Early the next morning.
The sea breeze carried a faintly salty dampness through Duel Academy's tree-lined paths.
In front of the detached villas of the Obelisk Blue Dormitory, a small electric moving truck from the academy's logistics department slowly pulled to a stop.
Bastion Misawa, dressed in his trademark immaculate uniform, jumped down from the truck with a heavy cardboard box in his arms.
A corner protruded from the box, covered in densely packed calculus equations and probability models.
"Hey, Bastion. That was quick."
With both hands in his uniform trouser pockets, Yūki sauntered over along the path from the neighboring villa, surveying the six or seven large cardboard boxes piled at Bastion's feet.
"You packed everything so neatly?"
The meticulous look on Bastion's face had not diminished at all, but there was a clear spark of high spirits in his eyes.
"Yūki, it's a necessary ritual for a new environment."
Bastion carefully set the box in his arms on the steps and said earnestly:
"Besides, according to my calculations, the natural wind direction and angle of sunlight here at the Blue Dormitory can increase cerebral cortical activity by approximately 3.7 percent."
"Only by building decks in an environment like this can I push the synergy between different Attribute strategies to its limit."
Yūki glanced down at the topmost box. Emblazoned on its cover was "An analysis of the psychological pressure exerted on FIRE Attribute monsters by Water Dragon's appearance and the probability of a tactical board wipe."
The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
"All right. A top student's brain really does operate on a different wavelength from a normal Duelist's."
"Still... your Water Dragon yesterday certainly woke people up. It washed someone's resolve straight down the drain."
At the mention of this, Bastion paused in the middle of