"The winner of the first dorm exam duel is Clay. For the results of your dorm switch please wait until tomorrow." The voice over the intercom announced the results of Clay's duel. The crowd cheered at the overwhelming defeat of the Obelisk Blue student.
Clay walked out of the arena and to the bleachers where Jaden and Syrus were sitting. As he sat down the two congratulated him on his victory over Yamada. He kindly accepted the praise from his friends, when some of the other Slifer students walked up and congratulated him as well. There was no point to send them away so he just let them indulge themselves.
"Will Jaden Yuki please make his way into he arena for your dorm switch exam." The intercom called Jaden for his duel.
"Good luck Jaden, not that you'll need it." Clay had a smile on his face as his friend walked into the duel arena. When he reached the center of the room he waved up to Syrus and Clay, and they waved back.
Entering the room from the same door that Jaden walked in from, was another Obelisk student. This one was far more recognizable than Yamada with his sharp black hair and cocky smile on his face. Chazz Princeton would be the one dueling Jaden in his exam.
"Clay, I thought these duels were meant to be between those from the same dorm." Syrus was confused at this point. "The other duels had been like they should be but you and Jaden are dueling people from Obelisk, that seems a little unfair."
"Don't worry Sy, it's just because someone has it out for us." Clay looked in the direction of Dr. Crowler subtly. There was a big grin on his face as Chazz walked up to the stage for the duel. "But everything will be fine, Jaden can win this duel."
"I hope you're right, after all Chazz is one of the best first years here." Syrus sat back down, still apprehensive but slightly less so because of what Clay said. It was time for the duel to begin.
The duel went as Clay remembered from the anime, Chazz getting the upper hand in the early parts of the duel and Jaden being on the defensive. When Winged Kuriboh and a face down came onto the field Clay knew what was happening next.
Jaden played Transcendent Wings to level Winged Kuriboh up into Winged Kuriboh lvl 10, letting Jaden destroy Chazz's monster and deal a large amount of damage. With a final attack from Avian, Jaden came out the winner of the duel.
"See Sy? I told you Jaden could win this duel." Clay got up, ready to congratulate Jaden on his win when he returned. As he came into view Clay wore his biggest smile. "That was an impressive duel. Where'd you get that new card from?"
"Thanks bro, actually that old lady from this morning gave me a pack for helping out. She even asked me to give one of the packs to you when I saw you, but you were in your duel so I couldn't give it to you." Jaden reached into his pocket and took out a booster pack of cards. "Here, I'm sure you'll get some cool cards from it."
"Thanks." Clay hadn't helped Dorothy because he wanted the cards as a reward, but he would never say no to free cards. Sitting down he ripped the pack open, dying to see what he would get from the pack. "These are some awesome cards."
From the pack Clay was able to find some great cards. He sifted through them to find any more diamonds but he had to settle for these two. One of the was future fusion, a card that let him send fusion materials from his deck to the graveyard and special summon a monster in two turns. The other was a trap card he hadn't seen before.
Goitsu: Special summon one 'Itsu' Union monster from your deck and equip it onto an 'Itsu' monster. Also attach this card to the same monster, the equipped monster gains this effect: Gains attack equal to the total monster cards in both players graveyard x300.
Clay had never seen a support card for the Itsu monsters back in his old world. People had made their own custom support cards but the creators never made any. With this card he could use his ace monsters more reliably against people.
"That looks cool, I bet the others will agree." A low voice spoke from behind Clay. He turned around to look who was talking but he didn't see anyone. "Look up."
Clay did as instructed and saw a small blue man doing a handstand on his paper plane. This was Koitsu, one of the Duel Spirits that Clay could see. They had been absent for a while, probably observing what kind of duelist Clay was and judging if he was worthy for them to bond with.
"Hey, long time no see." Clay looked around the room, trying to spot the other plane riding men, but couldn't find any trace of them whatsoever. "Where are the others?"
"They're out exploring the island for any other spirits. We saw that duel you had against the two girls and decided that we could work with you." Koitsu floated down to head height, making it easier for Clay to communicate. "We thought that you might appreciate if we brought you some more duel spirits."
"Thanks for the concern, but I would have been happy if it was only you guys joining me." Clay kept speaking to Koitsu about what he and the other Itsu brothers had been up to, but he was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.
"Clay, are you okay? You've been talking to the air for about five minutes." Syrus looked at Clay with a worry in his eyes. He had been trying to ignore the fact that Clay was talking to himself, thinking it was just something that he would do sometimes. After five minutes though, Sy was starting to think that Clay had gone crazy.
"Don't worry Sy, just talking to one of my buds." Clay pointed to Koitsu, but to Syrus it just looked like he was pointing to the air. "It's kind of like how Jaden can see his Winged Kuriboh card."
"No way, you can see them too!" Jaden hadn't cared about Clay talking to himself, but at the mention of his furry pal, he was interested too.
"Yup, sure can." Clay wasn't going to lie to his friends, not over something that his friend could also do. "I got a Koitsu with me right now, but the other guys will be back soon."
"Wicked! Can you see other monsters like my Winged Kuriboh?" Jaden had a sparkle in his eye as he asked his question. He thought he was the only one and know one of his friends was capable of seeing monsters as well.
"Not quite, the monsters need to make themselves appear. If Winged Kuriboh doesn't want to appear in front of me then I can't see him." Clay spoke about his connection to the duel spirits. He wasn't sure if he was telling he truth, but just listened to what Koitsu was telling him to say.
"Well, I'm sure Winged Kuriboh will warm up to you soon, ain't that right buddy." This time Jaden was the one to look into the air. Syrus, between the two, thought he was friends with maybe the two craziest people in the world.
The dorm exam was almost over, only Syrus needed to have his duel then they would decided to head back to the dorms for an early dinner.
"Syrus Truesdale, please make your way towards the duel arena for your practical exam." The voice over the intercom called for Syrus soon after, causing him to bolt from his seat and make his way down to the arena.
"Good luck Syrus!"
"You got this!"
Jaden and Clay called out Syrus as he ran to the arena. When he arrived onto the stage there was another Slifer student standing opposite him. As the duel started Syrus could be seen visibly shaking.
"Hey Jaden, you know why Sy's been so nervous?" Clay asked Jaden the question. He already knew the answer to it, but he wanted to see if Jaden had any of his own clues.
"No idea, he usually only gets like that when he has a specific card in his hand. Maybe he drew that card in the first turn." Jaden spoke out his theory on why Syrus was nervous. Honestly, Clay was impressed that Jaden had pieced together the nerves with a specific card.
"Got any ideas which card it is?"
"Yeah, it's a card called Power Bond. Powerful card, could've won a lot more duels if he used it but he never does. Not sure why though." Jaden looked down at Syrus with a look of concern.
"Tell you what, when we get back lets ask him why he won't play that card." Clay turned to look at Jaden for a response to his suggestion. Jaden nodded, alright with this plan. "Maybe we can start bringing his confidence back up instead of having him always being a nervous wreck."