I wake up, put Felia aside, and get out of bed.
Frost Weaver has now made its nest, honestly it looks like a hammock.
"Frost Weaver - let's shorten it, hmm... Elara! Elara!"
The spider wakes up, looks around, then points at itself.
"Grug?"
"Yeah, that's you! Come down here!"
Named so suddenly like that, Elara still hasn't fully processed the information.
I thought names were supposed to be given to the monsters you like the most? I was only created yesterday!
Thinking to itself, it crawls down and stops right at the study desk.
"In a bit, wake Felia up. I'm going to the bathroom for a moment."
Following the order, right as I enter the bathroom, it crawls over to Felia's spot and waits a while before calling her.
Felia was sleeping soundly when suddenly some idle creature calls her, making her frown and slowly open her eyes.
What appears in front of her is the face of a spider, causing Felia to be extremely terrified.
"WUUU!!!"
Felia backs away, sweating profusely.
"Grug." Elara tilts its head and makes a sound.
"Wu wu..." Seeing that the ice spider has no intention of eating her, Felia breathes a sigh of relief.
"Wu?" (What did you call me for?)
"Grug." (Master told me to wake you up.)
"Wu wu~" (I see, then next time don't wake me up anymore. Only Master is allowed to wake me up~)
Hmph, what right does a latecomer have? Only Master has the right to call me, his first monster!
Seeing Felia looking smug, Elara knows the task is done so it leaves and climbs onto the desk.
"Phew." I open the door, my face looking fresher, and put on my Ushanka hat.
"Return to the cards, you two." I take out two cards and recall Felia and Elara into them.
After that, I open the door to my room and head to the classroom reserved exclusively for astronomy.
But before leaving, I and many others look at the notice board posted by the journalism club.
[Gutius, the Undefeated Earth Dragon VS Jane, Guardian of the Fairy type!]
[Can Gutius defeat Jane to obtain the Fairy badge?]
[Will Gutius's winning streak continue or be broken?!]
Sensational headline as expected from the journalism club.
I then head to the designated classroom and look inside to see Kaiser already there for who knows how long.
My friend, you really want to keep the top spot in class, don't you?
Sitting next to Kaiser, I yawn once and start waiting for time to pass.
6:45, everyone has arrived fully.
For some reason, Lucas arrives after me and looks very excited.
...Is astrology his favorite subject? That's surprising.
Soon after, a mature and experienced-looking female teacher enters the classroom and stands in front of the teacher's desk.
"Hello everyone, I'm Abigail, your astrology teacher. I hope you all study well and follow the rules~"
Seeing her gentle face, everyone relaxes.
With such a gentle appearance, this subject must be quite easygoing.
"Of course, since this is the first astrology class, I'll teach slowly so you can keep up with my pace, so please pay attention."
Then her hand moves, and immediately the entire classroom transforms.
All the students widen their eyes, watching the classroom change into a night sky filled with stars.
Needless to say, that is the universe, the stars, outer space!
"As you all know, astrology is a belief system that the positions and movements of celestial bodies such as the sun, moon, and planets at the time of a person's birth directly influence their personality, life, and destiny."
"In simpler terms, this is the origin of familiar concepts like the 12 zodiac signs, personal star charts, or fortune telling."
"The history of astrology is so ancient that the magic related to it has also developed very strongly, such as divination magic (although not 100% accurate)."
"The core of Western astrology is based on the Zodiac Circle – an imaginary circle in the sky divided into 12 equal parts, corresponding to 12 constellations (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc.)."
"In general, the ultimate goal of astrology is to predict the future, decode personality through the positions of the stars for the subject, which is humanity (or depending on the species), personality and destiny."
Destiny...
Like my destiny when I became a punching bag...
Can fate be changed? I'm quite curious because right now I'm also going down a quite different path from the original story.
Kaiser shouldn't have anyone by his side, Lucas shouldn't be close to me but to other people, Mint would still be alone, Alice would still be Alice.
Alvin then... I don't know anymore, he's too vague, I look at him but can't even remember his existence in the game.
Hmm... Can future events be avoided? Or will they still happen?
I keep thinking like that while listening to the teacher's lecture.
In general, what she says is mostly about human personality based on birth date, zodiac signs representing them in many things like actions, destiny, and future.
This is a very interesting class, because it seems like Miss Abigail has high-level illusion magic to continuously change the projections and make everyone pay attention to every word.
...I don't want to say it, but what's the point of learning this subject? Or am I just too dry to understand?
If this were in the game, this astrology subject would contribute to making the game lore richer, but I've played it a lot so I'm not that interested.
Lucas especially likes this subject, to the point that he is truly serious from the beginning of the lesson until now without complaining at all.
Gradually, 5 periods pass, Miss Abigail is very pleased when all the students like the subject and raise their hands to speak enthusiastically, especially the student named Lucas.
Looking at his personality and behavior, it's not hard to guess that he is a Leo.
"Thank you everyone for listening to what I taught. I hope you continue to study diligently like this. Now, goodbye."
Right as Miss Abigail leaves, the whole class becomes lively.
Overall, everyone is interested in this subject, because astrology is a subject that knows how to scratch the itch of human psychology very well.
"I swear this will forever be my favorite subject in life and I will never regret loving it!!" Lucas says, his face glowing.
"Brat." Kaiser walks out, saying a dry remark.
"What the hell are you saying?!" Lucas growls, but he has already left.
Ignoring Lucas shouting all kinds of things, I and many other students leave the teaching building, not going to the cafeteria but to another place.
That is the arena, where the Guardian card battles are held.
This match has been talked about and anticipated by everyone for a long time, even thanks to the journalism club continuously hyping it up, making it even more worth watching.
"Come out, Felia, Elara."
My two monsters are summoned, looking like they're waiting for orders.
"Climb onto my shoulders, today we're going to watch a match."
Hearing that, both look at each other then climb onto my shoulders.
The crowd is very dense, the younger students like me want to see how a real card battle plays out, while the seniors are excited to see Jane's battle.
"I've been a fan of our big sister throughout my years studying here, Jane will definitely smash him to pieces!"
"Hmph! How are you so sure she'll win? Gutius is the one who will usurp her throne and take the badge!" A Gilgamesh class student says.
"Then why are you wearing a shirt with her picture under your uniform?"
"To remember her when she fails, what are you complaining about?"
You're lying without changing your expression at all...
I enter the arena, looking for the most suitable seat.
"Ah! Igor! Over here, over here!"
I see Alice and Alvin sitting next to each other, waving at me.
I blink a few times then sit next to Tryo.
"Huh?" Both Alvin and Alice freeze, while Tryo looks a bit surprised.
"Is it okay?" I ask him.
"No? As long as you don't take off your coat and freeze me, it's fine?"
After a while, Lucas runs over, sees the seat next to me is still empty, and quickly sits down.
"Phew! It's so crowded outside I could barely push through! Where's that glasses-wearing bastard?"
"Right behind you, idiot." Kaiser kicks Lucas straight in the head, making him clutch it.
"What did I do to you?!"
"Having you here makes my eyes itchy all over."
"You!!"
Seeing the two arguing, I ignore them because I'm too lazy to care.
Then I see Aelith and her friend choose to sit in front of me, which surprises me a bit.
"Oh? You're Igor Snowy, the strongest in Charlemagne class, right?" Roster points at me, vaguely remembering.
"Strongest in Charlemagne class?" Both Kaiser and Lucas look at Roster, they don't seem to like me having that nickname very much...
"Hello Igor, we meet again." Aelith greets politely.
"Yeah, hello." I greet back.
Then both fall silent...
I don't know what to say to her...
"Um, the match seems to be starting." Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Tryo points to the arena floor.
Everyone looks toward the arena floor, where two people are walking in with different auras.
Gutius, in standard academy uniform with his brown hair swept back, approaches with confidence.
On the other side...
Jane, the girl with pink bob hair. Unlike other students, she only wears an inner top with some details and a short skirt, with a pink coat on the outside.
This is the privilege of Guardians, as long as they wear the uniform underneath, they can decorate and wear whatever they want.
"Hello, I'm the MC for today's match, and in this match a Gilgamesh class student dares to challenge a Guardian, so let's see if he can win and take the badge!!" A student holding a microphone, acting as MC, says to the audience.
"And before the match begins, I will introduce the competitors! Gutius Gregor, famous for his 10-win streak with an earth dragon focused deck!"
"And the one being challenged, Guardian of the fairy type, Jane Stacy! One of the youngest Guardians in the academy when she was only in 8th grade! Back in 7th grade she was already a star when she challenged and completely defeated an 11th grade student easily, and then her winning streak, after which she was nominated by the other Guardians to become one of them!"
With a gentle smile like the girl next door, all the boys stand up and shout her name loudly.
Even the guy who just criticized her stands up and shouts, they're all tsunderes indeed.
"Come on! Let's see if Gutius can win the badge or if Jane will still maintain her undefeated streak!"
Then both place their decks on a table on the arena floor and look at each other.
Gutius narrows his eyes at her, his face showing no goodwill.
Jane's expression remains very gentle, with no negative look at all.
"Come on! Let's welcome it after 3! 2! 1! 0!!"
"DUEL!" "Duel!"
Immediately 4 cards are dealt into their hands.
[Turn begins, 10 seconds preparation]
Gutius sets 2 cards then summons a monster.
"Come out, Wyvern!"
A Wyvern appears, roaring loudly.
Wyvern (lv 3)
Type: Flying
Atk: 1300
Hp: 1200
Race: Dragon
On Jane's side, she only sets 1 card then summons both monsters.
"I summon the monsters Toon Duck and Toon Rabbit."
Immediately two simply drawn and cute-looking monsters appear, one duck using its wings like hands and the rabbit slowly gnawing on a carrot.
'Here it is, this is her deck, the Cartoon deck.' I think to myself.
Toon duck (lv 2)
Type: Fairy
Atk: 1000
Hp: 0
Race: Cartoon
Toon rabbit (lv 2)
Type: Fairy
Atk: 1000
Hp: 0
Race: Cartoon
"Hp is 0?! What the hell?!" Alice is surprised.
Aren't monsters supposed to always have health? Why do these have none?
'Because basically, they don't need health, they're cartoons.'
Cartoon monsters are very special because many from this tribe don't need health and aren't afraid of being defeated normally.
Because basically, they can't be defeated in the usual way but need other methods to truly deal with them.
[Turn 1]
"I activate the trap card 'Pit' causing one of the opponent's monsters to fall into the pit and become inactive for this turn, and I choose Toon Rabbit!"
Immediately, Toon Rabbit sees a pit right under its feet, looks up then down, then screams loudly right after falling in.
"And Wyvern, quickly attack the life core!"
Wyvern flies toward Jane's life core, ignoring Toon Duck below.
"Toon Duck, use Shotgun."
?!?!??
Toon Duck hears the order, takes out a Barrel Shotgun and aims straight at Wyvern.
That's a skill too?! Are you kidding?!
Bang!
A barrage of bullets pierces through the Wyvern, killing it on the spot.
"What?! So strong?!!" Lucas is startled.
"I activate the spell card 'Dragon's Rise'! If a dragon race monster is killed, I can add one dragon race monster under lv 4 from the deck to the field!"
"So, come out Sand Dragon!"
Immediately, a sand dragon appears on the field, facing Toon Duck.
Sand Dragon (lv 4)
Type: Dragon/Earth
Atk: 1700
Hp: 1500
Race: Dragon
"And when there is an earth type monster on the field, I can activate the trap card set on the field 'Devastating Sandstorm', causing all monsters that are not earth or rock type to take damage. However, since this is not weather, it doesn't increase any stats and only lasts for 1 turn!"
"So, go down to the graveyard, Toon Duck!"
Toon Duck clutches its neck, coughs, then takes a flower and lies down, moving to the graveyard.
Yes, this is the weakness of cartoon monsters. They can be invincible in combat, but weather, spell cards, and trap cards can destroy them!
"So you have no monsters on the field that can block my way, so attack her life core, Sand Dragon!"
The sand dragon roars and charges forward, slamming its tail hard into Jane's life core.
8000 lp > 6300 lp
"Oh!! Gutius has successfully attacked Jane's life core! Currently he holds the upper hand! Can Jane fight back?!"
"...Strange, if he has the AoE damage trap card Devastating Sandstorm, why did he use the Pit trap on Toon Rabbit?" Kaiser thinks.
"Continue attacking her life core!"
But before the attack, Jane just smiles and uses a card in her hand.
"Toon Revival"
Immediately, the atmosphere changes.
"Here it comes?!" Gutius grits his teeth.
"Toon Revival, if a Cartoon monster is sent to the graveyard, I am allowed to revive that monster to the field with doubled stats."
Toon Duck crawls out from the graveyard, raising its muscular arms.
Now it has 2000 atk.
"After that, I draw 2 more cards. If they are cartoon monsters, I can special summon them to the field." She draws 2 more cards, and indeed heaven favors her as one of them is a monster.
"So come out, Toon Bird."
A bird wearing a hat and holding a newspaper flies down.
Toon Bird (lv 2)
Type: Fairy/Flying
Atk: 500
Hp: 0
Race: Cartoon
"And Toon Bird, use Blessing of the Wind, allowing all my monsters to double their speed for 1 turn."
Immediately Toon Duck raises its leg that never skips leg day.
"Now then... Ignore the sand dragon and hit the opponent's life core directly~"
"QUACKKKK!!!" Toon Duck runs past the sand dragon, then throws a punch straight into Gutius's life core.
8000 lp > 6000 lp
[Turn 1 end, opponent's draw phase]
"..." Gutius looks at Toon Rabbit who has come out of the pit with a tired face, then draws 1 card.
The moment he sees that card, he smiles confidently.
The winning rule has been firmly grasped in his hand!