Yūki stared at the card he had just drawn, his fingers resting on its edge.
The hot-blooded fervor of "my strongest partner is calling me" was still on his face.
The corner of Yūki's mouth twitched.
In the card art, a silver-haired magician stood amid starlight, her long staff angled downward and pale blue patterns glowing along the edges of her cloak.
She was clearly just a figure printed on a card, yet Yūki distinctly felt those beautiful eyes give him a glare.
The meaning was clear.
Who did you just call your strongest partner?
Lava Golem?
Yūki rubbed his nose.
Well, damn.
It was his first time fighting alongside a spirit, and the moment he got a little fired up, he had shouted another card's name.
Apparently, teamwork really wasn't something he could expect to come built in.
"All right, I get it."
Yūki looked down at the card and muttered.
"I'll let you take the field in a bit, okay?"
Silent Magician didn't move in the card art.
Yet Yūki kept feeling as though the staff in her hand had risen a little.
She looked like an icy, mature beauty, but she had quite a temper.
Still, that was good.
Having a temper was better than ignoring him completely.
Yūki raised his head and surveyed the field.
The examiner had [The Stern Mystic] and [Curse of Dragon] on his field, one with sixteen hundred ATK and the other with two thousand.
Yūki had one face-down monster in his front row, while his back row held only one face-down card and [Wave-Motion Cannon].
The cannon had already accumulated a full ring of energy.
But looking at Silent Magician in his hand, Yūki decided to change his approach.
For their first battle together, he ought to give this lady magician a chance to take part.
"I Flip Summon Witch of the Black Forest!"
Yūki raised his hand and flipped over the face-down card in his front row.
A black cloak unfurled from the projection on the ground, and grayish-purple mist crept across the field.
A girl wearing a pointed witch's hat floated out of the mist, holding an absurdly thick grimoire.
[Witch of the Black Forest, ATK 1100, DEF 1200.]
The examiner's brow shifted as he looked at the monster.
"A Flip Summoned monster, huh."
Yūki didn't let Witch of the Black Forest stay for long.
"I activate the effect of [Silent Magician] in my hand."
He held up the card he had just drawn.
"I tribute one Spellcaster monster on my field to Special Summon Silent Magician!"
Witch of the Black Forest looked up at Yūki and snapped her grimoire shut.
One thought was written all over her face.
Leaving as soon as I'm flipped face up?
Yūki silently apologized.
Next time, I'll definitely let you stay a little longer.
Witch of the Black Forest turned into a cluster of black motes and flew into the Graveyard zone.
Yūki placed Silent Magician in his Monster Zone.
"Come on out, Silent Magician!"
The blue patterns on his Duel Disk suddenly lit up.
A patch of deep blue night appeared in the center of the field, and starlight fell from above, gathering into a slender, graceful figure.
Silver hair.
A long cloak.
High-heeled boots stepped onto ground paved with starlight.
Silent Magician raised her hand, and the gem atop her staff shone with a ghostly blue light.
Her features were so exquisite they seemed almost unreal, her eyes and brows carrying an aloof chill; long silver-white hair fell behind her shoulders, and her cloak billowed at her sides.
[Silent Magician, ATK 1000.]
There had still been scattered murmurs in the waiting area.
At that moment, they all stopped.
Even the students nearby who were about to enter their examination fields looked toward Field Two.
"Silent Magician?"
"That rare card?"
"Wait, isn't that a monster the legendary King of Games, Yugi Muto, once used?"
One examinee dropped his admission slip onto his chair and didn't even stop to pick it up.
Silent Magician was a rare card in her own right.
What was more, this card had appeared in Yugi Muto's duels.
In Domino City, any card Yugi Muto had used came with a legendary aura built in.
Even though multiple copies of cards existed in the world-there had even been several Blue-Eyes White Dragons, let alone Silent Magician.
Still, seeing an ordinary examinee pull out this card in a practical entrance exam made quite an impact.
The examiner looked at the magician on the field, his hand pausing at the edge of his Duel Disk.
"Fujiwara, you even have this card?"
He had already heard about Fujiwara Yūki's league results and read his file.
Now, seeing Silent Magician take the field with his own eyes, he suddenly felt that the file might have understated things.
In the stands, Zane Truesdale finally pulled his hands out of his pockets.
He stared at the silver-haired magician on the field, his previously casual stance tightening somewhat.
Owning a rare card didn't necessarily indicate strength.
But who a rare card was willing to answer was itself worth a serious look.
Asuka was clearly focused on something else.
She looked at Silent Magician on the field, then at Yūki.
"What a beautiful spirit."
She spoke with interest.
Spirits had never been a secret among high-level duelists.
Both Zane Truesdale and she had Duel Monsters spirits.
Zane Truesdale turned his head toward her.
Asuka paid him no attention and simply continued watching the field.
As a girl, she could certainly tell that Silent Magician's outfit, staff, and cloak were all highly distinctive.
Moreover, the magician hadn't looked at her opponent first after appearing.
She turned her head back.
And looked at Yūki.
The mature silver-haired beauty's face remained expressionless as she merely swept those cool eyes over him.
As if to say:
At least you know what's good for you.
Yūki understood.
He almost laughed aloud.
So even the spirit of an icy, mature beauty could act coyly prickly.
"Witch of the Black Forest was sent to the Graveyard, activating her effect."
Yūki pulled a card from his deck.
"When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can add one monster with fifteen hundred or less DEF from my deck to my hand."
"I add [Marshmallon] to my hand."
A card depicting a round, soft little creature slid into Yūki's palm.
The examiner glanced at the card and saw no problem with it for now.
Yūki offered no further explanation.
Marshmallon's harmless appearance really did make him perfect for an ambush.
Take a hit while face down, deal a thousand damage to the attacker, and still not be destroyed.
In the deck, his whole purpose was to make anyone who hit him regret it.
Next, the gem on Silent Magician's staff lit up.
"Silent Magician's effect applies."
"Her ATK increases by the number of cards in my hand multiplied by five hundred."
Yūki had two cards left in his hand.
Two blue rings of light wound around Silent Magician's staff, and her ATK value changed.
[Silent Magician, ATK 1000 → 2000.]
The examiner's expression began to shift as he watched those numbers.
Her ATK had actually risen to two thousand.
On his field, The Stern Mystic had only sixteen hundred ATK.
And although Curse of Dragon had two thousand ATK, that only put him on par with her.
More troubling still, Yūki's back row held a Wave-Motion Cannon whose effect he didn't know, along with an unknown face-down card.
The examiner rubbed his palm against his Duel Disk.
He suddenly had a very familiar premonition.
This practical exam might soon go from "assessing a student's abilities" to "can I save face?"
"I enter the Battle Phase."
Yūki raised his hand.
Silent Magician turned, aiming her staff at The Stern Mystic.
"Silent Magician, attack The Stern Mystic!"
Yūki swung his arm forward.
"Starlight magic burst!"
Silent Magician stepped forward, her silver hair lifting amid the starlight.
She held her staff across her body, and a brilliant blue light erupted from its gem.
Dozens of magical rings unfolded in midair, spinning as they bore down on The Stern Mystic.
The Stern Mystic raised his short staff, trying to block them.
But blue light converged from every direction.
Boom!
The Stern Mystic's metal mask cracked, and his entire projection exploded into a skyful of light particles.
[Examiner LP: 2300 → 1900.]
Four hundred points of damage wasn't much.
But the situation on the field had changed.
Only Curse of Dragon remained in the examiner's front row.
Yūki glanced at his hand and placed the card he had just searched for into his Monster Zone.
"I set one monster."
He didn't announce the card's name.
A monster card settled quietly beside Silent Magician.
His hand went from two cards to one.
One of the blue rings around Silent Magician disappeared.
[Silent Magician, ATK 2000 → 1500.]
She tilted her head to glance at the face-down monster, then looked at Yūki.
Yūki picked up on a hint of disdain.
My ATK dropped.
What did you set?
"Don't worry."
Yūki smiled at her.
"It's a little gift for our opponent."
Silent Magician didn't respond, merely tapping her staff against the ground.
Yūki withdrew his hand.
"I end my turn."
Before you continue