The dojo's greatest treasure, the symbol of the style...
Honestly, what Kira first thought of was the saying among duelists:
"You should give up all meta decks and play my invincible Cyber Dragon"
In Duel Academy, Zane Truesdale was already the heir to the Cyber style before entering the academy. According to the master of the Cyber style—who later became the academy's principal—Zane moved the spirit of Cyber End Dragon with his persistence, earning the chance to inherit the style.
Well, in the anime, moving the spirit meant Zane trained his draws every day until he could always open with three Cyber Dragons and a Fusion.
According to the principal, mastering the art of God Draws was enough...
Besides that, the only other dojo with such a legacy in the anime was the Psychic-Style Dojo, whose treasure was Jinzo.
So, does my dojo have something like this too?
Kira's mind flashed through countless rare cards from the same era, imagining what the deck might be.
"I wanted to promote the style, but I just wasn't capable. After we lost the former master, the dojo declined, and recently, hardly anyone even knows our name anymore."
Master Takeuchi continued, taking a deep breath and looking seriously at Kira.
"But now, I see your transformation. I was about to give up, but maybe you're the one I've been waiting for.
Maybe you can inherit this nearly forgotten name and make it great again."
"So, the deck of our dojo's style?" Kira probed.
If this were a typical fantasy story, at this point, he'd be expecting some miraculous elixir or high-end artifact.
But now, his first reaction was: "Will it brick?"
Can't be helped—even though the master was speaking confidently, Kira wasn't optimistic. He knew that anime duelists' definition of a strong deck was often very different from reality.
He knew he won matches with deckbuilding and strategy. If the master excitedly handed him some 8-star vanillas, he really couldn't carry it...
Master Takeuchi smiled mysteriously. "Have you heard of the legendary LV archetype?"
Kira's heart instantly sank.
Oh no.
The LV archetype—monsters that automatically level up each turn they remain on the field, usually by sending themselves to the graveyard to special summon a higher-level LV monster from the deck.
In the GX storyline, the LV archetype were rare cards that normal duelists couldn't buy. For example, the Armed Dragon LV was the treasure of Duel Academy's North Branch, later ending up with Chazz Princeton.
But that's the anime.
Kira's heart sank because, in reality, most LV series decks are pretty weak...
"Exactly! Our dojo's inherited style, the Silent Style, originated from the tactics pioneered by the Duel King Yugi Muto! And the pinnacle of our legacy, the symbol of inheritance, is this card—"
The master ceremoniously displayed a card that had been sealed for years.
"—Silent Magician!"
"Huh?"
Kira raised an eyebrow in surprise.
[Silent Magician, Level 4, ATK 1000
Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned. You can tribute a Spellcaster on the field to Special Summon this card.
This card gains 500 ATK for each card in your hand. Once per turn, you can negate the activation of a Spell Card.
If this card on the field is destroyed by battle or opponent's effect, you can Special Summon another Silent Magician monster from your hand or deck, except itself.]
In the current meta, it's still a fairly strong card, but Kira remembered that this was a future release in real life—so its power in the early game would be outstanding.
But the Silent deck has existed since the DM era, and in this world, any card used by legendary duelists like Yugi or Kaiba gets priority development. Kaiba even had Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon printed years ahead of schedule in the movie. So this is normal.
The moment he took the card from the master, out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to see something.
In the right-hand corner of the hall, there was a faint silhouette—pure white as the first snow, a long robe billowing like clouds in the sky. A tall, elegant figure wrapped in a wide mage's cloak, long silver hair swaying silently.
But when Kira turned his head, the corner was empty.
Just a patch of shadow.
"What's wrong?" Master Takeuchi hadn't noticed anything and asked curiously.
"Nothing..." Kira replied thoughtfully.
Was it a hallucination? Or...
The master didn't ask further, only reminded him: "Take good care of it. This isn't just a rare card. They say it's a card inhabited by a spirit."
"A spirit?"
Kira looked at the beautifully illustrated card, then at the corner where he'd seen the vision.
But there was nothing.
"Maybe... I don't know." The master scratched his head.
"I only heard stories—never seen one myself. The previous master said not everyone can see spirits... Who knows? Just treat it as real, haha."
Kira inspected the card, but couldn't sense anything special. But considering how strange this world was, he figured it was better to believe in such rumors than not.
If it was a spirit card, that changed everything.
For ordinary cards, he'd just care about utility and strength, and whether carrying some weird card would brick his hand. But spirits were different.
Unless you've excavated Egyptian relics and found God Cards, Duel Monster spirits are the easiest way for duelists to access the supernatural—making up 80% of all supernatural encounters.
Like in the anime, Jaden Yuki relied on spirits before awakening his Supreme King powers: Winged Kuriboh would appear to help him out whenever he faced a shadow duel or dirty tricks. Later, he had Neos, who could even fly out of the deck to battle villains and help destroy satellites to save the world.
So in this world, even if a spirit card isn't practical in duels, it's a must-have for survival in a world full of cheats and gods.
"Next week is the Duel Academy entrance test, right?"
Master Takeuchi changed the subject, walking over to a table.
He picked up a small card box.
"I heard you were asking the students about some cards, saying you'd pay for them. Some cards are hard to find these days, but this old man's been around a while—no real skills, but plenty of friends and a few connections..."
He opened the card box and handed it to Kira.
"I couldn't get everything you were looking for, but I managed these before the exam. Take them—maybe they'll help. If you need more, you'll have to get into the academy and use their internal shop."
He hadn't seen the rest yet, but right on top was the Psychic Shockwave Jinzo he'd asked about from the start.
"Whoa, Master, you went out of your way to find these..."
Kir took the box and put it in his pocket.
"...I feel bad, though. Isn't this too much?"
The master squinted.
"If you feel bad, then take it out of your pocket."
"You don't think this is free, do you?" the master grumbled. "It's an investment. When you make it big in the academy, you'll pay me back at market price.
Also, one more thing..."
The master took a deep breath and grew serious.
"To be honest, not a single student from this dojo has ever passed the Duel Academy exam. But this time... failure is not an option, understood?"
"Understood," Kira agreed.
It's just an entrance test. What's the big deal?
PS: Hey, can a beautiful spirit card become a waifu? I'm not familiar with Yugioh.