For 40 advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/AutumnXd
"A dragon-family card spirit, is it?" At the trial plaza, Drake likewise cradled a tub of popcorn now, tossing a kernel or two into his mouth from time to time, and as his eyes settled on the crimson dragon-form at Luke's side, a thread of interest climbed his face as well. "One rarely sees a Card Master from outside Dragon's Valley craft a dragon-family card. And such a singular dragon-family card spirit, at that."
Compared to Violet's shock, Drake, even laying eyes on that dragon-form spirit, showed no great swell of feeling. There had never been any rule, after all, that said Card Masters outside Dragon's Valley couldn't craft dragon-family cards.
"That said, Violet girl's Skywing Dragon, even set within the ranks of Seven-Star dragon-kind, holds strength enough to stand near the very front. Even if her opponent is likewise a dragon-kind, it won't be defeated so easily." It was plain to see that Drake held full confidence in Violet. She was, after all, the direct descendant of one of Dragon's Valley's Nine Great Dragon Lords, the Undying Realm powerhouse, Lady Violante.
"That's far from certain, old Drake." Tobias pulled a grin. "Luke is the first-place examinee of our East's exam this cohort. His strength can't be measured by any conventional eye."
"The first place of this Eastern exam?" Hearing Tobias, Drake's eyebrow rose despite himself. "In that case, perhaps there is something worth looking forward to."
He was also more than a little curious that Tobias would care about, and speak up for, a single new student to this degree, all the more so with the opponent being the direct descendant of an Undying.
---
"A Dragon Envoy?" Within the battle space, Luke caught the title Violet had used, and his own eyebrow lifted. "That must be your Dragon's Valley's dedicated term of address for Card Masters."
Considering the widespread word that Dragon's Valley's people crafted almost nothing but dragon-family cards, and factoring in the Skywing Dragon at Violet's side, Luke could more or less work it out. The so-called Dragon Envoy was simply a Card Master who crafted and held dragon-family cards.
"Correct." With the mystery in her heart resolved, the dragon-maiden of the Valley recovered her calm, though within those vertical pupils, battle-hunger steadily brimmed higher. "But though you are also a Dragon Envoy, my Skywing Dragon runs stronger. You have no chance of victory."
Even without a Supreme-level existence today, even sitting a level below the Ancient Kingdom in strength, the clansfolk of Dragon's Valley stood top-tier within any cohort of the same generation. In Violet's view, both of them being Dragon Envoys, Luke's dragon-kind card could only fall well short of her Skywing Dragon.
To say nothing of the fact that the crimson dragon hardly looked as though it possessed any ability of flight, while the Skywing Dragon was the sky's own darling. Every advantage, one could say, sat firmly in her hand.
Behind Violet, the Skywing Dragon tipped back its head and loosed a long cry to the heavens, the power of a Seven-Star dragon-kind venting in unrestrained torrents, as though to prove its mistress's words true, its tyrannical aura swelling until it flooded the whole of the battle space.
"ROAR!" As if enraged outright by the Skywing Dragon's display, the ferocity within Growlmon X ignited in equal measure, and it erupted with a dragon-roar in no way inferior to the Skywing Dragon's own, faintly showing signs of shattering the pressure of the other side's aura altogether.
Watching that scene, a flicker of astonishment crossed Violet's eyes. She hadn't expected a showing like that out of the crimson dragon. The other side plainly held only Six-Star combat power!
"Prideful indeed, aren't you." Luke shook his head at the display, patting Growlmon X to settle it down. "You're sitting this one out for now. Save yourself for the next battle's opponent."
Hrmph!
Though it understood Luke's meaning well enough, Growlmon X still puffed out a discontented breath of scalding air before drawing its aura back in.
"I swear something's been leading it astray." Luke glanced toward Violet and let the corner of his mouth curl. "Your opponent isn't Growlmon X. It's this one!"
As the words fell, Luke flung out Red-Eyes Black Dragon's card!
In the next moment, a dragon-might in no way inferior to the Skywing Dragon's, faintly surpassing it even, came down upon the combat zone, and hard on its heels, a vast black shadow arrived in the space of a blink.
Wings spreading wide, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, its frame a full measure larger than the Skywing Dragon's, descended into the middle of the field, wild and flamboyant presence flooding across every corner of it. The battlefield that the Skywing Dragon's aura had ruled a breath ago collapsed like a landslide, and in the blink of an eye, Red-Eyes Black Dragon held command of the entire space.
As for the Skywing Dragon, the aura it had flared so wide was already drawn back tight against its body, and gazing into the black dragon's crimson pupils, its own eyes brimmed with open dread. Dragon-kind against dragon-kind, and the Skywing Dragon felt genuine pressure rolling off the newcomer.
"You have a second dragon-kind?!" First stunned by Growlmon X's showing, and now watching Luke summon forth yet another dragon-kind, feeling the pressure it released wash over her, the dragon-maiden's eyes flew wide, her face the very picture of disbelief.
"Who ever said I had only one dragon-kind?" Watching Violet's reaction in this instant, Luke rolled his eyes outright. This girl can't actually be right in the head, can she?
Besides, Growlmon X isn't even a dragon-clan card spirit. It's of the Digimon species. It merely carries the trait of the dragon's furious roar, and presents outwardly as a Demon Dragon type, nothing more.
"Ah." Under Luke's are-you-quite-well gaze, Violet's fair little face flushed scarlet in an instant, and the effect was unexpectedly, thoroughly endearing.
And yet she didn't flare into shame-fueled anger. Instead, the depths of her heart filled with cold vigilance. Unlike Growlmon X, whose fire ran a clear notch lower, the black dragon's pressure upon her senses had already begun to faintly threaten the Skywing Dragon itself!
Which was to say, this second dragon-kind Luke had summoned was, in all likelihood, a Seven-Star card spirit standing on par with her Skywing Dragon!
That much could be read plainly from how easily the newcomer had shattered the battlefield pressure the Skywing Dragon had held, and from the wariness her own dragon was feeding back to her.
Add to that the other three Six-Star card spirits on Luke's side, and the shape of this battle had, in a single breath, reversed completely, turning against her instead. For though the Skywing Dragon was hardly her only card spirit, the level restriction of the Leader Realm meant she could summon no more than three card spirits to fight at any one time.
Hm?!
As if struck by the thought, Violet's eyes went abruptly huge, and she couldn't even stop herself from pointing at Luke. "Four card spirits! You've already reached the Monarch Realm?!"
Counting the black dragon, Luke currently had four card spirits fielded at once. Even setting every question of their strength aside, that number alone proved Luke had reached the Monarch Realm, for otherwise he could not possibly have defied the Magic Card Civilization's own rules to summon four card spirits below it.
Luke gave a nod. Denying it at this point would simply be treating the girl as a fool. Where his strength was concerned, Luke had never planned on hiding it forever. Showing enough of his power up front actually saved him trouble.
Especially given that he was about to spend four full years living at Celestial Academy. He had no interest in being gawked at and tested by every curious party for the duration. A proper display of strength at the start was its own deterrent.
And of course, there remained the more important point: the Seven-Star Red-Eyes Black Dragon was still far, far from being his final card.