Chapter 68: You Xuan's Study Plan

Before this duel even began, Yamamoto Yuuichi was brimming with confidence, eagerly rushing forward to fire the opening shot of the dormitory exchange tournament.

He had originally planned to seize the moment while all the freshmen were still gathered for their banquet, performing a magnificent debut victory before everyone to claim the first prize; who could have known he wouldn't grab the prize, but instead secured a funeral wake.

After the single duel concluded, the first thing that crossed his mind was neither regret over defeat nor a review of his tactical shortcomings and mistakes, but rather a profound interrogation of his own soul.

Questions like: Why, when perfectly content, did he challenge a dog to a duel, and why insist on doing so under the gaze of so many onlookers?

Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt as though everyone seemed delighted by how this duel played out. The surrounding freshmen gasped repeatedly, pointing and whispering in this direction, especially when they saw him get slapped twice in succession by the reclusive combination of Bicycle and Submarine, their faces unable to hide their sheer joy.

However, human joys and sorrows are clearly not interconnected; Yuuichi felt only that these people were incredibly noisy.

Thus, he quickly retreated in depression, shrinking back into the crowd and falling silent.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem."

Dormitory Head Professor Huashan cleared his throat, stepped forward, and said:

"Um, well... Students You Xuan and Yuuichi have provided us with an excellent demonstration, setting a fine example for this year's freshman exchange tournament."

"I hope others will also actively engage in more duels, getting to know each other quickly to foster camaraderie, facilitating everyone's communal life over the next three years..."

Let's hope so.

However, to be honest, after watching that duel, Professor Huashan was already feeling somewhat less confident.

His original intention in holding this welcome exchange tournament was to allow the new duelists to open their hearts to one another and quickly become partners, yet he never expected the tone of the very first match to be so different from what he had imagined.

At this rate, he didn't know if they would open their hearts, but after one duel, relationships would likely freeze over.

Thinking this, the Dormitory Head couldn't help but glance at You Xuan once more. At this moment, You Xuan had already put away his duel disk and retreated to the side, adopting a humble posture as he listened to the professor's speech.

Such a sunny, handsome, and polite child, how could he be...

Professor Huashan let out a long sigh. Indeed, one cannot judge a person by their appearance.

He suddenly had an ominous premonition; the future style of this year's Yellow Dorm freshmen might be somewhat unpredictable.

Returning to the dormitory that evening, You Xuan washed up, flopped onto his bed like a salted fish, turned on the dormitory's central heating system, and lay comfortably on the soft bedding, narrowing his eyes in contentment like a salted fish.

The hardware in Yellow Dorm was truly excellent, far more comfortable than where he had lived before. However, theoretically, Obelisk Blue should be even superior, making him somewhat curious about what it would be like.

But there was no rush; moving up was inevitable. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he could experience it personally.

Finding it a bit boring lying there alone, he took out his Silent Magician card and tried to summon the spirit.

Perhaps because their bond had grown slightly closer, Silent was not as reclusive as she had been at the very beginning; at least, she would usually pop out when her master called.

Although theoretically spirits did not need to come out for fresh air frequently, You Xuan felt that occasional communication to maintain a stable relationship was necessary. That fellow Judai, whenever he had nothing to do, loved chatting with his spirits from time to time; perhaps that was the secret to his god-draws.

Yet today, after one call, Silent unexpectedly showed no reaction.

You Xuan was slightly stunned. What was going on? Had the affinity, which had finally risen, dropped back down? Was she playing dead again?

Good heavens, ignoring her own master's summon; didn't this mean she needed some disciplining again?

Feeling this undermined his dignity as a master, You Xuan called two more times. Seemingly unable to withstand his persistent pestering, the Silent Spirit finally emerged after a thousand calls and ten thousand pleas, holding a scroll to half-cover her face.

He surprisingly discovered that the Silent girl was holding a book in her hands today; it seemed she had been so engrossed in reading that she hadn't attended to him for a moment. Even now that she had appeared, she continued to hold the scroll and study it earnestly.

You Xuan curiously leaned close to her head to steal a glance.

Hmm, very good; he couldn't understand a single word.

It looked like some form of hieroglyphs, accompanied by a host of complex magic circles and rune markings; it was simply an indecipherable heavenly book.

"What are you looking at?" he asked strangely.

Silent lifted her eyelids from the book, gave him a somewhat resentful look, then turned her head back to hug the book and read seriously again.

You Xuan: "?"

What was with this look, as if she were glaring at an unfaithful lover?

However, perhaps due to the subtle connection existing between them and the spirit, he soon seemed to understand a little.

She might be afraid that You Xuan, having obtained a new spirit, would no longer need her, and was thus studying hard.

You Xuan: "..."

He remembered; it seemed he had seen documents during previous research stating that spirit evolution and deck strengthening did not necessarily require a research team to print cards; sometimes, if the spirit worked hard to break through on their own, especially when their bond with the duelist leveled up, a new form might appear.

Sometimes, certain seafood-headed players would find their Extra Deck suddenly glowing halfway through a duel, and upon opening it, discover a monster had appeared out of thin air; this might be exactly that situation.

Many spirits were also very afraid of being abandoned by their masters. The most representative example was GX's number one yandere, Yubel, who traversed stars and crossed galaxies just to find her former master Judai and express her twisted love. There was also that scumbag Honest from the final season, who, feeling abandoned by his master, traveled thousands of miles from the Spirit World to Duel Academy to search for his missing master.

If lying around doing nothing allowed a spirit to evolve on their own, You Xuan would have laughed in his sleep. Nevertheless, he cleared his throat and comforted her: "Don't worry, you are my first spirit; we will forever be companions."

Silent poked her head out from the magic book, as if asking with her eyes: Really?

You're not lying to me?

"Of course." You Xuan smiled. "You are all my wings; how could I ever abandon you?"

The spirit indeed seemed simple; upon hearing this, an smile instantly appeared on the Magician girl's frost-like face, and she nodded vigorously, as if expressing her determination to remain united as one with her master from now on.

However, You Xuan was not speaking empty words. He had previously been thinking that, given the opportunity, he would find a chance to print some support cards for Silent as well.

Among Duel Academy's curriculum, he wasn't very interested in courses like Deck Construction or Practical Instruction, mostly attending them casually to understand the mindsets of other duelists in the environment. But that didn't mean he felt there was nothing to learn at the academy.

First and foremost, Card Crafting Instruction was a course he had specifically circled, and it had always been his focus. The academy should systematically explain card design starting from basic knowledge, which would surely be much faster than searching for books to teach himself everywhere.

Other courses that interested him included Duel Spirits, Duel Monsters Archaeology, Duel History, and related subjects.

Additionally, there seemed to be a Draw Practice course. He had seen in anime how students at the Cyber Style Dojo practiced drawing cards day and night as if training in martial arts, and in GX, there was a student who went to the mountains to cultivate, claiming to have discovered the secret of the god-draw through realizing the truths of nature.

These examples indicated that even without relying on divine artifacts or cheating, the god-draw seemed to have a path through cultivation. You Xuan was very interested in this as well, and had likewise early on listed it as a key lecture to attend later.

Summing it all up, there was still quite a lot to learn; the three years were very short, so he must seize the time and work hard.

Although he had accepted a side quest from the Spirit World to save the world, he still completely didn't know who was behind this new Doma or where they were located; they could be in any corner of this world, in any country. Moreover, You Xuan's own current level had not yet reached that of the Pharaoh; this side quest's difficulty was too high and still somewhat distant from him.

In any case, Kaiba was currently handling the investigation work; being both strong and resourceful, no one was more suitable than him. You Xuan felt his most urgent task was to keep his feet on the ground, study and develop, upgrade his deck and personal skills, and start with the small matters right before him.

Yes, for instance, starting with his second round of the exchange tournament tomorrow.

He would strive to continue bringing smiles to the new friends of Yellow Dorm through duels.

(End of Chapter)