Chapter 55: Fusion and Synchro
"I can't take the Fusion Academy exam? Why not?"
At the academy exam venue, Amano stood before the registration desk, questioning in disbelief.
The registration staff member pulled up a system report. "Student, according to your registered deck information, you have no Fusion Monsters. Eva system has filtered out your application."
"There's a rule like that?"
"Yes, there is."
"How come nobody told me..."
Amano turned back toward Finesse and the others.
Finesse looked equally surprised. "Amano, your deck has no Fusion Monsters?"
The reason nobody had mentioned this was because everyone assumed Amano's Extra Deck definitely contained plenty of Fusion Monsters.
Just from the duels Finesse had witnessed, Amano had Fusion Summoned [Ancient Dragon], [Elemental HERO Great Tornado], [Elemental HERO Absolute Zero], plus the highest-level [Quintet Magician].
You could say anyone lacked Fusion Monsters, but nobody would dare say Amano lacked them.
Yet reality proved that Amano's Extra Deck was truly completely empty.
So far, every Extra Deck monster Amano had used came from system skills—[Unlock xxx in Extra Deck during duels]
But after each duel, the system didn't leave behind the Extra Deck cards he'd used. Amano hadn't paid attention before since even without physical Extra Deck cards, he could just print them fresh during duels.
Kikawayu also looked shocked. "Rei, so every time you Fusion Summon, you're printing it on the spot? That's incredibly strong willpower!"
Right—in this world, Extra Deck monsters' creation method resembled the anime, where duelists printed cards on the spot through sheer willpower.
According to anime depictions, the easiest summoning method for printing cards was Fusion, followed by Xyz, with Synchro being hardest.
High-level Synchro Summons not only required meeting summoning conditions but even demanded the duelist themselves reach a state of "clear and still water."
Additionally, printing cards in Eden had one more condition compared to the anime—you needed Eva system's recognition.
Extra Deck cards printed with Eva system recognition would remain in the duelist's Extra Deck.
But cards printed by Amano's own system wouldn't stay.
This matter involved system privacy issues, leaving Amano completely unable to explain.
"Wait, you all actually have Fusion Monsters?"
"I do." Finesse pulled out [Vision HERO Trinity].
Why did the monster Fusion Summoned while possessing the young miss leave behind a physical card?
"I do." Kikawayu pulled out [Cyber Ogre 2].
This card counts as a Sacred Beast archetype? Honestly, Amano had zero recollection of it.
"I do." Shio pulled out [Cyber End Dragon], [Cyber Twin Dragon], and [Chimeratech Overdragon].
You're a middle schooler, why are you joining this conversation? And since you have so many, share one with your brother!
Right—the prerequisite of needing Fusion Monsters in your deck was actually extremely easy to solve.
Even borrowing or buying—as long as you put one Fusion Monster in your deck, you could pass this registration hurdle.
However, the critical misunderstanding was that when registering yesterday, everyone assumed Amano had Fusion Monsters. By the time the exam rolled around, deck information couldn't be changed anymore.
"Can't you make an exception?"
"This is all Eva system operation. I don't have authority to modify it."
Probably because of Amano's pleasing handsome face, the staff member was especially conscientious. While rechecking Amano's file, she discovered another important line of information.
"Student, although your file was filtered out by Fusion Academy, it was transferred to Synchro Academy. Because the system shows you have Synchro cards in your deck."
"I have Synchro cards in my deck?"
Amano's hand reached questioningly toward his card box. Then suddenly a dejected middle-aged man's face flashed through his mind. Along with the only Extra Deck card that physically existed—[Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth].
I really do have one!
"Student, if you go now, you might still make it in time for Synchro Academy's exam registration."
Uncle Akira, saving my life at a time like this?
Finesse looked astonished. "Amano, you're not seriously going to..."
"No choice, Finesse. I'll head over to Synchro Academy to register and fill in the exam information."
If he didn't hurry, he might not be able to enroll this year.
Amano came to Academy City with the most important mission of finding Puppeteer and protecting his family and friends' safety—not to study Fusion knowledge at the academy.
If you really talked Fusion knowledge, even academy professors probably didn't understand as much as Amano.
So which academy he actually joined didn't make much difference to Amano.
"But..." Finesse still looked troubled. "That's Synchro!"
Synchro Summoning, unlike Fusion and Xyz, had one extremely rigid prerequisite.
It required a "Tuner" monster.
"Amano, do you have a Tuner monster?"
"No. But the entrance exam only stipulates you can't use other summoning methods. As long as I win the duel without using Fusion or Xyz, I can still enroll."
Since Amano had been delayed for a while, other students' entrance exams had already started.
Just watching a few matches, Amano discovered the academy's prepared test decks weren't very strong.
With his deck currently possessing Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician, plus two HERO cards and various support cards—even without using Fusion or Xyz, passing the exam should be enough.
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Kikawayu: "Uria, Lord of Searing Flames' ATK equals the number of continuous Trap Cards in my Graveyard, 1000 points each. And in my Graveyard—I have 4 continuous Trap Cards!"
[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames] [ATK: 4000]
"Uria, Lord of Searing Flames attacks!—'Hyper Blaze!'"
The divine flame tornado erupting across the exam field successfully cleared the opposing Fusion upperclassman's Life Points to zero.
See? Without Fusion, he still won easily.
Sure enough, Kikawayu using the Sacred Beasts quickly sparked discussion throughout the entire exam venue.
"That, that kind of battle—is it, is it Fusion enough?"
"Forget whether it's Fusion or not. It's definitely strong enough."
On one hand, discussion about the Sacred Beasts. On the other, discussion about Kikawayu's appearance.
"The monster used is terrifying, but the duelist herself is so cute!"
"Does our academy have a girl this adorable?"
"We don't have anyone at this level, right?"
"A new campus beauty is born!"
Would your old campus beauty approve of you promoting a man to that position?
Victorious Kikawayu happily threw Amano a peace sign.
"Rei, I discovered test duels can raise ranking points too! I just went up over ten ranks!"
"That's because your opponent—me—has high ranking points."
Before Amano could respond, the Fusion upperclassman Kikawayu had just defeated came over uninvited.
"Kikawayu-san, you're amazing. Easily defeating me at rank 20,000. Though I used a test deck, this counts as welfare the academy provides new students."
Test-takers defeating the upperclassmen handling entrance exams could receive ranking reward points just like normal duels. It was welfare the academy provided successfully enrolled new students.
Except the upperclassmen handling entrance exams were all second-years, generally not ranked very high, so points test-takers could earn were limited.
"Who are you? Do I know you?" Faced with inexplicable small talk, Kikawayu frowned in confusion.
"I—I'm the upperclassman who just administered your exam. You can call me Suzuriyama-senpai."
"Oh."
Faced with Kikawayu's overly cold reaction, Suzuriyama's thick eyebrows visibly trembled awkwardly.
"Kikawayu-san, congratulations on successful enrollment. From today you're a Fusion Academy student. To make looking after you easier at the academy, could I add your VSN?"
As expected—Kikawayu got hit on.
Back in District 32 where everyone knew each other, this rarely happened.
But now in Academy City, Kikawayu's face's illegal level was gradually revealing itself.
"No." Kikawayu refused decisively.
"Why, Kikawayu-san? I'm a rank 20,000 elite! Right now you probably don't understand—20,000 is already considered very outstanding among second-years!"
"Uh, this has nothing to do with ranking."
Kikawayu waved dismissively with a smile.
"I just find you disgusting."
Well, though Kikawayu's face was illegally cute—
His complete lack of emotional intelligence made up for that advantage.
***
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