“Giving up in the middle of battle is not an option. So live every day—play every match—like it’s your last. You just never know when it might be.”

- Queen Hylda Lorrenthal

Current Duel Stats Percy's Life 10,000 10 Fire 10 Wind 10 Shadow 9 Cards in Hand 4 Mana Reina's Life 5,000 1 Light 7 Cards in Hand 0 Mana

Currently in his hand, Percy was holding three Kobold Caretakers, two Hatchlings, Explosive Egg, Night Light Crystal, Dragonfire, Shadowbolt, and the Rabid Wyvern. He had five mana available to use. He really wanted to summon the wyvern, as it was a strong creature which he suspected would put him in an excellent position.

From what he could tell, Percy was winning the fight. Neither duelist’s Monarchs had been attacked yet, but he had an additional 5,000 life over his opponent, and Reina was almost equally as far from summoning her Monarch as he was from his. Plus, if he could get a dragon on the field, then he’d be able to cast spells to deal with anything Reina could summon.

He passed the turn. With Silvaroth’s total health, he could afford to take a hit from that hound. He’d seen the previous duels, knew the slogfests they could turn into when Monarch’s had high health values. He’d be fine.

Reina drew her card, groaning. Then, she collected the Res from her hound and attacked. The creature dashed towards Percy, cutting sideways and firing its bone spikes toward him.

Even though he knew to expect Silvaroth’s magic to defend him, Percy flinched as the spikes flew towards him. Then suddenly, it was raining treasure. A literal wall of gold fell before him, interrupting the spikes and losing them somewhere within the mass. As though it were alive, the fallen treasure hit the ground and returned to the pile behind Percy. He checked his tome, seeing Silvaroth had taken 600 damage.

After Reina passed, Percy drew another Explosive Egg. He chuckled. How much Reina was going to hate him when he played that card. With that thought in mind, he decided to summon his Explosive Egg. It was only one mana, could potentially destroy whatever monster attacked it, and might deter Reina for a bit. Making his decision, Percy placed the card against his gauntlet.

The egg fired out of the portal, lodging itself in the ground near another crater by the Summoner’s feet, one which had been created by a previous match’s attack. Immediately, his opponent was checking the Summon’s statistics with her tome.

“Oh come on!” she shouted, throwing up her hands. “I finally get rid of that stupidly strong kobold and now I can’t even attack you without losing my own Summons?”

Percy had to hold back a grin. Reina hadn’t even mentioned the worst part for her. The egg didn’t have any value for strength, so she’d be stuck with gaining one mana per turn until she dealt with it. Her eye twitched and she rubbed her temples with a hand, staring down Percy’s egg.

He examined Shadowbolt, a spell he could now cast. Apparently, eggs could cast magic…? Maybe that’s how they turned into the blackened eggs in the first place.

Shadowbolt

Cost: 2 Shadow Res

Spell

Deal 500 damage to target Summon.

Channel: Any Summon.

It only dealt 500 damage, though that seemed like a lot. Percy wouldn’t be able to kill the hound as it had 600 health. But he currently had 6 mana. Just the right amount to summon his Rabid Wyvern.

“Sorry about this, Reina,” Percy apologized as he summoned the new card.

From the portal in his fist, the hulking dragon emerged, landing on its hind legs and raising its wings to the sky as it shrieked. It slammed its wings down onto the desolated battlefield. Its head twitched like a bird which had caught sight of a worm, and it eyed Reina hungrily.

The crowd gasped. Exclamations like, “A dragon!?” and “That Summon is super strong! Do you see its ability?” rose up from all over the field. Percy glanced over to the crowd, searching for his new friends’ reactions. Selena was nodding, her eyebrows raised as though impressed, while Mako’s jaw hung open. Percy couldn’t see Kollum’s face behind his hands.

Impressively, the girl across from him was unfazed. Percy wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his cool in front of a monster like that, especially if it appeared so suddenly. But he supposed she must’ve been very comfortable with the rules of the game.

She simply raised an eyebrow. “Why are you apologizing?”

Percy pressed another card to his gauntlet, expending 2 Shadow Res. Black magic flowed out of his fist and into the egg. The magic spread across the egg, condensing into a single point. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a screaming hiss, a wicked shard fired toward the hound, piercing its bony hide and causing it to shriek in pain.

Reina frowned. Why would her opponent bother wasting a spell on her Summon if it wouldn’t kill it? Granted, the spell was powerful, having dropped her Summon’s health to a mere 100 points, but she’d still be able to attack his wyvern with it during the next turn.

Then he did something she didn’t expect, pointing his gauntleted fist toward the newly summoned wyvern. Quickly, she allowed her attention to lapse from the boy as she skimmed the text in her tome.

Rabid Wyvern

Cost: 6 Mana

Summon - Dragon

Spend X Fire Res: Rabid Wyvern deals damage to target Summon equal to the amount of Fire Res spent times 100.

Generates 1 Fire, 4 Wind RPT.

1,250 / 1,100

Malko’s mother, she internally cursed as the wyvern’s flaming breath washed over her hound’s body. She smelled a horrid scent as her creature writhed in the flames before it shattered into light.

Percy passed her the turn, and she drew. Til now, her luck had been terrible. All of her Summons had been too powerful for her to play, and she’d drawn several cards which had Res costs instead of mana costs. She’d been very unlucky.

At least with his latest move, Percy had activated Reina’s mana contract’s condition, allowing her to produce two more mana. She had three now. Looking at her gauntlet and comparing the Res she had stored to her hand, she pondered. Was there a way out of this situation? She shook her head, playing the only card she was able to summon.

Ferris Falcon

Cost: 1 Mana

Summon - Bird

Generates 2 Wind RPT.

300 / 800

She sighed. The iron bird that formed floating above the battlefield before her would’ve been an excellent card to have drawn at the beginning of the game, but she’d only gotten it this turn. That was it. The other boy had gotten extremely lucky with his draws, and she had not. Reina couldn’t think of a single way she might win this duel, but she remembered her mother’s advice and took a deep breath, resolving herself to this duel. There was always a chance. Never give up. She passed the turn.

Percy smiled, drawing another Shadowbolt and gaining three mana thanks to his destruction of her hound. He didn’t think there was a way Reina could win this match now. The bird she’d just summoned was easily destroyed by a single strike from his dragon, which would in turn give him even more mana next turn.

He collected the Res from each of his creatures—2 Fire, 4 Wind, and 1 Shadow—then summoned a Hatchling with the three mana he had. Reina didn’t react, so Percy shrugged and waved a hand.

Reina drew. An Omniscient Owl. She pursed her lips. It would work as fodder for a block, but nothing she had could survive that wyvern’s attacks. And she didn’t have any spells to deal with it.

She cursed. If only she had access to her estate. There were plenty of kill spells in that collection. This wyvern wouldn’t have been an issue if she wasn’t bound by the cards she’d collected during the exams. He mother was going to kill her.

Sighing, she passed her turn without playing anything. Maybe if she could save her mana up, she’d draw a creature strong enough to survive the wyvern’s attack? She raked her brain for a solution.

Percy drew his third Shadowbolt, added it to his hand, and collected the hovering Res. He had more than enough of the Res than he knew what to do with. But not enough to summon Silvaroth. The Monarch cost 50 Loyalty, and Percy only had 37 total. He was getting closer.

His two dragons both attacked Reina at the same time, striking the barrier of force in front of her for a total of 2,000 damage. Almost half of her Monarch’s health gone in a single strike.

Reina sighed and drew for her turn, nearly tossing her cards to the ground in frustration when she saw another Ferris Falcon. She summoned the creature along with her owl. At this point, though, unless she could generate Res somehow, she just wouldn’t be able to recover.

Initially, when she’d looked over her opponent, Percy hadn’t seemed like much. She’d learned he was a scholarship student like herself, but for some reason, he just seemed so out of place. It was like he had no idea where he was.

Now, though, as she watched him grin each time he drew a new card, she realized he was far superior to her. At least in the School of Binding. Reina’d studied her targets before taking the exam. And she’d gotten them. The gryphon was a good Monarch. Not as good as some of the ones in her estate, but Ventus was an impressive card for a new Summoner.

She had no idea what Percy’s monarch was. Silvaroth, Slumbering Avarice? It seemed to be a pile of treasure with an eye. It had an impressive amount of health, sure, but it was also nearly impossible to summon considering its high Loyalty cost. It must’ve been a willful beast, whatever it was. There had to be some sort of drawback to that massive health total, though. Perhaps it didn’t have much attack, or came with some sort of detriment.

But whatever it was, it was good enough that Percy—a scholarship student who’d managed to bind at least two dragons to his will—had chosen it. He must’ve done his research, too—and better than her. If Reina had known where to find those cards, she would’ve certainly obtained them. She’d gotten strong cards, after all. But somehow, his were just better.

She passed the turn with a sigh, realizing that her opponent had so much Fire Res that it wouldn’t even matter if she could get a Summon out that could survive the wyvern’s attack. Its ability was the real issue. Better to just let the match end.

Percy drew. The first Basalt Golem he’d gotten. He didn’t see a need to summon it. Instead, he simply attacked, then passed. One more turn and Reina was finished. That turn came and passed swiftly. He’d won. A true beatdown.

The crowd went wild and the two opponents approached each other at Mrs. Balligan’s instruction, shaking hands.

“Good game,” Percy said, before turning to rejoin his friends.

Reina called after him, “Percy!”

He turned around to look back at her.

The blue-haired girl puffed up her chest, pulled back her hair, and glared at him fiercely. “I expect a rematch once we get to the academy campus.”

He nodded. “Sure. I had fun.” Then, the boy melted into the crowd of cheering students, his three new friends clapping him on the back and congratulating him.