March 22nd, early morning.
Before the sun had risen over the horizon, when only a hazy ring of light could be seen, Andy was already awake.
In a small shop in the Doer District of the Imperial Capital, Andy got up early, washed up, took a mop and cleaned the shop floor, then picked up a rag and carefully wiped down every counter.
By the time he had finished cleaning the shop, Andy's mother was already up and preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
Andy, meanwhile, returned to his room and took out his tactical plans—more than a dozen sheets of paper the size of book pages.
They were filled with everything he had learned from Magic Duels over the past month, along with deductions for all kinds of specific tactics.
Since the Magic Battle Hall had released twenty-four new Elemental Cards all at once last week, Andy's tactical plans had gained several more pages.
The new pages were covered in new tactics he believed could be used in the Magic Cup, as well as some rather bold attempts.
Andy sat beside his bed, in front of a crude desk so small that the moment he rested his arms on it, the edge dug into them.
There was no chair. His bed was his chair.
Aside from the plank bed barely large enough for one person and the desk, the entire bedroom contained only a stool for clothes and a small wooden box for odds and ends.
His father had made that wooden box for him by painstakingly saving scraps from the wood used to pack goods during deliveries—the suppliers would reclaim the packing wood.
The family shop did not make them wealthy, but at least it kept them from starving.
It could not afford his school tuition, but three meals