"The card left by my grandmother, you're giving such a precious card to me? Could it be..."
Aisha stared blankly at the [Priestess Who Received the Chalice] in her hand, which possessed 2100 Defense Points. Regardless of the card's strength, just the fact that it was a 'tradable card' was precious enough.
Overwhelmed by the favor, Aisha felt a bit uneasy.
Just as she wanted to refuse, You Ling's voice came from within her mind.
"Don't decline, Aisha. We need the power of this card right now."
"Mr. You Ling?"
"The most crucial issue right now is winning tomorrow's duel so you can stay at Fusion Academy. In this situation, there's a saying called 'resort to every conceivable means'. Even a 0.1 increase in combat power should be accepted with gratitude."
What's more, this [Priestess Who Received the Chalice] that Irena gave Aisha, when placed in Aisha's pile of trash monster decks, was more than just a 0.1 increase in combat power.
Nodding lightly, understanding the intent behind You Ling's words, Aisha further confirmed her current situation.
"Thank you very much, Senpai Irena! I will definitely treasure it!"
Bowing deeply towards the senior in front of her who had taken such good care of her, this was the way Aisha thought could best express her inner gratitude.
"Hehe, why make it so formal, it makes me quite embarrassed."
With a faint smile, Irena verbally expressed embarrassment, but inwardly couldn't help but sigh——Aisha Yuna Carlos, although born into a declining noble family, was indeed a rarely seen good child, kind-hearted and polite.
As reward for giving the card, Irena vigorously ruffled Aisha's soft white hair, as well as the quite spirited ahoge on top of her head, thoroughly healing herself.
"Good luck, Aisha. I hope I can still see you at the academy after tomorrow."
"Mm, I will definitely win, Senpai. See you tomorrow!"
After bidding farewell to Senpai Irena, the sky was already dark. Aisha returned alone to her dormitory room as usual.
Fusion Academy's student dormitories, according to regulations, must be two people per room. A rule personally set by the Academy Director, no matter how powerful or influential your family is, it cannot be changed.
But Aisha was the only student in the academy with a single room to herself.
Of course, there was no complex background reason, nor any so-called family conspiracy theory.
It was simply because the number of female students in the academy was odd, and when arranging rooms upon enrollment, Aisha happened to be the last student number.
For half a semester, Aisha had gotten used to staying alone in her dorm room after curfew.
Reading a book for a while, playing the magitech handheld console for a while, taking a bath, then going to bed.
Living alone definitely had its benefits, no roommate to disturb her.
The downside, well, sometimes it was unavoidable to feel lonely.
However, starting today, Aisha's solitary life became different.
"Mr. You Ling, are you there?"
"Mm, I'm here."
Seemingly alone in the room, yet suddenly there was someone to communicate with. Aisha, holding the Millennium Puzzle, felt a blush creep onto her cheeks.
"Um, Mr. You Ling. It's getting late, I want to sleep."
"Mm, rest well. For a Duelist, that's also very important."
"But, before sleeping, I still need to..." Aisha, sitting on the chair at the room's desk, awkwardly tapped the floor with her small, fair bare feet, "I want to take a bath."
Holding it in for a long time, Aisha finally mustered the courage to voice her biggest concern.
After You Ling took residence in her soul, Aisha had tried putting down the Millennium Puzzle.
But even when the Millennium Puzzle wasn't on her person, probably because they were in a soul-bound state, You Ling's soul could still communicate with her unhindered.
Which meant, even if she stripped naked while bathing, You Ling would be right beside her.
"I won't peek, this is the most basic respect for one's host," You Ling promised.
"I believe Mr. You Ling isn't that kind of person. But even so..."
During the soul exchange, Aisha had also experienced for a while the vision from a soul state.
It was the same as what the main body saw——shared vision.
This wasn't a question of whether You Ling wanted to peek or not; whatever image Aisha saw with her eyes would be reflected to You Ling's side, clearer than a 4K big screen resolution.
Thus, Aisha, having turned her clever little brain, came up with a brilliant idea.
——
"Do I really need to bathe blindfolded? Won't it be too dangerous?"
"It's fine, Mr. You Ling!"
Wearing the lavender eye mask she only wore when sleeping, Aisha, standing before the bathroom door, could finally undress with slight peace of mind.
Aside from the eye mask, she quickly stripped completely naked; 'Blind Monk' Aisha fumbled to push open the bathroom door.
"I'm already very familiar with the structure of this room, even if I can't see anything, I can use my heart to feel... Ouch, that hurts!"
First step into the door, Aisha's calf bumped into the edge of the bathtub, an unfavorable start.
"It's fine, this is just a small accident. Next, I just need to be careful... Ah, so slippery!"
Swoosh——!
Bang——!
Thud——!
Clang——!
Small accidents happened continuously; starting from Aisha slipping, a chain reaction settled, clattering noisily in the bathroom.
"It hurts so much!"
Rubbing her little butt which had zero-distance contact with the bathroom floor, the eye mask on Aisha's face also slowly slipped down due to the violent impact, no longer able to cover those delicate emerald green eyes.
"This is quite... thanks for the treat," You Ling said helplessly.
The eye mask slipped off. Before Aisha could react, the scene was reflected into both her and You Ling's vision without reservation.
"QvQ Wuwuwu, I completely messed up."
...
The souls of the girl and the boy, after experiencing the embarrassment of their 'first night' meeting, finally welcomed the turning point in life they needed to face together on the second day.
Every Friday is the time for Fusion Academy's first-year practical combat tests, Saturday for the second year, and Sunday for the third year.
According to the duel order arranged by the academy, duels unfold sequentially in the duel field.
Since there are over 20 1v1 duels in total, and they must be conducted under the supervision of several teachers, the weekly practical combat tests basically start in the morning and continue until near sunset.
But this week's first-year practical combat test unusually attracted many upperclassmen coming to watch the excitement.
Clearly just an ordinary weekly routine, yet the level of noise in the venue at this time gave the atmosphere of some major dueling tournament about to be held.
As for what everyone came to see, everyone knew full well.
"Wuwuwu, I really can't bear to part with Xiao Ai." Holding Aisha's little head in her arms and rubbing it, Yilin shed tears.
"Speaking of which, so many people came to watch Xiao Ai's expulsion battle, how mean!"
"What do you mean expulsion duel, stop crying, Lin. I might not necessarily lose!" Aisha argued.
"Yes yes yes, I know, Xiao Ai is also very capable." Stopping her tears, Yilin's tone suddenly had a sour tang, "After all, getting that Senpai Irena to vouch for you, that's really something."
That Aisha and Kevin's duel could attract so many people to watch was definitely inseparable from Irena's statement in the magic restaurant last night.
Fusion Duel Academy only has just over 100 students in total. Such explosive news only needed one night to spread throughout the entire school.
The strongest in the first year, Kevin, who maintained a 100% duel win rate, would lose to the dead last about to be expelled, Aisha Yuna Carlos?
Regardless of how credible Irena's words were, this duel of the weakest VS the strongest successfully piqued the curiosity of countless people.