"Oh! It seems Jane's winning streak is still going strong, while Gutius's has been broken in just 4 turns. As expected of a Guardian, they're really, really strong!!"
The cards returned to her deck. She put them in her pocket and smiled at her challenger.
"I don't want to hurt you, but... If you really believe that just using a fast aggressive strategy or preparing a bunch of counters for my deck will work, then I'm sorry to say, I've already prepared for that."
Gutius clenched his fists, extremely annoyed.
"Remember, it's not just you who's been developing. We've never stood still either, not to mention I still have a lot of knowledge waiting for me in the future?" She smiled apologetically then walked over to him and extended her hand.
"Also, it was an interesting match, just me tho."
"..."
He then smiled, though the smile wasn't very friendly as his face was full of veins.
"Interesting match!" He grabbed her hand and shook it in a show of goodwill.
Well, even though he gripped quite tightly, her hand remained normal as if she was already used to it.
"I saw that he didn't like her from the start, and now it looks like he dislikes her even more..." Alvin observed the situation below.
"Being looked down on by your opponent is infuriating. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't accept the loss and would find a way to get revenge," Kaiser replied.
"Sounds pretty toxic," Lucas said.
"As for you, even if you beat me, I wouldn't even remember you, because me losing is impossible and you winning is just your own wet dream."
"Eh, what the-"
Lucas and Kaiser were about to fight each other again. I looked at the other spectators who were excited, especially those around my age.
Because in the end, they had finally seen what a real official card duel looked like.
Well, not exactly, because this match was a bit beyond their level. It was more like a professional duel, focusing heavily on attacking the life core rather than dealing with monsters.
"Those Toon monsters look so cool! I wish I had one too!" Alice said happily.
Toon monsters are indeed very strong if used properly, but they have quite a few weaknesses that prevent them from being a perfect deck. Being easily cleared just by a weather-creating card is enough to show they lack defensive options.
So it wasn't surprising that Jane had cards related to revival.
In the future, I will have to face her sooner or later, so I need to prepare weather cards and anti-revival cards.
Speaking of which, I'm pretty unlucky. Unlike Aelith who can print cards right in the middle of a duel, I'm not some genius who can remember every plot detail, plus my body is like a walking refrigerator for some unknown reason.
...Actually, if we follow the usual tropes, maybe emitting cold air from my body is a big advantage? Who knows, there might be something to it?
But compared to Aelith, the Yugi Muto of this world, I'm more like Tristan — the kind of character who appears as someone else's friend and just serves as background...
Ugh, no point thinking too much. Later I'll head to Caesar Street to buy the remaining ingredients to make Development Beyond Time.
After finishing that card, I'll make the weather card too. Who knows, maybe my monsters will evolve into something powerful after using this combo?
"What do you think, Felia, Elara?"
"Wu?" "Grug?"
"Hm, never mind."
After a while, everyone left the arena. I stared at Jane for a moment before leaving.
Aelith also stared at me for a while before leaving.
Violet stared at Aelith from afar for a while before leaving.
...Why does my back feel so cold?
***
Fourth period math in the afternoon, Jin was still teaching with youthful enthusiasm.
Of course, not everyone could keep up. They sat there anxiously biting their nails at the pile of new formulas.
I was a bit bored so I twirled my pen, feeling somewhat dazed.
My lazy personality flared up again, whether I wanted it to or not.
Jin called on me a few times because I wasn't paying attention, but I answered everything correctly so he was quite surprised and started paying positive attention to me.
Please don't, teacher... Your squinty eyes are scary...
And then the bell rang. Teacher Jin happily closed the book, reminded everyone, and assigned homework.
Everyone sighed and left. After that, I hurried to the cafeteria to buy food to take back, then rushed to the dormitory to officially make the card.
"Did you hear anything? They say the old dormitory is making some kind of noise?"
"What again? You've told this story so many times? I listened but didn't hear anything scary."
"Then why is there liquid flowing from under your feet? And it smells too?"
"I forgot to go to the bathroom earlier."
Hearing the two seniors talking while looking at the announcements, I closed the door, took out the ingredients I had bought, and placed them on the table.
"Alright, eat first or make it first..."
I threw my ushanka hat onto the bed, sat at the table, and took out the formula for Development Beyond Time.
Eating can wait. I need to increase my power right now.
I won't name all the ingredients, but the one and only most important thing to make this card, I will definitely mention: Time Stone.
I swear when I saw the price of the Time Stone, I nearly coughed up blood because it was so expensive.
As expected of a rare ingredient. I definitely have to be careful so my efforts don't fail...
"Phew..."
I took a deep breath and started working.
If I'm careful, there shouldn't be any problems. First, place the card—
10 PM
"..."
I was sweating continuously, though the drops of sweat turned into small ice stones before falling.
My hands were trembling as I sprinkled a bit more powder on the missing spot.
'The... final step...' My eyes felt dark, but I still had to do it.
I reached out and channeled mana into it.
"Please succeed, I don't want it to explode and make me clean everything up..."
My mana flowed slowly, and the card absorbed all the ingredients.
Oh? It seems to have succeeded?!
I breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, but suddenly a suction force pulled my mana into the card.
?!?!
"What the hell?!"
The card kept sucking my mana, making my body unable to keep up and quickly becoming exhausted.
"Damn, are you kidding me?!" I gritted my teeth and tried to stand up, but the card was so hungry for my mana that I was about to faint.
If I pass out now, the card I created will fail?! The success rate was already low, and this would be heartbreaking?!
"...You think... I'll accept this?!"
I endured it, took off my coat, and burst out a terrifying amount of cold air.
After all, it also came from mana, so there was no problem.
"Go on, suck it all up! Let's see how much you can take!"
My body erupted with a massive amount of mana. The card continuously absorbed all the mana I released around it.
The already quite cold room became even colder, to the point of freezing several things around.
Then the card glowed so brightly it was like a flashbang. I had to cover my eyes.
Damn! It's just one card but this tiring?! Did Lucas's uncle go through something similar when making this card?!
After a while, the light gradually faded. I rubbed my eyes and watched the card slowly fall onto my table.
...Huh.
I approached and picked up the card.
The image on the card was completely different from what I saw in the game. The illustration was of an ice-type scene surrounded by a bright white border and many moving green energy particles.
Yeah, no joke, the green energy particles were actually moving inside the image.
"...No way, why does it look completely different from what I know?"
Then I looked at the card's name.
It wasn't Development Beyond Time, but Ice Evolution (I).
...Evolution?
For real?
No way.
I started reading the card's information.
Ice Evolution (I)
Type: Special
Effect: Allows Ice-type monsters to evolve into a new form.
"...Wait, don't tell me."
I looked at Lucas's uncle's formula for Development Beyond Time, then at the card in my hand.
Meaning... His uncle's formula was correct, but he was missing something to truly complete it.
And looking at my result after it sucked my mana.
Did it need mana? No, that would be too simple. Everyone in this world has a huge amount of mana. Even if I have a large mana pool, it wouldn't make me special.
So where is the reason?
I looked at my hand and began to question.
Igor Snowy, what other secrets do you have?
...Back to the main topic.
Observing the evolution card, I took out the two monster cards I kept in my pocket.
"Come out! Felia and Elara!"
Immediately, a white fluff ball and a spider appeared.
"Wu..." Felia was sleepy. Since its master hadn't summoned it for a while, it thought it was sleeping inside the card. Being woken up mid-sleep made its head feel fuzzy.
"Grug?!" Elara saw its nest in the corner of the room heavily frozen. Its spider silk should be compatible with ice, yet it was still frozen — that was quite insane.
"Sorry, but Felia, come here first, okay?"
"Wu?"
It floated over. I smiled and raised the card.
"Activate the card!"
When the light at the end of the road shines dazzlingly,
Let us grasp it as our final opportunity.
No matter what stands in our way, don't lose heart and keep moving forward.
The hope on the path you walk will never stop shining!
"Evolve!"
The card glowed. A pale blue light flowed toward Felia.
Felia saw its body enveloped in strange light, spinning around it before entering inside.
Greenish light continuously radiated out. Its body slowly transformed.
The fluff ball became thicker, this time with 4 limbs, and its face emerged.
Then the light disappeared abruptly, with icy mist surrounding it.
"...Felia?" I blinked and looked at Felia, who had now transformed into a new form.
It was much bigger than before, even fluffier and thicker.
Its face... looked even more dazed than last time. Why is that?
Though it lost the antennae on top of its head, it gained two tiny arms and legs along with long ears.
I have to say... it's way too cute, isn't it?
Last time was already cute enough, but this time it's cuteness overload, the innocent kind.
"Mm...mumu..."
Ah, even its cry changed.
Felia rubbed its eyes, then opened them and looked around, seeing me in front of it.
"Mumumu~"
It flew over, smiling goofily, and rubbed against my face.
"..."
Wow, evolving completely changed its personality? Interesting.
"Alright, move aside a bit. Let me observe you more carefully."
"Mumu."
"What? Why are you shaking your head? Got an opinion?"
"Mumu."
Wow, it's even smarter than before. Last time, even though Felia was smart enough, it still obeyed without complaining much. Now after evolving, it knows how to refuse?
"Alright, what's your opinion? Speak up." I raised an eyebrow.
Felia smiled goofily then clung straight to my face.
"UMMM!!"
I fell onto the bed, trying to pull it off my face but it wouldn't let go.
Are you kidding?! Clinging so tightly?!
Elara saw Felia clinging to its master and didn't know what to do.
Should it help? But its master didn't order it. So it just waited here until its master asked.
"Phew! Why are you clinging so tight?! Trying to suffocate me?!" I panted, holding Felia tightly as it struggled to get out of my hands.
"Stay still. I need to observe a few things about you first." I placed Felia on the pillow and took out its card.
Sure enough, the information and name had changed quite a lot.
Felia, Snowstorm Spirit (lv 3)
Type: Ice/Flying
Atk: 100
Hp: 1700
Race: Fairy
Passive: Soft Fluff
Skills: Attracting Scent, Cold Wind, Fluff Coat
Information: According to legend, when a boy got lost in the deep forest during a snowstorm and fainted from the cold, for some reason he survived the harsh blizzard thanks to a large, thick fluff ball that appeared from nowhere to surround him. Though only a weak spirit, it is the most beloved spirit by the villagers even though it never appears before humans.
"...So it's still the familiar defensive playstyle?"
Yeah, no mistake. This is exactly the playstyle Igor Snowy would use in the game.
Soft Fluff: Deflects all magic damage, reduces physical damage by 25%, extremely weak to fire and will always get burned when hit by fire skills.
Attracting Scent: Attracts enemies with scent, no effect on Grass-type monsters.
Fluff Coat: Grows thick fluff that can be equipped on any monster. Doesn't increase armor but provides high magic resistance, in exchange very easily burned by fire.
"Interesting, it's a tanky attractor type. Didn't expect it this early."
But if it's a spirit, fairy race, and the lore is about a kind creature, why isn't it Fairy-type? Like Gyarados and Charizard logic?
"Mumu~"
Watching it roll around me, I started to feel a bit touched.
Alright, good job! You made me, someone who loves Gundam and cool stuff, fall for your cuteness!
"Phew... Alright, eat first then sleep. I'll research more tomorrow..."
I opened the food bag and looked inside.
...Everything was frozen solid.
My stomach growled. I lay down on the bed expressionlessly and hugged Felia.
"Mumu~"
I don't know when it will return to normal. After all, this was just the effect of a card, not Felia evolving on its own.
Actually, if it stays in this form it's fine too. Hugging it feels really soft...
Elara: You guys forgot that I'm here? Hello?