As I got out of bed, I was filled with a sense of nervous excitement. A little under a year ago, I decided to try and take on the pro dueling circuit. Much to my family's chagrin, I knew there was one place that almost all great duelists went to: and that was the Duel Academia of Japan. The school was infamous for its elitist attitude, which was only magnified during the admission process. Even when disregarding japan's natural distaste of foreigners in their country's schooling, duel academia was still an anomaly. With over 20,000 applicants a year and fewer than 700 accepted, I needed any advantage I could get. Word on the street said that once you got into your dorm: Osiris red, Ra yellow, and Obelisk blue, seldom left it. Your initial placement relied on three things: An S.A.T. like test used to determine your "school smarts", a live duel with a proctor, and my least favorite: recommendations.

While the idea of having someone with proper credentials recommend you for an important opportunity was sound, it became a complete power struggle in practice. If you didn't have connections in high places, you were shit out of luck when it came to making Obelisk blue. With this in mind, I knew I had to get a near perfect on both the written and duel portions of the exam. As I stepped into the warm shower, any doubt I had left that day was forgotten in that misty warmth. Putting on my nicest blouse, I went over my deck one last time, making sure I hadn't forgotten anything. When I finally emerged from my apartment in Osaka, a confident smirk graced my face. I got about 10 feet from my door before I heard my landlord. " Ms Andrews, you do know that it isn't common practice to go outside without pants, right?" As my face turned a new shade of crimson, I rushed inside making sure to put on a skirt this time. Calming myself down, I finally walked outside, Duel disk and deck in tow. Hopping onto the closest bullet train, I arrived at Tokyo tower around 7:35, almost 30 minutes before the exams started.

Forgetting my recent embarrassment, I took note of my surroundings. A couple hundred applicants were already there, many of whom were chatting up a storm. I found a blonde haired girl named Asuka who was nice to talk to. She had a lot of interesting insight into life at the academy (I could only assume a sibling of hers went) and was nothing but polite. She seemed like a good first friend. As one topic changed to the next, I became so engrossed in our conversation, I almost missed the giant doors opening, motioning us all in. We were given a short opening speech thanking us for applying, followed quickly by the start of the duels. Going in alphabetical order, I knew my duel was going to be one of the first. And speak of the devil:

"A-n-du-ru-zu E-ri-zu-bi-su?" A proctor called. Foreign students were rare at the academy, so it only made sense he would butcher my name. "Please report to duel arena 4" I did as asked of me until I heard something that peaked my interest:

"Mr Takayama will now begin taking any and all challengers in the place of proctors. If you manage to defeat him, you will automatically be awarded a place in Obelisk Blue! However, in order to challenge him you must first sign this waiver which will prevent you from applying again if you lose." An interesting offer for sure. While the rewards were great, the risk were as well. That being said, if there was one thing I was sure of, it was my dueling skills. After all, what was that point of going to school for dueling if you weren't confident in your abilities in the first place?

"If you wish to challenge please report to the admissions desk. Be aware that all participants will duel on the main stage where your matches will be recorded."

Lining up with the rest of the more daring applicants, I sized everyone else up. While I was never particularly cocky, I felt like I was the most prepared out of us all. After waiting around for about 15 minutes we were asked to line up in alphabetical order. With my luck I ended up having to duel first. was an eccentric of a man, equipped with a mullet larger than his own head.

" Ms Andrews, this is your last chance to forfeit. After this there is no going back, do you understand?" I nodded my head having already accepted the risks of my decision. "Well I guess the only thing left to do is start. Let's duel!" Drawing my six cards, a sense of relief washed over me. While my hand was by no means broken, it was pretty damn good. "I'll start by summoning Silent swordsman Lv3!" I bellowed. A small child of a warrior sprang forth from a blue halo with the numbers 1000/1000 appearing next to it. "Next, I'll equip it with the spell card Level bias! This card can only be equipped to a "LV" monster, but the equipped monster gains attack and defense equal to 300* its level!" The child's strength seemed to double with his introduction to this new power, and a confident smirk appeared on his face. "I'll set four cards face down to end my turn." Not a bad start.

Mr. Takayama waved his finger at me condescendingly. "First lesson: never invest all of your recourses at once! I draw to start my turn, and now I'll tear your defense down! I activate my spell card, heavy storm!" A cyclone ravished the field only to disappear as if it was never there in the first place. "I chain my trap card: Dangerous gamble! This negates your storm and allows us to both draw a card, but doubles all battle damage I take this turn." The smirk on my opponent's face was not reassuring. "Not bad, but that draw gave me exactly what I needed: I summon thunder king Rai-oh!" With a crack of light and a burst of sound an electric ridden beast of a machine appeared before me. "What the fuck is this! That card is a staple in tier 1 decks!" I thought angrily. "Next I'll play my spell, Storm's wrath! If I control a light thunder type monster or a dark Aqua type monster: I can destroy one card you control!" My swordsman shattered, but his equip spell effect could still trigger.

"I activate the other effect of Level bias! When this card is sent to the grave after being equipped to LV monster I can add any LV card from my deck to my hand." The proctors finger wag alerted me that I fucked up. "Any duelist applying to Obelisk blue should know common card effects. As long as Thunder king is on the field neither player can add cards from their deck to their hand except by drawing! Not only that, but since the first part of my spell resolved, I can special summon one monster from my deck with the previous credentials listed but with the same level. That means you can say hello to my Aqua queen Mizu-ki!" An aquamarine colored machine enveloped in a blue aura appeared in a blinding flash. "As long as my queen is on the field you can only activate spell and trap cards once per turn!" He said gleefully "If that's the case, I'll chain my trap card to your Aqua Queen's summon: call of the haunted!" My silent swordsman reappeared immediately staring down his two new foes. "That's fine, both my Aqua queen and Thunder king have more attack than that puny child! Do you know how long I've waited for this?" "Waited for what?" I responded, confused. "If a proctor can successfully participate in this challenge for 5 years and go undefeated they get a professorship! I'm not letting a petty American girl get in the way of that! Now I'm ending this: Aqua queen attack his silent swordsman!" As the machine's onslaught of water approached my warrior I made a game winning move: "During the damage step I activate my trap card: mirror wall! This halves the attack of all your monsters that battle mine, effectively making my silent swordsman the strongest monster on the field!" A look of exasperation appeared on my opponent's face " Do you ever learn? If you read my Aqua Queen you would know that I can sacrifice it to negate any spell or trap cards you play and destroy them. You re-" "YOU should learn the rules of the fucking game!" I shouted. An awkward moment of silence followed my outburst. "What do you mean?!" He asked angrily. With that, a large smile dawned upon my face. "Well, any good duelist would know that only two types of card can be activated during the damage step. Those are cards with a spell speed of 2 which directly alter attack and defense, and counter traps. Last time I checked your Aqua queen satisfied neither of those requirements!" At that moment, 's face could've been mistaken for a tomato."That means my mirror wall will go through, and your Aqua queen will be destroyed by battle." My swordsman slashed through an array of motors and sliced the confused machine in two. His life points dropped by a measly 50, but it was a start. Now with real anger on his face, he stated to yell. "Fine, I'll enter my main phase 2 and activate my continuous spell: The storm's revival! During either player's standby phase I can target either a light thunder or dark Aqua type monster in my grave and special summon it! You may have survived a turn, but I assure you that your next one will be your last at this academy! I'll activate two other cards from my hand: swords of revealing light and mage power! The first one prevents you from attacking for 3 turns and the other boosts my thunder king's attack up to 3400! How will you get over it now?" "My spell shattering arrow should take care of that!" I yelled. "It destroys all face up spells you control and inflicts 500 damage to you for each one!" I almost cringed at the arrow's blast, his life pints dropping to 2450. Once I saw the card I had drawn, I knew the duel was over. "During my standby phase, mirror wall is destroyed and silent swordsman LV 3's effect activates summoning silent swordsman LV 5!"

"Tch, I'll activate thunder king's effect sacrificing itself to negate your summon." At that declaration my smile grew tenfold "I knew you'd do that, and with that move I win." "Whaaa?!" He stuttered "Time to end this; I activate my spell: An apprentice's quest! This card allows me to add any level 4 or lower spellcaster from my deck to my hand. I choose silent magician LV4. Now I'll activate the card I just drew, LV up! This allows me to transform my magician into her level 8 counterpart. Descend from the ether and exterminate your foes: Silent Magician LV 8, appear before me and finish this!" As my magician's burs field, I felt like a goddess. I had done the impossible. I had challenged a would be professor, won, and gone through the duel unscathed. I had won, and right now, nothing else mattered.

End of Prologue

Cards I created this chapter and their effects:

Dangerous gamble: Counter trap

Negate the activation of an opponents spell or trap card and destroy it. If you do, both players draw a card and all damage you take this turn is doubled.

Level bias: Equip spell

Can only be equipped to a "LV" monster. The equipped monster gains atk and def equal to 300* it's level. When this card is sent to the grave after being equipped to a "LV" monster: You can add 1 "LV" card from your deck to your hand.

Storm's wrath: Normal spell

If you control either a light thunder type monster or a dark Aqua type monster target one card your opponent controls; destroy the target, and if you do, special summon one monster with the credential which you didn't select and with the same level as the monster you selected earlier.

Aqua Queen Mizu-ki Dark, Aqua, level 4

Each player can only set and activate spell/trap cards once per turn as long as this card remains on the field. During either player's turn, when your opponent would activate a spell or trap card: You can send this face up card from the field to the grave; negate the activation of your opponent's card, and if you do, destroy it.

Storm's revival: Continuous spell

If you control neither a light thunder type monster, nor a water Aqua type one; destroy this card. During either player's standby phase you can target either a light thunder type monster or a dark Aqua type monster (you cannot select a monster whose typing you already control) and par life points equal to 200*its level; special summon the target.

An apprentice's quest: Normal spell

Add 1 Level 4 or lower spellcaster from your deck to your hand.