Soon after, Jiang He turned his gaze toward the newly refreshed System Shop with a hint of anticipation.
[System Shop (Refreshes every two days, providing four exchangeable options each time)]
Today's Options:
[Deck: Arcana Force Deck (Sartorius Version)] – 500 Points.
[Deck: Morphing Jar Deck (Toxic Mill Style)] – 1,000 Points.
[Deck: Stealth Bird Deck (Toxic Burn Style)] – 1,500 Points.
[Skill: Mark of the Dragon - Dragon Head (Crimson Dragon's protective power; ignores negative damage caused by Shadow Duels)] – 3,000 Points.
"Mark of the Dragon - Dragon Head?!"
Jiang He's eyes lit up the moment he saw this skill. Although the damage dealt in a normal duel wasn't "real"it only produced varying degrees of painit was common knowledge that Duel Spirit power couldn't manifest in the physical world to cause actual harm.
However, Jiang He knew better.
In this dueling world, there were such things as Shadow Duels that dealt true, physical damage!
Anyone capable of driving a portion of a Duel Spirit's power, or someone in possession of a specific Dark Item, gained the ability to initiate a Shadow Duel. In such a match, the temporarily materialized power of the Duel Monsters would seep into the physical world,
inflicting real wounds. Usually, after taking a certain amount of damage, a duelist might not even be able to stand up to continue, even if they had Life Points remaining. Sometimes, even the winner ended up gravely injured.
Most importantly, the loser of a Shadow Duel usually met a grim fate. It was essentially card games with your life on the line.
Jiang He had been pondering what he would do if he ever encountered a Shadow Duel. He hadn't expected the system to refresh exactly what he needed for self-preservation!
[Skill: Mark of the Dragon - Dragon Head (Crimson Dragon's protective power; ignores negative damage caused by Shadow Duels)] – 3,000 Points.
"Since there's a Dragon Head, could there be Dragon Claw, Dragon Wing, or other Marks of the Dragon out there...?" Jiang He stroked his chin, muttering to himself.
This reminded him of a certain Crimson Dragon that was supposed to appear many years in the future, a being whose power was on par with the Three Egyptian Godsthe deity known as Quetzalcoatl!
Could the power I'm getting from the system be the same divine power as that Duel Spirit...? Jiang He wondered inwardly.
"If that's the case, this is a massive win." Jiang He grinned.
Whether it was or not, he absolutely had to have this protection against Shadow Duels. As for the new toxic decks, they could wait. His toxic Lava Golem Lockdown deck hadn't even shown its true terrifying potential last night.
The only slight annoyance was the cost...
While the Mark of the Dragon was incredibly useful, its price had jumped to 3,000 points, compared to the 2,000 he had spent on Duel Spirit Vision. He currently only had 2,200 Emotion Points, which wasn't quite enough.
He felt a bit frustrated, but he wasn't far off.
He remembered that there was a Duel Practical Class scheduled for this afternoon. There would definitely be some unlucky fellow arranged to be his opponent. It was the perfect opportunity to farm another batch of Emotion Points!
While Jiang He was busy checking his system and napping during Alchemy class, Professor Crowler was pacing back and forth in the office of the Practical Dueling Supervisor. His face was a mask of worry.
"I wonder if that slacker-boy Jiang He caught my face in that photo last night."
"If this keeps up, that photo will get leaked. I won't even have time to expel that slacker-boy before Chancellor Sheppard expels me! Oh, mamma mia!"
The thought of Jiang He handing that photo to the Principal and getting him fired made Professor Crowler shake his golden mushroom-style hair frantically.
"No, no! That absolutely cannot happen, no-ne!"
"I must stabilize that slacker-boy first, then find a way to hire that rumored duelist to win the photo back from his hands..."
"What a brilliant idea! Yes! That's exactly what I'll do!"
Crowler nodded to himself, his eyes rolling in a way that gave him a rather comical expression.
Click!
Just then, the office door suddenly swung open.
Startled, Crowler scrambled back to his desk with lightning speed, striking a serious, dignified pose. He looked toward the door and saw Jaden Yuki.
Behind Jaden was Syrus Truesdale, who was frantically pulling at Jaden's sleeve, whispering for him to leave.
"Um... Professor Crowler, about the opponent for this afternoon's practical class, I'd like to request a match with Chazz" Jaden said, scratching his cheek awkwardly.
"How rude! Entering without knocking! You Osiris Red slackers, Jaden boy and Syrus..."
Professor Crowler interrupted with a stern face, having not even processed what Jaden had asked.
However, before he could finish his reprimand, he froze. He saw Jiang He's lazy figure emerging from behind Jaden and Syrus.
"..." Crowler went completely stiff.
"Oh... so Jiang He boy is here too! As for the arrangements for this afternoon's practical duel, as the supreme head of practical supervision at Duel Academy, I believe it is necessary to tailor the matches to the students' situations."
"How about I arrange Syrus to be your opponent?"
Crowler's attitude did a complete 180-degree flip. He spoke with a strained, accommodating tone, his face twisted into an awkward grin that resembled the Pot of Greed. The corners of his mouth twitched as he forced the smile, and a bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
I have to stabilize the slacker-boy first! I'll give him weak little Syrus as an opponent to guarantee he wins his credits for the class! Crowler thought desperately.
"Wait, what?!" Syrus shrieked, jumping in fright.
He had only tagged along because he wanted to help Jaden request a match with Chazz's older brother! How did he suddenly get dragged into this horror story? He didn't want to be tortured by Jiang He's toxic deck ever again!
"..." Jaden looked on, stunned.
When he had made his request, Professor Crowler hadn't been this nice at all. Why did his attitude change the second he saw Jiang He?
"Uh..." Even Jiang He was a bit thrown off by Crowler's bizarre maneuver.
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