Night grew deeper.
Only a single dim bedside lamp remained lit in Phila's dorm room. The exhaustion of the day and the intense mental strain had left her sleeping especially soundly now. Her breathing was even, and her chest gently rose and fell with each breath.
Raku stood beside the bed in his soul form, silently watching her. The danger from earlier that day still lingered vividly in his mind, yet the peaceful sleeping face of the girl before him seemed capable of calming every ripple of unease.
A silver-gray figure appeared beside him, leaning against the spotless white wall of the dorm.
"Weren't you making preparations?" Raku did not turn around. His gaze remained fixed on Phila.
"Things went more smoothly than I expected." Aleister folded his arms across his chest. "One week was enough to prepare the luggage. Ready to depart for the Spirit World?"
"Now? In the middle of the night?" Raku turned his head, somewhat surprised.
"Of course." Aleister's tone left no room for doubt. "The flow of time in the Spirit World is unstable right now. You don't want to know how much time might pass over there while we waste a single night here. By tomorrow morning, perhaps an entire month will have passed in the Spirit World. If that happens, all my preparations will have been pointless."
"Alright." Raku nodded. "The sooner my soul recovers, the sooner I can duel too."
"Looks like these past few days have given you quite a bit more passion." Aleister's gaze settled on Raku's face.
"Yeah." Raku's eyes burned brightly.
"These past few days, I've watched the duels of Phila, Niobe, Bakutaro, Yunagi… all of them." Raku's voice was soft as he savored the memories of those duels.
Perhaps from the perspective of an OCG player, these Duelists were actually all unqualified.
Their Decks contained cards with unclear purpose, and most of them ran nearly pure archetypes without mixed engines. Many impressive combos simply could not be performed, and the true strength of the Decks could never be fully displayed.
Despite that, the Duelists here possessed something Raku had long stopped seeing as an OCG player; it was also the very reason he had first fallen in love with Yu-Gi-Oh! in the beginning: Passion.
Of course, it wasn't that OCG players necessarily lacked that original passion. Raku himself had simply lost it.
Only in moments of danger or crisis would he occasionally feel a trace of that burning spirit again, unlike these people who remained passionate about their cards and duels every single moment.
That was why he believed these Duelists were outstanding.
In truth, they were even more exceptional than he was. Even after losing a duel, they could still feel happy because they had connected with their opponent through it.
He envied that.
"They're inexperienced, but also remarkable. I've actually spent a long time thinking about this… what kind of mentality should I use when dueling in this world?"
"And have you found your answer?" Aleister sounded genuinely curious about what conclusion Raku had reached.
"In this world, dueling carries extraordinary weight." Raku lowered his gaze to his own palm. "Something as small as settling an argument or as important as conveying one's feelings can all be resolved through a duel. Honestly, compared to the duels I used to have… it's totally different."
He paused for a moment, organizing his thoughts.
"To me, dueling is a game. A game meant to bring happiness. If it can't bring happiness, then I wouldn't play it at all."
"So you think you're not very suited for an environment like this?" Aleister narrowed his eyes.
"A little." Raku admitted it openly.
Abruptly, right after, the corners of his lips curved upward into a faint smile.
"But… I already said this before, didn't I? No matter what happens next time, I can't just sit around and wait for death anymore. So I'll keep dueling."
"If you fight while burdened by doubts, your blade will stay dull." Aleister's voice lowered slightly.
"Then I'll sharpen it through dueling."
That was the answer Raku gave.
Though he did not possess much burning spirit or passion, he believed that if he continued dueling alongside these people, then someday he would rediscover the feeling he once had when he first started dueling.
Raku raised his head. Under the dim light, his black eyes shone with unusual brightness.
With a flick of his dark gray coat, he spoke.
"Let's go."
Aleister looked at him in silence for two seconds before finally smiling as well. He raised his right hand, palm upward, and a thick magic tome embedded with a blue gemstone appeared out of thin air.
The pages automatically flipped open, releasing a ghostly blue radiance that enveloped the entire room.
...
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