I took a seat on a bench, sipping from a water bottle as I checked my account balance with a pleased little smile on my face- even though my fingers were aching quite a bit.
A few days had passed since I'd officially registered as a Duelist, and I had used that time properly. I made my way through districts, Dueling anyone I could find. Over three days I had reversed a total of thirty people- mostly men, but a few women as well.
What surprised me was that everyone's decks really were just mish-mashes of whatever they could find. I mean, I certainly expected it... I guessed that was what happened when you weren't part of a family.
Whenever one of us found a card, we would really think about if the card was a better fit for our deck or for someone else's deck before handing it over to them. It did mean we took longer to actually finish our Decks, but it meant our decks at least had some form of synergy- other people's deck lacked that. They literally threw together anything they could find just to obtain the Stipend.
Luckily, it wasn't as if I was taking money from then unless I overkilled them. You obtained Lumins by duelling, you only took money from the defeated Duelist when you overkilled them- the excess damage dealt would show much money you obtained from them after beating them.
However, the truly surprising part was that I hadn't even started to build my Organization myself yet... Instead, Zack- the first person I duelled- took the initiative and began to build a force. Other Reversed fighters I defeated were slowly flocking towards him. The group was small- given it was only a few days old- but it was growing quickly.
Without me having to lift a finger, I'd likely be the Shadow Ruler of the lower districts within a few months.
However, I'd need to make sure the group didn't have an obviously evil name like so many organizations did... Iliaster, Society of Light, Rare Hunters, Barians... Just the impression they gave off was clearly evil, and it made people suspicious. Maybe I could borrow from CFV...
Team Foo Fighter?
It was good enough, I'd see about making sure Zack learned about that request when possible.
However, Lumins weren't the only thing I'd obtained from duelling...
VE: 50,000
I'd managed to build up quite a lot of Void Energy through Dueling, enough to finally start printing some good cards...
First things first, I grabbed a single Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity- 10,000 VE total. It was a big chunk to use up right away, but extremely worth it. And the only reason I didn't get three copies was because I had other cards that I had my eyes on.
The next cards I picked up were some powerful trap cards- Solemn Judgement, Transaction Rollback, and Storming Mirror Force. Solemn Judgement and Transaction Rollback were both 7,500, while Storming Mirror Force cost 5,000- putting my remaining VE at 20,000.
With all that done, my eyes turned to one of the two options I'd left untouched ever since I obtained the system- not even viewing it yet.
[Evolve.]
I silently selected the option.
[Evolution Tutorial.]
[This menu evolves your own or the cards of those who have 100 affections with you by using VE. Cards can evolve multiple times; however, it costs more with each subsequent evolution. Evolving a card will not erase the existing card- instead creating a new card representing the card's evolved form.]
"Dear Master," Alice's voice echoed in my ear. "That dark energy I've seen spiking when you duel is starting to circulate a lot. You wouldn't be planning anything, would you?" She asked innocently.
"This power is called Void Energy," I told Alice. "Using it, I can forcibly create cards... And also, forcibly evolve them..." I looked at her. "Do you want to evolve, Alice?"
The Duel Spirit stared at me for a moment and then smiled. "Oh my~ Asking to use such a foul energy on me~ It would almost certainly corrupt me, I might even become so loyal to you to the point of fanaticism..."
"Well, if you don't want to-"
"I didn't say that~" she smiled wickedly. "Do you know where I differ from the Silent Magician you know, Master?"
I remained silent.
"There is nothing I will not do in the name of power. The Silent Magician you know is silent because she is so powerful that she does not even need to chant her spells. I, on the other hand, am admittedly inferior. I found a forbidden tome, and performed a ritual as a shortcut to power..." Her eyes glistened wickedly. "Ever since then, I have been addicted to anything that can make me stronger. You are already my master, what is undying loyalty in the name of becoming even stronger?"
"... As you wish."
Would you like to evolve Silent Magician?
Cost: 20,000 VE
Yes.
Corrupted crimson energy enveloped Alice's form, a card slowly forming on the top of my Deck.
With that, the first Яeverse card was born into this world.
…
I made my way towards a small home on the outskirts of district too. Even halfway down the block, I could hear music blaring loudly along with the revving of an engine.
As I walked to the open garage, I saw a stunningly beautiful young woman- only a year or two older than Nicole- holding a wrench in her mouth as she twisted the bolt on a bike with a look of intense concentration on her face. Her black crop top strained against her large chest, and her brown baggy pants hung low on her body with her long purple jacket hanging over the back of a chair nearby.
The most striking part about her was the pair of robotic rabbit ears on top of her head- twitching every so often as if they were actually real and part of her body.
I banged on the open garage door, "Yo, Tabane!"
The woman turned to look at me, purple eyes lighting up at the sight of me. "Yu-chan!" She greeted with a lazy drawl, a smile crawling onto her face. "Did you come to see Big Sis Tabane?"
"Something like that," I chuckled as I made my way over to the chair and took a seat, while she turned off the music.
Tabane Fudo.
Based on her name alone, her identity was obvious- a descendant of Yusei Fudo, the shining star of satellite. One of the 'Duel Kings' of the Yu-Gi-Oh World.
I had met Tabane when I was thirteen-years-old, four years ago. There was a riot in the lower districts, and I ended up separated from my siblings and got beat up pretty badly as a result. Luckily, Tabane found me and helped me recover. From then on, she'd been a friend to the Demara Family and an honorary sibling.
Billy called her Miss Fudo out of respect, since she was helping teach him how to be a mechanic. Nicole and Anby both called her Tabane. Due to her own request, I called her Big Sis Tabane or Tabane-nee- it was the least I could do since she helped me, after all.
She grinned as she hugged herself, wiggling slowly, "Oh, did Yu-chan finally come to ravage his big sis?~ You can't hold back your urges after spending so long around Nicole and Anby, so you came to me to unleash the beast in order to not touch them?~ Don't worry, big sis will help you out~~"
She grabbed the bottom of her top, slowly starting to lift it up-
I quickly moved over and grabbed her wrists, stopping her from doing so. "Too much horny brain," I scolded her, a blush dusting my cheeks.
The reason I stopped her was because I knew that, while she may have sounded like she was choking, she wasn't. Her appearance and personality were extremely similar to that of Shinonono Tabane from Infinite Stratos... As a result, I already knew how Tabane thought.
She had very few people she truly cared about. And those she did care about, she would burn down the world for their sake- every other person in the world was just a 'side character' that wasn't worth wasting her time on.
And given Tabane's siscon tendencies towards her sister, Houki, in Infinite Stratos... It wasn't hard to tell that Tabane Fudo had chosen me as her 'Houki,' the sibling she'd even burn the world for.
After all, this was hardly the first time she'd tried to strip in front of me... Honestly, the only reason I stopped her was because I was more focused on Dueling. Otherwise, if my life were a book, it would be Rated 18+ Only from this point on.
"Boo," Tabane pouted but didn't try to take her shirt off anymore.
"Honestly, what will I do with you?" I muttered.
She just grinned, instantly cheering up, "So~ I heard through the grapevine that a certain someone finished their Deck~"
"Yep," I nodded. "Word spread about me that quickly, huh?"
Tabane just snorted, "Given how much you've been dueling it would be weird if I hadn't heard about you..." She pouted. "Why haven't you come and dueled big sis?"
"Because I have no desire to face your Speedroid Deck," I told her, exasperated.
Tabane was one of the reasons I didn't think of myself as any sort of 'protagonist' of this world, in fact I was convinced that- as Yusei's descendant- she was the protagonist. Why did I think that?
Because Tabane found a perfectly intact and ready to use Speedroid Deck. Unlike the Demara Family, she obtained an entire deck. Sure, some cards were off and the balance wasn't the best- but it was still usable. She even had Stardust Dragon that was almost certainly passed down in her family, though she lacked its evolutions like Shooting Star Dragon.
Of course, Tabane, being Tabane, was more obsessed with machines than she was with dueling- even if she thought the game was fun. She usually only dueled when she was running low on Lumins, or when she needed to buy a new part for whatever project she was working on.
I looked over Tabane's Duel Runner, sleek and purple with black accents... I noticed how the wheels looked off, likely because Tabane was trying to make her runner capable of flying.
Yep, Tabane wasn't on the same level as genius as her the 'her' from Infinite Stratos, but she was still a genius. Hover Vehicles did exist in this world, but no Duel Runner that I knew of had Hovercraft abilities within it- Tabane's would likely be the first.
"Boooo," Tabane pouted. "I wanted to duel my little brother and wager my body as the prize..."
I sweat dropped... I had honestly been worried that Tabane might interfere with my plans, and I might have to Reverse her, but it was extremely obvious to me that Tabane wouldn't go against me even without being Reversed.
"Can't I just come to see you, Tabane-nee?" I asked her.
She grinned happily. "Good answer! I'll forgive you then~" She got back to work on her Duel Runner.
As she worked, I decided to look at just what her affection score with me was...
[Tabane Fudo - 120 Affection.]
[100 Affection with Tabane Fudo detected - You have obtained 10,000 VE and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon.]
I froze and stared at the screen in shock...
From my own understanding, 50 affection was basically 'neutral,' with any lower being into the realm of dislike, and higher being the realm of like.
The fact that 100 wasn't the maximum limit made me realise that 100 affection was likely the baseline of 'Loyalty' and 'Love,' and it would only go up from there.
The 10,000 VE surprised me more than Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. That told me everything I needed to know- the stronger the duelist, the more benefits I would get when increasing affection with them.
Seeing Tabane's affection so high... I decided to check the 'Imbue' Tab. Imbue worked with both cards and people- using Void Energy to either create Duel Spirits or Reverse people directly. I was curious, how much Void Energy would it cost to Reverse Tabane without the need for a Duel?
Reverse Tabane Fudo?
Cost: 2,000 VE
Cheap...!
Was it because Tabane's affection was already 100 or higher? Did it cost less the more Affection someone had for me?
I was tempted to Reverse Tabane on the spot, right then and there- after all, she already loved me so Reversing her wouldn't change her personality drastically- but I hesitated.
Not because I felt guilty, but because of Stardust Dragon.
Stardust Dragon was a Signer Dragon, a Servant of the Crimson Dragon- Quetzalcoatl.
The thing about Signer Dragons was that they always ended up in the hands of Signers, having a special bond with them... The System had told me that reversing someone didn't always work- some circumstances could remove the brainwashing or perhaps even prevent it entirely. I didn't know if a Signer Dragon or a Millennium Item were some of the things that could stop it.
If I tried to reverse her and I failed, she might notice. At that point, there was a chance her affection for me would drop steeply... I would hold off on trying to reverse her for now and see about raising her affection a bit more just to be safe.
"So," Tabane looked at me with a smirk, "Why did you really come to see me?"
I swallowed slowly, "I want you to take me to the upper districts," I told her. "I have enough Lumins to buy some Booster Packs now- I want to help my siblings complete their Decks."
"Aww, you're such a good brother~" Tabane cooed out and smirked. "Alright, I've been meaning to test out Violet Sky here anyway," she pats her bike. "Just gimme a bit and then we'll go for a ride~" She turned around and wiggled her hips as she bent over deliberately- tapping away at her laptop to round up her programming that day.
"Must you really do that?" I asked her.
She looked back and winked, "Better hold on tight, Yu-chan~ Tabane-nee is about to take you for a ride~"