"Okay, Syrus."
Mash said as he stands up, stretching his arms casually as if this were just another regular afternoon. Syrus, meanwhile, was still sitting on the carpeted floor with his legs tucked beneath him and was still feeling nervous.
Mash looked down at him, arms loosely crossed.
"Now that you're finally back in the realm of the conscious," Mash said dryly, "I think it's time we lay down some groundwork for our training sessions."
Syrus stared up at Mash surprised.
"G-groundwork?" Syrus repeated.
"A few measly... but important rules," Mash replied with a crooked grin. "For starters, you already know the first rule. We train whenever we're both free. Got it?"
"Mhm…" Syrus nodded quickly.
"The second rule will be to stop our training at exactly 10 pm. A good night rest keep your brain from turning into mush, and I'm not about to teach a half-dead duelist because he slept at 3 AM last night."
"…Okay, that sounds… reasonable." Syrus said, relieved.
"And finally," Mash said, stopping in front of him, his voice losing its playful edge,
"The last and most important rule..."
Syrus gulped as he saw Mash expression turned serious.
Syrus was already thinking that this last rule will be extremely grueling or intense.
"Syrus..."
[Here it comes...!]
Syrus thought to himself as he braced for whatever brutal training he'll about to endure.
"You'll be calling me Aniki whenever we're training." Mash confidently uttered.
"…Huh?"
The word slipped out of Syrus mouth.
Mash pointed a finger upward "Of course, outside of training you can call me whatever you want—"
"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!" Syrus shot up onto his knees. "Why do I have to call you Aniki during training, Mash!?"
Suddenly, Mash slowly turned his head toward Syrus.
"What did you just say?" Mash asked quietly.
"…Huh?"
"Did you just call me Mash?"
"What's wrong with that—" Syrus said irritated.
Then it hit him.
A crushing pressure slammed down on his body, forcing the air out of his lungs. Syrus gasped, as if every muscle in his body had been ordered to kneel like it was an order.
"Ugh—!" Syrus clenched his teeth as he looked up to Mash, then he noticed.
Mash's pupils had turned silver.
"M-Mash…!" Syrus gasped.
"Drop," Mash said calmly, folding his arms, "and give me five."
"h-huh!? Wha-"
"Didn't I tell you?" Mash cut in coldly. "Drop and give me five. Now."
"O-okay!" Syrus yelped, immediately dropping to the floor to do a push-up. "O-one!"
"Louder," Mash said. "And don't forget to call my name after you count! Again!"
"ONE! ANIKI!" Syrus shouted as he pushed himself up.
"Another!"
"T-TWO! ANIKI!"
"Keep going!"
"THREE! ANIKI!"
By the time he hit five, Syrus lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't physically exhausted as five push-ups were nothing, but the pressure from Mash silver eyes power had drained him more than he thought.
"Good." Mash nodded in satisfaction as he deactivate his silver eyes.
"Now don't any wrong idea, I'm not doing this to screw with you." Mash reassured. "I took this rule from a book that I just read. Apparently, having your trainee address you with a title helps establish hierarchy and discipline or something."
"And you should punish them if they called you something casual." Mash added.
"O-okay…" Syrus panted. "…But why Aniki?"
"I don't know... I just thought it felt right compared to the others." Mash scratched his cheek.
"Felt right compared to the others…?" Syrus asked, sitting back up.
"Well, in the book there is several option for you to call me." Mash said thoughtfully, counting on his fingers.
"sir is too militaristic for my liking, coach is just fucking cringe, and I'm not old nor senile enough to be called sensei or teacher. Which left Aniki, who fits right in the sweet spot, age-wise."
Syrus thought about it for a second and can't help but agree.
"…Alright, Aniki," Syrus said quietly.
"Alright then, now that we've establish our rules..." Mash smirks.
"Let's begin our class."
Knock Knock!
"Darling~! Sy-boy~! It's dinnertime, Let's go eat~!" Lovely's sweet voice come from behind the door.
"Hey Sy!" Jaden added loudly. "You gotta hear about our epic adventure slaying the Blue-Eyes Kuriboh Dragon!"
"Kuri! Kuri!" Winged Kuriboh chirped proudly.
Mash didn't even turn around to look at the door.
"We'll continue after dinner," Mash said flatly. "Let's go."
"Yes, Mash- I mean, yes, Aniki!" Syrus nodded quickly.
---
An hour later...
Mash and Syrus were back inside Mash's room. Syrus sat on the carpet across from Mash, his legs folded beneath him, with a pen and paper right on his lap.
Despite the quietness in the room, Syrus nerves were anything but calm.
This wasn't because of Mash, well, not entirely. It was because this was the first time he'd ever be taught a new deck from scratch.
A completely different archetype.
A completely different summoning method.
And something he barely understood beyond the terrifying fact that its monsters were white.
Syrus swallowed.
"Okay!"
Mash snapped his fingers which made Syrus focus on him.
"From now on... CLASS HAS TRULY BEGUN!!"
Mash said spreading his arms wide like a showman on a stage, as he locked eyes with Syrus with a smirk along his face.
"Are you ready, Sy?"
Syrus nearly jumped from his sit.
"R-ready, Aniki!" he blurted out, though still nervously holding his pen and paper.
"Good." Mash nodded. "Now first things first, I'm going to teach you everything about Synchro Summoning before we even touch your deck combos or monster interactions."
Syrus nodded quickly, though his shoulders were tense.
"Don't worry," Mash noticed his nervousness. "It's not that complicated."
Syrus wasn't convinced, but he listened anyway.
"Synchro Summoning like it's name implied... is used to summon a Synchro Monster to the field, by sending the required materials from the field to the Graveyard." Mash explained.
"Oh…" Syrus said slowly. "So it's like Fusion Summoning?"
"They're similar, but not the same." Mash clarified.
"Unlike Fusion Summoning, Synchro Summoning doesn't use Polymerization or any dedicated spell," Mash continued. "You just send the materials straight to the Graveyard and summon the Synchro monster immediately."
"I-immediately!?" Syrus gasped.
"Immediately," Mash confirmed. "Now listen closely, cause I'm gonna start our lecture about Synchro summoning."
Syrus nodded as he prepare to write
"Here we go!"
[Syrus POV]
[Okay Syrus... Just listen closely, it'll be easy!] Syrus reassured himself.
"First, you need to have a tuner monster on your field-"
[A tuner monster... got it.] Syrus began scribbling. [Wait what's a tuner monster? Maybe I should listen more-]
"And that is what a tuner monster is!"
[HE'S ALREADY DONE EXPLAINING!??? I didn't heard a wink of it! Wait, FOCUS SYRUS! FOCUS!]
"Make sure that the levels of the combined monster equal the level of-"
[Okay... levels... levels... write that down... wait, what does level do again?]
"Then send the materials to the graveyard..."
[Wait... why am I more confused now???] Syrus starts rubbing his hair [What does any of this mean!?]
"And that is how you Synchro summon!" Mash finished cheerfully. "Any questions?"
[3rd POV]
Syrus stared at Mash.
Blankly.
Like his soul had temporarily left his body.
"U-uhh…" Syrus said slowly. "I-I don't think I have any—"
"Then let me see what you wrote," Mash said, cutting him off as he casually reached over.
"Ah—wait, wait!" Syrus yelped.
Too late, Mash already yoink the paper.
Then Mash glanced down at the page.
And his eyes widened.
"YOU ONLY WROTE 'TUNER MONSTER' AND 'LEVEL' ON THIS WHOLE PAGE!?" Mash shouted.
"I-I'm sorry!" Syrus trembled, his eyes watering. "I didn't hear anything you said! I-I really am a disappointme—"
"GYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Mash burst into uncontrollable laughter, clutching his stomach.
"YOU ONLY WRITE 3 WORDS IN THE WHOLE PAPER!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Mash was literally laughing his lungs out. "SILLY SYRUS! HAHAHAHAH!!!"
Syrus froze, utterly baffled.
"…Huh?"
Mash wiped a tear from his eye, still grinning.
"Haha… yeah, I knew it." He nodded to himself. "You're definitely the type who learns better by seeing than by listening. So this paper..."
Mash casually rips the paper apart to tiny pieces.
"Completely useless. So how about we change things up a bit, okay?" Mash said with a smile.
Then he reached out his hand and ruffled Syrus' hair.
"It's fine to make mistake, Syrus, just make sure you don't make the mistake when it really matters."
Syrus looked up at him, surprised.
Then, slowly, he smiled.
"…Yeah," he said quietly. "Okay, Aniki."
Mash returned the smile, but behind it, he cant help but feel sympathy for him.
[I know his self confidence is bad... but I can't believe it's this bad... He literally almost cried just for not listening well to my explanation.] Then Mash feel a surge of anger fueling up.
[It's must be because of HIM...!]
Mash exhaled slowly, forcing the irritation down.
"Alright," he said, clapping his hands once. "Let's do a fast-learning round."
"A fast-learning… what now?" Syrus asked.
"No time to explain," Mash replied, smoothly pulling two cards from Syrus's deck and placing them on the floor between them.
"It starts now."
Mash pointed at the cards in front of Syrus.
"I have {Speedroid Terrortop} and {Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice} on the field. Which one is the Tuner monster?"
Syrus stiffened, as his eyes dart around nervously between the two cards.
"U-uh… it's— it's uhh…!"
"Don't rush it, Sy," Mash said, his tone surprisingly calm. "How about you look at the card closely."
"Closely…?" Syrus wondered, then leaned forward towards the cards.
{Speedroid Terrortop|3 Star|Wind|Machine/Effect| ATK: 1200 DEF: 600}
{Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice|1 Star|Wind|Machine/Tuner/Effect| ATK: 100 DEF: 100}
"…Ah!" Syrus' face lit up. "It's Red-Eyed Dice!"
Mash tilted his head. "Why?"
"B-because it says Tuner in its type," Syrus answered nervously, but confidently.
"Correct!" Mash grinned proudly, "Good Job! Now which one is a Non-Tuner monster?"
"It's Terrortop! It doesn't have Tuner in its type!" Syrus answered.
"Correct again." Mash nodded approvingly. "Now listen closely. A tuner monster is the key to synchro summoning, just like how Fusion summoning sometimes require a fusion spell, synchro summoning require a Tuner monster."
"I see…" Syrus murmured, nodding. "So a Tuner is like {Polymerization} for Synchro Summons."
"Yes." Mash approved. "Unless your Synchro monster is {Chaos Angel} who doesn't need tuner at all."
"Oh..." Syrus nodded, then paused. "Wait, your Chaos Angel IS A SYNCHRO MONSTE-"
"No time to explain!" Mash cut in, slamming his hand down excitedly. "We're doing your first Synchro Summon right now!"
"A-Aniki—!"
"Here we go!"
Mash leaned in until his face was uncomfortably close to Syrus'.
"Quick question. You're good at first-grade math, right? Addition and subtraction?"
"Y-yes…?" Syrus replied nervously.
"GOOD NEWS!" Mash declared. "Because synchro summoning only uses addition!"
"…How is that good news?"
"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! HERE IS A SYNCHRO MONSTER!" Mash shouted, as he slap down {Hi-Speedroid Puzzle} in front of Syrus.
Syrus flinched.
"Tell me," Mash said, tapping the card, "what Level is this guy?"
"Uhh..." Syrus lean closely at the white card.
{Hi-Speedroid Puzzle|4 Star|Wind|Machine/Synchro/Effect| ATK: 1300 DEF: 1600}
"…It's Level 4."
"Good." Mash grabbed Syrus's deck and rapidly pulled out two more cards. "Now watch this example on how to Synchro summon this guy."
"You take a tuner, let's say this level 3 {Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice}, and then we take a non-tuner monster, like this level 1 {Speedroid Gum Prize}." Mash placed the cards side by side.
"Then when their Levels add up to the Synchro Monster's Level…"
"You yeet them to the graveyard, and Synchro Summon Hi-Speedroid Puzzle to the field." Mash finished explaining. "That's it."
Syrus paused for a second, trying to absorb everything he saw.
Syrus then looked down at Tri-Eyed Dice.
"This one is level 3..."
Mash nodded silently.
Then Syrus looked at Gum Prize.
"This one is level 1..."
Mash's smile slowly widened.
Syrus's eyes snapped open.
Syrus' eyes snapped open.
"THREE PLUS ONE IS FOUR!" he shouted. "Synchro Summoning is just addition!"
"EXACTLY!!" Mash pointed directly at Syrus. "I KNEW YOU'D GET IT!"
"Yeah!" Syrus said, excitement bubbling up. "It's not even that complicated! You just need a Tuner and another monster whose combined levels equals to the Synchro Monster!"
"HAHAHAHA!!!" Mash laughed and slung an arm around Syrus' shoulders. "Couldn't have explained it better myself."
He gave Syrus a firm pat.
"Congrats on learning a new summoning method. But don't let it go to your head, this is just the first step. You've got a lot more ahead of you, so stay sharp."
Syrus nodded firmly, "Yes, Aniki!"
"HAHAHA! Perfect! With how fast your learning it would take less than a day for you to master your deck-"
---
3 Days later...
[Mash training journal.]
[It has been 3 days since I've teaching Syrus...]
[And for some reason...]
[Syrus just can't execute Speedroid's combo.]
Mash thought to himself as he watched from across the carpet as Syrus stared at the makeshift field on the floor trying to make the combo he has watched several dozens of times.
"O-okay... I normal summon Red-Eyed Dice, then special summon {Speedroid Taketomborg}... and then uhh..." Syrus rubs his head.
"Tribute Taketomborg to special summon a tuner from my deck..."
Mash sighed softly. "And now you've got two Tuners, no Normal Summon left, and no non-Tuner on the field. Which mean you can't Synchro summon anything and the combo is dead."
"AHH!!!" Syrus yelped. "I messed up again!"
"It's fine, it's fine," Mash said quickly, kneeling beside him. "You just made a bit of an error, because what you're supposed to do is this..."
[Although, Syrus did manage to learn and even memorize every single card in his deck. It's just...]
[I'm not joking when I'm saying that he's playing like a headless chicken right now...]
"There," Mash said gently, pointing at the board. "That's where it went wrong. Let's reset, draw six and try again, yeah?"
Syrus nodded, but his shoulders slumped instead of straightening.
[Though... it's probably because I have him try a very long combo which just leads to like two boss monster and a negate...]
[Maybe, if I try to teach him some short bread and butter combo for his deck...]
"Aniki…" Syrus said quietly.
Mash looked up. "Yeah?"
Syrus swallowed, fingers clenched in his lap. "I… have something to tell you."
Mash raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
Syrus took a breath.
"I quit."
_____________________________________________________
This is definitely the hardest chapter I've make BY FAR.
The only problem that I have with this chapter is how to make it entertaining since I know 90% of you all should know how to Synchro summon, so I want to make it fun and not a wall of text like the 9 other drafts I had to delete.
Anyway hope you all had fun, i know I didn't.
Ciao!
____________________________________________________