Night fell. Stars dotted the night sky, casting a faint glow over the quiet town of Magnolia.
Inside a standalone small building beside the river running through town, Chase, now home, enjoyed a refreshing cool bath.
Though Fairy Tail had dedicated member dormitories, he didn't live there. Instead, using money earned from requests, he'd bought a place in town.
It wasn't that Chase preferred living alone—the word "quiet" had nothing to do with him.
He'd been kicked out of the public dormitory by Makarov. The reason? Constantly rebuilding demolished dorms was a heavy expense...
"Nothing beats being home, I guess. It has been over a year since I last came back."
Chase was shirtless, wearing only light blue underwear. His chest and back, with their defined muscle lines, were marked with scars of various sizes.
The most ferocious was a claw mark cutting across from his shoulder to his abdomen.
Proof of his battle with the Flame God Dragon Ignia!
Chase left the bathroom and walked into the reasonably spacious living room, plopping onto the soft sofa. With practiced ease, he grabbed a can of black tea from the coffee table.
As the sound of boiling water emerged, steam rose, and a faint tea fragrance filled the air.
"Magic really is useful stuff."
Chase took a light sip of tea, gazing at the special kettle on the coffee table that only needed magical power to function. He felt a wave of emotion.
In this world, magic was the primary productive force!
The rich tea flavor released in his mouth, flowing down his throat and spreading through his body.
Chase closed his eyes in enjoyment, casually leaning back on the sofa, letting the air conditioner's cool breeze wash over him as he indulged in long-missed relaxation and comfort.
Tea tasting was one of his ways to relieve stress.
Of course, causing destruction was barely counted too—though not intentionally...
After a long while, fully revived, Chase slowly opened his eyes and straightened up slightly.
He raised his right palm. Light flashed, gathering on the coffee table surface into a small, stylish magic circle.
A deck of cards—not particularly thick—emerged from it.
"Running into Ignia was completely unexpected, but I guess every cloud has a silver lining..."
Chase murmured quietly, his fingers shuffling through the deck until he drew a card shimmering with golden light.
Flipping it over, the monster's appearance and information came into view.
[Slifer the Sky Dragon]: Ten-Star Monster, one of the legendary Three Egyptian Gods, possessing terrifying power capable of destroying heaven and earth. Requires chanting an exclusive incantation when summoned.
The Mutou Yugi deck that "Duelist Soul" had given Chase wasn't complete. Aside from the initial guaranteed cards, related cards dropped randomly when battling strong enemies.
The higher the intensity of the battle, the rarer and more powerful the dropped cards.
At the same time, the total number of cards in the deck directly affected his own magical power cap. This was the greatest power that allowed him, an ordinary person, to ascend to Fairy Tail's S-Class mages so early.
—Relying on normal training and exercise was just too slow!
In summary, if Chase wanted to become stronger, the simplest and most violent method was to constantly battle powerful foes and collect more and stronger cards!
Hence the name of his cheat: "Duelist Soul."
The deck contained three types of cards: Monster Cards, Trap Cards, and Magic Cards.
Summoning Monster Cards was closely tied to Chase's own magical power. The higher the monster's star level, the greater the summoning difficulty.
Aside from the newly acquired Slifer, the highest star cards in Chase's deck were the Eight-Star [Dark Magician of Chaos], which required him to give his all to manifest.
Trap Cards required chanting time. To achieve an "instant" effect, they needed to be arranged in advance before or during battle.
For example, the [Curse of the Hexagram] that had previously restricted Natsu's movements—Chase had anticipated Natsu's actions, completed the chanting early, and waited for him to run right into it.
That fits the definition of "trap" perfectly.
Magic Cards didn't have as many prerequisites, but compared to Trap Cards, they required more magical power to use.
"With my current magical power, summoning Slifer is probably a stretch."
Chase held [Slifer the Sky Dragon] in his hand, his brow slightly furrowed as he considered whether to give it a try.
Though acquiring the new card Slifer had increased his magical power limit by a bit, jumping two star levels at once—especially a monster with the "God" title—he really had no confidence.
To be safe, Chase drew another card instead and infused it with magical power.
BOOM!
The wooden living room floor immediately revealed the pattern of a magic circle. Pinkish light blossomed, and within its depths, the playful, cute figure of a girl appeared faintly.
As the magic circle's light faded, the girl's features were revealed.
Light yellow hair, long bangs, big green eyes full of energy;
The girl wore a blue conical hat adorned with pink stripes, and a yellow collar with a red gem embedded in the center;
A blue off-the-shoulder top connected to a pink short cape and pink miniskirt. Her wrist guards and boots were also in blue-pink tones, perfectly complementing her tall, well-proportioned figure—adorable and sexy.
[Dark Magician Girl]: Six-Star Monster Card. A genius girl skilled in using dark magic.
Dark Magician Girl seemed to have an inherent attribute of being reckless and clumsy. Upon being summoned, she immediately missed a step, stumbling and nearly treating Chase to a Wendy Fall.
But she managed, with her exceptional core strength, to forcefully straighten her off-balance body.
"Ta-da! Dark Magician Girl makes her sparkling debut!"
"Long time no see, Master!"
Dark Magician Girl gripped her blue-pink magic wand in her right hand, flashed a peace sign with her left, and struck a cute pose.
Similar to Lucy's Celestial Spirit Magic, Chase's card monsters also had their own personalities, consciousness, and souls. They truly existed in the world.
When not summoned, they slacked off in the deck.
"What do you mean 'long time no see'? If I remember correctly, we just saw each other two days ago, didn't we?"
Chase looked up at the reckless girl and shook his head rather helplessly. He sighed, "And every time you appear, could you skip the entrance routine? Did you forget the lesson from last time when you stepped in cow dung?"
"Hey! That was totally because Master placed the magic circle in a stupid spot!"
Dark Magician Girl puffed out her cheeks angrily. Mentioning that incident, she was furious.
"Constantly sensing your surroundings and making timely judgments is an essential skill for a mage."
"If you accidentally ended up in an enemy's arms, stepping in cow dung and dirtying your boots would be the least of your worries!"
Chase put on a stern face, pretending to be serious.
"Oh, Master would never summon us to dangerous places anyway~" Dark Magician Girl's eyes darted around as she evaded her reply.
To be honest, the cow dung incident really was her own carelessness.
Worse, if her master, Dark Magician, found out about such an embarrassing mistake, she'd definitely get a thorough scolding!
So Dark Magician Girl hurried over to the coffee table, eagerly picked up the black tea, and handed it to Chase while changing the subject: "Master's home now—why did you summon me?"
Chase took the cup and drank, but before he could speak, Dark Magician Girl leaned in, glancing at the night sky outside the window.
Then, she rested her chin on one hand and muttered thoughtfully, dropping a bombshell: "It doesn't seem like time to warm Master's bed yet."
"PFFFT!!"
Chase sprayed out the tea he'd just swallowed.
"...When the hell did I ever ask you to warm my bed?!!"
"Huh? Does Master actually have that kind of idea?"
Dark Magician Girl crossed her arms, blinking playfully. "Hmm... I suppose it's not impossible."
Chase's eye twitched. Without responding, he silently drew a [Dark Magician] card from his deck.
"Sumimasen, hontou ni sumimasen!"
Dark Magician Girl immediately backed down, sliding over to Chase on her knees and pitifully hugging his leg, apologizing profusely.