CH 11: First Duel Spirit

Alistair :"Did you know that you can give fake money to homeless people?"

Zane :"You're a different breed of messed up, you know that?"

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"Yeah, you go, Al!" Jaden cheered as the duel ended. After winking at him and ignoring the other's shocked reactions, he walked towards Chazz, who had fallen because of the "impact" of the duel, and held up a hand for the boy who was in disbelief.

Seeing Alistair's hand, he frowned :"What do you want now? Don't tell me you want to get chummy with me now." But Alistair scoffed :"What nonsense are you saying? Hand me your deck, bitch. Did you forget the bet with our cards in the line?"

"Oh..." Chazz's face turned even more sour as he handed over his deck (ಠಿ⁠_⁠ಠ) reluctantly :"Fine, take what you want, damnit."

Alistair wasn't shy. He grabbed the deck before looking through it, his system active to see their rarity :"Chummy he says. What nonsense?"

After looking for a bit, he finally saw two UR cards. Graceful Charity and Pot of Greed. He smiled :'Oh, baby~! Right, there isn't a ban list here, so these are all free to be used! But well, I'm not taking these to use them. I've got a more important use for them.'

Without thinking much, he grabbed Pot of Greed and handed the deck back :"There, I was feeling nice, so I just took your Pot of Greed." 'Which lets you draw two cards, kekekeke.'

"What?" Chazz looked up in confusion :"Just... Pot of Greed? You're picking that?" Alistair deadpanned :"You want me to take something more important? Anyway, I'm content with this, so enjoy my mercy."

As Chazz looked down, he gritted his teeth, glaring at Alistair's back :"One day, I'll pay back this humiliation, you hear me?!"

Alistair shrugged without looking back :"Sure, knock yourself out. I'm always up to a duel where I can make a killing." 'Hahahaha, especially considering the DP and MDDP you give.'

[Defeating a Legendary Duelist: 5,000 MDDP

Lv 1 Bonus: 10% (500)

Overkill Additional Reward: +50% (2,500)

Final Reward: 8,000 MDDP

Total MDDP: 16,000 MDDP

-

Defeating an Obelisk Blue: 2,000 DP

Total DP: 2,000]

'Perfect~!' He smiled at the notification on his PDA before putting it back in his pocket. He smirked at the group :"And that's how it's done. Learn anything new?"

"You bet!" Jaden smiled excitedly :"That was the coolest duel ever! Makes me riled up for when I get to finally duel you! Hey, you know what? Why don't we duel right now?! The arena is perfect for dueling!"

Alistair chuckled in amusement, but before he could answer, the sound of footsteps reached their ears. Alexis's eyes widened :"Uh, guys?! We got company, campus security. If they find us all in here, we'll get seriously busted!"

"What?!" Syrus exclaimed, while Jaden looked confused :"Why? I mean, we're all students here."

Alexis pulled out her PDA :"The rules say no off-hour arena duels. Chazz knows that. But let me guess, he didn't tell you." She turned to Zane and Alistair :"Which confuses me since you didn't tell them either."

The two looked away awkwardly :"We wouldn't be caught."

She shook her head :"It doesn't matter, we need to get out of here quickly.

Syrus nodded nervously :"She's right! Come on, let's go! I don't want to get in trouble on the first day of school!"

Jaden groaned :"Aww, so no duels for me today, huh?"

Nodding at each other, they all took a run for it. And thanks to Zane and Alexis knowing the back way out, they successfully sneaked out. Alistair stretched happily once outside :"Yeah, this is what I call a fun night!"

"Yeah, I would've had fun too if not for you..." Jaden pouted. Chuckling, he slapped his back :"Come on, cheer up already! It's not like you can't duel later. But thanks for letting me have this though."

Jaden smiled :"Anytime, bro. Well, I guess that's that! Shall we head back to our dorms then?" He yawned tiredly :"I'm really sleepy now that the duel's over." (A/N: Behold, the contagious yawn!)

"Alright then, goodnight, Jaden, Syrus." Alistair bid farewell along with Zane and Alexis before parting ways. After walking for a bit and talking about the duel, the three parted ways and Alistair finally went back to his dorm.

Locking the door, putting his deck aside and changing into something comfortable, he fell back on the amazing deck with a satisfied groan :"Man, today sure was eventful."

'Not only did I get to meet Zane, one of the best characters who got done dirty, but I also got to meet Alexis. And damn, was she seriously gorgeous! She's definitely the most beautiful girl I've ever seen personally. Made me swoon hahaha.

But best of all, not only did I get my hands on a dispensable UR card, my MDDP reached 16k! I guess I was too worried about getting the good cards. I've only dueled twice, and I'm now just 9k short of having enough to buy a UR card.'

(A/N: Again, just jokes from here on. Or is it a joke...? Just remember, if it makes you feel better, Aluber is depicted as a femboy 👀 here. So unlike with Zane, this isn't big, muscular sweaty men acting sus in the gym. Unfortunately.)

His attention was attracted by the spirit that left his deck and moved to his bed :"Hey~, master." Suddenly, Aluber appeared on top of him, hands on both sides of his head and trapping his large body underneath his small one :"How you doin, good lookin?"

"...What are you doing?" Alistair looked baffled :"Wait, now that I think about it, you really act sus. You acted like this in the afternoon too. What's with your sus behavior?"

Aluber smiled down at him :"I don't know, ever thought that I might actually be gay?"

Alistair tightened his pursed lips :"...Well, no, I didn't, actually. Are you gay?"

Aluber licked his teeth, a hungry look on his face :"No, I'm straight. About as straight as a circle, or straight as a maze. I mean, come on, just look at you. I love this view, but I'd like it better if it was reversed."

Sucking a sharp breath through his teeth, he lowered himself to Alistair's ear :"Just with my face down, and ass up with you behind me as you-" But he was interrupted by a hand grabbing his collar and pulling him off :"Alright, that's enough, Aluber."

Looking down, he saw First Darklord holding Aluber up by the back of his collar :"Don't you see you're making master uncomfortable?" He looked at Aluber sternly, making him pout :"You're no fun. We're just joking around. And besides..."

His sultry gaze moved to Alistair's privates, where a deadly weapon was threatening to burst through his pants :"I don't think master is uncomfortable in a bad way."

"Master." First Darklord looked at him judgingly, making him cough into his fist awkwardly as he sat up :"Anyway, ignoring this whole thing," Making Aluber snicker and for First Darklord to roll his eyes :"Can we get to the important business?"

"More important than bree-" Aluber tried again, but was met with glares from both men :"Aluber." Making him pout :"Hmph, you two are no fun. Fine, we can get to business."

Alistair :"Thanks. So how will this work again?"

Escaping from First Darklord's hold, Aluber explained :"It's simple. Basically, you find a Lv 1 monster with a duel spirit, you both reach an agreement to form a bond, and voila! You've got yourself a duel spirit! The duel spirit will then proceed to bonding with your soul, and all of your physical and magical abilities will be empowered when you've fully bonded! Simple, see?"

Alistair hummed :"Yeah, it is. But isn't that —too— simple? I don't know, I thought it would be more complicated. Like, weird rituals and such."

Aluber snickered :"Master, you're bonding with a duel spirit, not summoning a demon."

Alistair glared :"Why, you little..."

First Darklord :"I understand your point, but it really is that simple. The two parties just need to agree, then they need to accept each other. The process of bonding might be a bit painful depending on the difference between your strength and the strength of the duel spirit, but as long as the difference isn't too large, there won't be any dangers.

That's why we said that you should only bond with Lv 1 monsters since your soul is still weak. After your soul gets stronger, which will cause your body to become stronger as well, you'll be able to bond with Lv 2 monsters. Then when you're strong enough, Lv 3. That's how it goes."

Aluber :"And if you don't do it that way, you'll uhh... you'll kinda explode! So be careful not to do that."

Alistair :"Yeah, doesn't sound like such a fun experience, so I'll be careful. So now I just need a Lv 1 monster with a duel spirit, right?"

The two nodded.

He smirked :"Then I've got just the monster for it."

Opening the system, he saw Pot of Greed as the newest obtained card. Mentally clicking on it, he saw the Dismantle and Generate buttons light up in red and blue respectively.

As they watched, his smile turned funny :"I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw 25k points!" And wheezed to himself as he dismantled the card while the two duel spirits chuckled in amusement.

[MDDP: 16k -> 41k]

"Alright, enough joking around." His laughter turned into an evil smirk :"Let's get down to business. And when it comes to Lv 1 monsters, who comes to mind more than this cute bastard?"

Typing in the name, he hit that Solo Leveling smile :"Now, old friend, how about we wreak havoc in this world too?! Come on out, Snake-Eyes Poplar!"

[Snake-Eyes Poplar: Pyro/ Effect/ Fire/ Lv 1/ 700 ATK/ 200 Def

Effect(s): If this card is added to your hand, except by drawing it: You can Special Summon this card. If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 "Snake-Eye" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand. If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 FIRE monster in your GY; place it face-up in its owner's Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell. You can only use each effect of "Snake-Eyes Poplar" once per turn.]

[MDDP: 41k -> 16k]

As the card was crafted, it appeared in his hand before a red colored spirit emerged :"Kyu!" Snake-Eyes Poplar came out with an excited squeak as his small form latched onto Alistair's hand happily, squeaking constantly to show his thrill to be with him again.

"Aww, hey, Poplar!" Alistair cooed, scratching his back and head fondly, careful to not touch the big eye on his head. Poplar was always adorable, but seeing it alive just made his heart skip a beat from his cuteness. He was tiny, about the same size as Winged Kuriboh, but he just looked so much more adorable.

But who didn't know that under that cuteness, he was one of the deadliest Lv 1 monsters there is? Originally, Alistair had thought of Effect Veiler and Linked Kuriboh as options too.

However, he could only bond with Linked Kuriboh after being able to bond with Lv 2 duel spirits, and he just liked Snake-Eyes Poplar more than Effect Veiler. He liked Effect Veiler a lot too, and was going to bond with her later, but he wanted Snake-Eyes Poplar as his signature duel spirit. (A/N: Yes, Effect Veiler isn't a twink femboy. I'm devastated.)

Like how Jaden's was Winged Kuriboh and Jesse's was Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle. Cuteness was the trend with duel spirits after all.

"Then, old friend, wanna bond?" He asked with a smile, and Poplar quickly nodded his head again and again :"Kyu! Kyu kyu!" Causing Alistair to smile :"Glad to see you have my back. Then, shall we start?"

"Kyu!!" With a loud cheer, Poplar turned into a red light again before moving into his chest. As he disappeared inside him, Alistair braced himself. But all he felt after a moment was an amazing sense of comfort and warmth spreading throughout him.

It was like something deep within him stepped into a warm sauna, finally earning some comfort after being ignored for years, and causing his entire body to revitalize.

And not just that. But with the warmth that spread throughout him, he felt every muscle and bone of his body get stronger whenever the warmth enveloped them.

He found himself sighing comfortably at the sensation as a sudden sleepiness hit him, making his eyes feel heavy. His head and shoulders slumped as if he hadn't slept for days, staying awake getting more and more difficult by the second.

"It's alright, master. Rest." He heard First Darklord's words, before a hand on his shoulder gently forced him to lay down :"It's all part of the process. Sleeping will make this even easier. Now rest. Leave everything to Poplar."

He couldn't find it in him to do anything but nod. Letting First Darklord cover him with his blanket before he passed out right away. As he fell asleep, Aluber raised an eyebrow at First Darklord :"Weren't we duel spirits supposed to be unable to interact with the physical world? How did you just touch him?"

First Darklord answered calmly :"For a duel spirit of my power, this is nothing. Now let's go back. We don't want to disturb his sleep. After he wakes up, he'll feel better than ever."

Nodding in agreement, they both disappeared into their own cards, letting Alistair rest and calmly bond with his first duel spirit.