Mizar had spent his weekend in awe, watching magic duels and talking to some of the most competitive magicians in town, all thanks to his brother. He felt a sense of eagerness and apprehension for the upcoming mana evaluation that would determine his capacity and level as a mage.
The evaluation would measure the quantity, concentration, and purity of mana within each student's mana core, determining their rank and specialization. Mizar couldn't help but feel both excited and nervous at the same time, knowing that the results would be unpredictable.
To prepare for the worst-case scenario, Mizar spent the rest of his holidays in the family library, scouring through books about alternative spellcasting. His friend Ridley had come to hang out with him, pestering him to play outside.
"C'mon man, let's play outside. Don't you get bored and crammed in here all day? Let's play Tulk Card with the kids. I promised them to show my new cards," Ridley begged.
Mizar replied, "Can you wait? I'm almost finished. I'm looking for a certain book that my brother once brought in. It might contain some of the most important information about mana gathering."
The library was in a state of disarray, with a pile of books stacked and drawn out of their shelves. Mizar had sorted out every book he had read, and the tower of books had reached beyond his own height. He scoured the entire library, determined to find the book he was looking for.
Growing impatient, Ridley reminded Mizar of their impending meeting with the other kids. "You can continue it later. We're almost late. They must have been waiting for us already."
Mizar sighed, knowing Ridley was right. "Hah, okay. We're going."
They left the library and went to the appointed meeting location, where the other kids were already waiting. "What took you so long?" asked Vanta.
A group of children from around the neighborhood had gathered in the park. Mizar recognized some of them from the previous year's classes, and others were new faces.
"Check this out!" Ridley exclaimed, immediately showing off his new Tulk cards to the kids. They drew oohs and aahs from the impressed audience. Mizar watched as the children played, but his mind was still preoccupied with the upcoming mana evaluation.
While Ridley was busy with the kids that crowded him to look at his cards, Mizar stood on the side, lost in thought about the upcoming test, he failed to notice another kid approaching him. Suddenly, the kid stood in front of Mizar and called out to him.
"What are you daydreaming about?" a kid sneered as he crossed in front of Mizar. The boastful kid was trying to mess with him.
"Nothing much. I haven't seen you here before, are you new here?" Mizar replied calmly, trying not to engage in a fight.
"What? Maybe if you're not hiding in your house all day, you would have known me already!" the kid retorted, getting upset that Mizar didn't recognize him.
"He's Letto Lovetrain. The weird kid from The Lovetrain family," Vanta explained.
"Who are you calling weird? I'm the only person here who's sane," Letto denied, refusing to be called the weird one. He then pulled out his own deck of cards and challenged Mizar, "Mizar Morgan! I challenge you to a duel!"
Mizar was taken aback by the sudden challenge but accepted it nonetheless. "Alright then, Letto. I accept your challenge," he said, drawing his own deck of Tulk cards.
This challenge drawn attention of everyone around, they began to surround both Misar and Letto.
Ridley shuffled his way to reach Mizar to see what happened to his friend.
"Hey what's happening? A fight? Let's use traditional format okay. I don't want anyone to get hurt"
Ridley hurried over to Mizar, concerned about his friend's safety. As he arrived, he noticed that Mizar was facing off against another kid.
"What's going on here? Is there some kind of fight happening?" Ridley asked, hoping to defuse the situation.
The other kid, Letto, lowered his card and asked, "Fight? No, we were just playing a game of cards. What do you mean by traditional format?"
Ridley saw an opportunity to explain how they could play the game without any risk of injury. "Well, in traditional format, we use dud cards instead of real ones. That way, we can still play the game without anyone getting hurt."
Letto seemed to understand the concept. "So, we're not actually casting spells with these cards?"
"Exactly," Ridley replied. "It's just a pretend game, but we can still have fun and use our imaginations."
Letto nodded in agreement, but couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. "I come from a family of Duelists, and we only play with real Tulk Cards. But I guess this could be fun too."
Ridley smiled. "Trust me, it's just as fun. And who knows? Maybe you'll discover a new way to play the game that you never even thought of before."
The kids made an arena by drawing lines on the ground in the middle of the park.
They began to duel, standing opposing each other, like duelist do, they pull out some cards from their deck that they strapped on their waist and hold it in one hand.
Vanta stand in the middle of the as the refree explains to them the rules and what is prohibited during the duel. No physical attacks are allowed since this is just a pretend match.
Ridley stand on the side of the arena as the judge to watch over the game and to decide the winner.
"Are you ready?" Vanta asked to the two players, both Mizar and Letto nodded that they were ready to go.
"Begin! "
Vanta stepped to the side as both player already making their move.
Letto took the initiative and lauch the first attack. He draw a card from a collection in his left hand to his right and casted the card.
" <
By pointing his right hand to the target, the card was supposed to produce a bolt of lightning that struck the target, but because it was a dud card there was only a mirage of lightning that comes from the card. It would have not done anything even if it hits Mizar. But for the sake of the game, Mizar still have to dodge it if he didn't want to lose.
He rolled to his side to avoid the fake lightning bolt
"Ugh, that was close. You has an insane reaction speed"
"Back at you, You're not as bad as I think"
After successfully evading multiple attack from Letto, Mizar started his own counter attack.
He used the Tulk card that has a similar spell like what Axel used. He learn several techniques and tips to use pyromatic spell from Axel and as the results, he created a fire spell archetype.
He used fireball card.
The children had created an arena in the middle of the park by drawing lines on the ground. They stood facing each other like seasoned duelists, with decks of cards strapped to their waists and one card held in each of their hands. Vanta stood in the center, acting as the referee, and explained the rules and restrictions of the game. Physical attacks were not permitted, as this was just a pretend match.
Mizar watched as Letto prepared a Tulk spell card to block the fireball. It was a copy of "<
Learning from Axel's mistake, Mizar used the "<
Letto watched in amazement as Mizar avoided his attack. "Wow, that was impressive!" he exclaimed.
Mizar grinned. "Thanks, Axel taught me a few tricks. Now it's my turn to attack." With a swift motion, Mizar drew another card from his deck and cast it towards Letto.
The game continued, with Mizar and Letto launching attack after attack, each trying to gain the upper hand. Ridley watched closely, ready to declare a winner when the game was over.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Mizar emerged victorious. Letto congratulated him on his win and the two boys shook hands.
"That was a great game," Mizar said, panting slightly from the excitement.
"I agree," Letto replied. "We'll have to play again soon."
As they played, Mizar couldn't help but feel a sense of envy towards the other kids who seemed carefree and unaware of the looming evaluation. He hoped that his preparation would pay off and that he would be able to rank high in the evaluation, unlocking the potential for a specialization in a certain type of magic
The sun began to set, and the group of kids started to disperse. Mizar and Ridley said their goodbyes and walked home together. As they parted ways, Mizar couldn't help but feel a sense of loneliness, realizing that the upcoming evaluation was something he had to face alone.
Ridley could see it on his friend's face that he was still anxious about it, even after he had took him to play with the boys, it didn't get rid of all the negative thought that was still lingering in Mizar's head.
"What's on your mind?"
"I'm scared, what if I'm not going to do well?"
"don't worry, you'll be fine"
Ridley pat Mizar on the shoulder. He got a good idea to gave his scaredly friend some courage.
"hey I have something for you"
"what is it? "
"it's a Tulk card, a real Tulk card that is not a dud. trust me You will like it."