Era of Spirits and Shadows Chapter 9 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Era of Spirits and Shadows! With the Tag Duel won and their imminent expulsions revoked, Jaden, Drake, and Alexis can breathe easier now. However, Alexis has questions and Drake has promised to answer them. It seems the Red-Eyes Duelist might be gaining another student, or three, sooner than he expected.

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 9 – A Promised Lesson in Spirits and Shadows

The day after the Tag Duel against the Paradox Brothers found Drake standing near a cliff overlooking the ocean. This particular cliff happened to be closest to the Slifer Dorm, but you’d have to pass through the forest where no path was made to find this place. Drake had spotted it when he’d taken Jaden flying after his friend had bonded with Winged Kuriboh. Now it would serve as a secluded place to keep his promise to Alexis.

‘I didn’t intend for anyone to get caught up in a Shadow Game at Duel Academy of all places.’ Drake thought to himself as he looked out over the sea. ‘This island seems to be a hotspot for spirits though. Maybe that’s why the Academy was built here in the first place?’ Aside from that thought, which probably bore more looking into later on, the Red-Eyes Duelist was just going over how he planned to explain the concept of Ba and Ka to Alexis. If he’d had more time to make sure that Jaden was more experienced with his newly acquired Ka, then he might have considered teaching Alexis later. The Queen of Obelisk Blue had a fairly large Ba, even with no training or knowledge of it. ‘She’s kind of like Jaden in that regard, huh?’ He mused with a small grin on his face. The sound of someone moving through the underbrush of the forest caught his attention and he turned to face the noise.

“Hey, Drake, I brought Alexis here.” Jaden spoke up as he emerged from the tree line, holding the last low hanging branch aside for Alexis to walk unimpeded. “You sure found an out of the way place for this.” He mentioned, as Winged Kuriboh hovered next to him. It was clear the spirit had led him through the woods to find this place that he’d never been to before.

“Hey Drake…” Alexis greeted as she gave Jaden a small smile for clearing the path for her.

“Alexis,” Drake stopped his greeting when he saw Jasmine and Mindy behind Alexis. The trio of girls entered the clearing together and Alexis looked a bit guilty at the presence of her friends. “I see that you’ve brought Mindy and Jasmine with you.”

“I…” Alexis started, only to be cut off.

“We didn’t really give her a choice.” Jasmine admitted with a small shrug.

“We were just concerned since she seemed to be acting weird about this meeting.” Mindy explained, her eyes locking on Drake. “She was coming out to a secluded location and all…so we might have made some guesses about what was going on.”

“We know you two, but with the way Alexis was acting, and the fact that she wouldn’t tell us what was going on…we were worried.” Jasmine’s gray eyes looked between Jaden and Drake. There was no direct accusation, but both guys did realize how this might look from the outside.

“Oh, right…” Drake closed his eyes and sighed.

“We weren’t…Drake isn’t like that.” Jaden tried to defend them from what was implied.

Both of them did understand where Mindy and Jasmine were coming from. Alexis hadn’t told them about the Shadow Game at all. Drake had promised to explain it to her and she’d known that this wasn’t something he told just anyone. So, as she attempted to keep the secret of the Shadow Game, she’d inadvertently made both of her best friends worry that something nefarious was going on. Alexis was beautiful, and probably the most sought after girl in Duel Academy. To know that she was going off to a secluded meeting with two guys and that she refused to tell even her closest friends about what was going on, yeah…that looked shady.

“I’m sorry, Drake. I know that this isn’t what you expected or planned for.” Alexis apologized with a slight bow.

“Don’t worry about it.” Drake waved off the apology. “I should’ve thought about how this would look from an outside perspective.” He shook his head at his own lack of forethought. “Well, maybe this will work out better in the long run. I’m sure you’d have hated trying to keep this secret from your best friends.”

“Secret?” Jasmine blinked, looking between Drake and Alexis.

“What’s going on, exactly?” Mindy was a mix of curious and concerned now.

“The reason for the Expulsion Duel was because of me.” Alexis admitted to her friends. “I was at the Abandoned Dorm to pay my respects. Then this creep grabbed me and knocked me unconscious.”

“What?!” Jasmine and Mindy both exclaimed with fear and anger in their voices.

“It gets worse.” Drake spoke up to quell the outburst. “The man, Titan he called himself, took her into the Abandoned Dorm.”

“Drake and I heard Alexis’s scream and ran towards where we thought she was.” Jaden continued with the events that had transpired. “We got to the Abandoned Dorm again and went inside to try and find her.”

“The guy had taken Alexis down into a ritual room that had been tunneled into the earth. I can only assume the members of the Abandoned Dorm built it in their research into Shadow Games.” Drake spoke calmly, trying to make Jasmine and Mindy understand that this wasn’t a joke.

“Titan had put Alexis in a coffin and challenged me to a Duel for her freedom.” Jaden took over again, an actual scowl on his face at the memory. “He tried to fake a Shadow Game with stage props and tricks, but Drake called him out pretty quick.”

“Why didn’t you tell the faculty that some creep kidnapped you, Alexis?” Jasmine looked at her friend like she was crazy.

“That’s right!” Mindy nodded in agreement. “What if he’s still around here?!”

“He’s not.” Alexis shook her head, drawing more confusion from her friends. “He’s gone.”

“How do you know?” Jasmine questioned, the tone of Alexis’s voice almost scaring her.

“Because, while Titan was a fake pretending to play Shadow Games, the ritual room he’d chosen to duel in was very much real.” Drake informed the two girls with absolute truth in his voice. “It was probably why the students of the dorm vanished in the first place. Their research into the Shadow Games had borne fruit and they, inexperienced and not really knowing what they were getting into, fell to the spirits they’d called forth.”

“Shadow Games? But…but those aren’t real.” Mindy denied with a shake of her head. “Those are just stories and urban legends.”

“They’re real.” Alexis stated firmly, getting Mindy and Jasmine’s attention. “That man…he was taken over by those things. He wasn’t the same person that had been dueling Jaden before.” She closed her eyes and shook herself a little. “I still remember them crawling on me. Jaden tried to send his Winged Kuriboh to protect me, even though it would leave him defenseless.”

“Noble and very selfless, but dumb at the same time.” Drake looked at Jaden with a sigh. “Jaden cared more about Alexis’s safety than his own, even though he has only the barest of training.”

“I wasn’t going to let them take her.” Jaden held firm in his decision.

“Thank you, Jaden.” Alexis gave him a smile. Jaden returned it with one of his own.

“Once Jaden won the duel, the rite was complete and the loser was consumed by the multitudes of spirits and dragged into the shadows.” Drake finished up the retelling of the events of the Abandoned Dorm. “From there, I had my Ka burn the spirits hiding within the ritual chamber to nothing. It can’t be used ever again, so that’s one danger taken care of.”

“Ka?” Mindy tilted her head at the unfamiliar term.

“This all sounds insane.” Jasmine was clearly going to need a bit more time to wrap her mind around this situation.

“Maybe a demonstration will be easier?” Drake offered the auburn-haired girl.

“Demonstration?” Jasmine looked at him warily.

“Sure,” Drake gave her a reassuring smile. “Jaden, why don’t you let them see your partner?” The puffball that was Winged Kuriboh would probably go over better than his Red-Eyes Black Dragon as the first Ka that Mindy and Jasmine met.

“No problem.” Jaden grinned, and before the eyes of all three girls, Winged Kuriboh faded into their view.

“Kuri kuri!” Winged Kuriboh cooed as it flew from next to Jaden and around the three girls.

“Cutie!” Mindy gushed with sparkles in her eyes. The girl didn’t seem to care that she’d just witnessed the manifestation of a Ka.

“What the hell?!” Jasmine, however, very much realized the supernatural nature of what she was seeing. “How? That’s…that’s not real, is it?”

“Kuri!” Winged Kuriboh was happy to prove that it was real as the puffball with wings gently nuzzled against Jasmine.

“I…what the?” Jasmine absentmindedly began petting the spirit’s fur along with Mindy.

“That’s my Ka, Winged Kuriboh.” Jaden explained to the stunned girl. “After I developed my Ba enough, I was able to bond with him and make him my partner.”

“Ba?” Alexis was the one to question the unfamiliar term now.

“I should start from the beginning.” Drake spoke up a bit to get Mindy and Jasmine’s attention, as both of them were still completely focused on Winged Kuriboh. “You all should probably sit down for this.”

“Wish I’d brought a blanket of something.” Jasmine mentioned as she looked at the grass they stood on.

“No worries, I’ve got chairs.” Drake spoke up as he opened his Deck box and searched it for a few moments.

“Where?” Mindy looked around, not seeing any of the said seats.

“Right here.” Drake pulled a Spell card from his Deck box and held it up to show the four of them.

“Scapegoat?” Alexis looked confused about why Drake had pulled out the card.

“It’ll only be four seats, but as the one to explain, it’s probably better that I stand.” Drake grinned a little, he hadn’t even shown Jaden this part of the Shadow Magic yet. The green Spell card glowed for a few seconds before four streaks of light shot from it and landed on the ground in front of the other four teens.

“Baaah…” The famous ‘Sheep Tokens’ appeared from the magical light with lazy bleats. One blue sheep, one red sheep, one orange sheep, and one pink sheep, all with small, curled white horns, were simply standing in the grass like it was perfectly normal.

“Dude, I didn’t know you could do that!” Jaden exclaimed as he looked at the four ‘Sheep Tokens’ and then back to Drake.

“This is the next part of what I’m teaching you, Jaden.” Drake chuckled at the look on his friend’s face. “This is what comes after Manifestation and Invocation. It is known as Casting.” He waved the Scapegoat card back and forth a little to draw their eyes to it. “It’s using your Ba to cast spells, though traps can also be included in it too.”

“I want the pink one.” Mindy spoke up, almost like she was in a daze. The ravenette gently petted the pink sheep, getting a lazy bleat from the Token Monster.

“Sit, sit, they don’t mind at all.” Drake assured his friends. “They’ll remain right where they are until they’re destroyed or I end the spell.”

“…Okay.” Alexis felt like her head was starting to spin at what she was witnessing now. She’d only had the bare minimum of exposure to the Shadow Realm and all of this made her realize how little she still knew. “Excuse me.” She spoke to the blue sheep as she gently sat on its back. Since they were almost spherical though, it was hard to differentiate between back and head.

“Thank you…for the seat.” Jasmine was equally weirded out at this point, but she was doing an admirable job of trying to roll with it. She sat on the red sheep between Mindy and Alexis.

“It’s soft.” Mindy complimented the pink sheep and petted it as she sat on its back. The girl was clearly trying not to freak out by distracting herself with the cute things.

“When do I learn this?” Jaden questioned Drake as he sat on the orange sheep next to Alexis.

“Once you’ve learned Invocation, then we’ll move on to Casting.” Drake promised with a smile.

“I’d really like someone to explain what the hell is going on now.” Jasmine requested with a strained smile.

“Please.” Mindy nodded her agreement, her brown eyes looking lost.

“I guess I’ll start the same way that I started with Jaden’s lessons.” Drake decided aloud as he looked at the three girls. “This is sort of a long story, but bear with me, it’ll all make sense when I’m done.” All three of the girls nodded to him after a second and Drake began to explain. “Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, Egyptian Kings played a game of great and terrible power…” Seeing all three girls listening attentively, Drake continued on with the history of the Shadow Games that he’d learned from his father’s notes.

“This is all real?” Jasmine had calmed down over the semi-long lecture on the origins of Shadow Games.

“You’re sitting on a ‘Sheep Token’ and still petting Jaden’s Ka…” Drake pointed out with a slight chuckle. “I’d say it’s pretty real.”

“Kuriboh is fluffy.” Mindy replied, as if that was all the explanation needed for why she and Jasmine were petting the manifested spirit.

“Is…is there anyway that I might be able to find my brother?” Alexis questioned Drake, a spark of hope in her golden-hazel eyes.

“Maybe…” Drake didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. “He disappeared about a year ago, right?” Alexis nodded to confirm. “It would depend on a lot of factors, whether he was just dragged into the Shadow Realm, or if he was possessed and the spirit that took him over went somewhere else.”

“I see…” Alexis looked down at the ground. Jasmine put her hand on top of Alexis’s left hand. Jaden gently placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile.

“What I can say,” Drake started and Alexis looked back to him. “Is that if you learn Ba and Ka, then you’ll be protected and can protect others from the same fate. There’s also the chance that as you learn and grow in this magic, that you may run across your brother or perhaps a spirit that knows what happened in the Abandoned Dorm.”

“You think so?” Alexis had the small spark of hope in her eyes again.

“Not all spirits are evil,” Drake assured her while motioning to Winged Kuriboh. “There are quite a few that’re benign or even helpful. But being able to protect yourself is still a necessity if you want to go looking for your brother.”

“I want to learn.” Alexis’s face and tone were resolute. “Please teach me, Drake.” She bowed as best she could from her seated position.

“We want to learn too.” Mindy spoke up after sharing a quick look with Jasmine.

“If Alexis is going to learn, then we want to help her.” Jasmine nodded firmly; her gray eyes were unwavering as she stared into Drake’s eyes.

Drake looked at the three girls, all of them absolutely set on learning Ba and Ka from him. “This isn’t what I expected, to be honest.” He admitted, scratching his cheek for a second. “I taught Jaden because Winged Kuriboh was already following him around and he had a strong Ba already.” Jaden looked at him, his emotions on his sleeve as always, his best friend was urging him to help Alexis and teach the three girls. “I wasn’t planning on teaching anyone else until Jaden was a bit further along.”

“Did…did you want us to pay you?” Jasmine asked curiously. It wouldn’t be wrong for Drake to want some compensation for his time. If he was literally going to teach them magic of all things, then some payment wasn’t unreasonable.

“No…no…I didn’t mean that I was going to charge you money.” Drake shook his head at the question.

“Oh…” Mindy’s eyes looked off to the side for a moment. “Did you want…something else…then?” Her right hand touched the top button of her uniform blazer, while her left hand gently grasped the hem of the small blue skirt.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Drake waved his hands side to side rapidly. “That’s not what I meant at all!”

“Mindy!” Jasmine and Alexis both looked at their friend wide-eyed. Even Jaden was just staring at her blankly.

“Sorry.” Mindy blushed a bright red as she realized that she’d completely misread Drake’s words.

“Do…Do I come off like that?” Drake wondered aloud. “Am I giving off ‘creep’ vibes or something?” He hung his head morosely.

“No, that was my fault, I misread the situation.” Mindy apologized again. “None of us think you’re a creep, Drake!” The girl was waving her hands in front of her and almost panicking that she’d insulted and offended him.

“I apologize for her too.” Jasmine bowed her head. “Mindy just made a mistake, and a huge leap in logic, and none of us will do so again.” She rose from her bowed position. “Please don’t take offense. We really do just want to learn this magic with Alexis.”

“It’s fine, I was just concerned that you all thought I was that kind of guy.” Drake breathed a little easier now. He really didn’t want to get slapped with the label of ‘creep’ for the next three years at Duel Academy. “I can see where Mindy was coming from too. I’m a teenage guy, you three are beautiful girls, it’s not that hard to see how she made the connection.” Mindy and Jasmine gave him thankful smiles for his understanding. “But no, I don’t need compensation, monetary or…otherwise.” He looked to the side at that last part. “All I need is a promise from all three of you.”

“A promise?” Alexis raised an eyebrow. Mindy and Jasmine leaned forward slightly, interested in what kind of promise Drake required.

“Yes.” Drake confirmed as he looked between the three girls. “If you truly want to learn from me, then you’ll promise to listen closely and heed my instructions. Never try and get ahead or attempt something that I haven’t taught you. If I say not to practice something when I’m not around, you won’t do so. You’ll follow my lessons to the letter, so to speak. This is not something that can be played with. It can cost you your very soul.” All three girls audibly gulped. “If you can promise me that you’ll listen and follow my instructions, and that you’ll never tell another soul about this without my permission, then I’ll teach you.” He laid out exactly what he expected of them as his students in Ba and Ka.

“I promise.” Alexis spoke up first. Her eyes were firm and filled with resolve. “I’ll learn at whatever pace you deem the best. I will follow your instructions to the letter. Whatever rules you set; I’ll follow them.”

“I promise.” Mindy agreed as well, her back straight and her gaze strong.

“I promise.” Jasmine nodded to Drake; her gray eyes locked with his own eyes.

“I’ll hold you to those promises.” Drake accepted the three girls at their word.

“Welcome to magic class.” Jaden grinned at the three Obelisk Blue girls, a slight snicker in his words. The tension in the air slowly faded away at the joke and everyone began to relax.

“Hmm, being a teacher, huh?” Drake rubbed his chin, stroking a non-existent beard. “Maybe I should go full magic with it and have some robes as a uniform.”

“Robes?” Alexis actually let out a small laugh. “Are we learning magic or joining a cult?”

“You’d be surprised how often those two things mingle.” Drake looked at her pointedly. “But I don’t think I’d go for thick, floor length robes.” He grinned.

“What would you go for then?” Jaden questioned, in his mind he pictured a classic magic user from movies and games, with a pointed hat and long robes, holding a staff.

“Something skintight maybe?” He glanced at Mindy with a chuckle.

“Hey!” Mindy pouted that he brought up her misunderstanding.

“Or maybe something loose and flowing?” Drake hummed, his eyes finding Jasmine’s this time. “But keep it short, of course, not too much longer than the uniform skirts.”

“In your dreams.” Jasmine playfully rolled her eyes at him. “Let me guess, they’d also be sheer and almost see through?”

“You said it, not me.” Drake laughed with a shrug.

“Would that be for the boys too?” Alexis challenged with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh no, Jaden and I would get some comfortable pants and short robes that stopped just past the waist.” Drake replied, nodding sagely.

“So, we’d be wearing what amounted to negligée, while you two are covered up properly?” Mindy had a cute little grin on her lips. “That doesn’t sound fair.” Her eyes gained a mischievous glint. “But…if you wanted to buy us some nice things, I did see some clothes I wouldn’t mind ordering.”

“Jaden, how much money do you have?” Drake chuckled as he looked at his buddy.

“Don’t drag my wallet into this.” Jaden raised his hands in front of him with a laugh.

The tension from earlier was now well and truly broken as the five teens laughed and joked with each other. It was a much needed break from the tension that had filled the group over the last four days since Alexis, Jaden, and Drake had been caught at the Abandoned Dorm. It was a good thing that today was a Sunday and they didn’t have any classes. With three new students to start teaching, Drake knew he'd need most of the day to get the girls started on the beginning meditation.

“You’re doing well, breathe in, hold it, and then exhale slowly,” Drake walked Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy through the steps of basic meditation. “Open your mind. Focus on what lies within the self.” It had taken the girls a little bit of time to settle themselves, Alexis being the first to no one’s surprise. “The first step is to block out the world and look within. As you sink further within, you’ll begin to sense that which is wholly and uniquely you.” The three girls exhaled lightly, their breaths coming in a slower and more even pattern now.

“Man, they’re getting the hang of meditation faster than I did.” Jaden gave them credit for how quickly they’d managed the basics.

“Kuri!” Winged Kuriboh, now returned to spirit form, settled on Jaden’s head.

“Hey, partner, should I meditate too?” Jaden looked upward even though it wouldn’t allow him to see the winged puffball.

“Kuri kuri!” Winged Kuriboh encouraged its partner.

“Right then.” Jaden smiled and closed his eyes. He calmed his mind and slowed his breathing as he’d been taught. Slowly, but surely, the outside world fell away from his senses as he delved deeper into his Ba, refining it through the meditation. The bond he shared with Winged Kuriboh was there, like a line leading to the little spirit currently resting atop his head. As his Ba was refined, so to was their bond further strengthened.

“Ba influences the magical expression of Ka and therefore the kind of Monster Spirit manifested by the individual. The Monster Spirit reflects the true nature of the person it comes from as the Ka is given form by the energy of the Ba. They are two sides of the same coin, complementary energies to one another.” Drake continued to explain in a soft tone that would help ease the three new students further into their meditation. “If one has an inherent attachment to a specific Monster or Archetype, they’ll find that their Ka will most likely develop as that specific Monster or as the weakest Monster of the Archetype that they hold great attachment to.”

Drake stopped talking after that last bit of information. He was content to let the three girls further their meditation from this point. It wasn’t possible to guide them every step of the way with this after all. Every person experienced this first step differently. It was always a journey to discover oneself and the truth of what existed within was not always what was projected outwardly. Only after knowing and accepting yourself could you become aware of your Ba. Once that stage was reached, then a person could actively refine and strengthen their Ba in preparation to create a Ka or bond with an already existing Monster Spirit like Jaden had done.

‘It’s fairly obvious that Jasmine will manifest a Harpie spirit, I think. But what will Alexis, who is in the process of creating a second Deck with a new Archetype, create?’ Drake mused as he watched over the four of them. ‘Mindy doesn’t play an Archetype, so any Ka she creates is up in the air.’ He considered what he knew about the bubbly girl. ‘Well, perhaps she’ll choose to bond with an already existing spirit? The island has plenty of them. It would merely be a matter of finding one that was a good match with her once she’s refined and strengthened her Ba.’

-Duel Academy Campus-

“Where could she be?” Chazz grumbled as he walked around the campus trying to find Alexis. Behind him, Taiyou and Raizou followed along, also keeping an eye out for the Queen of Obelisk Blue.

Chazz had stopped by the Girls’ Dorm this morning to ask Alexis for a practice duel, something he knew that she’d probably enjoy. The girls that had been leaving the dorm had told him that Alexis had left with Mindy and Jasmine earlier in the morning. With that information, Chazz had set off to try and find her, Raizou and Taiyou following along. They’d checked the Card Shop to no luck. The computer lab with the Virtual Duel Programs, where students could make online Decks with any card that had ever been printed and duel via the internet, had been a bust too. The only ones that were in there had been a few Ra Yellows, including Bastion Misawa. They’d checked the canteen on campus to no luck. Aside from being back in the Girls’ Dorm already or just wandering the island randomly, Chazz had no idea where else to look.

“You don’t think they’d be at the beach, do you?” Raizou questioned the other two Obelisk boys.

“In this temperature?” Taiyou looked at him like he was crazy. One might be able to go to the beach, but swimming would definitely be out of the question. Autumn may not be here just yet, but the mornings and evenings were getting cold and the wind across the island wasn’t helping when it passed through.

“Maybe I’ll swing by the Girls’ Dorm and see if they got back while we were looking for them.” Chazz lamented wasting a good chunk of the day looking with nothing to show for it.

The three Obelisk boys turned to head back towards the Girls’ Dorm and see if Alexis had returned there. As they strode across the campus, they sneered at the Slifer students near them. The Ra students were scoffed at as they walked by. Their pride as Obelisk Blue students was on full display. Perhaps it was fitting that seeing Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine walking with Jaden and Drake shattered their composure like a sledgehammer through glass.

“Wh-What the?” Chazz blinked at what he was seeing. “Why is Alexis with those Slifer slackers?!” The third son of the Princeton Family was nearly grinding his teeth.

“They’re talking and laughing like it’s normal.” Raizou pointed out, his annoyance showing on his face.

“Why would Alexis waste her time with a pair of Slifers?” Taiyou wondered with a glare at Drake and Jaden.

“I’m about to get to the bottom of it.” Chazz declared as he took a few aggressive steps forward. Only, he cut across the path of one Zane Truesdale in the process, and stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes caught Zane’s.

“What’re you doing, first year?” One of the third years walking with Zane demanded of Chazz practically blocking their path.

“Princeton, right?” A different third year guy noticed who Chazz was. “You need something?”

“Uh, no, sorry.” Chazz was still caught in Zane’s gaze like a mouse caught in a viper’s stare.

“Then move out of the way, you’re blocking the path.” The third year on the right waved the younger teen aside.

“Right, sorry.” Chazz sidestepped to clear the path as he finally broke Zane’s gaze. The third years continued on their way while the three first years waited for them to pass.

“Hey, where’d they go?” Raizou looked around, but didn’t see Alexis or the others.

“I stopped looking when Zane showed up.” Taiyou admitted to being more worried about getting on Zane’s bad side.

“Damn.” Chazz looked around as well. “Which way were they headed?”

“They were coming up from the road that leads to the Slifer Dorms.” Raizou mentioned. “Maybe they split up at the crossroads?” He pointed at the area that connected all of the dorms and the main campus together.

“Let’s head towards the Girls’ Dorm, if they didn’t split up, then we’ll catch up and show those Slifer slackers their place!” Chazz took off towards the road that led to the two Obelisk Dorms.

“Yeah!” Taiyou and Raizou agreed loudly as they followed Chazz quickly.

Unfortunately for the Obelisk boys, the group of five hadn’t split up at all. They were, in fact, heading for the campus canteen to have lunch together. When that bit of news hit the rumor mill of Duel Academy, Chazz would lament his choice of heading for the Girls’ Dorm. Not to mention grow more anger and resentment towards Jaden, and to a lesser extent Drake.

Unbeknownst to Alexis as she had lunch with her friends, Zane looked over and noticed the company she was keeping. He didn’t much care about what dorm someone was from, a good Duelist could come from anywhere. But it almost made him cock an eyebrow to see her laughing and smiling as much as she was. After Atticus had disappeared, he’d tried to look out for Alexis a bit, like a pseudo older brother figure. This was probably the happiest he’d seen her in quite a while.

‘Perhaps I should introduce myself to those two?’ Zane thought as he turned back to his lunch. They both had impeccable dueling records at the Academy, so far. Jaden had even pulled his weight in the Tag Duel with Alexis, and they’d taken down Professional Duelists. ‘Huh, when was the last time I actually wanted to challenge someone?’ He wondered at the feeling of his Duelist’s Spirit stirring.

-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-

The reveal of Ba and Ka to Alexis (as well as Mindy and Jasmine) has occurred.

After a bit of misunderstanding, Drake has agreed to teach all three. How will that work out? Jaden has only just bonded with Winged Kuriboh, so he’s not even that far ahead of the girls.

Drake does reveal the third part of Shadow Magic: Casting! The ability to cast spells with your Ba! If you thought that the only ability was manifesting your Ka or invoking Shadow Games, then you’re incorrect, my friend!

If Yami Bakura can cast Chain Energy on Pegasus’s guards in Duelist Kingdom, why can’t other Shadow Magic users do the same, right?

Drake and Jaden have now caught Zane’s attention! That could be good and bad. He’s the Number One at the Academy for a reason, after all.

Will Jaden or Drake duel Zane?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!