Life can be good
The whole class was silent after watching a Slifer beat an Obelisk in the first duel of the year. To most of the other students it could hardly be called a fair match as Clay was clearly in control that whole match.
"Hey Yamada, make sure to do my homework really well. I expect an A." Turning around and walking to a seat in the front row, Clay reminded Yamada about the deal that was made for this duel.
"You damn Slifer, why would I do your work!" Yamada was on his knees after his defeat, but after hearing Clay use the same line he used he seemed to gain a second wind.
"Now, now, Yamada. A deal is a deal and you lost so you will have to do his work tonight." Dr. Crowler piped in when Yamada cried in frustration. "Now go and take your seat so we may continue the rest of the lesson."
Yamada after hearing his instructions reluctantly got up and walked back up to his seat with the other Obelisk blues. After sitting he glared in the direction of Clay ignoring the remarks of his fellow students.
The target of his glare couldn't have been more oblivious to the anger being directed in his direction. Sitting in his seat Clay was being congratulated by all of the Slifer's at his incredible dueling skills.
"That was awesome."
"I've never seen anyone duel like that."
"I can't believe you beat an Obelisk."
Clay just nodded his head and accepted their praise while looking up at a particular student. In the midst of the Obelisk blues was a female student with blonde hair looking down at him. He smiled in her direction and she responds by rolling her eyes and looking away.
'Well maybe this life won't be all bad.'
"Hey Clay, that was a pretty sweet duel. I've never seen anyone duel like you did." The Kuriboh haired boy also went and complimented Clay. "Hi, I'm Jaden Yuki and I'm gonna be the next king of games!"
Jaden declared his future title with a huge smile on his face, and the people around him couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"What you all laughing at, just you wait and see." Jaden declared to the rest of his classmates still with his ever present smile on his face.
"Jaden to become the king of games you need to be the best of the best, and that's obviously an Obelisk student." A high pitched voice piped his opinion into the conversation. "Hi, I'm Syrus Truesdale."
A short boy with blue downward spiked hair introduced himself to Clay. Clay already knew who he was but he acted as if this was their first meeting. It would be really creepy if someone you never met knew your name after all.
"Hi, I'm Clay and I guess we are going to be dorm mates for a while." Finishing their greetings Clay returned his attention to the front of the class. The class was about duel theory and how to play traps cards today.
Having played the game for years before he came here, Clay was well versed in how the game worked. They had even gotten a bunch of new summoning techniques that weren't even invented in this world. Finding out that the other students were having trouble answering some of the most basic questions, Clay couldn't help but wonder how the hell they were going to become pro duelists.
"Jaden, I'm gonna snooze through this class, tell me when it's over would ya?" Crossing his arms on the desk, Clay laid his head down are started snoozing. Without realizing it, Clay had started snoring in class.
"Mr. Clay, this is a classroom, not a nap room. If you don't want to be here then I will implore you to leave." Dr. Crowler didn't appreciate slackers in his class and he especially didn't like the Slifer students who were known as the slackers.
His words didn't even register to Clay as he kept snoring away without a care in the world. This was amusing to the other students, but one look from Crowler stopped them from laughing. The class continued, trying their best to ignore the constant sounds of a careless man catching up on his rest.
The rest of the day went off without a hitch and Clay finally made it back to his room. After settling down, Clay remembered something that had slipped his mind. The students at duel academy received something called a PDA that allowed them to see how much money they had and challenge others to a duel.
After the duel with Yamada Clay was sure that he would have at least some DP to start paying back Professor Banner. He forgot to grab his PDA in the morning so he couldn't check his earnings in class. Walking over to the desk his PDA was resting on, Clay opened it and looked at his account.
Clay, Slifer Red, DP: 1,500
From that one duel alone Clay had managed to make enough money to pay back Banner for his loan this morning. Knowing this he walked straight to the teachers room and knocked on the door.
"Come in." The voice of Banner called out to Clay and he opened the door and walked into the room. "Ah, Clay to what to I owe the pleasure, not another loan I hope." Banner joked.
"No Professor, I actually came to return the loan that you gave me this morning." Clay pulled out his PDA but before he could payback the money Banner stopped him.
"There is no need to do that. Just knowing that you keep your promises is enough for me to know that you deserved the money I lent you." Banner had a smile on his face as he denied the money. "I must say, I was not expecting you to earn the money this quickly though. You must be an especially gifted duelist to win with only cards from a few booster packs."
"Heh, you could say that I like finding strategies with some of the odd cards. Plus when your opponents only know how to use strong monsters and never think of strategies it can be pretty easy to win."
"Well, whatever the case I appreciate the gesture of you trying to pay me back but I must refuse. Also, I would remind you that not all students are going to use straight forward strategies." Banner had suddenly turned into teacher mode, lecturing Clay on his confidence and how it could be turned against him.
After about half an hour of chatting with Professor Banner, Clay got up and left the room, heading back to his own. He looked at the clock on the wall, and noted that it was only 5:30. He had plenty of time to go back to the shop and get some cards with his newly earned DP.
Doing just that, Clay grabbed his jacket and started dashing as fast as he could to the shop. When he arrived he say Ms. Dorothy outside the shop dragging some chairs inside, getting ready to close for the day.
"Hey, Ms. Dorothy, you aren't closing are you?" Clay called out to the shop owner working away. She looked up and seeing who it was she smiled.
"Ah, you're the boy from this morning aren't you? We will be closing in a few minutes but you should be able to find what you need in that time. Come on in." Ms. Dorothy stopped what she was doing and walked behind the counter.
"Thank you. If you were closed I would have been so upset after running all the way here." Clay was once again bent over catching his breath for the second time that day. After a few moments of huffing and panting, he walked over to the shelfs and inspected the card packs.
Being in such a rush this morning he didn't have the chance to inspect the packs for anything he could use. Now with a more lenient time restraint he carefully inspected the packs, searching for certain cards he may need.
He found a few packs that contained cards he needed, but he couldn't afford to get all the packs with his small amount of DP. After deliberating, he decided to grab 3 packs that contained traps and 2 packs that contained spells.
"Just these ones for now Ms. Dorothy." He laid out his packs on the counter and waited for the purchase to go through. "Also, do you need any help dragging those chairs inside? I don't have any homework to do and not much to do at my place so I can help if you need."
Dorothy looked at Clay and smiled, she liked that this boy was offering to help after she stayed open a bit later for him than usual.
"I would greatly appreciate that. I'll finish the purchase while you go and grab a few chairs."
Clay walked away from the counter and to the front of the store where stray chairs were placed. He grabbed a few and started stacking them to save going on multiple trips. A few minutes later and the front of the store was clear and the store was ready to closed for the day.
"Thank you dear, here are your cards and a little thank you gift from me for helping out." Ms. Dorothy handed a plastic bag to Clay with a big smile on her face.
"You didn't have to do that, I know that I made you stay open later than you should have so I should be apologizing instead of taking cards from you." Clay bowed his head to Ms. Dorothy and waited her response.
"Oh, it's quite alright dear. Now you should be heading back to your dorm. Make sure you are ready for your classes again tomorrow." She waved her hands goodbye to Clay as he started walking away.
"See you later Ms. Dorothy." Clay turned and began running in the direction of the red dorm.
After another long run, he finally made it back to his room where he sat down at his desk. There was something that he noticed at the start of the day, but he hadn't acknowledged it, thinking it would disappear eventually, but it kept following him.
"So, what exactly are you guys?"