The summon at the end of Class 3-E's summoning class, the appearance of [Zoodiac Ratpier], activated Miles' not-so-complete meta deck radar once again.
If Miles didn't understand his current situation, he might have thought he had wandered into Class A.
No. Even among those in Class A, when he fought them in the Synchron Academy Turbo Duel Tournament, none of them had used Zoodiac.
"Who was it?"
Miles' first reaction was to find out exactly which hidden expert in Class E had summoned the legendary zodiac guardian beast.
…Hm? Why couldn't he see anyone at all?
Oh, it was because they were too short; blocked by the tall Tyles sitting in front of him.
Wait, someone this short… in all of Class E, there was only one person like that.
"Uwaah, a monster with 0 Attack and 0 Defense, even though I used Class D's summoning array. Nite seriously failed!"
Standing at the center of the summoning array, covering her forehead in distress with one hand while holding the [Zoodiac Ratpier] card in the other, was the pink-haired loli Nite.
What was this girl even saying?
Summoning Zoodiac and calling it a failure?
Did she not know the rule that 0 ATK and 0 DEF monsters are still monsters?
And she's a third-year… stop judging strength purely by Attack and Defense.
That said, thinking about it carefully, although it was a Zoodiac deck, the effect of [Zoodiac Ratpier] itself was very simple: it sent a "Zoodiac" card from the Deck to the Graveyard when summoned.
With such an effect, combined with 0 Attack and 0 Defense, if you didn't understand how the zodiac guardian beasts fought, it really was hard to see this card's actual strength.
From Miles' limited understanding, the true strength of Zoodiac mostly lay in the Zoodiac monsters in the Extra Deck, as well as their unreasonable Xyz Summoning method.
So, in other words, Nite, who had only summoned [Zoodiac Ratpier], wouldn't be able to stir up any waves with Ratpier alone before awakening the Zoodiac power in her Extra Deck.
As for how to awaken the Zoodiac in the Extra Deck, whether through bond-based card creation or summoning them one by one with the summoning array, that depended all on the Duelist's will.
Even so, it didn't stop this pink-haired little loli, Nite, from becoming the most promising candidate in Class 3-E in Miles' eyes.
She had successfully surpassed August.
"Sorry, Class Rep, I've defected."
"Defected? Student Miles, what are you talking about?"
August was baffled.
After the summoning class ended, Class 3-E unusually held a class meeting during after-school hours.
Such an abnormal situation made students from other classes passing by Class 3-E wonder if the sun had risen from the west.
Out of the entire grade, only your class hasn't been dismissed yet. Who would've thought even the worst class had started to grind?
Calling it a class meeting, it was actually more like a pre-battle mobilization.
Standing on the podium, the sports committee member Tyles raised his arm and shouted.
"Everyone! Tomorrow is the day we face Class C!"
"OHHH!!"
"We've achieved a long-awaited victory. Do we want to keep winning!"
"YES!!"
"Do we want to slap the faces of those elites who used to mock and look down on us fools?"
"YES!!"
"Do we want to rise and become the winners of life!"
"YES!!!"
With such powerful morale-boosting ability, Miles felt that Tyles was more suitable than August for the role of general.
After all, in duels of another world, the importance of momentum when playing cards could even surpass that of morale in real sword-and-spear warfare.
"But… can we really keep winning? That's Class C."
Bad timing. Within Class 3-E, someone suddenly made a statement that didn't sound like it belonged to this group of fools at all.
"We almost lost today." Nite raised her hand. "If we use the same strategy again, there's no way we can beat Class C, right?"
So it was this brat again, hitting the group's morale.
However, Nite's question struck at the core. If Duel Wars could be won by momentum alone, then Class E wouldn't be Class E. This group of idiots just happened to be easy to hype up.
That's why Miles had asked August to urgently hold a class meeting after school.
The purpose was to discuss tactics for the Duel War against Class C.
Of course, the premise of any tactic required sufficient raw strength to support it.
And this was precisely what Class 3-E lacked the most.
Judging by today's level, tomorrow's Duel War would likely end with them being crushed in a blink by Class C.
To secure higher-level summoning resources, Miles had prepared himself for a do-or-die battle.
To achieve that, he needed to gain the unconditional trust of Class 3-E.
Fortunately, this was a group of idiots who never had any reservations, and after today's battle, they trusted Miles wholeheartedly.
Miles stepped onto the podium. "Everyone, if we want to win tomorrow's duel, please hand over all your decks to me!"
This was Miles' method of making a last stand.
Of course, even if all of Class E handed over their decks, due to the rules binding cards to their owners, Miles wouldn't be able to use them… nor did he want to.
Although he couldn't use their decks, once Miles obtained them, there was still something else he could do.
Rebuild the decks on behalf of this group of idiots in Class 3-E.
As long as he understood everyone's deck details, combined with what he had observed from start to finish during today's summoning class, and then reasonably allocated their usable Magic Points, Miles was confident he could raise the strength of these trash-tier decks by several levels.
After all, when it came to making weak decks stronger, no one had more experience than Miles.
(Aisha: "Achoo! This (≧ω≦*) must mean Mr. Miles is thinking about me!")
The only difficult part was the sheer number. Excluding Miles himself, Class 3-E had 41 people; a full 41 different trash-tier decks, all of which had to be rebuilt by Miles personally.
Fortunately, the Duel War against Class C wouldn't begin until tomorrow afternoon, so there was still enough time.
No one would be left behind; if they were going to get stronger, then everyone would get stronger together.
This was the resolve Miles carried after taking on this responsibility.
And the outcome reassured him; Class 3-E once again chose to trust this transfer student who had only been there for a single day, handing over their decks one after another.
If they could grasp hope, they would climb upward without a thought. From this perspective, Class 3-E wasn't beyond saving.
---
That night, in the Xyz Academy girls' dormitory.
Living a disciplined lifestyle, August had washed up and gone to bed early.
However, tonight, the biological clock she had maintained for years suddenly seemed to fail.
Lying alone in bed, tossing and turning, she couldn't fall asleep no matter what. Her mind was filled with everything that had happened today, replaying over and over.
From the arrival of the new transfer student, to the two of them launching a surprise attack on Class D's base, to Miles decisively summoning a god to turn the tide, and finally to Miles taking on everyone's decks and leading them forward.
"No. That's not right!"
Only after snapping back to her senses did August realize that what had been replaying in her mind all along was the figure of the boy she had just met today.
Blushing, she suddenly sat up, instinctively reaching for her glasses beside the pillow and putting them on.
Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, it was already 3:15 in the middle of the night.
If she let her mind continue like this, she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep.
August simply got dressed and decided to go to the field to feel the cool night breeze and calm herself down.
However, when she put on her coat and looked out the window, she suddenly noticed that the classroom of Class 3-E was still lit.
August clearly remembered that the last person to leave the classroom should have been Miles, who had been helping everyone rebuild their decks.
"No way…"
She glanced at the time again.
It was hard to believe; even so, she couldn't think of any other possibility.
Miles, for the sake of Class 3-E's victory, was actually staying up alone until deep into the night, adjusting the whole class's decks.
Leaving the dormitory and sneaking into the school building, in the dim corridor, August peeked through the light from the door crack and saw the blue-haired boy at a desk late at night, working while carrying the trust of the entire class.
"Miles…"
Complex emotions surged within August's heart.
As the Class Rep of Class 3-E, she was deeply grateful for Miles' efforts.
Nonetheless, within that restless heart, other feelings seemed to be emerging as well.
After secretly watching for a long time from behind the door, August felt that her behavior was starting to resemble that of a creep.
Anyhow, there was one thing that made her very curious.
Even though Miles was sitting alone in the classroom, he seemed to be constantly talking to someone.
Could this be the legendary split personality?
Even though she was a bit shocked when she first thought of this possibility, upon further thought, Miles was a genius, after all; so she gradually accepted it.
As the saying goes, genius and madness go hand in hand.
For a genius like Miles, having a bit of a tendency toward personality splitting might be normal.
In fact, it even added a sense of mysterious charm.
Of course, Miles didn't actually have a split personality. August simply couldn't see it.
With the power of the Emperor's Key, manifesting in soul form and accompanying Miles—though "accompanying" wasn't quite accurate—Dark Aisha had been dragged along by Miles to do hard labor.
Still, it was too exhausting, building all 40 decks; though with Dark Aisha's ability, helping Miles handle a dozen or so was more than manageable.
So what August had peeked at, which looked like a split-personality conversation, was actually just Miles and Aisha discussing how to improve this pile of trash decks.
"Miles, you need to pay me wages."
"I've never asked you to pay rent, Aisha."
Creak!
As the door of Class 3-E's classroom was pushed open, August, who had been peeking for a long time, ultimately mustered her courage and walked in.
"Student Miles?"
August's sudden appearance startled Dark Aisha, who immediately retreated back into the Soul Room, the few cards in her hand scattering onto the ground.
"Ah, sorry, did I scare you?"
Thinking she had frightened Miles into dropping his cards, August quickly apologized.
"Class Rep, what brings you here?"
"I saw the classroom lights were still on, so I guessed you might still be organizing decks. I brought some milk and bread from the dorm as a late-night snack for you."
If there had been other students in Class 3-E's classroom right now, they would've thought that their usually strict and impartial Class Rep of three years had been possessed by something strange upon seeing her display such gentle, girlish kindness.
"Thanks, Class Rep. That really helps~"
Miles took the red bean bread from the bag August carried and started eating it right away.
In reality, with the current physical condition of Miles' body—crafted by Viel—even if he didn't eat for several days or stayed up for multiple nights, it wouldn't affect him at all.
Despite that, as mentioned before, Miles didn't refuse kindness; he preferred to accept it. It was better for both sides.
For example, August, watching Miles eat the bread, felt happy in her heart that she had been of help.
While Miles replenished his energy, August bent down and picked up the three cards that had fallen onto the floor.
With a casual glance, she discovered that the three cards were identical, and their effects were very unusual.
"Student Miles, what are these?"
"Oh." After swallowing the bread, Miles smiled. "These are the secret weapons I've prepared for Class E!"
"Secret… weapons?"
Despite the fact that she didn't fully understand, August was still deeply impressed.
And it also sparked another curiosity within her.
"Student Miles, why are you willing to put in so much effort to help Class E like this?"
"Why, huh?"
So that he could also use higher-level summoning amplification arrays.
Well, answering that right now would ruin the mood.
Looking at the bright, expectant eyes behind August's lenses, it seemed she was hoping for a more meaningful answer.
Alright… truthfully, there was another reason why Miles had decided to put in so much effort to help rebuild all of Class E's decks.
"There was someone like that by my side before.
"A hopeless idiot, so weak it was hard to watch, who was even almost forcibly expelled from the academy because of it."
"Forced expulsion… because they were too weak?"
August found it hard to imagine. Even if Class E was already weak, no one had ever been forcibly expelled.
"Yeah. Even though she was a weak idiot, back then, heh… honestly, I didn't understand anything either. Thanks to her staying by my side, we were able to grow together and become stronger together."
"She…" A trace of tension passed through August's eyes behind her glasses. "A girl?"
"Yeah."
"Then… the one who stayed by your side all this time… did she become very strong in the end?"
"She did. She became really strong. Stronger than anyone."
So strong that if he said her name, August would definitely be shocked.
"Student Miles."
After returning the three identical cards to Miles, August tugged at his sleeve.
"If I stay by your side… can I also become very strong?"
"Class Rep~" Miles waved the [Purrely] card she had summoned today in front of him and gave a warm smile. "You've already become very strong."
Because he was so curious about this card, Miles had even remotely contacted Viel and asked her to look it up in the [High-tier Magic Directory].
The conclusion was that this seemingly cute and harmless monster was just like Eevee from Pokémon.
It had different attribute evolution forms, making it an Xyz evolution-type monster capable of adapting to countless situations.
---
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