Chapter 74

Rowan, Alexis, and Jaden's group had all won their respective duels against the Paradox Brothers without issue.

No one needed to be expelled, and no awkward administrative reversal needed to be engineered to keep anyone enrolled.

Chancellor Sheppard, however, remained deeply unhappy.

Because within the span of a single afternoon, not long after the Paradox Brothers had packed up and left, rumors had begun circulating beyond the Academy walls.

The rumor in question: that Duel Academy had a cherished institutional tradition of getting right in the face of a defeated opponent and taunting them on the way out.

The chancellor went and had a quiet breakdown in the faculty bathroom.

He had never dueled Rowan personally. He had nonetheless been spiritually broken by him.

Rowan, for his part, had forgotten the whole thing almost immediately.

After the duel, he resumed his easy Academy routine without particular disruption.

That evening, after a comfortable wash, he returned to his single dormitory room, climbed into bed, and took stock of the day's results.

Name: Rowan

Skills: Spirit Vision / Mark of the Crimson Dragon: Dragon's Head / Superior Still Water Clarity (once per duel: draw one card you own that doesn't currently exist in your active deck)

Current Decks: One-Turn Kill Dark Magician Deck / Lava Golem Deck / Stealth Bird Deck (LP Drain Build)

Emotion Points: 1700

"Tch. Two people, and they only generated 1700 points between them?"

He clicked his tongue, not particularly impressed.

Titan, the fake Shadow Duelist from the night before, had been a single person and had produced the exact same number.

The Paradox Brothers were legendary Tag Duelists by reputation, and Rowan had additionally cured both of them of their crooked-smile condition, permanently, in a single afternoon.

Neither of them would ever smirk quite the same way again.

And for all that, he got the same yield as one mid-tier opponent.

Legendary Tag Duelists. And that's all they had to offer.

His mouth twitched. He gave them a silent, grudging nod of acknowledgment.

Truly, they had shown admirable consistency. They had been running as supporting cast since Yugi Muto's era and had maintained that energy all the way to the present.

The title "Legendary Duelists" was technically accurate. They just should have appended "Legendary Sidekicks" to be precise.

Still, 1700 points was not nothing. It was enough to redeem a new deck from the system.

He pulled up the shop and immediately ran into the problem.

Deck: Vehicle Deck (Syrus Edition) - 500 Points

Deck: Disruption Deck (Soul-Crushing Edition) - 1500 Points

Deck: Shadow HERO Deck (Soul-Crushing HERO Edition) - 1500 Points

All three were genuinely good options, he had to admit.

Even Syrus's Vehicle Deck was better than its reputation suggested. The deck itself was solid. Syrus just lacked the skill to use it properly.

At 500 points it was practically a bargain, and having redundant decks available wasn't a bad strategy given his system's Still Water Clarity, which let him pull from any deck he owned regardless of what he was currently running.

But then his eye drifted back to the other two.

The Shadow HERO Deck in particular.

Built almost perfectly for the exact occasion of dueling Jaden.

He set his phone down, made no decision, and stared at the ceiling.

"I'll wait and see what tomorrow brings first."

The shop refreshed in one day. He still had time to farm more points before committing.

Both of the 1500-point decks were clearly the stronger investment, and the Shadow HERO Deck had a specific appeal that the Vehicle Deck simply couldn't match.

He closed the panel, registered the noise filtering through the wall from next door for approximately the third time that hour, and reached for his earplugs with the mechanical efficiency of someone who had integrated this step into their nightly routine.

The spherical chestnut creature, settled nearby, watched this.

Then, with an air of quiet practicality, produced two small translucent spirit earplugs from somewhere unspecified and inserted them into its own ears.

Rowan looked at it.

His mouth twitched again.

This creature is starting to pick up my habits.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but it was too late in the evening to work through it. He lay down and went to sleep.

...

The following morning, Rowan had made it through the usual alchemy lecture, stifling yawns at roughly ten-minute intervals, and was on his way out with every intention of taking the spherical chestnut creature up to the rooftop to sit in the sun for a while.

He had barely stood up.

"Rowan, Jaden, could you two hold on just a moment?"

Professor Banner was at the front of the classroom, holding his cat, eyes creased into their habitual gentle curve.

He waved them over with the unhurried warmth of a man who had never once moved quickly in his life.

"Chancellor Sheppard would like to see you both in his office. Apparently it's something important."

"The Chancellor wants to see us?" Rowan paused.

Jaden, who had been in the process of waking up in the adjacent seat, straightened. Syrus beside him exchanged a look with both of them.

"Wait," Jaden said, brow furrowing. "Didn't we already settle the trespassing thing with the Tag Duel? Why does he want to see me and Rowan specifically?"

He glanced at Rowan, half-hopeful that something would click.

Rowan shook his head. "We'll find out when we get there."

He fell into step behind Professor Banner, who had already begun ambling toward the door.

Jaden, Syrus, and the rest of their group exchanged one more round of baffled looks before following along behind.

Back near the Obelisk Blue section of the classroom, Alexis watched the group head toward the corridor. A small line appeared between her brows.

"Jasmine, Mindy," she said, already gathering her things. "Let's go see what's happening at the Chancellor's office."