Era of Spirits and Shadows Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Era of Spirits and Shadows! More positive response to this story makes me smile! So let’s move ahead and see what Duel Academy Life is like normally. Jaden has Ba and Ka training in the evenings. Since it’s a secret, it’s a good thing Chumley goes to bed early!

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 3 – Academy Life

“Wake up, Jaden.” Drake nudged his friend and dorm mate as he noticed Jaden nodding off again. They’d stayed up until the early hours of the morning while Drake explained Ba and Ka to Jaden. Now they were sitting in Crowler’s class and struggling not to nod off.

“I’m awake…” Jaden blinked a few times and gave a quick shake of his head.

“Damn, I’m tired,” Drake rubbed his eyes. He had his Ba to provide energy, but that didn’t stop him from feeling the urge to sleep. Not to mention their first class with Crowler was rather dry in subject. Going over every Card Type in the game on the first day seemed a bit much to him.

Alexis had just finished listing every Card Type and subtype from memory when Crowler had asked her. The top of the Obelisk Blue First Years made it look easy. Several students were taking notes as well. Drake supposed that was to be expected, given that Duel Academy focused heavily on knowledge of the game. Even standard classes like Math, Science, Language and the like, took a bit of a back seat to Duel Monsters.

“Wonderful, Miss Rhodes, simply wonderful.” Crowler praised the girl as she sat back down. “I’d expect nothing less from one of my Obelisk Blue students.” The tall man then walked out from behind his podium and looked over the class. “Now, who should the next question go to?” He focused in on the Slifer Reds and picked his target. “You, Syrus Truesdale,” The short, blue-haired boy with glasses shot up out of his seat. The guy practically radiated nervousness and looked to be terrified of being called on in front of the whole class. “Explain to the class what a Field Spell is, please.”

“A-A Field Spell, is the card…that, um, it affects the field, uh, it also, um…” Syrus stuttered out nervously, seeming to have trouble getting both his thoughts in order and his words out.

“Even children that just learned to play know the answer to this, Slifer Slacker!” One of the Obelisk Blues -Taiyou from the sound of his voice- called out at seeing Syrus stuttering. A good majority of the Obelisk Blues laughed at the frazzled student.

‘He has to have the worst test anxiety and fear of public speaking that I’ve ever seen in school before.’ Bastion noted of the short teen that was stumbling over his words. The intelligent young man grimaced when he noticed a few of his fellow Ra Yellows laughing at the Slifer boy too. ‘How unbecoming of fellow students.’

“It would seem you can’t give me an answer, so sit down, Mr. Truesdale.” Crowler instructed and Syrus sank back into his seat with an embarrassed flush across his cheeks. “Now, would someone else please give me the answer? Preferably someone not wearing red, thank you.” The Head of the Obelisk Blue Male Dorm sighed with a shake of his head.

Several of the Obelisk students cracked up again until they were cut off by someone speaking up.

“Field Spell cards have the effect of being able to change the entire state of play for their controller or for both players, depending on the card in question.” Drake began to recite everything he knew about the subtype of Spell card. “They are Spell Speed 1 and are placed on the Field Zone, apart from the other Spell and Trap Zones. Most Field Spells center around boosting ATK and/or DEF for cards with specific Attributes, Types or Archetypes. However, many Field Spells have other effects, such as recycling cards, weakening the opponent's monsters, searching monsters and/or swarming the field, or even preventing the Field from being swarmed. Most Field Spells affect all players, but some apply their effects only to the controller’s side of the Field.” Drake paused to take a breath.

“Dude…” Jaden grinned and looked like he was holding back a laugh at the thorough answer.

“A player may activate or Set a Field Spell card at any time during either of their Main Phases. If the player already has a card in their Field Zone, the existing card is sent to the graveyard first. Field Spells must remain on the field to resolve, so their effect or effects are not applied if they are destroyed before they can resolve. If, for example, Mystical Space Typhoon or Cosmic Cyclone is chained to a Field Spell card's activation, then no effect of that card would be applied as it was destroyed before it could be resolved.” Drake finished off before yawning widely with his hand over his mouth.

The entire class was dead silent, aside from Jaden who was trying to suppress his snickering. Even Crowler was blinking at the incredibly thorough answer from a Slifer student. The Department Chair of Techniques felt a twitch develop in his eye at the yawn from Drake at the end.

“Very well done, Mr. Roth,” Crowler gave a nod to the student. “But I’d appreciate you not yawning as though my class isn’t worth your time.”

“Sorry about that, Dr. Crowler,” Drake apologized with a few blinks of his eyes to clear them. “We stayed up a bit late last night studying.”

“I’m sure,” Crowler didn’t look like he believed that statement at all. “Well, maybe something more active will shake you awake, hmm?” The tall man questioned with a smug look on his face. “Come to the front and bring your Duel Disk. I shall choose an opponent for you from the class.”

“Lucky…” Jaden remarked with a grin as Drake stood up and slid his red-trimmed Academy-issued Duel Disk onto his left forearm.

“We’ll get some Duels going at the Slifer Dorm after we check out the Card Shop later.” Drake shrugged with a small grin before he walked down the stairs and to the front of the classroom.

“Mr. Torimaki, please come down and be Mr. Roth’s opponent.” Crowler chose from the Obelisks. Taiyou stood up from his seat next to Chazz and headed down the stairs while putting his blue-trimmed Duel Disk on.

“This might be a bit of a mismatch.” Mindy mentioned while watching Taiyou take his place across from Drake. The ravenette with the warm, brown-eyes wondered why Crowler would choose an Obelisk to Duel a Slifer.

“It could be,” Jasmine agreed as she rested her chin on her palm. “He OTK-ed the Proctor with a Test Deck at the Entrance Exams though. I guess we’ll see now if that was just luck. He’s going up against an Obelisk student’s personal Deck this time.”

“Crowler’s favoritism is so blatant though.” Alexis sighed as she also placed her chin on her palm. “It gives our Dorm a bad reputation.”

“Let’s have a good match.” Drake gave a grin to his opponent.

“It won’t take long, Slifer.” Taiyou smirked at him. “If you blink you might miss it.”

“Call the coin toss to determine who goes first.” Crowler hit a button on the podium. The large screen behind him flipped over to the image of a large golden coin.

“Heads.” Taiyou chose before Drake could say anything.

“Very well,” Crowler hit a second button and the coin on screen flipped rapidly for a moment. When the digital coin came to a stop, it was on heads. Taiyou would be going first this Duel. “You may begin.”

Drake – 4000

Taiyou – 4000

“I draw,” Taiyou declared as he drew for turn. “Let me show you how a real Duelist uses a Dragon Deck, slacker.”

“Oh, you use Dragons too?” Drake raised an eyebrow in interest.

“I’ll start by summoning Lord of D. in Attack Mode!” Taiyou placed the Monster card on his Duel Disk. In a swirl of light, the man in dragon bone armor appeared with his cape flowing behind him.

Lord of D. – DARK – Level 4 – Spellcaster/Effect – 1200 ATK/1100 DEF

“But that’s not all! Next I play the Spell card Flute of Summoning Dragon!” Taiyou slotted the Spell card into his Duel Disk. The golden flute with a dragon head on the end appeared in the Lord of D.’s hands. The Monster blew into it, producing a horn-like sound before the flute disappeared. “Now I can special summon two more Dragons from my hand! I special summon Curse of Dragon and Ryu-Ran in Attack Mode!” He laid down two more Monster cards on either side of Lord of D. with a confident smirk.

In twin showers of light, two more dragons appeared on the field. One was golden in color, with a long, serpentine body, similarly colored wings and it had spikes protruding from various parts of its body. It let loose a screech similar to a large bird of prey.

Curse of Dragon – DARK – Level 5 – Dragon – 2000 ATK/1500 DEF

The other Monster to appear was a large white egg with blue spots. In only a second, two large, red-scaled legs broke through the bottom of the shell. This was followed by the middle of the egg cracking into two horizontally. Claws emerged from the large crack and with another snap two red wings emerged from the back of the broken egg. Lastly two glowing yellow eyes glared out from the darkness of the shell and a hissing sound could be heard.

Ryu-Ran – FIRE – Level 7 – Dragon – 2200 ATK/2600 DEF

“With that combo I’ll end my turn.” Taiyou had such a confident smirk on his face at his play.

“Three Monsters on the first turn, a Level 5 and a Level 7 without Tributing, both protected from targeting effects thanks to Lord of D. as well.” Jasmine blinked at the combo her fellow Obelisk had just used. “That’s not bad at all.”

“Facing down two Monsters with 2000 or more attack points right off the bat,” Mindy hummed at the predicament that Drake was in. “He has his work cut out for him if he wants to turn this situation around.”

“That’s nostalgic,” Drake remarked and Taiyou blinked at him confused. “I used that same combo to win a local’s tournament back in Junior High.” He clarified for the Obelisk Blue. “I draw.” He drew for his turn and looked at the six cards in his hand.

‘Rrrrssshh…’ Red-Eyes let out a rumbling hiss through their bond. Judging by that and the cards he had in hand, it seemed like his Ka wanted to come out and prove who the strongest Dragon was.

“Alright, first I’ll play the Spell card, Unexpected Dai!” Drake slotted the card into his Duel Disk. The Spell card appeared in hologram form and glowed. “That lets me search for a Level 4 or lower Normal Monster from my Deck and special summon it.” He explained for the watching class who may not know. He pulled his Deck from the Academy-issued Duel Disk that they’d all gotten this morning and picked out one of his favorite non-Red-Eyes Dragons. “I special summon Alexandrite Dragon in Attack Mode!”

In a burst of light the gem-encrusted western dragon appeared on the field with a roar. It stood bipedal as it gazed across the field at the other Dragons. The murmuring of the other students could be heard as they took in the Monster.

Alexandrite Dragon – LIGHT – Level 4 – Dragon – 2000 ATK/100 DEF

“Now, I’ll normal summon The Black Stone of Legend in Attack Mode.” Drake placed the card on his Duel Disk and in a burst of dark flames the dark-red and black, gem-like egg appeared on the field next to Alexandrite Dragon.

The Black Stone of Legend – DARK – Level 1 – Dragon/Effect – 0 ATK/0 DEF

“Why would you summon that in Attack Mode?” Taiyou blinked at the 0 attack points of the egg.

“It won’t be here for long,” Drake grinned to the blue-haired teen. “I activate The Black Stone of Legend’s effect. By tributing it, I can special summon one Level 7 or lower Red-Eyes Monster from my Deck.” The way Taiyou’s eyes widened and the look of shock took over his face was honestly kind of amusing to see. “The Black Stone of Legend goes to the graveyard and I special summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!” Drake declared as he moved The Black Stone of Legend to the graveyard on his Duel Disk and removed his Deck to pull out one of his three copies of Red-Eyes Black Dragon. He placed the Monster on the Duel Disk with a smile.

On the field the black and red, gem-like egg was engulfed in an explosion of flames. What scattered the flames with a roar and the unfurling of its large wings was a famous, legendary Monster. It stood at an imposing height, easily as tall as Alexandrite Dragon next to it. The jet-black scales, the sharp contours of its bipedal body, the long tail, the two arms that ended in wickedly sharp claws, and the narrow, pointed jaw filled with fangs were all well-known. But it was the burning red-eyes that everyone associated with this Monster. With a roar his Ka took the field.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon – DARK – Level 7 – Dragon – 2400 ATK/2000 DEF

“No way!” Almost everyone in the class yelled out in shock. Jaden, who’d met the Spirit last night, could only crack up laughing at the level of surprise.

“H-h-how do you have that card?!” Taiyou stuttered out as he faced down the legendary dragon.

“I know a guy,” Drake grinned as he pulled another card from his hand. “I set one card face-down and enter Battle Phase.”

“This is gonna be good.” Jaden remarked, but no one heard him over the murmuring in the room.

“I’ll start by having Alexandrite Dragon wipe out your Lord of D. with Vitreous Flame!” Drake directed his first dragon to attack. In a blaze of shimmering flames the Spellcaster was destroyed.

Drake – 4000

Taiyou – 3200

“Next my Red-Eyes Black Dragon destroys your Ryu-Ran with Inferno Fire Blast!” Drake declared and Red-Eyes formed a black and red fireball in its jaws before launching it at the eggshell-covered dragon. With a resounding boom the other dragon vanished from the field.

Drake – 4000

Taiyou – 3000

“That’ll wrap up my turn.” Drake ended his turn with a nod.

“Why didn’t he attack the Curse of Dragon?” Jasmine wondered as she saw the attack point disparity between Curse of Dragon, Ryu-Ran, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon. “He’d have done more damage that way.”

“Ryu-Ran’s defense points made it the better target,” Alexis spoke up after watching both players’ first turns. “With 2600 DEF, Ryu-Ran would’ve become a wall even to the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. It was better to lose out on Life Point damage than to let Taiyou switch it into Defense Mode next turn.”

“I’m still shocked that Drake has a Red-Eyes Black Dragon…anybody else?” Mindy hadn’t taken her eyes off the legendary dragon since it appeared.

“I’m right there with you.” Jasmine admitted as she looked between the Monster and its owner.

“I…I draw,” Taiyou seemed to hesitate for a second before drawing his next card. “I’ll Set a Monster and then activate the Spell card Stamping Destruction!” The green Spell card appeared on the field as a hologram, depicting a large dragon’s foot smashing what appeared to be a catapult. “With this card, as long as I control a Dragon Type Monster, I can target one Spell or Trap on the field and destroy it! I choose your face-down card!” The hologram of Drake’s face-down card exploded into fragments and Drake removed the card from the slot and placed it into the graveyard. Students that were close enough could see that it was a Magic Cylinder Trap card. “You also take 500 Points of damage!”

Drake – 3500

Taiyou – 3000

“Anything else?” Drake questioned without much concern.

“I have something else for you alright, you Slifer slacker!” Taiyou seemed to be building himself up from his shock. “I activate the Spell card Dragon’s Gunfire!” Another green Spell card hologram appeared on Taiyou’s side of the field. This one bore the image of the head of the Monster called Tyrant Dragon releasing a fireball. “With this card you lose 800 Life Points as long as I control a Dragon!”

Drake – 2700

Taiyou – 3000

“Now I switch my Curse of Dragon into Defense Mode and end my turn.” Taiyou moved his card into a horizontal position on his Duel Disk and the long, gold-colored dragon on the field coiled up and folded its wings over itself. “Who’s in the lead now?” He mocked with a sneer.

“I draw,” Drake let the bad attitude roll off him without a care. He’d dealt with more than enough sore losers at tournaments before. Players that got angry if you stopped their combos or destroyed their board. Taiyou was proving to be more of the same. “I’ll activate the Spell card Red-Eyes Insight,” Drake placed the card into his Duel Disk. The hologram appeared on the field, showing off a close-up of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

“What does that do?” Taiyou questioned, he’d never heard of the card before. It was from a rare Archetype though, so that wasn’t unheard of.

“I send one Red-Eyes Monster from my hand or Deck to the graveyard,” Drake pulled his Deck from the Duel Disk and picked out the Monster he wanted. The Duel Disk automatically shuffled the Deck once the cards were placed back into it. “I send my Red-Eyes Wyvern to the graveyard and can now bring any Red-Eyes Spell or Trap card from my Deck into my hand.” He searched his Deck again and pulled out the card he wanted, the deck was automatically reshuffled again when he placed it back into the Duel Disk.

“So, what happens now?” Taiyou asked Drake with confusion.

“Now comes the fun part!” Drake smiled and tapped his Duel Disk. “You remember The Black Stone of Legend, right? Well when it’s in the graveyard with another Level 7 or lower Red-Eyes Monster it can activate its second effect.”

“What’s its second effect?” Taiyou felt like he was asking a lot of questions all of a sudden.

“It lets me shuffle my Red-Eyes Wyvern back into my Deck, and then place The Black Stone of Legend back into my hand.” Drake informed the Obelisk Blue student. He placed Red-Eyes Wyvern on top of his Deck and let the auto shuffle take place while he put The Black Stone of Legend back into his hand. “Now I’ll summon The Black Stone of Legend in Attack Mode!” Another flash of dark flames and the red and black egg appeared on the field again.

The Black Stone of Legend – DARK – Level 1 – Dragon/Effect – 0 ATK/0 DEF

“Oh no…” Taiyou suddenly realized what was going to happen.

“Yep,” Drake grinned at his opponent. “I activate The Black Stone of Legend’s effect and tribute it to summon another Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my Deck!” The egg was engulfed in a blast of fire and another Red-Eyes Black Dragon scattered the inferno as it spread its wings with a roar.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon – DARK – Level 7 – Dragon – 2400 ATK/2000 DEF

“I still have enough Life Points to survive this turn,” Taiyou stated, though it sounded more like he was trying to encourage himself.

“I’m afraid not,” Drake shook his head and slid a card into his Duel Disk. “I activate the Spell card Inferno Fire Blast!” The hologram appeared on the field showing a Red-Eyes Black Dragon launching its signature attack. “I target one Red-Eyes Black Dragon on my field and its original attack points are dealt to you as damage!” Drake pointed to his new Red-Eyes and the legendary dragon formed a black and red fireball in its jaws. The attack was launched directly at Taiyou and the blue-eyed teen screamed as he was engulfed.

Drake – 2700

Taiyou – 600

“The downside to using that spell is that the Red-Eyes that it was used on can’t attack this turn.” Drake informed his opponent. “With two Defense Mode Monsters you’d normally be fine.”

“What do you mean, normally I’d be fine?” Taiyou went over the game state in his head. The new Red-Eyes couldn’t attack for the rest of the turn. Even though he’d lose both of his Defense Position Monsters, he’d make it through this turn and get to have his next turn to try and do something.

“I’m still in Main Phase 1,” Drake reminded Taiyou as he slotted another card into his Duel Disk. “I activate the Spell card Double Summon!” The Spell card hologram appeared and glowed. “Now I can make one more normal summon this turn and I’ll summon Red-Eyes Baby Dragon!” In a flash of light a smaller version of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared on the field. “Now I enter Battle Phase and attack your Curse of Dragon with my Alexandrite Dragon!”

Alexandrite Dragon roared and blasted the other dragon with its shimmering fire until it exploded into fragments and disappeared. Taiyou looked as if he already knew the outcome of this Duel. Seeing the other teen’s face Drake realized he might have been okay to not worry about a flip-effect Monster after all. But it paid to be prepared for as much as possible.

“Now, Red-Eyes Black Dragon attacks your Set Monster.” Drake pointed at the hologram of the face-down card. Red-Eyes formed the signature black and red fireball within its jaws before blasting the Set Monster. The card flipped face up and everyone saw the Monster for a moment. It was a green, western dragon with two horns protruding from the back of its head.

Blackland Fire Dragon – DARK – Level 4 – Dragon – 1500 ATK/800 DEF

The dragon gave off a strangled roar before it exploded into fragments and vanished. Now Taiyou’s field was bare. He had no face-down Spells or Traps, no Monsters to protect his Life Points, nothing.

“Red-Eyes Baby Dragon attacks you for game!” Drake declared the final attack.

The smaller Red-Eyes opened its mouth wide, in the young dragon’s smaller jaws formed a red and orange fireball. The attack was launched straight at Taiyou who raised his hands out of instinct. The fireball exploded and the Obelisk Blue student’s remaining Life Points vanished.

Drake – 2700

Taiyou – 0

“I lost…” Taiyou mumbled as he looked down at the floor while the holograms faded away.

“Hey, it was a good match, no need to be so down about it.” Drake shrugged as the cheers of the Slifers in class rang out at the defeat of an Obelisk Blue.

‘How did this random child get such rare cards?!’ Crowler’s eyes were wide after he’d seen Drake summon not one, but two Red-Eyes Black Dragons. It would seem the boy didn’t have a Dragon Deck, but a Red-Eyes Deck instead. ‘With cards like those I guess even a Slifer can manage a win against one of my Obelisks.’

“Huh?” Drake heard a beep come from his PDA and reached down to his waist to pull it from its holster. Seeing that he had a new notification, Drake hit the button and opened it. He raised an eyebrow for a second after reading the notification.

[Drake Roth earns 1,000 DP for defeating a First Year Obelisk Blue student]

“Sweet, I just doubled my balance.” Drake grinned before putting his PDA back in its holster. Crowler waved both teens back to their seats so that he could return to teaching.

“He won,” Mindy grinned as she watched Drake return to his seat next to Jaden. “That was a great Duel.”

“Not bad, it says something about his skills anyway.” Jasmine shrugged even though she was watching the dark-haired boy too. “The whole Duel only took two turns for each of them.”

“I didn’t expect the Red-Eyes Deck at all, I was sure he played a Dragon Deck based on the Entrance Exam.” Alexis mentioned with a competitive light in her eyes. ‘Jaden or Drake? Which one should I challenge first?’ The top Obelisk First Year pondered as she looked between the two boys. Her eyes strayed to Jaden a bit more often though.

“That was sweet, Drake!” Jaden congratulated his friend. “Seems like us Slifers aren’t so far below the Obelisks after all, huh?”

‘That little punk…’ Crowler growled in his head at Jaden’s remark. ‘I’ll not let him stay in my school! I’ll find some way to expel him for sure!’

-After Classes ~ Card Shop-

“This is awesome!” Jaden exclaimed as he practically had his face pressed up against the glass of the display case. So many cards, many of them rare, were available for purchase directly here!

“I know…” Drake wasn’t any better as he stared at a Fusion Monster in the case.

Meteor Black Comet Dragon – DARK – Level 8 – Dragon/Fusion/Effect – 3500 ATK/2000 DEF

Drake had never seen this particular Fusion Monster in any of the shops he’d been to before. It was part of the Red-Eyes Archetype and very rare. The price reflected that as well, being 5,000 DP for a copy. He really wanted this card.

“Booster Packs are all 100 DP for the base packs and singles go from 100 DP and up. Special Boosters are 200 DP and if you want to try your luck, you can pull a Drawbread Sandwich from the cart for 100 DP as well.” The older lady that ran the Card Shop -Dorothy- smiled at the two excited teens.

“I’ve still only got the monthly deposit so far.” Jaden looked like he was thinking hard as to what he should spend some of his limited funds on.

“I won an extra thousand from the Duel in class today, but still, I’m not even halfway to being able to afford this card.” Drake looked at the Meteor Black Comet Dragon longingly.

“You can always try trading too,” Dorothy chuckled at the boys. “A lot of students trade cards here after opening booster packs.”

“Hmm, you want to grab one of those sandwiches and a couple booster packs, Drake?” Jaden asked his friend.

When both of their stomachs rumbled in agreement it was decided.

“Yeah, seems we’ve decided,” Drake chuckled as they paid the dark-haired young woman -Sadie- next to the sandwich cart for a sandwich each.

“Good luck you two.” Sadie gave them a smile after deducting the cost of the sandwiches from their accounts. “Each of the sandwiches comes with a card too! That’s why we call them Drawbread, because you’re drawing a card along with your sandwich!”

“Alright, now which one?” Drake looked over the pile of wrapped sandwiches curiously.

“Just go for it!” Jaden reached into the pile without a thought and pulled out a wrapped sandwich. Drake blinked at the carefree attitude before shaking his head and grabbing a sandwich at random too.

“Huh, that’s not bad,” Drake noted of the card he’d gotten with his sandwich. Spirit Barrier was a Continuous Trap card that prevented the controller from taking any battle damage as long as they had a monster on the field. He could potentially integrate it into a Side Deck, but most of his Dragons had fairly high attack points as it was. Battle damage wasn’t the biggest risk to his Life Points in a Duel.

“Cyber Angel Benten?” Jaden looked at the card that had come with his sandwich. “Never heard of it.”

“Did you just say Benten?” Sadie looked at Jaden with wide eyes.

“Uh, yeah, that’s what it says,” Jaden held up the Ritual Monster card to show the young woman. “It’s really rare, based on its design, but I can’t use it in my Deck at all. Different Archetypes rarely work together well. I’ll hold onto it though, it could get me a pretty good trade later.”

“Open your sandwich; I’m pretty sure I know which one you pulled.” Sadie encouraged the Elemental Hero user.

“Okay…” Jaden shrugged before unwrapping the sandwich fully. The sandwich literally shone a slightly golden color. Jaden and Drake both blinked at it.

“You got the golden eggwich on your first try!” Sadie beamed at Jaden and a few Second Year students grumbled at hearing that. “There’s only one golden eggwich a day, you’re very lucky!”

“Huh, so everyone tries for this one? Neat.” Jaden grinned before biting into it. “It’s so good!” He cheered after swallowing the first bite. “Even without the really rare cards, I’d want to draw this one as much as possible!” He continued to enjoy his golden eggwich with a bright smile.

“I wonder what mine is?” Drake unwrapped his sandwich and a pleasant aroma came from it. “Is that pizza? Pizza bread?” He chuckled as he took his first bite and enjoyed the sandwich. “Not bad at all. It makes for a nice snack.” He finished off his sandwich shortly and then he and Jaden went to buy a few booster packs to open.

“Did you get anything useful, Drake?” Jaden asked as he looked over the cards he’d pulled from the three booster packs he’d bought.

“Not really,” Drake looked at the cards he’d drawn. “Nothing that really stands out as a good addition to my Deck or Side Decks.”

“Same here,” Jaden mentioned as he stacked them up neatly. “None of these support my Elemental Heroes.”

“I guess these are going to the old man then.” Drake shrugged as he stacked up his own pulls.

“Old man?” Jaden blinked at his friend.

“There’s a family-run card shop in my area that accepts second-hand cards if they’re in good condition. They sell them at a discount to the local kids. Even the kids that’re from less wealthy homes can afford to buy them and make a Deck of their own. They’re good people.” Drake explained with a grin as they stood up from the table they were sitting at in the Card Shop.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Jaden smiled brightly at the thought of kids being able to learn how to Duel regardless of their income. “Think you could send these to them too?” He held up the cards he’d pulled from the booster packs.

“Sure thing, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to have more stock.” Drake chuckled as they headed for the Slifer Dorm to try and get some Dueling going among their dorm mates.

The rankings in the Slifer Dorm were quickly apparent by dinner time.

-Obelisk Dorms-

“I attack with Cyber Blader for game!” Alexis declared and her Monster, a blue-haired woman with a figure skater theme moved in to attack her opponent. The Monster had long hair, a red visor over her eyes, light-grey skin, and wore a rather skimpy outfit. She even had ice skates on her feet and two long, red spikes emerging from each shoulder as part of the figure skater costume.

Cyber Blader – Earth – Level 6 – Warrior/Fusion/Effect – 2100 ATK/800 DEF

“Damn…” The Obelisk Blue she’d dueled fell on his ass as his Life Points hit zero. The holograms faded away as he sat in the dirt.

“I’m not interested, alright?” Alexis looked at the defeated teen until he nodded in acceptance. He picked himself up off the ground and then walked back towards the Obelisk Blue Male Dorms.

“Told you it wouldn’t even be two days.” Mindy giggled as she and Jasmine had watched the whole match.

“The bad thing is; he won’t be the last one.” Jasmine shook her head with a sigh. “I’m already so looking forward to when some of them start coming after me and Mindy.”

“I’ve noticed some looks already…” Mindy shrugged at the fact that she and her friends attracted so much male attention. The ravenette wasn’t really concerned. Just as Alexis had done, any boy that couldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer could be beaten down in a Duel. At Duel Academy, just about any disagreement could be settled by a Duel. Even making guys leave you alone wasn’t impossible.

“To be fair, if we found ourselves some boyfriends, then we could make the other guys back off for good.” Jasmine teased as she shot a glance at Alexis.

“Jasmine, you know I’m not looking for a boyfriend right now.” Alexis gave her friend a playful eye roll.

“It never hurts to keep an eye out though~” Mindy got in on the teasing and Alexis waved both of them off with a smile.

“Oh?” Alexis pulled out her PDA when it beeped and opened her new notification.

[Alexis Rhodes earns 2,000 DP for defeating a Second Year Obelisk Blue student]

“Look at that, already raking in the money,” Jasmine chuckled as she looked over Alexis’ right shoulder while Mindy looked over the blonde’s left shoulder. “We could hit up the Card Shop tomorrow after class if you want? I’m sure Mindy and I will have won some DP by then.”

“Sure, why not,” Alexis grinned at her friends as they headed inside the Female Dorm together. “I’ve heard the Drawbread is actually pretty good, most of the time.”

“The first thing we should worry about is getting in the hot spring bath!” Mindy cheered as she pulled both of her friends along towards the baths. She’d practically fallen in love with the large, natural hot spring bath that was available to them. The girls had a private one within their Dorm Building. The guys had to share the large ‘public’ hot spring unless they were in the upper ranks of the Obelisk Blue Dorm. The best of the best were rewarded at Duel Academy, luxuries were granted to those that earned them.

“You know, I’m certain of it now,” Alexis noted as the three lovely girls changed in the changing room connected to the hot spring. “I thought our uniform was a miniskirt, but it covers so little that it might be a micro-skirt.”

“It definitely is,” Jasmine agreed as she held the garment up to her eyes. “I feel self-conscious walking up the stairs if there are boys around sometimes.”

“I do my best to make sure I don’t drop anything,” Mindy mentioned as she pulled off her blazer. “If you have to bend down or crouch, you’ll definitely be showing what’s under your skirt.”

“I have a hard time believing that Seto Kaiba spent any time actually designing the student uniforms.” Alexis looked thoughtful as she pulled off her shirt.

“Then who decided that micro-skirts on the girls were the best idea, I wonder?” Mindy looked thoughtful as she removed her bra.

“Wouldn’t Mokuba Kaiba have been a teenager when Duel Academy was being set up?” Jasmine questioned her friends and all three of them stopped what they were doing for a moment.

“That…actually makes some sense…” Alexis sighed at the thought.

“Kaiba left designing the uniforms to his teenage little brother and the girls ended up in micro-skirts…” Mindy spoke the suspicion aloud to see if it sounded more or less plausible to the ear. “I could see it.”

“Hah…” All three girls sighed at what they suspected.

“Let’s just enjoy the hot spring.” Jasmine shook her head as the three of them grabbed towels and headed for the large pool together.

“Ah~” Mindy sighed pleasantly as she sank into the warm water. “This is the best.”

“We at least earned it,” Jasmine giggled as she looked between Mindy and Alexis. “All three of us were in the Top 5 from the Duel Prep School this year.”

“Hmm~” Alexis let out a pleased hum as she enjoyed the spring. “We did work hard, didn’t we?”

“Yep!” Mindy smiled brightly at her friends. “Only Daigo beat Jasmine and me, Chazz took fifth place.”

“Too bad Chazz isn’t more humble like Daigo,” Jasmine lamented about the arrogant Princeton. “He’s got looks, but that personality is just, eh.” She stuck out her tongue at Chazz’s personality.

“Yeah, but Daigo is like Alexis and not interested in a girlfriend right now.” Mindy pouted and Alexis gave her a gentle smile.

“We’ve got other things to worry about anyway,” Alexis reminded her friends as she relaxed against the edge of the spring. “We’ll need to study and keep our grades up, plus we have to Duel and earn more DP so that we can get the best cards for our Decks.”

“That’s true, we’re all still looking for certain cards.” Jasmine looked up at the high ceiling over the hot spring.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t keep an eye on the boys though~” Mindy giggled and both Alexis and Jasmine smiled at her statement.

-Slifer Dorm ~ Late Night-

“That’s it, breathe in, hold it, and then exhale slowly,” Drake walked Jaden through the steps of meditation. “Open your mind. Focus on what lies within the self.”

For a guy that was always full of energy, Jaden wasn’t doing too badly at meditation. He had a rather powerful Ba for someone that had never worked to grow or refine it. Winged Kuriboh was happily sitting in Jaden’s lap as the dual-toned brunette meditated. Drake wasn’t sure if that was helping or not, but it didn’t seem to be hurting Jaden’s focus.

‘If he keeps this up, we’ll be able to move on to Bonding and then Manifestation before the first Promotion Exams.’ Drake reasoned as he watched over his friend.

He was reluctant to teach Invocation too early as that could lead to disaster. Shadow Games could have very harsh penalties for the loser. Until Jaden was able to Bond with Winged Kuriboh and make the puffball of a spirit into a proper Ka, he’d hold off on anything involving invoking Shadow Games. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have other things they could work on. Jaden could always refine his Ba further and strengthen it through Dueling. Once he developed enough to strengthen Winged Kuriboh with a good amount of Ba, then maybe he’d feel it was the right time to teach Jaden Invocation, but not until then.

‘Do not invoke the Shadows unless you’re willing to risk everything.’ Drake recalled the roughly translated warning from his Dad’s old notes.

In time Jaden would be ready for everything about Ba and Ka. Until then, Drake would teach him everything properly and safely, step by step. He did wonder if there were others on the island that could potentially learn Ba and Ka. But until Jaden was proficient enough to take care of himself, Drake wasn’t planning on teaching anyone else.

‘Maybe once he properly bonds with Winged Kuriboh, I’ll take him on a flight with Red-Eyes? I’m sure Jaden would get a kick out of that.’ Drake smiled while suppressing a chuckle so that he didn’t accidentally break Jaden’s focus.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

So, Drake showed everyone that his Deck isn’t a Dragon Deck, but is actually a Red-Eyes Deck.

We see some Academy Life, including staring longingly at the expensive cards that you want but can’t afford!

Jaden’s luck at pulling the Drawbread has already started! He got an Ultra Rare Cyber Angel Benten! Too bad he can’t use it himself. Maybe he can trade it to someone in the future?

Isn’t there a certain Duelist on the island that uses a Cyber Angel Deck?

Maybe they’d be willing to trade?

We also suspect that a horny teenage Mokuba is the one that designed the Duel Academy uniforms! Whom else would Kaiba put in charge of such a thing without a second thought? Not to mention that Kaiba himself wouldn’t care much about such a trivial matter. Putting a teenage boy in charge of designing the Academy uniforms is how you get micro-skirts on the girls!

How will the school year play out?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!