A/N: Here we are, the last revision to my original Spirit Caller fic that I'm going to do. This is a revision to the extent of being a nearly complete rewrite of the original story. Like the original it combines the continuity of the GX anime and manga with the Spirit Caller video game, which featured the player going through the game as an original character. If you have read the first revision "Spirit Chronicles" or seen the short-lived visual novel I made then you have already seen the first half of this first chapter. However, the second part (starting at "Meanwhile Across the Arena") is drastically different. How different? A character introduced in the revision is no longer in this chapter and a completely different opponent is the one faced by the OC (Kaigen Kou) instead. An opponent fans of the original and the revision should know pretty well. :)

Episode One: "They Who Inherit the Game"

As I strolled down the streets of Dice City, I gazed up at the local branch of Kaiba Corp. The enormous building was obviously designed to stand out and it loomed over the rest of the town, like an arm raised in victory. To me however, it held little meaning. I was too caught up in the sights that carried no meaning for most, the only ones that mattered to me. They were just random locations around town, places I'd heard tales of from my foster folks. They were just places really, the kind you find anywhere. A street corner, a reservoir, an alley, all totally mundane things. It was what had once happened in those places that I really cared about.
Supposedly it was in those very places that my dad had dueled great matches during the Battle City Qualifiers many years ago. Walking around those normal places and watching the handful of street duelists paying homage by dueling there brought me some peace of mind. Even if I had never seen those duels, or met the man; he had left a mark. Even though the mark on the world was a small one, it was enough to confirm that he existed. At the time, I could only wonder what it was like dueling in my father's days, with danger around every corner and the stakes on every match being higher than the last. It had been a time when all you had to put your faith in was your cards and your friends.
A hand went to my deck at the thought and I could only frown. I had no friends to trust or any faith in the simple pieces of cardboard that formed my deck. All I had was my own skill, and not even the vaguest idea how they compared to my dads.

"Hey you, Blondie, wanna duel?" my eyes drifted to the source of the comment, a street duelist who'd just gotten done finishing off an opponent.

My eyes drifted to the source of the comment, a street duelist who'd just gotten done finishing off an opponent. I shook my head, my expression remaining cold, and I put forth a half-hearted impersonation of a person who cared about anything that guy had to say, "Sorry, I'm already late for my entrance exams as it is. Maybe next time."

"Another academy wanna be? Gonna be the next King of Games or something?"

I pushed up my glasses and turned to conceal the fact I was rolling my eyes, "Nope, who cares about titles as long as you keep getting stronger in both deck and skill. Duel Monsters is all about meeting the next duelist head on, searching for someone else to push your limits."

"Amen to that brother! The name's Mark Atlas, I'll make sure we duel the next time we meet!"

I smiled and waved, then dropped the facade as I moved on. It wasn't until several moments later that I realized just how late I actually was. In fact, I was close to missing my whole reason for coming to town. "Crap! If I don't hurry I'll miss them entirely!"

Soon after I was cutting through the garden in front of the building and fate nearly had me running full speed into a smaller and probably younger boy. The guy had thick and unkempt hair, accompanied by a seemingly chronic smile that claimed total confidence. Judging by his appearance, he was probably one of those poor unfortunate souls whose mother called them 'Muffin'. He probably didn't have any shortage of people treating him like a kid brother. Muffinman seemed to give off that kind of vibe.

Of course Muffin noticed me rather quickly and seemed relieved, "Oh hey! I'm Jaden Yuki, you a duelist too? What's your name?"

It was then I spotted the duel disk on the kid's arm that labeled him as a fellow hopeful. I went ahead and offered a hand in friendship. Couldn't hurt anything right? "Kaigen Kou, and if you want to duel you'll have to wait until after entrance exams."

Jaden donned an embarrassed grin, "Yeah, I'm running late too. I thought this was a shortcut but I can't hop this wall. Maybe we could help each other out? You give me a boost and I'll help you climb up."

Yep, there was definitely a wall there. Not too tall, but taller than one person could hope to jump. We'd have to take this route to make it on time, "Sure, just make sure you don't drop me."

It was one of those times where my size was annoying. Even though I was only a year older than him, I was practically a whole foot taller and he was still in that wiry stage of youth, while I was just out of that. So of course I'd be giving the boost... and relying on him afterward. It bugged me, but like I said there was no choice.

I bent down, then cupped my hands together in the standard position, "Hurry up, we don't have a lot of time."
"Right. Here I go."
Placing one foot in my hands he stepped up as I pushed off the ground with my legs. I couldn't see from my position, but I heard the sound of flesh on metal as he grabbed the handrail above and pulled himself up, "Hey! Two more applicants here! We'll be right there!"
"Stop moving around so much!" I grumbled.

Even though he wasn't really all that heavy, all of that weight was wiggling around like crazy. The kid was probably waving or something to get their attention before climbing up. Honestly though, if it weren't for him calling out that there were two applicants, I would have expected him to leave me there. Actually, to be totally honest I was still a little surprised when he reached for me and helped me climb up, but thanks to that teamwork, we managed to make it into the building before last call.

When we got into the arena, I'll admit I was a bit awestruck. It was a huge place, the stands able to seat hundreds if not thousands of people. They varied in population, on the other side of the arena a lot of people around my age were observing the duels while wearing blue jackets. I had to assume they were people who already got in. Near them was a sparser section of seats, occupied by faculty. The other half of the stands, the side I was on, was dotted with fellow hopefuls. The arena floor itself set up to contain a dozen duel fields, which thankfully still had some exams going on. It was applicants against Kaiba Corp duel proctors using relatively weak-looking decks.

I sighed with relief, muttering to myself, "Thank god, there's still some duels going on. I'm not too late."

Jaden motioned over to a particular field, "Hey, look there. Something big's about to go down."
The duel has was talking about wasn't hard to spot. It was the only one going on that had any kind of energy to it, much less the feel of a duel about to swing into endgame. A studious type with smoothed back hair and a build similar to my own suffered an apparent setback in his exam. He was ahead by life points and had a fairly powerful Vorse Raider out, but he was looking at two enemy monsters. Even if he destroyed one, there would still be one left to tribute summon something stronger.
Given the many other factors at hand though, the proctor was unduly smug, "Alright, applicant, you've got multiple choice. You've got two monsters staring you down. Do you A: Fold in the towel, B: Beg for mercy, or C: Run home to momma."

I took another look at the field, the life points of the proctor, the look on the applicant's face, and his body language. It was easy to predict what the applicant was doing as he moved to activate a card. He was going for the win, and with all the factors considered that meant a card that did direct damage. That meant...
"He's going for Ring of Destruction."

I was right on the money, the student responded to his foe's arrogance with its more polite cousin: confidence, "My answer is D, none of the above. I activate Ring of Destruction, destroying my Vorse Raider and dealing 1900 points of direct damage to both of us."

"Whoa, that guy can really throw down." Jaden noted.

A nearby kid nodded, thinking Jaden was talking to him, "Yeah, that's Bastion Misawa. They say he got the highest score on the written exam out of all us applicants."

"Wow, I barely passed mine." Jaden was clearly impressed.

"Yeah me too. I get terrible test anxiety."

Jaden turned to me, noticing I was staring at a paper from my pocket that bore my own test scores, "So how'd you do Kaigen? Since you called that play right I bet you got a pretty good score!"

I stashed the paper quickly. There was no need for them to know I was different from them, "Let's just say that I'm impressed he managed to score so high and leave it at that."

Jaden chuckled, wrapping his arms around me and the blue-haired shorty, "Don't worry about it guys, it's the duels that really matter." He smiled wide at the boy with an expression that carried more energy than I thought a human could have, "Nice to meet ya. I'm Jaden, this is Kaigen."

I fought back a sigh. To me it seemed like I was roped into being friends with these two random people. It could be worse, even I had to admit that much, "You guys can just call me Kai."

"Right," the boy nodded, "My name is Syrus."

Jaden slipped his deck into his duel disk, "I wonder what the proctors duel like. I bet I could show 'em some real moves!"

"Um, you guys haven't taken your duel exams yet?"

"No, why?"

"I think that was supposed to be the last one."

"What? They have to let us duel!"

Dang it all! I'd screwed up! My dwelling on the past had cost me the future. What was I going to do if I couldn't get into Duel Academy? I'd come all the way from the United States specifically to see where I was born and get into a duel school in my father's homeland, but... that dream was over. Tickets to and from Japan are expensive. We'd had to save up to afford it. I had no money to get back or afford a place to stay much longer in Japan. If I didn't get in...

My attention was suddenly pulled over to the faculty section when I saw something almost as bad as failing to get in. At least for my pride. One of the staff, very frilly one at that, was reacting almost cartoonishly to a phone call. I had my suspicions as to who it was and whatever was being said annoyed the androgynous instructor enough that after the call he prepared to duel. One of us at least was going to get a duel, if not both of us, but we'd apparently be facing a full time instructor. I didn't know about Jaden, but I had little doubt that I could win.

"Would Kaigen Kou and Jaden Yuki please head to the duel arena for their duel evaluations." the speaker system announced.

Jaden was psyched, "Yeah, that's more like it!"

Syrus was perplexed, "I was pretty sure that was going to be the last one..."

"Apparently they are a bit forgiving to students running late." I promptly deflected the issue, even though I probably didn't need to, and headed for the duel field.

On the way, we passed by Bastion Misawa and Jaden stopped to chat, "Sweet duel Bastion, I'd say you're the second best duelist here!"

I didn't bother stopping, "Third best. Then again everyone but Syrus thinks their the best."

That comment had probably embarrassed Syrus, but I simply ignored that and went into the duel area.

Meanwhile, Across the Arena

"Professor Crowler, you can't be serious." I protested, stepping in his path, "These are Duel Academy hopefuls, you can't just crush them with your real deck like this. You could traumatize them enough to make them quit dueling altogether!"

The vindictive man smiled slightly, but it was not amusement. It was arrogance. It made me a little sick to my stomach, "Good. If they are such slackers that they can't do something so simple as be on time, then they don't deserve to be called duelists. If they somehow do manage to win, then they deserve to get in and the measure of fame that the victory will earn them." His smile grew even larger, "That is precisely why I am enlisting your services in that matter."

That had me even more surprised and I had to protest again, "But sir... I haven't lost a single duel in over ten years!"

"Precisely, Professor Hibiki, I won't let your personal history with Mr. Yuki affect my judgment and I know that you value your reputation and professional integrity too much to compromise the results. Surely you understand that these boys must be taught a lesson. Would you rather I be the one to teach it to both of them?"

I glanced over to the two teens across the way as they descended the stairs to the arena. I'd known Jaden since he met my brother in the hospital around ten years before. He was so much taller than when I'd last seen him, but still had the same playful energy he always had. The other was more serious, cold even. Except for that expression and his lighter hair color, he bared an uncanny resemblance to Dai Kou, a skilled local duelist that disappeared from the public eye a long time ago. The teen was tall with a strong build, strong build, short blond hair, glasses, and a bit of 'peach fuzz' showing that the teen had not bothered to shave that morning.

I didn't have much choice other than to agree, though I'll to a bit of curiosity, "Fine. If you feel that strongly about it then I'll do it."

"Very good. I expect an honest performance from you, Professor Hibiki."

"You will get one." I replied respectfully, but not happily.

My name is Midori Hibiki. Technically I have a doctorate, but I'm not actually that fond of adding the title to my name. It has always seemed a bit too arrogant for my taste. Regardless, I serve as the headmaster for first year students at one of three dorms at Central Duel Academy. Prof. Crowler, unfortunately, is the Vice Chancellor of the entire school and my boss.

Despite that, and my being the lowest ranked headmaster, I love my job. Looking over the freshmen Slifer Reds is rewarding work. It;s incredibly satisfying to help those who barely got into the school grow strong enough to advance to a higher dorm. Why else would I want to be a teacher than to teach those who had a passion for the game, but needed to learn more?
That's why Prof. Crowler's mentality always got on my nerves. He only wanted the best candidates for the school and I don't get the point in that. Why teach people who don't need as many lessons and exclude those who both want and need to learn?
However, seeing the two applicants, I could tell my earlier concern had been unfounded. Since he clearly still had the same passion for the game, Jaden could probably beat Crowler even if he hadn't improved at all since I'd last watched him play. Even though Crowler was a skilled duelist that deserved most of the praise he received; he was also presuming he would win easily, and going in unprepared against a prodigy like Jaden could only result in defeat. Make no mistake, the Jaden I had met years before was unmistakably a prodigy.

The other, Kaigen, had the same piercing and analytical eyes that Dai had had in his time. It was clear to me what kind of duelist he was, and if I was right any other proctor would probably lose before he knew what was going on. He was facing me though; and I was not about to underestimate someone from the Kou family, someone that looked and carried himself so much like Dai. Not that Dai was a legend of anything, but putting him among simple prodigies would have been a disservice. Simple prodigies don't debut in a tournament like Battle City and dominate them. Simple prodigies aren't matches for Egyptian God cards, nor do they retire with their only losses being to the King of Games himself. Mere prodigies don't defeat the man who invented the game in two turns. Even if Kaigen was only a fraction as good as Dai Kou, I was in for a pretty good fight.

Anyway, the the two exams would be taking place on opposite sides of the arena in order to minimize distractions. I couldn't even see Crowler or Jaden once I entered the cordoned off area that my duel with Kaigen was going to take place. The teen was there and shuffling his deck already when I rounded the corner and I waited for him to slot it into his duel disk before I introduced myself.

I took my deck from the pouch at my belt and did my own shuffling as I called out, "Hello. I'm Professor Midori Hibiki. I'll be administering your duel exam."

He looked up, and for some reason his cold expression vanished, replaced almost explosively with a look of surprise. Maybe he'd heard of me?

When he didn't say anything, I continued, "Don't worry about winning or losing, just duel your best. All this is is an assessment of your dueling level. It's hard to fail, but scoring higher is still better. Understand?"

He calmed a bit, but still stammered, "Y-yeah."

"It's standard rules, but we'll only be using 4000 life points, so I recommend you play your traps and spells well. It doesn't take long to lose that much life."

He nodded. I never thought 4000 life was fair, but it does give a good idea how well-tuned a deck is, and usually the decks used to test hopefuls were so weak that 4000 life points wasn't too big of a deal. This time was different though. Crowler and I were using our real decks, decks that could take out 4000 life points pretty quickly if given an opening. Jaden and Kaigen would have to play hard if they wanted to win. On many occasions I had dealt more than that on my first turn.

Looking at my opponent, my earlier confidence in him sank slightly. I wasn't sure why, but his focus seemed to be almost entirely gone. If he didn't snap out of it I'd sweep him under the table.

Kaigen's Perspective

I'd quickened my step, gotten to the duel field ahead of my opponent, and started shuffling to center my thoughts. I knew I could rely on my logic and ability to read my opponents to win. Frankly I wasn't expecting much challenge even from professors using their real decks. It doesn't take a genius to know that arrogance is that arrogance is the quickest way to loose, but that was a weakness I was going to exploit, not fall into. As long as I stayed on top of my game and used all my tools to the fullest, I would win.

All that went out the window when an incredibly bright and welcoming voice reached my ears and pull my attention up to the source before my conscious mind had even fully processed the sound. I wasn't at all prepared for my opponent after all. I'm pretty sure there was a flash of light... a very pleasant flash of light. I almost flinched, like one does when a light is turned on suddenly or someone unexpectedly takes your picture. Yet it was as if I was staring into the gates of heaven, I could not peel my eyes away. Soon the light faded. No, it was more like my eyes adjusted to it. What is that? I wondered. It took me a moment to even begin to comprehend what such a thing of god-like majesty could be. It was was a smile, a beautiful, glorious smile. A thousand supernovas could not compare to it. There were beautiful eyes too, a soft brown that was almost like a hug given an alternate form. The face... yes the face, my mind finally gained enough understanding of the sight to process more than just fragments of it. Smooth supple and infinitely expressive features, the face of a goddess with a caring big sister air about her. My mind computing the entire being at last. She was tall and lithe, curvy in all the right places. A body looked like it would fit in your arms perfectly, like no other living creature – celestial or no – could ever give an embrace as complete and blissful as hers would be. After taking that all in, it took me a moment longer to see the world around her again. In that one fraction of an instant, my entire universe was utterly destroyed and remade with her at the very center. So sudden was this experience, that I nearly fainted right then and there.

I barely heard what she said next, though I noticed her smile turn to concern, "Don't worry about winning or losing, just duel your best. All this is is an assessment of your dueling level. It's hard to fail, but scoring higher is still better. Understand?"

She thought I was nervous. Which wasn't entirely untrue, "Y-yeah."

The professor smiled again, nearly destroying my universe all over again, "It's standard rules, but we'll only be using 4000 life points, so I recommend you play your traps and spells well. It doesn't take long to lose that much life."

I barely managed a nod. I couldn't understand it but for some reason I had lost all feeling in my body except for my circulatory system, probably because my heart was beating so fast and pumping blood through it at incredible speeds. I couldn't even think straight. Instead of running through strategies and going over scenarios of battles in my head; it was a battle to not fantasize about running through a field of flowers into her arms. Trying to think of Duel Monsters merely added a weird part to the daydream where we danced and frolicked in a rain of Duel Monster plushies.

Dang it, Kaigen, focus! I kicked myself mentally, You don't do frolicking! You have to focus on the duel or your dreams will stay dreams! Wait... when did I draw my starting hand? Crap! I'm so screwed!

The goddess seemed concerned and confused about my behavior again, but moved on, "You may take the first turn, Mr. Kou."

"R-right." I looked down at my cards and pushed everything unneeded from my mind. It was hard, but I had no choice. The cards in my hand was excellent, one of the main strategies of the deck was right there. Glancing up though, I found myself not wanting to win using it. It wasn't cool enough... Regardless, "I set two cards, and then summon Harvest Angel of Wisdom."

An angelic trumpeter with silver wings coming from the thighs of its golden armor appeared on the field in a flash of light. Not that it matters, but the art was clearly a reference to the Greek messenger god Hermes and his winged sandals. It had a fairly good 1800 attack so I was about to end my turn. Honestly, I wasn't not playing as hard as I really should have been, but the crowd caught my attention just in time to stop that suicidal behavior.

"Oh my God, are those two professors really doing the last exams? Professor Crowler has that incredibly powerful rare card right?"

"Yeah, but it's even worse for the other guy. Nobody's ever beaten Professor Hibiki, and she's dueled World Champions!"

That bit of news knocked the rest of the nonsense out of my head. I was facing a duelist capable of taking the World title? There was no room for stumbling around and rampaging teenage hormones, "Lastly, I play the field spell The Sanctuary in the Sky!" A hologram slowly formed around the duel field, one depicting the typical clouds and Greek architecture seen in depictions of heaven, "While this card is on the field the controller of a fairy type monster doesn't take damage from battles involving that monster. Turn end."

Suddenly, the crowd, who could see through the hologram, made a ruckus as if I had made a grave error. As Professor Hibiki started her turn, I found out why. She smiled and drew a card, "Well, this should be interesting. We both play fairies."

"Crap."

I must have had a comical look on my face because for a brief second the professor looked even more amused. The look on her face was incredibly cute to me that I almost forgot I was supposed to be trying to defeat her. For a moment I wondered if that kind of thing was what made her hard to beat, but that thought would be corrected pretty much right away.

"I activate the continuous spell card Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen." as she played the spell, a Greek throne room appeared behind her. "As you probably know, once per turn this spell allows me to special summon a fairy-type monster as long as I don't control a monster. I summon one of my most powerful monsters: Fallen Angel Asmodeus!" from a pillar of smoke rose a dark angel in a long white robed and black armor. There was also no ignoring the 3000 attack points. "I use his effect to send one fairy-type monster from my deck to the grave. I choose Fallen Angel Superbia!" the card popped out of her deck and she slipped it into the graveyard slot of her duel disk, "I hope you'll see him again, but I don't intend on going easy on you."

Staring at the powerful angel in front of me, I looked back at my opponent, "This... this really should be interesting. Just like you said."

"Good to see I've gotten you snapped out of that daze you were in." She smiled, "Let's see if you've got a trap for me. I attack Harvest Angel with Fallen Angel Asmodeus! Darkness Ascent!"

The dark angel rushed forward and struck my own angel with a vicious uppercut that utterly obliterated it. However, "I don't take any damage thanks to the Sanctuary spell."

"Just testing the waters." the teacher smiled as she set two cards. There was something in her body language, I couldn't say exactly what, but just something in the way she was acting gave me a gut feeling that a moment of thought about her play reinforced. Especially when she declared, "I end my turn with two face-down cards."

I stared at her intently, weighing many thoughts in my head as a spoke as I tried to figure out her motivations, "You are going easy on me."

She looked up, more curious about the statement that surprised, "Oh?"

"At least I'm pretty sure you are." though I wasn't sure how she meant it, whether she was just trying to give me a chance or looking down on me. It didn't seem to be the latter, "I mean, you never normal summoned, and I can tell you have something in your hand to summon. You could have landed a direct attack."

"I didn't want to walk into a trap."

"Maybe, but you sent that at me didn't you?"

She grinned, "It's a special case."

That put a bit of fear in me, "A 3000 point attacker that benefits from traps, but doesn't stop them..."

She looked at me, as if enjoying my efforts to discern the effect of her monster.

"It must benefit from being destroyed."

The professor smiled, "You're a pretty sharp one, Mr. Kou."

I drew a card to begin my turn and thought over my cards. Not just the ones in my hand, but the ones in my deck. I looked at her body language again and thought back to how she had acted right before and during the time she placed her two face-downs. Finally, I spoke, "You... you are terrifyingly strong."

Professor Hibiki was quick to reply with a friendly quip. "Sadly there are no extra points for compliments. What is your move?"

"I don't have much time, and can't count on getting something to get rid of that without triggering its effect, so I'll have to go another route."

"And that is?"

I pulled a spell from my hand and activated it, "The spell card 'Card Destruction' both of us discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards." I did so discarding and then drawing three cards. An effect triggered in my graveyard, "Because I sent Radiant Jeral to my graveyard while Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I gain 1000 life points."

Kaigen: 5000 vs Midori: 4000

So did she, discarding three and drawing three, "Fair warning, Mr. Kou, I benefit a lot from that discard."

"No, not this time." I motioned to one of my face-downs, "I activate the trap card Disgraceful Charity. We both return to our hands every card we discarded this turn due to the effect of a spell." the three we had each discarded returned to our hands, "After that, I set one face down, and then set a monster. Lastly, I activate a continuous spell card of my own: Dark Room of Nightmare. Every time I deal effect damage this spell inflicts an extra 300. That's all for this turn."

"A burn deck? I wasn't expecting that. Makes since though considering the format." The professor eyed my face-downs suspiciously then drew a card to start her turn.

It was then that I pounced, "Before you can act, I react! The trap card Secret Barrel deals damage to you equal to 200 times the number of cards on your field and in your hand. Thanks to Disgraceful Charity and Card Destruction, that means you take 2000 points of damage!"

"Gah!" the professor's life points were cut in half by the move, then went further down from my Dark Room spell, "Urk!"

Kaigen: 5000 vs Midori: 1700

The sounds of the other duel coming to a climax thundered through the barriers between myself and Jaden, both the physical and holographic ones. I couldn't see it, but the crowd revealed the basics with their shouting, "What the? He actually won? How can that kid be so strong?"

I was stunned. That goofball Jaden hadn't been all talk.

My opponent smiled, "That's Jaden for you. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. That was a good combination. We don't even cover stuff of that caliber until the last semester of freshman year. You panicked a bit though. It's easy to tell that new face-down you set isn't going to stop my attack or do anything to my monsters. So I summon another dark angel, Dark Valkyria!" As she said, another dark angel in armor came to the field in a swirl of black smoke. It had 1800 attack. "You also set that Radiant Jeral that came back to your hand so when I destroy it you'll get 1000 more life points. Solid play. Very solid. I attack it with Asmodeus." the professor, of course, called it right, the monster shattered and I gained 1000 life, "This time I won't make the mistake of holding back. Dark Valkyria direct attacks."

The lady angel swooped in and slapped me directly across the face for 1800 damage, "Ack!"

She moved with notably more sharpness and aggression, likely realizing she would lose if she let me have time to exploit the lower life points. Perhaps her pride would not allow for such a cheap win, "I set one more card face-down and then end my turn."

Cheap shots was all I could do against such a force though, "As you end your turn I activate a continuous trap card: Ominous Fortunetelling! During my standby phase I pick a random card in your hand and guess whether it is a monster, trap or spell card. If I guess right, you take 700 damage and then 300 more from Dark Room of Nightmare."

She didn't have to do the math to know that I'd put a timer on the duel with that card. It had to go. The professor stayed calm though and glanced at her hand of four cards, "Not very good odds in your favor. I have four cards."

"Actually, the number of cards in your hand matters much less than you'd think." I drew and then entered the standby phase, pointing at a card, "I pick the far left card. It's a monster card."

Professor Hibiki was mildly shocked as she revealed the card and that I was right. She immediately lost 700 life, then 300 more.

Kaigen: 4200 vs Midori: 700

In a moment of arrogance, I grinned, "If you had spells, most likely you would have used them. That isn't 100% guaranteed but it tips the odds. You've also set three traps so far, lowering the odds that you have more traps in your hand. You seem to have a deck built around getting larger monsters to the field fast, so the odds of creature lingering in your hand goes up. Also, decks normally have 50% more monsters than any other card. I have confirmed at least one of those four cards is a monster. Now, unless you play it or don't play any more cards I can just say monster again and most likely be right."

She froze momentarily, taken aback by the analysis. The instructor seemed conflicted, "If I don't win on my next turn, you probably will on yours."

Unfortunately, I knew I couldn't win. I'd provoked her. Her expression turning into a certain kind of smile confirmed it. I wasn't going quietly though, I pulled the card I had drawn from my hand and activated the familiar spell, forming a Greek throne room behind me: Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. "We both play fairies."

The woman's face suddenly lit up and she laughed. The expression was glorious, and I'm not sure if the radiance coming off of her right then was from my spell activation or not. "Haha! That's great. Summoning something with big enough attack could end this right here."

"Is this big enough?" I activate the Hall of the Fallen and special summoned and glowing apex of light that filled angelic gold and blue armor with bladed arms. "I special summon the strongest monster in my deck: Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin. Because Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field and my life points are higher than yours it gains attack and defense equal to the difference. That makes its attack 5800! I attack Dark Valkyria with Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin!" I smiled, "Walking right into a trap."

"You guessed right, but I don't think you quite counted on this: I discard one card to activate Infernal Flame, destroying Neo-Parshath and dealing half its attack to you as direct damage!"

"Could have been wor-" I stopped talking when the sky went dark and an avalanche of hellfire crashed onto my side of the field, I reflexively tucked and rolled in the face of such a scene, "CRAP!"

Kaigen: 1300 vs Midori: 700

Despite myself, I laughed, "Okay, that looked a lot cooler than Magic Cylinder, even though it didn't finish me."

Professor Hibiki chuckled and shrugged, "I will admit Magic Cylinder would have done better, but in cases where the counter wouldn't outright end the duel, this is better for my deck."

"I get the feeling you are about to show me why. I set a monster and then end my turn. That's all I can do. This is over. I've lost."

"Good duel though." She drew, "Even though I don't need to do this to win, I think you deserve the biggest send off I can give you right now." A smile spread across her face, "First I activate the trap card Call of the haunted reviving Fallen Angel Superbia from my graveyard, which triggers its effect. It brings a monster I discarded moments ago along with it: Fallen Angel Edeh Arae." to more dark angles appeared on the field with 2900 and 2300 attack. "Next, I can spend a normal summon to grant Dark Valkyria an effect."

"Wait, what?"

"Strange I know, but its a special case, a type of monster called a 'dual monster' because you summon it twice. By the way, the effect adds a spell counter to her that grants her 300 more attack."

The smallest of the assembled angels lifted her hand to the sky and formed a javelin made of darkness in her hand. The crowd was as astounded as I was. Professor Hibiki had four dark angels on the field, not a single one with less than 2100 attack points. I would be defeated by that kind of force even if we had started with a full 8000 life points. It got even worse though.

"It won't be having that extra boost for long though, because Dark Valkyria has a second effect, one that allows me to remove that spell counter to destroy of your monsters regardless of its level, strength, or battle position! Go! Darkness Javelin!" The angel threw the spear, impaling my set monster and shattering it. "Now, I attack you directly with everything I have!Asmodeus leads the charge!"

The four of them surged forward in formation, sweeping over me in a salvo of attacks that reduced my life points to zero many times over.

Kaigen: 0 vs Midori: 700.

Hitting the ground, the defeat sank in as the hologram of my field spell melted away. I'd failed. I wasn't going to Duel Academy. As amazing as the whole experience had been, it was as over as my dreams were. Worse still was the fact that, like I said, I had no means of finding a place to stay for more than a few days... unless I swallowed my pride and stayed with a family member I hadn't given the time of day to in years. Even in a matter of life or death, at the time I would have rather had the latter than go crawling to my uncle. Especially after failing.

I barely heard the crowd clapping, and barely felt Professor Hibiki pulling on my arm to get me to stand, "Come on, get up and take a bow. Can't you hear that applause? Not all that is Jaden's you know."

I looked around and soaked it all in. Most of the crowd was clapping. It wasn't rock concert loud of course, but they were clapping for me. I caught a couple teachers near the front noting that new batch of freshmen was abnormally strong. Standing out from it all though was Jaden right on the edge of the duel field where he'd been waiting for me to finish, cheering louder than everyone else.

I couldn't fully understand it, I turned to the professor perplexed, "I admit I did okay... but didn't I just lose?"

She chuckled, "What? Did you already forget that you didn't actually need to win the duel to pass the entrance exam? Or were you just that fixated on winning?"

I had no reply to that.

With a smile, Professor Hibiki offered a hand for me to shake, "It isn't 100% official yet, but..."

Next Chapter: Welcome to Duel Academy