"Mystified" (028)

"ENROKONAI CITY," a vast civilization teeming with Duelists vying for the top spot.

The 'Dueling Systems' itself are the most popular pastime in such a setting.

The Dueling Academy is recognized for producing the best Duelists, with newcomers rising through the ranks to become pros! People learn their essentials at this "School," which is filled by thousands of Duelists, but the most current activities are their training sessions, which are scheduled three times a week.

The Academy is made up of people of many races, with the bulk of them being Humans and a small number of them being Half-Demons. Dueling is a part of their traditional training sessions, often known as the 'War Race' or 'Five Versus Five.'

Despite the fact that the world appears to be in a state of chaos, the Dueling is mostly for entertainment, and no one is murdered. (Thanks to the 'Zero Watches' for casting Spiritual Shields.)

And the majority of Duelists are tasked with eliminating the top three Duelists!

- Number 3 on the leaderboard: whose title is "King" and whose true name is Tsuji Rokuro.

Then there's;

- Number 2 on the leaderboard: whose title is "Devil" and whose real name is Sakata Hisako!

And their top tier duelist, the legend himself and Number 1;

"Silver," whose real name is Takei Shigeo, managed to reach the highest ranking between both "King" and "Devil" for a massive amount of Battle Score.

Their championships are a sign of good luck, as none of them have ever lost to lower-tier ranks.

The three champions are known as the "Dueling Masters," and they battle with one another in order to maintain or lose their reign as champions.

- Enrokonai City (Train Station), Monday, 7:30 pm -

The Train Station is a meeting place for those who want to travel greater distances.

A girl sat on the bench, a sharp blade next to her, a larger bag on the side, and a cap over her head, clothed in a black tank top and trousers.

The train came just then, and the doors slid open.

The same kid who had been following the Academy earlier emerged, wearing his black hoodie once more. "That's interesting... Now that you've come, should I assume you've captured the photos? You didn't let us down, did you?"

The young man took a step forward and dug into his pockets, revealing the photographs he had taken. "They aren't awful, I guess... Who the heck is that, though?" The girl was perplexed by the blonde-haired girl in front of Ayuka.

"Dunno... I'm guessing it's a new student..."

"She doesn't appear to be a problem, but who knows... Okay, I guess I'm not going to have to murder you right now... Get your feet going..." After twirling the sword, the girl rose up and reached for the hilt, only to lean it against her back.

"... Doing this nonsense is already a little ridiculous... Why do you need these pictures in the first place?" The wind blew through the covered boy's white hair, which was slightly tucked out.

"... Yujiro ... What's the issue? You're not retreating from the arrangement, are you?" She went to take a look at Yujiro. "Imagine a scenario in which I said, that I may. What would you do then?"

"Well... I assume there could be no other options except to kill you... You'll work with me except if death is your wish..." She immediately strolled right to the front of Yujiro's face.

"I simply agreed to help for one reason. Yet, it seems like you're utilizing me, rather than going yourself. Assuming you're frightened to follow them down, I don't figure you ought to continue with it..."

"Yujiro... We're not doing this once again, are we?" Yet it occurred, when Yujiro extended his arm to one side, calling a sword, that showed up incredibly uncommon and significant.

"I guess we're thinking about Dueling..." The young lady reached for her back, grabbed the sword's handle, and pointed it forward.

"... I need to know precisely what you would do with those students... they're totally guiltless as I would like to think. Truly, I'd be dumb on the off chance that we saw them getting killed, or, in any event... how would you mean of striking them down? There's unreasonably a significant number of them for you to fight..."

"I have my own specific manners... Above all, to deal with, first seems to be you... Yujiro."

"Major mistake...." Yujiro extended his sword forward, with his blade pointed forward. At the moment, his Burning Flames drove itself out, and a blue sparkle seemed to blast out from his right eye.

The vibrations were released from his body and the dark blade erupted out blue flares, and the younger girl standing before him became concerned.

"I thought you had no abilities..." She asserted, rapidly picking the sword when Yujiro's concealed eyes kept on the excess mystery.

"We're warming the spot... You're not trying to harm these people, are you?" Be that as Yujiro denied it. "They'll be fine... I'll ensure."

The fire that was raging through the tip began to get more ferocious. "Should we wrap this up?" Finally, Yujiro swung his sword across his chest, twisting it and caused the flames to spread from his body, alarming the girl.

But eventually, Yujiro sliced forward, unleashing a crescent wave of blazing blue fire, leading the girl to cut straight into it, pushing the flames to the side, and the sparking embers falling just in front of the girl's grin.

She bowed forward and raced to the front of Yujiro, who moved back and pushed the sword forward after pushing the flames from burning her.

The blades of the girl and Yujiro clashed, and the girl was square in the middle of Yujiro's stomach when she slipped the sword over the metal of Yujiro's blade and sliced it downward.

Yujiro, on the other hand, flung his free arm forward, allowing her to slash it, and as the blood spurted, he chose to put some distance between them while inspecting his wound.

The girl continued her movement by stepping forward and spinning before slicing above her head to the very bottom of the pavement, sending out a powerful purple slash that Yujiro was able to reach by bouncing high into the air and pressing his feet into the walls.

And from there, he launched himself into a front flip, leaping above the slice, landing flawlessly, and then noticing how the slice cleaved through the wall, splitting it in half and even releasing significant vibration.

Before detecting the trigger explosion behind his back, Yujiro had to grip his hood and shield the side of his body to avoid being blasted away.

"Don't you see what I'm talking about? You can fight me, but it won't help you. I'm a lot better duelist than you ever could be!" Yujiro didn't appear to mind that she had a big ego.

"You talk big..." Yujiro looked aside as he pointed his hand over his shoulder, then quickly gathered blue fire in one point of his palm, startling the female.

"Burning Rupture..." The blue flames quickly increased their heat, and a tremendous blast of fire erupted, prompting the girl's eyes to tremble in astonishment and crossing both arms.

Despite her efforts to defend herself, the flames engulfed her and ignited themselves immediately. When people from the city were able to view it, a flaming explosion surged high into the air and broke through the roof, shattering the ceiling.

Yujiro's sword vanished, and he put his hands in his pockets before walking away and being photographed.

"That guy is really cool... I'd want to know your rank and name." Yujiro was about to breathe when a girl inquired. He stepped past them, carefully moving his arm to push them away.

They were perplexed when they noticed Yujiro was also wearing a camera around his neck.

- Enrokonai City (Legacy Consortium), Monday, 9:10 pm -

Our Heroes were watching television, while Ayuka and Nina were doing their homework for school.

"What are you doing viewing this bizarre channel? It's really strange..." Elliot pondered, his shoulders clenched in anguish. "It's entertaining..." Before Kylin spoke, Codey yawned.

"It is, without a doubt, entertaining... You've already had your fill of boredom..." She took up a book till she received a reply. "Shut up..." Tim walked through the doors with a bag and his blue jacket as Codey changed the channel and the door to the entryway opened.

"What were you doing for such a long time? We were worried you'd gone missing or something..." When Nina turned to face him, Ayuka spoke out. "Did you forget about the groceries I picked up?" Ayuka felt uneasy as he showed them the bag.

"Oh, I completely forgot about that... Sorry..."

"Yo, Tim! Take a look at this." After gazing at the television, Tim took a step closer to Codey. "Wassup?"

"Look what occurred at the Train Station... There was a Duel. A male in a black hoodie had fought off a girl using the same sort of Kineticism that you had employed previously."

"Let me have a look..." Tim gradually detected a tremendous bomb destroying the railway station's ceiling after watching the clip. "Do you see it?"

"It's been a long time since I've seen someone employ that Kineticism, other than me." Tim grinned as he tossed the bag to the side. "I know, I know... It's been so long that it nearly feels like you had a brother."

"That's the very last thing I'd want... After all, the Blue Flame Kineticism isn't exactly uncommon, so it's no wonder he utilized it..."

"Yes, but it still takes me back to the old days. It's as though we've gone back in time."

"We... basically are, Codey," Tim said, a smirk on his face. "Wait a minute, let me look at it again." Ayuka took a step forward and took the remote, repeating the film and zoomed in on the child.

"That hoodie in black... It reminds me of something I've seen before..." Everyone got perplexed. "What do you mean?" With a sidelong glance at her, Tim asked the following inquiry.

"I had the impression that someone had taken a picture of Nina and me in the cafeteria... The guy vanished the instant I glanced, but I had a fleeting glimpse of the black hoodie... Maybe he was the one who took our pictures..." Nina raised her pen in bewilderment.

"Are you certain?"

"It's understandable since the man has a camera... Isn't that so?"

"Oh... You're right..."

"Now that we've seen it, perhaps we'll be able to figure out why he did it... Are you up to the challenge?" Tim got perplexed and bored.

"Sure! But why are you interested in finding out?"

"Who knows, really... What if there's someone to be concerned about... Although you are unable to fight due to the loss of your Blade, you may still assist us in our quest..."

Tim groaned and drew his arms around his chest. "I guess I don't have a choice... Sure, I'll try my hardest."

"Sure, if that's what you want. We'll back you up!" Others agreed with Codey's chuckle.

"If you don't mind, I can assist as well." Everyone was perplexed by Nina's approach.

"That'd be fantastic! We'll have a better chance if we have more power on our side!" Ayuka laughed, but it made Nina feel embarrassed.

("They said, more power... I wish I had some...") Nina averted her gaze, and their first night together came to an end. Nina, on the other hand, arrived home after 9 o'clock.

Tim took a shower after brushing his teeth at the end of the night.

"... They can rejoice in their newfound ability... All I can do is stand by and watch... I truly can't do anything... I'm confident, though, that I'll discover a solution..."

Tim shrieked as soon as he turned the water on. "It hurts so much! It's scorching outside the skin!" Tim exclaimed, sighing, sensing the hot water on his body.

"Unless... maybe if I-"

To be continued...