Chapter 33
Rowan glanced at the System Shop with mild anticipation -- it had refreshed again today.
[System Shop (Refreshes randomly once every two days, offering four exchangeable options per refresh)]
Today's Options: [Deck: Arcana Force Deck (Sartorius Edition)] -- 500 Points [Deck: Morphing Jar Deck (Brutal Hand Destruction Build)] -- 1,000 Points [Deck: Yata-Garasu Deck (Brutal Burn Build)] -- 1,500 Points [Skill: Mark of the Crimson Dragon -- Dragon's Head (The Crimson Dragon's protective power, nullifying all negative damage inflicted by Dark Duels)] -- 3,000 Points
"Mark of the Crimson Dragon... Dragon's Head?!"
His eyes lit up the moment he saw it.
Under normal duel conditions, damage dealt by Duel Monsters didn't cause real harm.
At most, it left a brief sting -- a surface-level pain response with nothing behind it.
The power of Duel Spirits couldn't fully manifest in the real world. It couldn't materialize and physically injure anyone.
But Rowan knew.
In this world, Dark Duels existed -- duels that could cause genuine, bodily harm.
Anyone who could channel even a fraction of a Duel Spirit's power, or who possessed a special Dark Item, gained the ability to conduct a Dark Duel.
In such a duel, the temporarily manifested monsters would bleed their strength into reality, inflicting actual wounds on actual people.
Take enough damage, and even with life points still on the board, a duelist might not be able to stand back up.
Win the duel outright and you could still walk away seriously injured.
Worst of all, losing a Dark Duel was devastating. It was, in every sense of the phrase, gambling with your life.
Rowan had already been turning the question over in his mind -- what would he do if he ever found himself dragged into one?
Then the shop refreshed, and handed him exactly what he needed.
[Skill: Mark of the Crimson Dragon -- Dragon's Head (The Crimson Dragon's protective power, nullifying all negative damage inflicted by Dark Duels)] -- 3,000 Points
"If a Dragon's Head mark exists, I wonder if there's also a Dragon's Tail, Dragon's Wings..." he muttered, rubbing his chin.
It made him think of an entity that, by all rights, shouldn't appear in this era for countless years yet.
A Crimson Dragon whose power rivaled the Three Egyptian Gods. A being that carried the name of a divine.
Could it be that the skill he was about to redeem was something equivalent to that Duel Spirit's divine authority?
The thought sat heavy in his chest for a moment.
"If that's the case," he said, a small smile curling at the corner of his mouth, "then this is a serious jackpot."
Regardless of what it truly was, his mind was made up. Protection against Dark Duels was non-negotiable.
A new deck could wait.
His Lava Golem lockdown build -- that oppressive, soul-draining masterpiece -- hadn't even gotten to show its full potential last night anyway.
The one mildly irritating wrinkle: while the Dragon's Head skill was exactly what he wanted, the price had jumped from the 2,000 points he'd spent on Spirit Vision all the way to 3,000.
He was sitting at 2,200.
Not quite there.
Rowan felt the faint sting of mild inconvenience.
Still, the gap wasn't insurmountable. If he remembered right, there was a practical duel session scheduled for this afternoon.
Some unfortunate soul would inevitably be assigned as his opponent.
Perfect. A free opportunity to farm some emotion points.
...
While Rowan was skimming the shop mid-alchemy lecture and sneaking in a nap on the side, the mood elsewhere on campus was considerably less relaxed.
In the office of the head supervisor for practical dueling, Dr. Crowler paced furiously behind his desk, face twisted with anxiety, muttering to himself in frantic search of a solution.
"I have absolutely no idea whether that photo the Slifer Slacker Rowan took last night actually caught my face."
"At this rate, before I even manage to get that dropout notice processed, Chancellor Sheppard is going to see that photo and have me fired first. Mamma mia!"
The moment he pictured Rowan strolling into the Chancellor's office and handing over the photograph, Crowler let out a strangled noise and shook his mushroom-cloud hairdo in rapid, panicked denial.
"No, no, absolutely not!"
"I need to keep that Slifer boy calm first. Then I'll find a way to hire that duelist everyone's been whispering about -- get them to challenge Rowan and win that photo back."
"Yes. That is a brilliant plan. That is exactly what I'll do."
He nodded to himself with a self-satisfied air, eyes drifting into that involuntary, cartoonish spin he always got when he was scheming.
Click.
The office door swung open.
Crowler scrambled in an instant -- darting back behind his desk, dropping into his chair, folding his hands, and arranging his face into something that resembled authority.
Then he saw who was standing in the doorway.
Jaden Yuki, visibly thrown off by what he'd just witnessed.
Behind Jaden, Syrus Truesdale was tugging urgently at his sleeve, whispering at him to please just leave, apparently not yet noticed.
"Um... Professor Crowler." Jaden scratched his cheek with the mild awkwardness of someone who had absolutely seen everything.
"About the opponent for this afternoon's practical session, I wanted to request that my match be against Chazz..."
"Entering without knocking. Completely unacceptable."
Crowler cut him off, face stiffening into a mask of offended dignity.
"Slifer Red delinquents -- Jaden Yuki, and Syrus..."
The scolding was still forming in his throat when he caught sight of a third figure stepping out from behind the other two.
Rowan. Hands loose at his sides, utterly unbothered.
Crowler froze solid.
"Ah -- ah, yes! I see that Ro-Rowan is here as well!" The stiffness evaporated in an instant.
His voice dropped into something that tried very hard to sound warm and accommodating.
"Regarding the arrangement of opponents for this afternoon's practical session, as the head supervisor of practical dueling, I believe each student's individual circumstances deserve careful, personalized consideration."
"How about this -- why don't we assign Syrus as your opponent? How does that sound?"
The one-hundred-and-eighty-degree reversal landed like a thunderclap. Crowler's smile was plastered across his face in the exact strained, unnatural shape of a Pot of Greed, the corner of his mouth twitching every few seconds.
A bead of cold sweat glistened on his forehead.
Internally: keep the Slifer boy happy. Give him a manageable opponent.
Secure his practical credit and buy some breathing room.
"EHH?!"
Syrus let out a full-body flinch and a yelp he couldn't suppress.
He had only tagged along to back up Jaden's request to switch opponents to Chazz's older brother.
He had not signed up to become the sacrificial offering himself.
He did not want to be put through another round of Rowan's soul-crushing Lava Golem deck.
Jaden stared.
Just moments ago, Crowler had been nowhere close to this agreeable when Jaden had opened his mouth.
What on earth had changed the second Rowan stepped into view?
"...Huh."
Even Rowan was a little thrown off by whatever Dr. Crowler was doing.