As the high-powered holographic projections on both Duel Disks shut down completely, the 16,000-point Mechanical Dragon that had blotted out the sky finally dissolved into a skyful of fluorescent light, and the shrill overload alarms gradually subsided.
Yūki raised his arm, folded away his Duel Disk, and lightly rubbed the tip of his nose with his fingertips.
Before he could even catch his breath, deep within his mind, that crisp mechanical notification he had not heard in so long rang out right on time, sounding like music to his ears.
[Ding! Host detected defeating renowned duelist Zane Truesdale.] [Calculating duel rewards...] [Congratulations! Host received: Soul progress increased by 6%! Duel Coins +16,000!] [Current Soul Power Level: Lv4 (28%)] [Current Duel Coins Balance: 37,800]
Looking at the soaring figures on the system's light screen, the corners of Yūki's mouth curled into an almost imperceptible smile of pleasure.
Sweet!
As expected of the academy's strongest duelist, who bore the title of "Kaiser." The sheer lavishness of these drops was enough to make his scalp tingle.
A single sparring match between fellow disciples had not only dropped a full sixteen thousand hefty Duel Coins, but also given his Lv4 Soul Power progress-which usually moved slower than a snail-a tremendous kick forward, sending it straight to twenty-eight percent.
The rewards were noticeably greater than those from his previous duel with Zane Truesdale. Clearly, Zane was also growing steadily stronger.
Together with the little stash left over from when the Cyber Dragon hatchling was first born, his balance of 37,800 Duel Coins was more than enough even if he went back and pulled the Cyber Angel Booster Pack dry, while also picking up a few more high-rarity staple cards for his Extra Deck.
The little silver bracelet on his wrist grew slightly warm.