The commotion of last night's alien battle on Duel Academy Island was quite significant, but even by the next morning, Ed Phoenix hadn't heard a word about it.
As the most prominent figure among the new students, Ed was perhaps the only freshman deemed the busiest. He had taken on a collaboration project with a large corporation under his agent's arrangement, leaving him no room to decline, so he had no choice but to attend a grand banquet last night.
After the banquet ended, he boarded a luxurious ferry at Domino Pier with his secretary in the early hours, rushing back to the academy overnight.
Because he didn't want to miss the first class of the new semester.
After freshening up, Ed came to the dining room from his room, where his secretary had already been waiting.
"We should arrive at the academy's port within half an hour." The secretary stood respectfully by his side.
Ed took a bite of the sandwich that served as breakfast and glanced at his wristwatch.
"Great, we should be able to make it to the first class of the morning."
"There's a duel-themed charity fundraising event in a city tomorrow, and the Mayor would like you to attend in person," the secretary continued, "to shake hands and such.
That Mayor has always been very considerate towards us, and the payment isn't small either..."
"Tell him I don't have time," Ed replied without a second thought while eating his sandwich, "I have to attend class."
The secretary said, "Actually, you should know, Principal Samejima explicitly mentioned that if you're busy, not attending class is fine....."
"That's out of the question!" Ed replied righteously, as if it were a matter of principle, "I chose to enroll here to better hone myself, to receive systematic education at this top-notch academy, and to achieve personal transcendence.
If I skip classes under the guise of privilege, then my enrollment would be meaningless."
Ed had always been a diligent and excellent student, never ranked lower than first in the school overall. Cutting classes was simply not in his nature!
The secretary, hearing this, had no choice but to change tactics: "Based on my investigation, it seems that Yuki Judai doesn't attend classes much either."
Ed's movements instantly froze.
He turned his head, raising his silver-white eyebrow, "Judai... generally doesn't attend classes?"
"Most of the time. Even when he does, he seems to be sleeping."
"..."
Ed silently finished his sandwich.
"I've thought it over, why not tell the Mayor that I'll attend the event tomorrow after all."
The secretary smiled, "As for the academy's courses..."
"Skipping once in a while, both the professor and the principal will understand," Ed said seriously, "I've thought about it, and maybe the charity event is more important.
Being a public figure means I should do my best to benefit more people. It's a very meaningful activity, not for me personally, but for those in need of help.
I think it's more meaningful than my personal development..."
"I think so too, sir."
A few more minutes passed before the secretary suddenly seemed to have found something.
"Sir, I think you might want to take a look at this."
She handed over the tablet.
Ed casually glanced at it. Before he even saw the content clearly, when he spotted the words "Yuki Judai" among the long text, he froze as if electrified and snatched the tablet from her hands.
"Duel Academy... suffered an alien attack? Cosmic beings descended? A student of Duel Academy, Yuki Judai, stood up to defeat the opponent...
...using a brand new hero from the cosmos!?"
Ed jumped up from his seat.
Judai secretly printed new cards without telling me?
And they're new Hero cards!?
Ed was almost obsessed with the notion of "Heroes," and he insisted on proving time and again that his Heroes were stronger than Judai's.
Part of the reason could be that Ed's father was a card designer for the Hero series himself, and Ed was eager to prove that his father's designs were the best.
Another part was their mutual mentor and idol, Youyu, who was the originator of the "Hero series."
Ed's relationship with Youyu was akin to a de facto mentor-student relationship despite the lack of formal titles. Youyu had never formally agreed, but given their interactions, Ed always considered himself Youyu's student.
Before this, he might have had a chance to become Kaiba Seto's student.
At that time, President Kaiba was actively looking for new stars in the Duel World, trying to find a promising candidate to counter Youyu's students. During this period, he had noticed Ed—a young rising star with outstanding performance, even a year younger than Youyu's jellyfish-headed student!
President Kaiba was quite tempted at the time and intended to recruit this child. Until he delved deeper and discovered Ed was a staunch "Hero" card deck user.
Back then, President Kaiba just snorted, turned away, and lost interest in this silver-haired little lad.
Playing Heroes at such a young age?
No future! No interest!
"..."
So whenever Ed faced off against Judai, he enjoyed proclaiming, "My Destiny Heroes are much stronger than your Elemental Heroes."
Judai, on his part, never cared, always yielding to Ed. Every time Ed said this, he wouldn't retort, just smiled in agreement.
Judai's thinking was straightforward. Having grown up playing together with Ed, he always saw him as a brother.
Since they were like brothers, with himself being a year older than Ed, naturally, he considered himself the elder one.
Isn't it natural for an older brother to give way to his younger sibling?
Ed claimed his Destiny Heroes were stronger and that he generally had a better win rate when they faced off, and Judai never refuted this.
So one can imagine how Ed felt when he learned that Judai obtained new Heroes from the universe.
First reaction, he was genuinely happy for Judai. Meanwhile, deep inside, he was extremely eager, much like waiting for the final three minutes of a hero's appearance on TV every Saturday, dying to know what Judai's new Heroes looked like and how strong they were.
But he also felt uneasy.
Oh no, Judai secretly printed new cards behind his back; would he end up overshadowed from now on?
That won't do!
He tossed the tablet aside, his expression serious, "Book me the best dueling arena at the academy—I need it this week."
"It's already been booked."
No wonder she's a professional "secretary for any task," as she had already anticipated the boss's intentions before he even spoke.
Clearly, Ed was getting ready to face Judai in another duel—and probably a significant one with a big audience.
A world champion's debut at Duel Academy would definitely be big news.
"Should we notify Judai in advance?" the secretary asked, "Set a time? We're not sure if he'll agree..."
"He will agree," Ed said confidently.
Dare to disagree?
Yuki Judai is the only rival I acknowledge; he wouldn't dare duck out!