After the school festival ended, the school entered a short holiday period, and most students would leave school and head back home to their warm, long-missed homes.
Of course, some students chose to stay at school.
Some students simply didn't want to go home, while others, like Tenjouin Fubuki, were working on paperwork for re-enrollment in the second year after disappearing for a year.
Besides, students like Tenjo Hikari and Yuki Judai who held the Seven-Star Key shouldn't leave school so easily at this time, both for the school's protection and their own safety—what if they left school and were attacked by the Seven-Star group? That would be terrible.
However, such things concerned the key holders little.
Everyone was addicted to cards. Staying at school allowed them to play cards happily in Tenjo Hikari's Fusion Department clubroom without worrying about outsiders' judgment, which was obviously delightful.
The only regret for Judai was that Marufuji Ryo was preparing to become a professional player next year, so his focus had shifted.
Moreover, Tenjo Hikari wasn't present every day; he often hid alone in the club leader's room of the Fusion Department, fiddling with various things, and occasionally there would be sounds of explosions, leaving people puzzled.
On this particular day, there was another explosion in Tenjo Hikari's room. He activated the powerful ventilation system in the room to clear the smoke inside, carefully using a long clip to take out a card from a large furnace.
After obtaining the gemstone from Eldlich the Golden Lord, Tenjo Hikari upgraded his equipment, mostly selected by the master alchemist for him. Despite the furnace's small size, it actually cost much more than a gemstone.
However, Tenjo Hikari didn't care about expenses; money is meant to be spent, and out with the old, in with the new.
"Did it succeed?"
"Such a familiar feeling."
Tenjo Hikari heard a spirit's voice and scattered the card's heat so the spirits could see.
"Gem-Knight?"
"Truly your comrade."
"Sapphire, huh? I see, so Lord Tenjo has been creating a Sapphire card these days."
Tenjo Hikari nodded.
While categorizing previously, Tenjo Hikari noticed there were quite a few blue gemstone fragments. When comparing the prices, he felt these might be the cheaper batch of gemstones due to their poor quality and quantity, so they served as the practice material for his alchemy.
However, his main experiments were focused on the synthesis of "Predaplant."
But after experimenting two or three times with Gem-Knight Sapphire, Tenjo Hikari discovered something new—the attempt to create a Gem-Knight card seemed to also recharge "Midrash."
This excited Tenjo Hikari.
Because El Shaddoll Winda had become increasingly prominent in the past six months, with the "help" from Darkness and multiple duels against Domino City and Kunikawa Haruto, the card had nearly come to completion. However, Tenjo Hikari hadn't found other "DT Deck" duelists to duel with him, leaving it idle.
Until Tenjo Hikari discovered that his Sapphire experiments could also recharge Midrash, he paused refining Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra to focus on Sapphire.
Perhaps because it was a Normal Monster, even though Tenjo Hikari only had LV 5 Spirit Adaptability, he seemed able to attempt the synthesis. It might also be due to Gem-Knight Crystal's presence, allowing Tenjo Hikari to lower his skill requirements for trying Sapphire.
After a period of attempts, today, Tenjo Hikari finally succeeded in creating the Gem-Knight Sapphire card, which he carefully put away.
His Gem-Knight Fusion Monsters only had "Prism" and "Fake Diamond" brought by Captain Crystal, and currently, there were no fusion monsters in the Sapphire line, so he could only await "Super Polymerization" for him.
Meanwhile...
Tenjo Hikari searched through the cards, took out a card depicting a green-haired mage holding a magic staff and summoning a Phantom Dragon, and looked at the clear lines and shattered patterns shining on the card with excitement.
He put the card back into the Duel Disk, which responded with "Error," but he wasn't disappointed.
The test was merely to determine whether Midrash was completed.
A few days ago, Tenjo Hikari couldn't visually ascertain Midrash's completeness because it appeared to him as a real card, making it impossible to distinguish what was missing from sight, so he could only rely on the Duel Disk to determine if Midrash was complete or still lacking something.
Currently, it seemed to be incomplete?
But that's not a problem—he could still try creating "Gem-Knight Garnet," which, though more expensive than Sapphire, didn't involve direct gemstone expenditure each time but rather gradually experimenting with ground powder, so it wasn't too distressing.
The Gem-Knight hesitated for a moment, wanting to say something but held back.
He felt the card instilled in him a sense of fear from the "Origin."
This wasn't an issue with himself, but a deeper, ancient fear, tracing back to the "beginning!"
"Master! It's time for a duel!" Serena's voice rang outside, accompanied by strong door knocks.
Though both were girls, Asuka had many other hobbies and didn't usually stay in the Fusion Department regularly, but Serena was different.
She only wanted to play cards.
Every day at this time, Tenjo Hikari would find time to play cards with Serena—not formal duels but simple and pure card exchanges sitting at the table.
Simply put, it involved mixing some miscellaneous cards, sorting them into 40 each, and randomly dueling.
Sort of like "ygocore's" chronological mode, discussing dueling strategies with Serena. Friends like Judai and Mitsuzawa would join in to liven the atmosphere occasionally, discussing what to do when. Some Fusion Department members who stayed instead of heading home would also watch and listen.
Although Serena insisted on calling Tenjo Hikari "Master," he didn't refuse, as she sincerely wanted to learn "fusion" from him, making him quite willing to teach.
After all, the Fusion Department, as an activity club, primarily aimed to learn and play with fusions, not cause any chaos like Akuma Egg. Having such activities where everyone gathers to play and interact helps them enjoy the school holidays happily, which is great.
And it also reasonably retained Serena.
"Serena, that Extra Monster sent to the Graveyard by card effect hasn't undergone regular fusion and can't be revived using Monster Reborn," Tenjo Hikari pointed at Serena's graveyard.
"Yes, Serena, there's a revival restriction," Mitsuzawa added.
"Ah, right—" Serena was slightly embarrassed after Tenjo Hikari caught her mistake, blushing and retracting her previous move.
Tenjo Hikari noticed that she wanted to learn how he creatively summons Fusion Monsters directly from Extra, but her strong-mindedness often overlooked some details instinctively.
Her gaze slightly wandered, briefly catching a glimpse of Tenjo Hikari's deck case, which surprisingly emitted an eerie purple light. When she blinked and reconfirmed, the peculiar purple glow ceased to exist.
Strange?
Previously, Teacher Anzawa performed a full-body examination, asserting her body was healthily composed, except for her Spirit Adaptability, which surpassed her peers at LV 6. However, Teacher Anzawa suspected Professor Akuma of "body modification," disallowing her from using the Duel Disk temporarily, leaving Serena unsure of what she had just seen.
It felt...
Very dangerous!