Yu-Gi-Oh!: From Casual Gamer to Soulful Player

"Hyoga, Hyoga! How are you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Little Dinosaur Beidou looked at Hyoga, who had suddenly become even weaker, and asked with concern.

"It's nothing, just a bit of a drain on my soul. It should be fine in a little while!"

After explaining to Baidou, Hyoga looked at the magician and said earnestly, "I have not failed you!"

The magician nodded; his mask concealed his expression, revealing only his eyes.

"Then try it on me after you've rested! If I help you myself, you shouldn't be so exhausted!"

Hyoga was slightly taken aback, then realized that this magician was also a monster, or rather, a card spirit.

He is not human.

But why haven't we seen Hyoga in the anime?

I've never seen a double-dip beaker before!

After thinking for a moment, Hyoga tapped his forehead.

Come on, isn't it normal that this casual player doesn't recognize the main cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! that aren't the main or supporting characters?

After resting for a while, Hyoga felt that his soul had recovered a lot, so he used "Soul" on the magician and Baidou.

Indeed, just as the magician said, with the help of the card spirits themselves, Hyoga consumed far less soul power in these two instances.

At the same time, Hyoga also saw what the magician and the double-hit were printed on the cards.

[Water Mage, 4-star, Water]

[Mage Race/Normal 1200/2000]

A water-manipulating mage. Creates thick walls of water to crush enemies.

And the other one...

[Yihao Double Fight, 1 Star, Water]

[Crawler/Typically 350/300]

[A little reptile with a gentle heart, determined to become an even stronger warrior.]

Huh?

Is Doubi only 1 star? And when he dragged out the dried-up corpse of Gerald's warrior just now, its strength was only 350 attack?

Well, we can't reason about monsters using common sense.

Furthermore, this reptile-type creature, Double-Beat, is even more like Agumon!

So, if Multiply Evolves, will it also turn into something like Greymon? I'm kind of looking forward to it!

As for the magician, oh, to be precise, the water magician, he was actually better at defense!

2000 defense for a 4-star character should be considered top-tier!

Suddenly I feel so safe!

"Alright, let's continue!" the Water Demon Taoist said again. "After your soul recovers tonight, Hyoga, I'll teach you other combat skills."

This knowledge was originally what the Water Demon Taoist wanted to learn after he awakened his soul.

However, he has not been able to awaken his soul yet, and has already given up.

"Okay!" Hyoga nodded very solemnly.

Now that he has decided to become a powerful Soul Player, the knowledge of dueling is what he lacks most at this moment.

He's so grateful that the Water Demon Taoist can teach him!

Therefore, while Hyoga was happy, he felt that even though his soul had not been fully restored, his steps were much lighter.

But the water sorcerer who had been observing Hyoga understood that this was caused by his and Betaku's spirit power binding Hyoga.

The power of spirits not only provides a boost when playing cards, but also enhances the physical attributes of duelists in ordinary times.

The more powerful the soul, the stronger it becomes.

They could even jump directly from a speeding plane and be perfectly fine.

That's the benefit of having a soul!

Even the Water Demon Taoist, who had already mastered the art of freezing his heart, felt a pang of sadness at this moment.

I'm so envious!

……

At night, the desert temperature drops sharply because it cannot retain heat.

But this also has its advantages for the water magician.

He used magic to create an igloo that should only exist in the polar regions, preventing the heat inside from escaping and ensuring they wouldn't have to suffer from the cold.

Beidou is now lying on the ground, fast asleep.

They're pretty carefree.

Meanwhile, the Water Demon Taoist was giving a lesson to Ice River.

The very first lesson is how to use the power of spirits to create a Duel Disk!

Although Hyoga didn't know how powerful the Water Mage's magic was, he clearly understood that the Water Mage was a good teacher.

With his guidance, Hyoga condensed a duel disk made of flowing water on his arm in just one hour.

After all, both Water Mage and Malygos are water-type, so this is how they should create things using their spirit power.

However, there is currently only one monster slot and one area to release spells and traps on this Duel Disk.

It can be used, but only a very small amount.

"It's alright, it's because you only have three cards, and your Spirit Power is insufficient. Once you have more cards, you can build a stronger Duel Disk!"

The water demon's explanation reassured Hyoga.

It's great that we won't be fighting with only one Duel Disk slot.

Three squares aren't enough, let alone one.

"Then let's move on to the second lesson!"

"Use your Soul Power to enhance the monster placed face-down on the Duel Disk!"

"Now, put my card on the Duel Disk!"

Hyoga nodded and placed the Water Magician card on the Duel Disk.

"Hmm!"

Hyoga let out a soft groan, because he realized that he had consumed a lot of his soul power.

So releasing monsters also consumes soul power!

The Water Demon Taoist, however, felt the complete opposite.

He felt his strength becoming more abundant.

And at the same time, another connection appeared between him and the glacier.

"Next, I'll channel some of my soul power into my cards via the Duel Disk. Let's try a small portion first!"

Hyoga nodded, then carefully separated a portion of his soul power and controlled it to inject it into the card.

"Well!"

This time, even the Water Demon Taoist couldn't help but let out a soft groan, because his power had indeed been enhanced.

[Water Mage, 1200/2000→1500/2300]

Both offense and defense have increased by 300 points!

Glacier's eyes lit up.

But then, Hyoga saw a magic circle appear in the Water Demon's hand, and the soul that had been injected into him flowed into this magic circle.

Subsequently, after the soul flowed into the magic circle, the amplification on the water mage disappeared.

However, a card appeared in the water mage's hand.

This is, a card?

Although Hyoga himself also printed cards, it was because a monster made him collect souls.

The Water Mage is really just using his blessed soul to make cards!

Bravo!

The Water Demon looked at the card in his hand, nodded, but then shook his head and handed the card to Ice River.

"There aren't enough souls; the enhancement is limited to the race! Next time, we can use more souls!"

Hyoga took the card and discovered it was a magic card.

[The Book of Arcane Arts (Equipment Magic)]

[Effect: Only Mage-type monsters can equip this. Increases the equipping monster's Attack and Defense by 300 points.]

Glacier was taken aback.

"With this magic card, Hyoga, if you want to achieve the same amplification effect again, you'll only need half the souls!" the Water Mage explained, then continued, "Alright, let's try again!"

Hyoga nodded, and then this time he divided out more than three times the amount of soul and injected it into the Water Mage's card.

Binghe looked at the Water Demon Taoist and noticed that his attack and defense had both increased by 300 this time.

What's going on? Is this the attack limit I've raised with my soul energy?

However, at this point, the increase changed. The Water Mage's attack power increased by 100, but his defense power not only dropped back to 2000, but continued to decrease until it stopped at 1800.

Hyoga was surprised, but then he saw the Water Mage start printing cards again.

After the card printing was finished, the Water Demon Taoist nodded and handed the card to Hyoga.

【Steel Shell (Equipment Magic)】

[Effect: Only Water-type monsters can equip this. The equipping monster gains 400 Attack and loses 200 Defense.]

"This time, the limitation is on attributes! More monsters can receive the boost, and attack power is increased significantly, but defense is reduced in return!"

Therefore, this equipment magic is not suitable for water-attribute monsters with higher defense, such as the Water Mage.

Even so, the glacier still seemed magical to me.

The Water Mage is really good at printing cards!

He can completely control the effects of Soul Amplification!

At this rate, I feel that even though I don't have many monsters yet, I should be able to complete a deck very quickly.

……

For the next year, Hyoga and his companions spent their nights consuming their soul power to study and print cards, and their days traveling and recovering their soul power.

The desert stretched endlessly, and it would have been very difficult for the three of them to persevere if they hadn't supported each other.

Furthermore, the various dangers they encountered along the way were all overcome safely thanks to their mutual reliance and trust.

This also made them more in sync with each other.

It really is tiring, but invigorating.

Furthermore, with the increasing number of monster corpses discovered in the past ten days or so, both Hyoga and the Water Mage felt that they might be getting closer and closer to their target.

As for Beidou, he remained nonchalant upon hearing the news, which actually eased Hyoga's tension considerably.

"Watch out!" the Water Demon Taoist warned.

The next moment, a giant skeletal elephant suddenly emerged from the ground and charged at Hyoga and Betw.

But before it could get close, a wall of water suddenly rose up around Ice River and Beidou.

Zombie Mammoth?

Hyoga instinctively opened the Duel Disk.

The Water Sorcerer card appeared out of nowhere on the Duel Disk, which was already filled to five squares, and the Book of Secrets also appeared in the Spell & Trap Zone.

The water wall suddenly became thicker and pressed down on the zombie mammoth in the opposite direction.

In just one stroke, the elephant, which consisted only of bones, was crushed into bone powder.

With practiced ease, Hyoga made a move from afar, and a card materialized out of thin air above the bone powder, flying towards Hyoga.

Mammoth Graveyard, 3 stars, Earth

[Dinosaur Tribe/Normal 1200/800]

A mammoth guarding the graveyard of its companions. Damaging the graveyard will result in a relentless attack.

Hyoga recognized the card upon seeing the artwork.

Isn't this the infamous monster that is neither dark-attribute nor undead, yet can be fused into the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's body, causing its attack power to continuously decrease?

Hyoga suddenly remembered that besides various dueling techniques, he also needed to practice his verbal sparring more!

In addition, looking at the card's attack and attributes, Hyoga had another question.

Hyoga pulls out [Jera's Warrior].

If the Mammoth Graveyard can survive here, how come the Warriors of Jera, who have higher attack and defense, fell down so far away?

Could it be... that the warriors of Jera rushed into the desert without bringing any food?

Huh?

Hyoga carefully examined the card art for "Jera's Warrior".

The card depicts a greatsword with a white hilt, but this sword is not seen next to the dried-up corpse.

How did the sword disappear?

Could it be buried in the sand and not dug out?

To prevent himself from misremembering, Hyoga also asked the Water Mage and Betto.

Beidou has absolutely no recollection of it.

The Water Mage was quite certain that the sword was not worn by the dried corpse, and looking at the sword in the card, the Water Mage had a very bad feeling.

Moreover, the card's description of "Jera's Warrior" states that he is fleeing from the evil demon race.

It seems we need to be more vigilant!

"Hyoga, Hyoga! Water Demon, Water Demon!" At this moment, Beidou climbed up the nearby sand dune and suddenly shouted loudly to Hyoga and the Water Demon Taoist, "We've found another pyramid! And there are five of them!"

Five pyramids!

Upon hearing this, the Water Demon Taoist's spirits lifted.

After catching the glacier, the water sorcerer flew directly up the sand dune.

So he can fly!

The glacier thus saw five pyramids arranged in a regular pentagon in the distance, directly from the air.

Hmm? This shape looks somewhat familiar...

But at that moment, it seemed as if a chain reaction had begun, and more and more figures appeared on the sand dunes, forming a basin around the five pyramids.

They must have all heard the rumors about the power of evolution, which is why the monsters came from all directions.

However, the more Hyoga looked at the scene, the more uneasy he felt, as they arrived at the same place at such a coincidence.

Seeing that the Water Mage and Double Top were about to charge down the sand dune, Hyoga hurriedly shouted, "Wait! Water Mage, Double Top, be careful, it might be a trap!"

But Hyoga shouted loudly, and Water Demon and Betto did not stop.

The water demon priest only glanced back at the glacier before rushing forward even faster.

But that one glance made Hyoga realize something was wrong.

Although the Water Demon's eyes were originally red, they were now glowing red!

Absolutely wrong!

"Come back here!!!"

The power of the soul surged, and the cards [Water Magician] and [Righteous Warrior] appeared on the Duel Disk simultaneously.

The Water Mage and Doubling, who were rushing forward, instantly transformed into a ball of light and bounced back into the cards on the Duel Disk.

The next moment, the two of them reappeared beside Hyoga.

"Thanks to you, Hyoga!"

The water sorcerer, panting heavily, pulled Beidou behind the sand dune, no longer looking at the five pyramids. "We were both controlled by a force, only thinking about rushing towards the pyramids!"

"Hyoga, we can't stand by and watch anymore. You'll have to tell me what happened!"

"knew!"

Glacier took a deep breath and watched as the monsters that had come from all directions across the treacherous desert poured into the five pyramids without any resistance, like moths drawn to a flame.

These powerful monsters were all "eaten" by the five pyramids.

When all of this was over, an enormous golden sphere of light appeared high in the sky.

As the glacier looked at it, a chill ran through its heart.

Because it wasn't just a golden sphere of light; it also contained a giant eye.

It is the eye of a thousand years!