black that the word didn't seem strong enough to describe the color. She wore eyeshadow and lipstick to match, plus her blouse, skirt, and boots were as dark as the eye could perceive. The only thing different was her long coat matched the same white-with-blue-trim that most of the girls wore in the female Obelisk dorm.
"You gonna give this teacher a hard time, too?" whispered Bryan as he leaned over to Matt. Then he realized that he said "hard time" in reference to a hot teacher and trilled a purring sound with his tongue.
"Real mature," said Matt.
"She looks like it from this angle." Another purr. Two in a row was enough to garner attention from a few nearby students. Two guys smirked at him like they were thinking the same thing, but a mousy girl gave him a dirty look. It was the response Matt would have expected from others.
He was fascinated to see the teacher who dressed as a Goth had the bubbliest personality when she got up in front of the class. "I'm Dr. Houtz. Some of you already know me as the headmaster of the girls' dorm, which means I'm the one who will come up with your punishment if you get caught breaking co-ed rules." No sound whatsoever came from the class in response. Matt figured the girls already knew that, and the guys were silent either because they were genuinely focused too much on their studies to care or because they were hiding their masochistic boners.
"I'm glad to have you all in my class. You will quickly notice that Duel Academy has a longstanding tradition of prejudice against Slifers. First-year girls often bypass the ire because they automatically get into Obelisk. But everyone has to start somewhere, and I am here to make sure all of you make it to the next term with a greater understanding of gaming and gamers.
"At the end of today's lecture, we will have an ice-breaker event so I can get to know each of you, but first we're going to talk about games." She activated the lecture screen. Her first slide presented images of video game screen shots, various iconic card images, and a book about how gaming can be turned into money. "Gaming is a source of power that can be harnessed for social and economic benefits. The fun part is that gaming itself doesn't often drive technological advancements, despite what you might be thinking. Duel Disks and hologram displays are impressive in the grand scheme, but history did not require them in order to make the card game popular."
She changed the slide to something about the Xerox machine. "Gaming drives the need for new technology, and then it delivers. Throughout this course, we will discuss the history of the gaming industry, types of gaming, value chain, economics, competitive rivalries, and prognosis for future development."
Now Matt raised his hand. "Will we discuss Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba?"
Dr. Houtz smiled. "Our focus will be primarily on the gaming industry as a whole, but we can't discuss dueling without some mention of Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming."
"That doesn't answer my question." Bryan smirked, and Matt knew it was because of the horror stories where students rarely survived backtalk to the professors.
She didn't seem angry, however. "Quite right. In fact, there is a capstone course which offers a far more granular approach to studying duel history. It covers proven facts, established timelines, and mythological entities, even including the fabled god cards. Perhaps that class would interest you the most in your third year."
Matt smirked and held her gaze for a moment. She still hadn't directly answered his question, nor indirectly. Her statement implied Yugi's story could be either factual or based on legend. But while that was technically true, all the other students felt no reluctance to come right out and say his existence is exaggerated in fairy tales. Why not Dr. Houtz, too?
"Feel better now?" asked Bryan.
"All myths are borne from partial truth. Maybe Yugi Mutou per se never existed, but someone existed who made the Dark Magician such an icon for this game."
"And Seto Kaiba was his closest rival before he built Kaiba Corp?"
Matt grinned. "That's the best explanation as to why the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is the only card the company refused to mass produce in its original form. It's even rarer than the so-called god cards."
"Yeah, maybe," said Bryan, "but I'd much rather see a god card in real life. You think that's a real possibility?"
"If it's gonna happen anywhere, it'll be at Duel Academy," said Matt.
Sorry about the delay in this chapter. I have been caught up in NaNoWriMo for my second-ever attempt. If you are unfamiliar, the basic philosophy is that you spend 30 days writing a 50,000-word novel without stopping to edit or second-guess yourself. You just keep writing to get everything on paper (figuratively, if you use a word processor). I'm going to hit the word count on time, but I might not actually finish the story. I took a plot I thought was rather simple, made an outline with 22 main points. I'm apparently really bad about making my characters talk too much. Oh, well. It's a fun story for me. If anyone else is a member on the site, feel free to look me up. I use the same username.
I don't know the exact time frame for my next chapter here, but my goal is always to release a chapter each month.