After the coin toss, the first move went to Warner. He glanced at Morgan with a smirk and said:
"Sorry, little miss, I'll be taking the first turn."
Morgan nodded and gestured politely. She didn't particularly care about going first; this way, she could see what kind of Deck her opponent was running.
"My turn, draw!"
Warner snapped a card from his Deck and added it to his hand. His opening hand was quite good, and with first-turn advantage, he felt certain of victory.
At that moment, he noticed more and more spectators gathering around. He was startled—why did his duel attract such a crowd? Some nearby matches barely had a couple of watchers. Did they all know him? Was he that famous here at Duel Academy?
Excitement surged. He was going to put on a good show.
But the crowd looked on in confusion. They hadn't expected anyone to voluntarily challenge Morgan.
"Who is that guy? He challenged Morgan? On the first day?"
"Looks like a pro duelist, though not a familiar face. Probably ranked outside the top 50."
"Outside the top 50 and daring to challenge Morgan? Even a top 10 might not win against her."
"He's doomed. After this duel, will he even have the guts to keep calling himself a pro?"
Warner, of course, had no idea what they were saying. All he wanted was to prove himself.
The growing crowd also drew others over, including Milo. He wasn't here to compete—top-ranked pros weren't allowed to enter this kind of event. He was just visiting Duel Academy, hoping to talk with Hannah.
Something about her felt strangely familiar, although her face didn't match his memories. He wanted to confirm it.
Regardless, Hannah had avoided him since his arrival, and he hadn't managed to see her once.
As he wandered, he stumbled across Morgan's duel.
Morgan's dueling already? He'd thought no one would dare challenge her at the start.
Then he saw her opponent and frowned. If he wasn't mistaken, that was Warner, ranked 87th in the Duelist Alliance.
Milo's brow furrowed. Warner's reputation was terrible—always using "guidance" as an excuse to prey on female students. He'd probably challenged Morgan thinking she was just another schoolgirl. He had badly misjudged.
Milo chuckled. Warner never learned. It wouldn't hurt to let Morgan teach him a lesson.
Meanwhile, Warner was eager to begin.
"I activate the effect of [Pile Armed Dragon] from my hand!"
"By sending 1 WIND Dragon monster or 1 Level 7 or higher Dragon monster other than this card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card!"
"I send [Armed Dragon Thunder LV5] from my hand to the Graveyard, and Special Summon [Pile Armed Dragon] in Attack Position!"
A monstrous dragon covered in blades erupted onto the field, its knees fitted with massive drills, its right arm a cluster of five piledrivers spinning like a jackhammer.
[Pile Armed Dragon] Level 7│WIND│Dragon│2800 ATK / 1000 DEF
Morgan blinked—an Armed Dragon Deck? It had power; even so, it was mostly nostalgia. Its boss was strong but hard to summon, so most builds splashed it into other archetypes for their finishers.
Like overlaying into Mecha Phantom Beasts, then linking into Borrelsword Dragon.
Basically, it leaned on big Link Monsters for pressure. In this world without Borrelsword, Armed Dragon's strength was questionable.
Morgan could already tell from his Deck that Warner wasn't a top pro.
From the crowd, Isla scowled the moment she saw the Armed Dragon. She knew immediately who Morgan's opponent was, and her face twisted with disgust. Her friend had been one of Warner's victims—misled and left broken. After a long recovery, that friend had quietly moved away to start over.
And now Warner stood here, arrogantly challenging Morgan.
Isla's anger boiled over. She shouted:
"Morgan, teach that bastard a lesson!"
Hearing her, Warner turned and glared. How dare a student call him that? He'd make her pay later.
Though the name Morgan… it sounded familiar. Albeit he'd been too busy chasing women to follow the competitive scene.
He gave up thinking about it and continued his combo.
Morgan, meanwhile, noted Isla's fury. It was the first time she'd seen Isla so mad. However, Morgan didn't need the reminder—she already intended to crush Warner.
"Next, I activate the effect of [Armed Dragon Thunder LV5] in the Graveyard!"
"If this card is sent to the Graveyard to activate a Dragon's effect, I can add 1 Level 5 or higher WIND Dragon from my Deck to my hand."
"I add [Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms] to my hand!"
Morgan raised a brow. Adding Dragon Rulers to boost consistency, was he?
Tempest could Special Summon itself by banishing WIND Dragons from the Graveyard—decent synergy with Armed Dragon. However, it was just another extender, nothing that fixed the Deck's weaknesses.
Warner wasn't done. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, failing to put up a proper board on turn one was basically a defeat.
"I activate the effect of [Pile Armed Dragon]!"
"Send 1 [Armed Dragon] monster other than [Pile Armed Dragon] from my hand or Deck to the Graveyard, then target 1 face-up monster I control. This turn, that monster can be the only one that attacks, and it gains ATK equal to the sent monster's Level × 300."
"I send [Armed Dragon Thunder LV7] from my Deck to the Graveyard, boosting [Pile Armed Dragon]'s ATK by 2100!"
Its Attack surged to 4900.
Not much control, but brute force alone could crush many Decks.
Warner grinned proudly, though after a moment, his smile faltered. No gasps of awe from the crowd. Were these students so ignorant that they didn't even react to a 4900-ATK monster?
In truth, after watching Morgan's duels, they were numb. A high-Attack beater offered no real security compared to monsters with full protections.
Unaware, Warner pressed on.
"I activate the effect of [Armed Dragon Thunder LV7] in the Graveyard!"
"If this card is sent to the Graveyard to activate a Dragon's effect, I can add 1 [Armed Dragon] card from my Deck to my hand."
"I add [Armed Dragon Lightning] to my hand!"
He immediately slapped it onto his Duel Disk.
"I activate the Continuous Spell [Armed Dragon Lightning]!"
"Target 1 [Armed Dragon] monster I control; it gains ATK equal to its Level × 100."
"[Pile Armed Dragon]'s Attack rises again!"
Level 7 meant another 700 boost—5600 ATK.
Warner nodded with satisfaction. Against a student, that was plenty.
"I end my turn," he declared confidently.
The crowd murmured again.
Morgan simply smiled at Warner. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, you didn't always need to overpower monsters with raw Attack. There were simpler ways. And victory didn't always mean depleting Life Points—if your opponent ran out of cards to draw, you still won by the rules.
Placing her hand on her Deck, Morgan declared:
"My turn—draw!"
...
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