A few weeks passed after Van formed a group with Johnson to stop the bullying in his school. He just came here again once and didn’t show up once again. That was the proof that he became busy in his new goal.

I hope he’s doing great.

The day was Friday. Prince was the one who picked a game for us to play for the day. After arriving at the playground, he immediately brought a set of cards and a foldable board.

“What is this?” I asked curiously after we sat down at the cement table set.

“It’s Ne-Gi-Oh!” Prince responded enthusiastically.

“Well, I heard about that card game but I don’t know the rules of it,” I said as he place a foldable board on top of the table. “Do you know the rules of this, Neko?”

Then, Neko nodded, confirming that she knows it already.

“It’s really easy but only two people can play it so we’re just gonna take turns playing it so can you be the spectator for now, Neko?” Prince asked with a smile. “I need to teach Rosa first after all.”

Hearing that, Neko gave him a nod.

“So...how do you play it?” I asked.

“Ne-Gi-Oh! became complicated these days with the introduction of Synchro and XYZ Summon so I’m not gonna include that for now and focus to the early generation summoning. So basically, it’s a game of summoning ‘monsters’ and defeating your opponent. Each of us has life points, 4000 in total so...for example...” he said and brought out two cards. “This ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ has 3000 attack, right? If you attack this ‘Schwartz Mage’ who only has an attack of 2500, my life point will have a 500 deduction.”

“I see. But...how about this ‘defense points’?” I asked after noticing that the card also has a defense points besides the attack points.

“Well, if you summon the monster in defense mode instead of attack mode, you won’t lose life points even if the opponent’s monster attacks you. Also, you can only attack a monster with lower defense points compared to your monster’s attack points,” he followed.

“So...‘monster cards’ are the ones with the color yellow. How about this green and pink ones?” I curiously asked after getting the cards with different colors.

“The green ones are ‘Magic Cards’ and ‘Trap Cards’ are the pink ones. You can activate a ‘Magic Card’ whenever you like it as long as it’s your turn if it’s in your hand or any time as long as it’s in the field already. But ‘Trap Cards’ are meant to be faced down first in the field and be activated either the next turn or later on. These two are used to outplay your opponent.”

“I see. I think I can somehow play it now,” I commented with a smile.

“Wait. You still need to know the types of ‘monster cards’, you know,” Prince added and showed me three cards with different colors. “Yellow cards are normal monster cards, brown cards are monster cards with an effect and violet cards are fusion monsters, basically monsters fused using the card ‘Amalgamation’.”

“Amalgamation?” I asked and Prince showed me a green card.

“This is ‘Amalgamation’, a magic card. You just have to assemble the monsters written on it and use ‘Amalgamation’ to summon this special card. Either on your hand or your field, as long as you have the necessary monsters and this ‘magic card’, you can summon a ‘fusion monster’.”

“Wait, can I summon multiple monsters at the same time?” I asked.

“No, you can only summon one monster per turn except fusion monsters because it doesn’t have a count. Do you notice the stars below the name of monster in the card?” Prince asked as I look at ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’.

“Yes, it has eight stars,” I answered.

“You can summon a ‘monster card’ directly from your hand if that ‘monster card’ has one to four stars. If it has five to six stars, you need to tribute one monster in your field and if it has seven and above, you need two ‘monster cards’ in your field to tribute. Just remember that you can only summon one monster per turn...originally that is. That’s where magic and trap cards come because some have effects of summoning ‘monster cards’.”

“This is one interesting game,” I reacted with a smile. “So...should we start now?”

“Sure. But what deck do you want to choose, the ‘Dragon Deck’ or the ‘Mage Deck’?” Prince asked with a smile as he shows me two decks of cards.

“I guess I choose the ‘Dragon Deck’,” I responded.

It sounds strong after all.

“Okay, here,” Prince responded with a smile and handed me a deck of cards. “Just face those down so you won’t see what cards you’re drawing.”

“Okay,” I said and placed the deck of my cards on the board.

“So first, we each draw five cards,” Prince said and drew five cards from his own deck. I copied him and drew five cards too on my own deck. “I’ll go first, okay? On your turn, you can draw another card.”

“I see. So you draw one card when your turn comes,” I muttered.

“That’s right. First, I activate my magic card ‘Vessel of Greed’. It lets me draw two more cards,” he said and took two cards on his deck.

“So that’s how you use a magic card,” I commented and he placed the ‘Vessel of Greed’ on his side of the field after using it.

“After you’re done with the card, you have to place it in this area called ‘graveyard’,” he explained.

“I see,” I followed, learning the rules as we play.

“Then, I summon ‘Spell Soldier’ in attack position!” Prince announced and placed a ‘monster card’ with four stars on his field. It has an attack of 1100 and defense of 1000. “Then, I place two cards down and end my turn.”

Do you really have to explain everything verbally in this game?

“Wait, you didn’t attack? Because I don’t have any monsters, you can attack me directly, deducting 1100 from my life points, right?” I asked curiously.

“Well, you can’t attack on the first turn,” he explained with a smile. “Because your turn is already the second one, you can now attack me with the ‘monster card’ you’ll summon.”

“Got it,” I followed and drew a card. “Let’s see...”

I have a four stars ‘monster card’ with 1800 attack so I guess I’ll summon this.

“I summon ‘Man-Eating Dragon’ in attack position,” I said and placed the card on my field. “So with that, I’ll attack your ‘Spell Soldier’.”

“Not so fast! I activate my ‘Trap Card’!” Prince suddenly shouted enthusiastically and opened one of his faced down cards. “It’s called ‘Summon Destroyer’ and immediately destroys a ‘monster card’ that the opponent summons!”

“What?” I reacted with a surprised face. Then, Neko grabbed my ‘Man-Eating Dragon’ and placed it on my ‘graveyard’. He also did the same to Prince’s ‘Summon Destroyer’ but placed it on Prince’s ‘graveyard’ instead.

“So I can’t summon any more monsters in this turn, huh,” I said with furrowed eyebrows. “I guess I’ll just end my turn.”

“My turn. Draw!” Prince said seriously and drew a card.

Is it just me or perhaps he’s copying the anime protagonist of this card game?

“I summon another ‘Spell Soldier’ in attack position!” Prince continued and placed another ‘monster card’ in his field, making it two. “Spell Soldiers, attack Rosa directly! Double Magical Slash!”

“Wait...do you really need to name the attack of your monsters?” I retorted and my life points immediately got reduced from 4000 to 1800.

“With that, I end my turn,” he followed and gave me a confident smile.

If only he could smile like that in front of the bullies.

“I guess it’s now my turn so...draw,” I said in a monotone tone, trying to at least copy his energy but miserably failed. I then drew one card and was surprised. “Wait, this card seems good.”

“Hm?” Prince reacted curiously.

“I guess I’ll activate this magic card called ‘Silver Dragon’s Ritual Summoning’,” I said with a smile and showed him the card I just drew.

“What, you already drew that rare card?” he reacted, surprised.

“It said that it lets me summon one ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ directly from my hand, counting as one regular summon,” I explained and showed him a ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ that I drew earlier on my first draw. It has an attack of 3000, making it a really strong card. “So I summon ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ in attack position!”

“To think that you managed to summon ‘that’ monster already,” Prince commented with furrowed eyebrows.

I then smiled and placed the ‘Silver Dragon’s Ritual Summoning’ on my ‘graveyard’. “So attack ‘Spell Soldier’, ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’! Let’s see...Pale...Burst!”

I think it’s kinda embarrassing for an adult to imitate anime characters, huh.

“Spell Soldier!” Prince shouted in agony and Neko placed one of his ‘Spell Soldier’ on his ‘graveyard’. “I’ll activate the effect of ‘Spell Soldier’. If it’s been attacked by a monster with more than 2000 of attack points, my life points won’t be reduced even if it’s in attack position.”

“That’s an interesting effect. Well, I end my turn with that,” I said with a smile.

“My turn...draw!” Prince said and drew a card once again. He then looked at it and placed it among the cards on his hand. Then, he took one card from the said cards and followed, “I summon ‘Novice Knight’ in ‘defense position’ and also switch ‘Spell Soldier’ in ‘defense position’. With that, I end my turn.”

“So all you can do now is defend,” I said with an evil smile and drew a card. “Would you look at that.”

“Wh-what...do you mean?” he asked nervously.

“You’ll see later,” I said and placed it among my other cards on hand. Then, I took a four stars ‘monster card’ with 1100 attack points and place it on the field. “I summon ‘Tribute Dragon’ in attack position!”

“That card...” he whispered, surprised.

“With that, I attack ‘Spell Soldier’ with my ‘Tribute Dragon’! Dragon Roar!” I shouted and Neko grabbed Prince’s ‘Spell Soldier’ and placed it into ‘graveyard’. “And ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’, attack ‘Novice Knight’! Pale Burst!”

“Novice Knight!” Prince shouted in anguish and Neko did the same thing again to his other ‘monster card’. “Being in defense, that didn’t cost you your life points but let’s see what you’re gonna do on the next turn. I will place one face down card and end my turn.”

“My turn...draw,” he said and was surprised from the card he drew. He then placed it in the cards on his hand and took another one from it. “I summon ‘Magician’s Dragon’ into defense position and end my turn.”

“A three stars normal ‘monster card’ with 700 defense points? So you already gave up,” I said triumphantly and drew a card. “First, I activate this magic card ‘Vessel of Greed’ and draw two more cards. Then, I activate the effect of my ‘Tribute Dragon’. It counts as two monster tribute so with that, I’ll summon another ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon!”

“What?” Prince reacted with a shocked look.

Neko then grabbed the ‘Tribute Dragon’ and I placed another ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ from my hand to my field, having two dragons in my field.

“‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’, attack ‘Magician’s Dragon’! Pale Burst!” I shouted and Neko grabbed his last ‘monster card’ on his field. “Now, you’re wide open. ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’, attack Prince’s life points directly!”

“Ahhhhhh!” Prince shouted like he really got attacked and his life points became 1000 in an instant.

This kid has a talent in acting.

“And that’s not all. I activate the magic card ‘Amalgamation’ on my hand!” I shouted with a big evil smile. “With this, I’ll fuse the two ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ from my field and one ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ on my hand to summon...the ‘fusion monster’, ‘Pale Eyes Maximum Dragon’!”

“Impossible!” Prince reacted with a shocked expression.

Just like that, Neko took all three ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ from me and placed my strongest ‘fusion monster’ on my field. It has an attack of 4500.

“I’ll place it on attack position and end my turn. Now, draw your last card for this game, Prince,” I said to him with a triumphant smile.

“I won’t give up that easily, Rosa! Draw!” Prince said and drew a card seriously. He then looked at it and smiled. “It looks like it was really my last draw.”

“I see, so you already gave up,” I reacted and chuckled. “Do you surrender now?”

I completely turned into a kid because of this game, jeez.

“I won’t. Because I’ll end this game in this turn!” he announced seriously.

“What?” I asked, surprised. “I already summoned a monster with 4500 attack points, you know! How can you still beat me?”

“Even the strongest card can be defeated by the bonds of my cards!” he retorted seriously and showed me a magic card.

Now that line is cringy.

“I activate ‘Curtain of the Schwartz Mage’! By the cost of half my life points, I can summon ‘Schwartz Mage’ directly from my deck!”

“What?” I reacted and Neko gave him a card from his deck.

“I summon the ace card of my deck, ‘Schwartz Mage’!” he announced and placed the ‘monster card’ in his field.

“You made your life points into a mere 500 just to summon ‘that’ normal monster with only 2500 attack points?” I asked, confused.

He then smiled and showed me two cards. One is ‘Amalgamation’ and the other one is a monster card named ‘Edge Blader’.

“With my ‘Amalgamation’, I fuse ‘Schwartz Mage’ and ‘Edge Blader’ to summon... ‘Schwartz Paladin’!” he shouted and Neko grabbed his three cards in exchange for the ‘fusion monster’ ‘Schwartz Paladin’.

“What are you doing Prince?” I asked, trying my best to hold out my laughter. “It only has 2900 attack points. It’s nowhere near my 4500. Is that your final monster?”

“I said that the strongest card can be defeated by the bonds of my cards, right?” he asked with a smile. “I activate the effect of ‘Schwartz Paladin’! For every dragon type monster on the field and in both of our graveyards, his attack will increase by 500!”

“Graveyard, you say?” I asked nervously.

“That’s right,” he said with a smile. “In both our graveyards, there’s one ‘Man-eating Dragon’, one ‘Magician’s Dragon’, three ‘Pale Eyes Silver Dragon’ and one ‘Tribute Dragon’ and at the field, you have one ‘Pale Eyes Maximum Dragon’. With that, Schwartz Paladin’s new attack is now 6400!”

“What the—” I reacted, shocked.

“Now, ‘Schwartz Paladin’, attack ‘Pale Eyes Maximum Dragon’! Ultimate...Darkness Wave!” Prince shouted.

I only have 1800 left in my life points. 6400 minus 4500 is equal to 1900...making me left with negative life points. I’ll lose! But...

“You’re forgetting my face down card, Prince,” I muttered and gave him an evil smile. “I activate ‘Reflect Force’!”

“What?” he reacted, surprised.

“It can be activated when you declare an attack, destroying all the monsters in your field without inflicting damage!” I yelled and laughed out loud. “It’s still my win, Prince.”

Then, he smiled after closing his eyes confidently and looked at me once again after opening it.

“How...how can you still smile after that?” I asked, confused.

“Because...I believe in my cards,” he answered and opened his last faced down card. “I activate my counter trap card, ‘Sorrowful Judgment’!”

“What?” I reacted with widened eyes.

“By paying half my life points, I could neglect the effect of the trap card you just activated,” he explained and pointed towards me. “With that, my monster won’t be destroyed anymore. ‘Schwartz Paladin’, go!”

“Noooooooo!” I yelled and my life points reached negative, making me lose.

Wait...why am I even acting like I really got hurt from that attack?

“And that’s game,” Prince said and gave me a confident smile.

“Jeez, it’s your win alright,” I said with a smile and drew out my hand for a handshake. He then got surprised and shyly shook it afterwards.

“Thanks, Rosa,” he said with a blushed smile. Then, he looked at Neko and asked, “Neko, want to play with me next?”

Hearing that, Neko just shook her head, making Prince extremely shock.

“Well, let’s make that the last time we’re gonna play ‘Ne-Gi-Oh!’” I suggested with a tired face.

“Th-that can’t be!” Prince complained. “I’m sure Van will like this if he’s here.”

Hearing that, both Neko and I started laughing.

“That’s youth alright,” Pixie whispered with a smile as she watches over us.