The dojo's treasure, the symbol of the school...
Honestly, the first thing this description made Yugen think of was the phrase passed around by card players:
You should abandon all mainstream strategies and play my invincible Cyber Dragon —
— which is also known as the Cyber Dragon.
Chazz from Duel Academy was already the heir to the Electronic Flow Dojo before entering the academy. According to the master of the Electronic Flow, who later became the Duel Academy's principal Jiaodao, Chazz moved the spirit of the Termination Dragon with his persistence and earned the chance for inheritance.
Well, in the animation, this so-called "moving the spirit" was shown as Chazz persistently practicing Divine Draw until he perfected a technique that could always draw three Cyber Dragons and a Fusion no matter how he shuffled the deck.
According to Principal Jiaodao, mastering this Divine Draw technique seemed to be the key to success...
Besides, the only other dojo that appeared in the animation was the later Telekinesis Flow Dojo, whose symbolic treasure was the Artificial Human Soga.
Does our dojo have something like that too?
Yugen's mind quickly flashed through numerous rare cards from the same period, imagining what kind of card deck it could be.
"...Originally, I also wanted to promote our school, but unfortunately, I really lack the ability. After losing the master, the dojo has been declining, and recently, not many people even know about our school anymore."
Master Takeuchi continued, taking a deep breath and looking seriously at Yugen.
"Until now, I've seen your transformation. I was almost ready to give up, but now I think maybe you are the person I've been waiting for all along.
Perhaps you can inherit this almost lost name and make it great once again."
"So what you mean is, our school's card deck...?" Yugen cautiously probed.
If it were a typical fantasy story where the master had a treasure to reveal, he would definitely expect some magical elixir or a high-level artifact.
But now, the first reaction in Yugen's mind was whether that thing would be a dead hand...
He couldn't help it. Although the master's eyes were shining with confidence, Yugen didn't dare to be overly optimistic. He knew all too well that the definition of a "powerful" deck in anime doesn't quite match reality.
Yugen clearly understood that his success in playing cards relied on strategy and thought. If the master enthusiastically handed him an Eight-Star Mortal Bone deck, he wouldn't be able to handle it...
Master Takeuchi gave a mysterious smile: "Have you ever heard of the legendary LV series?"
Upon hearing this, Yugen's heart sank.
Oh no.
The LV series refers to monsters that automatically upgrade based on the number of turns they are on the field, usually with the ability to "send a monster to the graveyard to Special Summon a higher-level LV monster" from the deck.
In the GX storyline, there was a mention that the LV series was a rare card that most duelists couldn't even buy; they were not available for sale. For example, the "Armed Dragon LV" series that appeared in the animation was the treasure of the Northern Branch of Duel Academy, passed on to Chazz.
But that's in the animation setting.
The reason Yugen's heart sank was that most of the LV series decks in the real card environment seemed to be rather weak...
"Correct! And the 'Silence School' we inherit originates from the combat method developed by King Muto Yuugi in those days! And at the pinnacle of our school, symbolizing our legacy, is this card —"
The master very ceremoniously revealed to Yugen the card that had been sealed for many years.
"— True Silent Magician!"
"Huh?"
Yugen raised an eyebrow, unexpectedly.
[Silent Magician, Level 4, Attack Power 1000
Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned; it can be Special Summoned by sacrificing a Mage Race on the field.
This card's Attack Power increases by 500 times the number of cards in the hand. Once per turn, you can negate the activation of a Magic Card.
When this card on the field is destroyed by battle or opponent's effects, you can Special Summon a "Silent Magician" monster other than itself from your hand or deck.]
In the current environment, it's still a pretty strong card, but Yugen remembered that this was supposed to be a future version of the Silent series, which stood out in the early environment.
Nevertheless, the Silent deck had existed since the DM era, and in this world, there was always a focus on developing classic trump cards used by legendary duelists like Seto Kaiba. In the movie, Kaiba had printed "Blue-Eyes Sub-White Dragon" years ago, so it seemed normal by comparison.
The moment he took the card from the master, he seemed to catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.
To his right, in the corner of the main hall, there seemed to be a shadowy figure. As white as the first snow of winter, with robes fluttering like clouds brushing the sky. A tall and elegant figure wrapped in ample magic robes, with long silver hair swaying silently.
But when Yugen sharply turned his head, he only saw an empty space.
Just a shadow.
"What's wrong?" Master Takeuchi seemed not to have noticed anything, asking curiously.
"Nothing..." Yugen pondered.
Was it an illusion? Or...
Master Takeuchi didn't ask any further, simply solemnly advising him: "Take good care of this. It's not just a rare card, you know. It's said that this is a card in which an elf resides."
"An elf?"
Yugen looked at the beautifully illustrated card and then at the direction of the vision earlier.
But still, there was nothing there.
"...Perhaps, I don't really know either. Hahaha..."
Master Takeuchi scratched his head.
"I only heard about it before, never seen it with my own eyes. The previous master said not everyone can see elves... Who knows? You might as well treat it as real, haha..."
Yugen inspected the card sideways, unable to feel anything special about it. But considering the unique nature of this world, he felt that it was generally better to believe in such rumors just in case.
If it were an elf card, that would change everything.
For regular cards, he might only consider practicality and strength, and whether adding some inexplicable thing would lead to dead hands. But spirits are different.
Without having gone to Egypt to dig for artifacts, Duel Monster spirits generally constitute 80% of the extraordinary sources in this world, being the simplest way for most duelists to reach into the extraordinary realm.
Like in the anime, Yuki Judai relied on spirits for nearly every encounter with the extraordinary before awakening Overlord's Power in the Other Dimension.
Early on, he had the Feathered Chestnut Ball given to him by Yugi, which bailed him out several times during dark duels or when opponents tried underhanded tricks. Later, he gained Ultraman (Elemental HERO Neos), who could directly fly out of the deck to counter villains, and even go to outer space to help blow up satellites and save the world.
So in this world, even if you don't talk about practicality in duels, having spirit cards is a must for survival in a world filled with cheats and converging gods and demons.
"Isn't the Duel Academy exam next week?"
Master Takeuchi pivoted, walking to a table.
He picked up a small card box.
"I heard from some students that you previously asked them about certain cards and said you were willing to pay for them. Some cards are indeed hard to find these days, but... I've made a living for quite some time, and though I don't have much talent, I do have some friends and a few connections..."
He opened the card box and handed it to Yugen.
"...Although I didn't manage to get many of what you were asking about, I at least got these before the exam. See if they help during the exam; take them and use them. Anything else you want, you'll have to think of a way to enroll and buy it through the academy's internal channels."
Before seeing anything else, Yugen immediately recognized that the top card in the box was the "Artificial Human - Telekinesis Intimidator" he had initially searched for.
Also known as Artificial Human Soga.
"Ah, well... Master, you actually went out of your way to find these..."
Yugen took the card box and slipped it into his pocket.
"...Isn't this a bit too much trouble? Isn't it inappropriate..."
Master Takeuchi squinted skeptically.
If it's not appropriate, why don't you take it out of your pocket...
"You don't think it's for free, do you?" the master said irritably. "Consider it an investment. Remember, once you succeed in the academy, you'll pay back at market value.
Also, there's still..."
The master took a deep breath and spoke with a serious tone.
"To be honest, up till now, our dojo hasn't had a single student successfully admitted to Duel Academy. But this time... failure is not an option, understood?"
"Alright." Yugen agreed.
It's just an exam, after all, how hard can it be?