"A duel? With you alone?"
Bota burst out laughing, and his laughter was quickly echoed by the entire class. Most's words were like a joke that stirred the atmosphere in the room. Even the female teacher quietly shook her head.
Skeletons were considered the weakest monsters in every ranking. Weak defense, weak offense, and slow movement speed, their only real use was as expendable scouts to probe the way ahead.
Most glanced around the classroom before trying to memorize the faces of those who laughed the loudest. They were not wrong. A normal Skeleton, even in numbers ten times greater, would still be no match for a single Gray Wolf. Gray Wolves were known for their extremely high attack power and incredible speed.
The problem was that only Most knew the truth.
His skeleton was not an ordinary skeleton.
It was a card with a name.
Cards with unique names were treasures among treasures. They represented real figures who had once existed in the past and were now recreated by Memory through card simulation. These cards possessed their own combat instincts and could not be fully judged by their rank alone.
"Foolish. What a waste of my time. You're not even qualified."
Bota shook his head, too lazy to argue with a madman. Wasting Memo energy on something pointless was far worse than using that time to train.
"What if I add this card to the wager?"
As he spoke, Most pulled out a card that shimmered with a green glow. It was none other than the Wind Wolf card his parents had left behind.
Wind Wolf was like an upgraded version of the Gray Wolf. Not only were its speed and strength far greater, but it also possessed a skill "Rend".
"Rend: Attacks inflict bleeding wounds."
"That's Wind Wolf!"
Seeing the card in Most's hand, Bota's breathing immediately grew heavy. Greed filled his eyes.
Bota's Destiny Card belonged to the Beast type. If nothing unexpected happened, once his Deck was appraised it would likely revolve heavily around this category. Wind Wolf was perfectly suited to his future build. With it, Bota would have a very high chance of getting accepted into a mid-tier university.
"Most! Don't cause trouble."
The female teacher was startled. In a small place like Star City, even green-tier cards were already extremely rare. She quickly tried to persuade him.
If Most trained to level 10 and linked with Wind Wolf, he would at least have a reliable method to protect himself when entering spatial gates. A Linked Card was not a Destiny Card, so he could always replace it later to perfect his Deck.
"Calm down, Most. Wind Wolf is a very powerful green card. Don't lose something so valuable because of a moment of impulse."
"Thank you, teacher. But I've made up my mind."
Most replied firmly, his eyes locked on Bota as he waited for his answer.
Bota was greedy, but he simply didn't have the money to match such a wager. A green card as the stake was something he could never produce. Moreover, Wind Wolf was not an ordinary green card.
"Accept it. I'll handle the wager."
Just as Bota was hesitating, Voga's voice sounded from behind him, filling the fat boy with delight.
Naturally, Voga had also set his sights on the green card. The Maxwell family was immensely wealthy, and although green cards meant little to them, special ones were always welcomed. At the same time, he wanted to take this chance to humiliate Most.
He wanted Most to be crushed beyond recovery, to plant a seed of eternal fear in the boy's heart.
Voga casually pulled out a green card and five white cards, tossing them to Bota as if they were worthless.
It was a Goblin, along with five basic white cards.
"Goblin isn't a particularly strong green card, so to balance the wager I'll add five more white cards. Any objections?"
Most naturally had none. To him, those cards were nothing more than enhancement points.
The two quickly completed the betting procedure under the witness of the entire class and the teacher. The process was simple. They only needed to register the wager through the Alliance software on their Memocard devices.
Under the Alliance's supervision, even the Maxwell family would not dare break the agreement.
…
On the arena stage, both Bota and Most were equipped with protective clothing. At the moment they were still extremely weak Card Masters. Even the weakest summoned monster could injure them.
Only after reaching Level 10 would their bodies be strengthened beyond that of ordinary people.
Once everything was ready, the two quickly stepped onto the duel platform and shouted the command.
"Dual!"
The arena system activated. The battlefield transformed as a protective barrier appeared around the contestants, while the voice of the artificial intelligence echoed across the arena.
"Welcome to the Dual System."
"Initializing battle parameters."
"Mode: Single Duel"
"Environment: Basic"
"Protective Barrier Strength: Low"
"Beginner Protection Mode: Activated"
As beginner protection activated, their defensive armor glowed faintly, creating a thin barrier that covered their entire bodies to prevent unnecessary injuries.
"Most! You really are an idiot. Still, thanks to your stupidity I get a valuable green card. Hahaha!"
Bota threw the card in his hand onto the battlefield. A flash of light appeared, forming a large wolf.
The wolf had thick gray fur, sharp claws, and vicious fangs. Upon being summoned it howled wildly, its blood-red eyes fixed on the enemy before it.
White Destiny Card: Gray Wolf
Standing across from him, Most also summoned his card.
In stark contrast to the wolf, Most's Skeleton looked incredibly weak. It stood motionless, the flickering soul flame in its eyes revealing nothing but indifference.
White Destiny Card: Skeleton Sol
"Something about that Skeleton… isn't right."
The female teacher silently evaluated it. The aura emanating from Sol was completely different from that of ordinary skeletons. Though it sounded absurd, she suddenly believed this skeleton might actually win.
"Alright, let's finish this quickly. Gray Wolf! Attack!"
Hearing the command, the wolf roared and charged forward, its bloody maw wide open as it lunged to bite the fragile skeleton apart. Its target was the joints.
A skeleton's joints were extremely fragile. Once struck, most skeletons would be destroyed in a single blow.
Sol remained motionless, waiting for the wolf to approach. Most had no intention of giving it any commands. He believed letting Sol act on instinct was far better than directing it himself.
Sure enough, just as the wolf's massive jaws closed in on Sol's neck, the skeleton swiftly sidestepped.
Its body spun in a graceful arc before immediately counterattacking, slashing hard across the wolf's lower abdomen.
Sol's rusty sword carved a deep wound into the Gray Wolf's flesh, making it howl in pain.
The wolf's ferocity exploded as it frantically lunged and snapped at Sol. Yet the only result was more and more wounds appearing across its body.
"What is this? Impossible!"
Bota stared in shock. The quick and easy victory he expected never came. Instead, the weaker side seemed to be his own summoned beast.
Seeing the Gray Wolf's increasingly battered body, Bota gritted his teeth and poured more Memo into it.
"How can that skeleton move like that?"
The students in the stands were equally stunned. Weren't skeletons supposed to be trash?
Judging by the current situation, that didn't seem quite true.
"It's the 'Link' technique."
The female teacher's eyes lit up. She was certain Most was using an advanced technique of Card Masters.
At such a young age, to wield that technique so skillfully, who would still dare call Most trash?
"Link" was not some miraculous ability. It was a technique that granted a summoned monster the abilities of its Card Master.
Simply put, if the Card Master was a master swordsman, then through Link, the summoned monster would also become a master swordsman.
Voga naturally knew of this technique. As the young master of a great family, he had access to far more knowledge than other children his age.
Though he felt a bit regretful about the Wind Wolf card, the outcome was already decided, and he personally wouldn't lose anything.
After all, he had only lent Bota the wager - he had never said he would cover the cost.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Bota's eyes turned bloodshot. The Memo in his body was rapidly running out. Before long, his summoned beast would disappear.
The Gray Wolf's body was already in ruins. Blood soaked its gray fur, and one of its eyes had been pierced blind.
Sol moved like a seasoned warrior on the battlefield. The wolf couldn't even touch a single bone of its body.
It moved gracefully, almost like it was dancing.
Every swing of its sword was lethal, ruthless, decisive, and clean.
"Awooo…"
The wolf whimpered helplessly before collapsing and dissolving into countless tiny points of light.
"Impossible… No! This can't be real!"
Bota trembled, unable to accept reality. Combined with the weakness from completely exhausting his Memo, the fat boy soon collapsed unconscious.
"The duel has ended."
"Victory: Most."
Only when the arena's AI voice announced the result did Most finally let out a long sigh of relief.
He had gambled correctly.
There was no such thing as the Link technique.
Everything came purely from Sol's terrifying combat instincts.
Most's Memocard flashed with light. The wager he had signed for now appeared in his hand.
"Hahaha! With these, Sol can evolve to Green Rank."
Sol was already this powerful as a white-tier card.
Most could hardly wait to see what skill Sol would gain after reaching the green rank.