"Dimitri of Ra Yellow versus Beauregard of Ra Yellow. Brier of Obelisk Blue versus Miura..."
On the field ahead, Professor Vellian Crowler was reading out the names of the students for the first practical duel class.
"And finally, Jaden Yuki of Slifer Red versus Chazz Princeton of Obelisk Blue!"
"It's my turn! My turn! I didn't expect to be up so soon!"
Hearing his name called by Crowler, Jaden suddenly became hyperactive, shouting excitedly. Gone was the lethargic, weak state he had been in just moments ago after eating too many salted fish snacks.
"I guess dueling really is spiritual food for a card gamer..." Jiang He muttered, twitching his lips in amusement while thinking to himself.
The moment a duel was mentioned, this hot blooded idiot would immediately forget all his troubles and get fired up.
Before heading down, Jaden even raised the Duel Disk on his wrist, looking at Jiang He with pure determination. "Jiang He, make sure you watch my duel!"
"You're the one opponent I've decided I absolutely have to challenge!"
Jiang He had no intention of saying much in response. Instead, he leaned lazily against the wall, a piece of straw dangling from his mouth. He simply waved Jaden off with half closed eyes, signaling him to go ahead.
Even without watching, he could easily guess the result.
With Chazz's current "clownish" level of strength, he was absolutely no match for a hot blooded idiot like Jaden. He wouldn't even be a match for Chazz's original target, Bastion Misawa.
"If I remember correctly, the rules for the first year practical duel class are supposed to be matches between students of the same dormitory, right?"
Not long after Jaden went down, while Jiang He was lounging against the wall, he heard a familiar female voice accompanied by light footsteps approaching.
"Al... Alexis Rhodes?!" Syrus Truesdale exclaimed in surprise.
Jiang He opened his eyes and saw Alexis had arrived nearby at some point. She stood with her arms crossed, looking down at the duel field before turning an inquiring gaze toward him.
Her two tagalong friends, Jasmine and Mindy, were still following her.
"Hmph, don't misunderstand. We're just here to see how things are going." Jasmine and Mindy still seemed a bit resentful about the "high blood pressure dueling experience" Jiang He had given them yesterday. Though their attitude was noticeably better, they still spoke with a bit of a huff.
"It's just that Jaden went to Professor Crowler and personally applied to have Chazz as his opponent," Jiang He replied casually, ignoring the two sidekicks and answering Alexis's question.
"Jaden Yuki actually chose Chazz Princeton, the number one freshman in Obelisk Blue, as his opponent?" Alexis said, her surprise evident.
Noticing that Jiang He didn't seem worried at allas if he didn't think for a second that Jaden would loseher expression shifted. She turned her eyes toward one of the six duel fields below, where Jaden and Chazz stood facing each other.
Judging by Jiang He's expression, it was likely that Jaden Yukiwho had similarly defeated Professor Crowler during the entrance examwas no ordinary duelist either.
Perhaps Chazz, the supposed top student of Obelisk Blue, is about to suffer another bitter defeat, Alexis thought to herself.
Jasmine and Mindy were also taken aback, looking toward the field. It was already strange enough that a guy like Jiang He existed in Slifer Red. Surely there couldn't be another student capable of defeating the elites of Obelisk Blue, right?
Jiang He said nothing more. He just leaned against the wall, relaxing and listening to the commotion coming from the duel field below.
"Hmph! Jaden Yuki, you Slifer Red loser! This time, we'll settle the duel that got interrupted before once and for all!"
"I'll make you understand the true power of the Obelisk Blue elite! Don't think for a second that everyone is like that Jiang He guy!"
Chazz raised his arm, his Duel Disk unfolding automatically as he barked at Jaden.
"Here I come, Chazz!" Jaden likewise raised his disk, which snapped into its active position.
"It's Mr. Princeton to you!" Chazz insisted with his usual comedic stubbornness.
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
The two shouted in unison, drawing their five starting cards. The field displays lit up, showing both players starting with 4,000 Life Points.
Watching from the sidelines, Professor Crowler quickly scurried away with a devious smirk. During the lunch break, he had spent a small fortune to buy out all the cards that had just arrived at the school shop.
He had given several powerful rare cards to Chazz and Bastion Misawa to bolster their decks. His goal was to have them crush Jaden first, dealing a blow to the morale of the Slifer Red "slackers."
That way, only that slacker boy Jiang He will be left! Ooh-hoo-hoo! Crowler laughed delightedly in his heart.
He could already see the scene: Jiang He and Jaden being defeated one after the other, their confidence shattered and their faces filled with despair.
"..." Jiang He's eye twitched slightly as he watched the professor. He decided that when he found the chance, he would definitely squeeze some extra benefits out of that blonde mushroom headed professor.
"Kuri kuri."
The faint phantom of a brown Sphere Kuriboh appeared near Jiang He, landing on his shoulder and chirping in agreement. This was the spirit he had awakened after his duel with Alexis yesterday.
"You think so too, little guy?" Jiang He raised an eyebrow and smiled. It was this little fellow who had sensed Crowler's petty malice and alerted him from within the deck, causing him to open his eyes and look.
Since Crowler had already disturbed his rest, Jiang He decided to keep watching the duel between Jaden and Chazz. He wanted to see if his presence as a "butterfly" would cause any minor ripples in how the duel unfolded.
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