Chapter 157 Dark Demon: Zen Deck Building
Combat Hall No. 1.
On a bench at the edge of the hall, Dark was counting his Magic Cards. Last night, he had buried himself in studying until midnight, and hadn't had time to sort through his card packs. However, he only had so many Magic Cards at the moment, so he finished counting quickly. Spirit Cards:
① Magic Beast: Eevee
② Trash Slime
③ Shuckle
④ Gatomon
⑤ Miltank
⑥ Sylveon
Magic Cards:
① Joy Card
② Pride I
③ Pride II
④ Lust III
⑤ Magic Bullet Charm X2
⑥ Push Spell
⑦ Barrier Charm X2
⑧ Fade Spell
⑨ Blink Spell X2
Item Cards:
① Energy Potion X5
② Silencing Potion
③ Reveal Powder X2
A total of 26 Magic Cards. This was enough to meet the minimum requirements for joining the Dueling Club. However, the deck's composition was clearly unreasonable. What it lacked most were Tier 1, 1-3 star Spirit Cards. As Tier 1 Spirit Cards that could be Normal Summoned, Dark only had three in his hand, making them difficult to draw under official tournament rules. So, to avoid a 'bad hand', Dark had to trim down his deck to some extent.
"Anyway, there's no limit on the number of Magic Cards in this match, so I might as well filter out some of them."
...
A scent of milk wafted over as Diana leaned closer. "Dark, you already have so many Magic Cards?" She covered her mouth, her surprised expression quite cute. Dark said casually, "Mostly junk cards." "Oh." Diana also began sorting through her own Magic Cards. Dark glanced over and noticed that Diana had an unexpectedly large number of cards too. But when he tried to get a closer look, Diana turned away, blushing, covering her cards. She whispered, "Don't look, they're all junk cards."
Diana wouldn't lie. If she said they were junk cards, then they really were junk cards! In the first semester of Year 1, three methods of Magic Card Alchemy were taught during regular lessons. Namely, the "Magic Beast Alchemy," the "Basic (Random) Alchemy," and the "Universal Spell Card Alchemy." Although Magic Beasts were wondrous, most were one-star Spirit Cards with 100 Magic Attack and Defense. Moreover, the materials for crafting Magic Beasts were actually very rare and hard to acquire. As for Universal Spell Card Alchemy, it was limited by spells, with only five types available, and their crafting difficulty progressively increased.
Among these, only the "Basic Alchemy" was the simplest and most suitable. Therefore, if aspiring Mages wanted to quickly boost their combat power, they could only gamble on "Basic Alchemy." If they were lucky, drawing one or two three-star cards would be like a complete turnaround of fortunes! If they were even luckier, drawing one or two three-star purple or orange cards would be a major breakthrough! Some people liked to call this practice 'card gambling'. Meaning most people would lose everything! Diana's credit allowance was among the highest for Year 1 students, so she had the luxury of spending a significant amount of credits on 'card gambling'. And sure enough, she gambled her way into a pile of junk cards. So-called junk cards typically referred to white cards of the same star level that had pathetically low Magic Attack and Defense and no skills.
However, Dark currently wished he had a few Tier 1 white cards that he could use to adequately fill his deck. He settled down and continued assembling his deck. "First, three Tier 1 Magic Spirit Cards are necessary, followed by three Magic Cards from the Seven Deadly Sins series." "Using these six Magic Cards as a foundation, I'll add three Tier 3 Magic Spirit Cards." "Then, one each of Magic Bullet Charm, Fade Spell, Energy Potion, and Reveal Powder." "The ratio of Spirit Cards to Magic and Item Cards will be 6:7." "Emmm, I'll grab one more Fade Spell and Reveal Powder!" "For now, this will do. I can adjust it later if needed." Since there were no restrictions on deck size, there was no need to include unnecessary cards just to fill the deck. Although this in-class competition was stated to follow official dueling rules, given the number of cards Year 1 students possessed, it was primarily for experience and part of the curriculum.
Dark didn't take it too seriously. The final deck consisted of:
Magic Beast: Eevee, Trash Slime, Shuckle
Gatomon, Miltank, Sylveon
Pride I, Pride II, Lust III
Magic Bullet Charm, Energy Potion, Reveal Powder
"Twelve Magic Cards in total, with a 1:1 ratio of Spirit Cards to other cards, should be enough." Thinking this, Dark stacked the remaining cards into a separate pile and put them away.
...
"Ding-a-ling!" The class bell rang right on schedule. "Let's go." Dark stood up from the bench. The other students also began gathering towards the center in twos and threes. Professor Jones appeared at the entrance of the Combat Hall, looking relaxed. She pulled a cart with one hand, loaded with Magic Spheres and other items. Once inside the hall, Professor Jones clapped her hands. "Two laps." Though the students groaned, they were actually used to it and started running, muttering to themselves. Professor Jones took the opportunity to begin setting up. This in-class competition directly used the hall's equipment, so setup was relatively quick. By the time the students finished their two laps, the arena setup was almost complete. Five minutes for a break. Professor Jones blew her whistle, and the Year 1 students from the four houses reassembled before her.
"We won't go over anything unnecessary today. This competition will follow official rules, and will proceed in two rounds. In the first round, each house will form a group, and four contestants will be determined from each group through single-elimination. In the second round, a total of sixteen contestants will use a double-elimination format to determine their rankings. All sixteen of these contestants will receive a certain amount of credit rewards." Professor Jones briefly explained the rules of the competition, then clapped her hands and said, "Additionally, today's judges are… And now, please welcome our esteemed guests! Ta-da!" Immediately after, three expressionless professors walked in from the hall's entrance. To go along with Professor Jones's mischievous humor, they had deliberately waited until now to make their appearance… Only when they reached the students did their expressions soften somewhat. Professor Lily yawned, looking like she hadn't slept well. Professor Sarah's expression was stern, and her gaze at the students was sharp. Professor Claire's smile, on the other hand, was gentle, like a spring breeze. Including Professor Jones herself, there were precisely four houses represented. The students dispersed according to the professors' arrangements. As the Dean of Noble House, Professor Jones naturally led the students of Noble House. The students from Noble House, including Dark, followed Professor Jones to Field No. 1. The indoor combat hall's fields measured 30x20, slightly larger than a basketball court. On both sides of the field, there was a contestant platform, about five meters high. Duelists were required to use Magic Cards to duel from these platforms.
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