The gigantic godly dragon, large enough to shroud several towering mountains, glared fiercely at Tenjo Hikari and his companion. Fubuki awkwardly coughed twice, about to speak, only to be struck by the thunderbolts of the Thunder Dragon, letting out a cry of surprise. His whole body swayed left and right in the air, frightening his spirit to immediately cover him with its wings.
Seeing this, Tenjo Hikari quickly shouted to the Thunder Dragon, "Oh dragon! Please calm your anger! We did not mean to disturb the young spirits!"
Upon hearing Tenjo Hikari's voice, the Thunder Dragon gently lowered its dragon head. That enormous dragon head was several times larger than Tenjo Hikari, not to mention the archfiend he accompanied. It brought immense psychological pressure to Tenjo Hikari. Added to that, the intense electricity flowing near the dragon's head caused a stinging sensation physically, making it suffocating and difficult to muster the will to lie.
"Humans, explain your purpose for being here!"
The Thunder Dragon was not entirely unreasonable; after punishing Fubuki for a while, it stopped and instead asked Tenjo Hikari.
Tenjo Hikari breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
No matter what level of spirit this Thunder Dragon is, with a body that large, it must definitely be a highly "cultivated" spirit. In the absence of necessity, avoiding conflict with it was more in line with Tenjo Hikari's thoughts.
Tenjo Hikari briefly explained their purpose.
"Human warriors pursuing cards and rituals, huh..."
The Thunder Dragon automatically translated Tenjo Hikari's talk of students, dueling, and seeking spirits, into terms more easily understood by spirits.
"Then, warriors of humans, clearly, you've come to the wrong place."
It said.
"This is where spirits train and grow."
As it spoke, a spirit around the same size as Garrett, a bird beast and a dragon-type spirit, flew over. The two spirits first bowed to the Thunder Dragon before flying to Tenjo Hikari and his companion to speak about the Guardian of the Mountain.
A long, long time ago, the Spirit World was very simple and pure, like mountains, seas, wilderness, and grasslands. As spirits developed and more cards were unearthed, the Spirit World became more and more robust, gradually carving out unique areas for various factions, like Skyscraper and the Secret Village of Spellcasters.
Originally, there was nothing wrong with this; some ancient spirits who cherished the past would remain in those original places, living quietly, until one day, the Spirit World suddenly experienced violent tremors. The entire Spirit World started to fracture and divide. Countless factions searched for reasons but couldn't find answers, ultimately leading to the splitting of the Spirit World into numerous small dimensions.
To prevent the situation from worsening further, to protect the young spirits, and to minimize internal casualties while investigating the truth, the Dragon, Thunder, and Bird Beast tribes united, enclosing the Mountain dimension with some of their own, leaving only the nascent hatchlings and periodically replacing guards and watchers. The rest, the adult spirits and warriors who knew the Duel Ceremony, slowly went in search of answers.
This year, the Thunder Dragon serves as the rotating watcher, guarding the Mountain.
Therefore, the spirits who can perform the Duel Ceremony here are guards who will absolutely not leave this world. They cannot abandon their duty of protecting the young spirits to go to other dimensions.
Unless it's next year's shift— but they wouldn't be in the Mountain then either.
That would be awkward.
Tenjo Hikari couldn't help scratching his head.
Was this trip for nothing?
"Hahaha, Thunder Dragon! On the contrary, there might be another possibility!" Seeing the two guards finish explaining, and the Thunder Dragon no longer wielding lightning against himself, Fubuki felt confident again, laughing out loud.
"Another potential?" It looked at Fubuki.
Another possibility... not likely, Senior Fubuki.
Tenjo Hikari guessed what Tenjouin Fubuki was going to propose.
"It's totally possible, isn't it! Guardians! We'll duel you and let the young spirits here observe. If any spirit becomes interested or even willing to leave with us, to see the Human World, to explore other dimensions, won't they be able to leave with us!"
Tenjo Hikari covered his face.
Even the little ones aren't spared!
Fubuki extended a thumb and flashed a broad smile, teeth glinting as if he were shooting a commercial: "I don't need powerful spirits; I just need flashy ones!"
Then, he pointed to Tenjo Hikari: "As for the remarkable person beside me!
He is a Fusion Duelist pursuing Extreme Fusion! For him, he seeks the spirits that similarly pursue fusion!
I believe, in this mountain, there must be spirits full of hope or expectation for the future!"
I have to admit.
Tenjouin Fubuki.
Has a way with words!
His words even made the Thunder Dragon stop to ponder.
"Don't underestimate me like this; I sometimes perform at kindergartens too—ah, a kindergarten is like the Human World's institution for training young ones, similar to the Mountain," Fubuki continued, "Cultivating children's interests from a young age should be important too, right!"
Even the lightning seemed to lessen.
The Thunder Dragon was genuinely contemplating.
No doubt—
Tenjo Hikari nodded repeatedly on the side.
Teaming up with Fubuki in this dimension was indeed the right choice.
If it were with Judai, Tenjo Hikari and Judai would probably be thinking about returning to the Human World to explore other dimensions before exhausting much energy.
"Interesting—humans, I find your proposal quite convincing." The Thunder Dragon thought for a long time, gently responding, "Go summon the children."
As it spoke, it slowly lowered its colossal body, and many guards flew in from all directions, either informing or carrying the young spirits.
Seeing this, Tenjo Hikari and Fubuki also slowly descended together. In no time, they had descended close to the base of the mountain.
By this time, the entire body of the Thunder Dragon had fully landed on the "ground." Its enormous body wrapped around one mountain after another, appearing dreamlike amidst the clouds and mist. At that moment, the entire mountain seemed to transform into a flat plain. Countless young spirits descended onto its body; some began to run around and fly chaotically, others bundled together asleep, while some bold ones approached its dragon head, daring to grab its mane. However, it displayed not a trace of anger, instead showing an unmistakably affectionate smile.
"Click, click, click—"
Fubuki pressed the camera shutter wildly.
"Wow..." he looked at the photo that popped out, "Wow... I feel like I could win a photography prize."
At the same time, a dragon and a bird, two burly and robust spirit warriors, also flew over, landing in front of Tenjo Hikari and Fubuki.
Meanwhile, the Thunder Dragon's voice resounded once more amidst the thunder.
"The rules of the Duel Ceremony are a standard 2V2; both sides share their field, graveyard, and exclusions, and from the second turn, attacks can be made."
"The guardians within the Mountain are elite warriors of the three tribes, human warriors. Let our children witness the spirit of your warriors."
Having said that, the two guardians lit up their spirit-style duel disks.
"Duel!"
Guardian of the Mountain, LP: 8000.
Duel Academy students, LP: 8000.