Chapter 157: Dark Demon’s Casual Card Grouping
① Combat Hall.
At the edge of the hall, on a long bench, Dark was counting his mana cards.
Last night, he had studied until twelve o’clock and didn’t have time to count his card deck.
But he only had so many mana cards now, and he quickly finished counting them.
Elemental Cards:
①【Magical Beast: Eevee】
② “Trash Slime”
③ “Huhu”???
④ “Deoxys”????
⑤ “Big Milk Jar”????
⑥ “Eevee”????
Magic Cards:
①【Joy Card】
②【Arrogance I】
③【Arrogance II】
④【Bliss III】
⑤ “Magic Bullet Spell” x2;
⑥【Push Spell】
⑦ “Barrier Spell” x2;
⑧【Invisibility Spell】
⑨ “Flash Spell” x2;
Item Cards:
① “Energy Potion” x5;
②【Silence Potion】
③ “Revealing Powder” x2;
…
Total of 26 mana cards.
This was already enough to meet the minimum requirement for joining the Dueling Club.
However, the composition of the card deck was clearly unreasonable.
The most lacking were the first-tier elemental cards of 1-3 stars.
As the first-tier elemental cards that could be normally summoned, Dark only had three of these cards, making it difficult to draw them in a standard tournament setting.
Therefore, to avoid being held up, Dark needed to reduce his card deck to some extent.
“In any case, this match doesn’t limit the number of mana cards, so let’s try to eliminate some.”
…
As the aroma of milk wafted over, Diana approached: “Dark, do you already have so many mana cards?”
She covered her mouth, her expression of surprise quite cute.
Dark casually replied, “Mostly useless cards.”
“Oh.” Diana also began sorting through her mana cards.
Dark glanced over and found that Diana also had an unexpectedly large number of cards.
But when he tried to look closer, Diana turned red-faced and covered her cards, whispering, “Don’t look, they’re all useless cards.”
Dark: “…”
Diana wouldn’t lie.
If she said they were useless, then they truly were useless!
In the first semester of the first year, the three methods of mana card conjuring taught by the professors during regular classes were:
“Conjuring of Magical Beasts,” “Basic Conjuring Method,” and “Conjuring of General Magic Spells.”
While magical beasts were amazing, most were one-star elemental cards with 100 magic attack and defense.
Moreover, the materials for conjuring magical beasts were very rare and hard to come by.
The conjuring of general magic spells was limited by spells, with only five types, each progressively more difficult to conjure.
Among these, the “Basic Conjuring Method” was the simplest and most suitable.
Thus, if young magi wanted to quickly enhance their combat power, they could only rely on the “Basic Conjuring Method.”
With good luck, drawing one or two three-star cards could turn them from underdogs to contenders!
With even better luck, drawing one or two three-star purple or orange cards could make them leap like carp over the dragon gate!
Some people liked to call this behavior “gambling on cards.”
Meaning that most people would end up with nothing.
Diana’s credit allowance ranked among the top in the first-year students, so she had the leeway to spend a lot of credits on “gambling on cards.”
And indeed, she ended up with a pile of useless cards.
By “useless cards,” they typically meant white cards with low magic attack and defense at the same star level and no skills.
However, Dark currently wished he had a few first-tier white cards to appropriately fill his deck.
He focused his mind and continued grouping his cards.
“First, three first-tier mana elemental cards are necessary, followed by three cards from the Capital Sin Series.”
“Using these six mana cards as the foundation, add three third-tier mana elemental cards.”
“Then add one each of ‘Magic Bullet Spell,’ ‘Invisibility Spell,’ ‘Energy Potion,’ and ‘Revealing Powder.'”
“The ratio of elemental cards to magic and item cards should be 6:7.”
“Hmm, let’s remove one ‘Invisibility Spell’ and one ‘Revealing Powder’!”
“For now, we’ll adjust later if needed.”
Without limitations on the number of cards in the deck, there was no need to add extra cards just to fill it.
Even though the class competition today was declared to follow official duel rules, given the number of first-year students’ cards, it was mainly for experience and part of the course.
Dark didn’t take it too seriously.
Finally, the card deck was:
“Magical Beast: Eevee,” “Trash Slime,” “Huhu”
“Deoxys,” “Big Milk Jar,” “Eevee”
“Arrogance I,” “Arrogance II,” “Bliss III”
“Magic Bullet Spell,” “Energy Potion,” “Revealing Powder”
…
“A total of twelve mana cards, with a ratio of elemental cards to other cards being 1:1, which should suffice.”
With that thought, Dark stacked the remaining cards into another group and put them away.
…
Ding-dong!
The class bell rang on schedule.
“Let’s go.”
Dark stood up from the long bench.
Other students started gathering in the middle, chatting in small groups.
Professor Jones appeared leisurely at the entrance of the combat hall.
She pulled a cart with one hand, containing mana guidance balls and other items.
Once inside, Professor Jones clapped her hands: “Two laps.”
Although the students groaned, they were already accustomed to it, grumbling as they ran.
Jones took this opportunity to set up.
Since the class competition directly used the hall equipment, setting up was relatively quick.
When the students finished two laps, the setup was almost complete.
Rest time was five minutes.
Jones blew her whistle, and the first-year students from the four academies regrouped in front of her.
“We won’t cover much today. Today’s competition will use official rules, divided into two rounds.”
“In the first round, each team from the respective academy will decide four contestants through single-elimination matches.”
“In the second round, sixteen contestants will use double-elimination to determine rankings.”
“All sixteen contestants will receive a certain amount of credit rewards.” Jones briefly explained the rules and then clapped.
“Additionally, the judges today are… please welcome our esteemed guests! Ta-da!”
Following that, the three emotionless professors walked in from the hall entrance.
To match Jones’ quirky sense of humor, they deliberately waited until now to appear…
When they reached the students, their expressions relaxed slightly.
Professor Lily yawned, seemingly not fully awake.
Professor Shylph looked sternly at the students, her gaze sharp.
Professor Claire Kate smiled gently, warm and refreshing.
Including Jones herself, they perfectly represented the four academies.
Students separated according to the professors’ arrangements.
As the head of the Noble Academy, Jones naturally led the students from that academy.
Including Dark, the students from the Noble Academy followed Jones to the ①st venue.
The indoor combat hall was 30×20 meters, slightly larger than a basketball court.
On both sides of the venue, there would be a competitor platform about five meters high.
Duelists needed to use mana cards on the competitor platforms for duels.
