"There it is again... the sound of the Millennium Ring chiming."
Even though he'd never actually seen the Millennium Ring, Miles couldn't shake his unease.
No way was he hearing it wrong twice.
"Aisha, let me handle this duel."
"But didn't you say I should handle practical tests from now on?"
"This one's an exception. Just a hunch... Luca Slint might not be as innocent as she looks."
"You could've said that earlier! I was stressing all night for nothing."
With a sigh of relief, Aisha flopped back into the comfort of the Millennium Puzzle's soul room. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs NovᴇlFɪre.nᴇt
Luca's sapphire eyes flickered with subtle emotion. "So that's how it is. As I thought... you're the same type as me. This is going to be fun."
After Luca, Kevin was the next to notice the Soul Exchange had occurred.
In fact, he spotted it even faster than Irene.
"I knew it! Aisha Carlos only shows her true duelist's soul during a duel. She's the destined rival I must defeat!"
Irene nodded to herself. 'So... Miles swapped with Aisha again. Looks like he's taking this duel pretty seriously.'
[Luca Slint, LP: 2000]
[Aisha Yuna Carlos, LP: 2000]
The duel began. Luca's Elves' Eyes lit up first—she had the first turn.
Unlike Fusion Academy's trend of shoulder-mounted deck holders, Luca's cards were neatly strapped at her slender waist.
"I summon in Attack Position—Mystic Tomato!"
[Mystic Tomato] Level 4│DARK│Plant│1400 ATK
A jack-o'-lantern-like tomato with a menacing grin popped onto Luca's field.
Just one summon—no set cards. Luca passed immediately.
"The transfer student sure is cute," Irena commented from the stands. "But it looks like she's not weak either."
Kaima nodded. "Mystic Tomato... that's annoying. Now you can't just attack carelessly."
Despite its unimpressive Attack, [Mystic Tomato] had a death trigger effect.
[When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 DARK monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck, in face-up Attack Position.]
Blindly attacking it might pull out something nasty from Luca's Deck.
At the very least, it could just summon another [Mystic Tomato], creating an "endless" loop of annoying walls.
It was clear from turn one—Luca Slint was leagues above the first-years, still stuck playing with vanilla monsters.
He was well aware of [Mystic Tomato]'s effect. But... with Aisha's Deck, aggressive plays were rarely the go-to anyway.
"I Set one monster in face-down Defense Position and Set one Spell or Trap. Turn end."
The classic 1-set-1-cover. As long as he didn't attack, [Mystic Tomato] was just a sitting veggie. Unless... Luca rammed it herself.
'A defensive play... Makes sense.'
Luca pondered. If Aisha's Deck was really as jank as everyone claimed—where even summoning a Kuriboh with an effect was a historic milestone—then yeah... defense was probably all she had.
Luca peeked at her card—and smiled.
"Perfect. Since you won't attack... I'll do it myself. I Tribute [Mystic Tomato] to Tribute Summon!"
The tomato exploded into light, dissolving into the sky.
"Bloom, crimson wings of the rose—spread wide! Tribute Summon—Queen Angel of Roses!"
[Queen Angel of Roses] Level 7│EARTH│Plant│2400 ATK
The same rose-winged angel Luca had summoned during yesterday's Summoning Class.
Miles frowned. "She summoned a Level 7 monster... with only one Tribute?"
Luca gestured toward the glowing figure. "[Queen Angel of Roses] has an effect: If you Tribute a Plant monster, she only requires one Tribute to Summon."
And [Mystic Tomato] just so happened to be a Plant.
"A Level 7 with 2400 Attack... for just one Tribute?"
Purely on stat lines alone, Luca was probably even scarier than Kevin Seth.
While Fusion Academy's first-years were still trading axe blows with vanilla monsters, this XYZ Academy transfer was showing everyone what the gap truly looked like.
And the opponent for her transfer debut?
Aisha—the girl who once upset Kevin from the very bottom of the rankings.
"Time to attack. Show me what kind of duelist you really are, Aisha!"
With Luca's command, [Queen Angel of Roses] flared her crimson wings, summoning a tornado of burning rose petals.
"—Rose Flame! Attack the face-down monster!"
Battle confirmed. Miles flipped the Set monster.
[Crowned by the World Chalice] DEF 2100
Same opening as the duel against Kevin—the blue-haired steel-plate maiden with a whopping 2100 Defense.
Except this time... the opponent's Attack was even higher.
Purely on numbers... not enough.
Miles grinned—Aisha's adorable face twisting into a mischievous smirk—as the Set Spell/Trap beneath his feet flipped open.
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