Long ago, when humans still used magic as their primary weapon, a strange and eccentric figure suddenly attacked humanity.
He called himself the Demon King Furnit—a demon.
Well, his introduction was a bit… off. He showed up completely naked, pointed at the human kingdom, and declared he would conquer the world and destroy humanity.
The humans burst into laughter. Because thousands of years of history, there was always a Demon King.
And Demon Kings always failed, no matter how powerful they were. To them, this guy was nothing more than a clown.
So, they fired a magic spell at him to finish off the boastful demon.
That was humanity's greatest mistake.
The enemy they faced was far from ordinary.
He absorbed the magic, and that alone was enough to shake a society that considered magic its most powerful weapon.
And, yeah, the rest is a long history of war.
Humanity was the weaker side, with their population drastically reduced by the cruelty and brutality of the demons.
In the end, demons were always malevolent. They were creatures of hatred, incapable of empathy, unable to cry, and saw slaughter as their natural instinct.
I hope X doesn't notice this novel and call me racist just for writing a fictional species as evil…
Even though humans allied with other races, they still couldn't overpower the demons.
…They couldn't win.However, in a sea of blood, a glimmer of hope gave rise to one person.
An unnamed mage, filled with boundless rage toward the demons.
This person did everything—anything—regardless of morality, to find a way to kill the demons.
One day, he dreamt of a strange card capable of summoning creatures sealed within it.
Upon waking, he followed what he saw in his dream.
It was possible to summon monsters through magic, but it was limited by the user's mana.
So, he needed a medium to fully contain the creatures' power, requiring only enough mana to summon them with strength surpassing even their master!
Great idea, but how?
Alchemy.
The law of equivalent exchange is a strict rule of alchemy, and he had to spend a fortune to gather the materials.
It was insanely expensive—alchemy is no joke…
Creating that magic card took ten years of research, countless failures, and an unyielding will.
In the end, he succeeded.
Holding the summoning magic card in his hand, he marched straight to the battlefield.
And the rest is history… Wait, didn't I already say that?
"That's how monster cards came to be," Rook paused, looking at the students.
Everyone was excited. Being told this history right before creating their first monster card? There had to be a reason.
Aelith and the blonde girl were particularly thrilled.
The girl from the Knight's House, however, was fast asleep—maybe she'd heard this story too many times already.
As for me, well, I didn't pay much attention to the plot, so this is pretty new to me. Though, the story's setup feels simpler than I expected?
That was the time when demons rose after humans were defeated by magic.
And indeed, the demons back then were unstoppable, so someone had to step in.
Luckily, that someone was the Doom Slayer.
Yeah, he hated demons, so I'm calling him Doom Slayer because it sounds cool.
He took care of the demons and forced them to stop fighting after the Demon King was killed.
Okay, that's not how Doom Slayer will do, I will take that name back.
This led to a hundred years of peace, and magic cards were developed to replace traditional magic.
Only for the demons to return later, fighting in the same way as humans—
Duel!
And that's the rest of the history—I think I've repeated that phrase a bit too much…
Rook glanced at his watch and smiled.
"Alright, I've kept you waiting long enough."
He used magic, and a pile of materials appeared on each student's desk.
"This is a blank card. It will hold the creature you create inside it," Rook said, holding up the card, which was plain except for its brown border.
"Now, I'll be waiting to see your results. The process for creating the card is in your textbook. Follow it, and if you don't understand something, ask me. Get to work!"
Hearing this, the already excited students eagerly dove into the task.
Joy and enthusiasm were overflowing—after all, they all wanted their own monster to fight with.
Snowy was no different. As a hardcore Pokémon fan, he was pumped.
"100% I'm making an Ice-type monster, no doubt about it," Snowy thought to himself, glancing at the textbook.
The textbook listed 18 basic monsters, each with its own type, just like Pokémon, except this time there were 18 starters.
And I bet the other students will pick the Dragon type because it's strong and cool (even though the Dragon type itself isn't considered powerful, the monsters with it are strong due to their high stats).
Looking at the pile of materials, I checked each one's name:
Magic powder, monster claws, magic core, and elemental stone.
The magic powder forms the monster's body, the claws give it a unique weapon, the magic core acts as its heart, and the elemental stone determines its type (based on the owner's element).
These are the most basic materials for creating a low-level monster, so it's not too complicated.
Well, not for adults, at least.Boom!
A small explosion startled the other students, who turned to look.
The blonde girl sitting next to Aelith had failed at creating her monster.
"Ah…" Her voice sounded disappointed, but Aelith comforted her.Right then, a few more explosions rang out, signaling that creating a monster card was far from easy.
Snowy turned back to his materials and carefully reviewed the textbook's steps.
He might have underestimated this… Creating a monster requires extreme precision and focus, which is tough for kids our age.
"Phew."
He took some chalk and drew a small magic circle on the blank card.
Following the textbook's detailed instructions, he proceeded step by step.
Teacher Rook wandered around, pausing to watch Snowy work on his card.
"Ho? Pretty good focus," Rook thought, satisfied, before moving on to check on Aelith.Aelith was no less focused—she was almost done.
She placed the elemental stone and channeled magic into the magic core.
At that moment, the blank card began to shake violently.
It sucked in all the materials and glowed a dark black.
Then, the card fell back onto the desk. Aelith, sweating, picked it up.
She looked at it and smiled happily, summoning it right there.The other students, drawn to her success, were curious about what her monster was.
What appeared before her was… a bat?
It wore a skull, had glowing red eyes, a small body, bat wings, and pitch-black skin.
Kinda cute?"It's a Bone Bat, pure Dark type," Rook said immediately, observing it.
"Teacher, it has wings, so why doesn't it have the Flying type?" the blonde girl next to Aelith asked curiously.
"Not every dragon-like creature has the Dragon type. The Bone Bat is an example. It can fly because of its traits."
"Traits?"Aelith looked at the card's information and saw its trait:
Wings of Flight: Increases Flying-type damage by 10%, completely immune to Ground-type.
This meant her monster didn't need the Flying type to be immune to Ground and still got a Flying damage boost! Amazing!"You did very well. You're the first student in the class to successfully create a monster. Everyone can learn from her," Rook said.
Hearing this, everyone bombarded Aelith with questions.
Right now, Aelith was the star of the class!Rook smiled, then noticed one student who wasn't paying attention to Aelith and was still working on his own card.
Snowy.
Rook walked over to see how far Snowy had gotten.Just as Rook approached, Snowy's card glowed a bright blue.
Another student had succeeded!Snowy looked at the monster on his card and smiled.
Name: Snowflake Sprite
Type: Spirit
Element: Ice
Level: 1 Star
Card Type: Green
ATK: 100
DEF: 100
Skill: Icy Wind
Description: Looks like a fluffy snowball, often hiding under snow. Its outer fur keeps it warm, making snow the ideal terrain for it to live in. It's very gentle, eats snow, and sits at the bottom of the food chain.
Holding the card, Snowy decided not to summon his monster right away.
He wanted to learn more about it first, so there was no rush.
Seeing that he didn't summon it, the others turned their attention elsewhere, though they were a bit curious.
Snowy looked around at the other students, wondering if anyone else besides him had succeeded.
Oh, Aelith did it—truly the protagonist.
Then he noticed someone working diligently, their face looking rather annoyed.
Right after, their card glowed a blue-purple, and they summoned it immediately.
A tiny dragon, still inside its egg, appeared.
The student then looked at Aelith and me with a smug expression.
…What's there to be proud of with a Dragon type? Come back when you have a Dragon-type monster with high stats.
Seeing that Aelith and I weren't impressed, he got even more irritated.
"Oh, you did it, Kaiser?" Rook looked at his monster.
"Hmph, it was pretty easy for me," Kaiser replied.
Gradually, the other students successfully created their own monsters.
Those who failed wouldn't get more materials from Rook—they'd have to go to Caesar Street and buy them with credits, a punishment for not completing the task.
The class ended, and Rook left with a few reminders. The successful students chatted excitedly, while those who failed promised themselves they'd succeed next time.
"Hey, No. 2, why didn't you summon your monster?"
Snowy turned around and saw it was the girl from the Knight's House. Apparently, she'd created an Earth Bull.
What's with this "No. 2" nonsense? I have a proper name!
"What's wrong? Did I say something bad?" She scratched her head, wondering if she'd messed up.
Oh, right, I haven't even introduced myself to her yet.
"Snowy."
"Huh?"
"My name."
"Ohhh… That's a cute name!"
"Thanks, my grandma picked it."
"Sounds awesome. I'm Alvin."
"Sounds like a boy's name."
"I blame my dad for that."
After the five-minute break, a new teacher arrived.
She had goat-like horns, round glasses, and white hair cut in a bob style.
It was Meil.
"Hello, students. I'm Meil, your math teacher. I expect you to stay quiet while I teach."
Short and to the point, huh? She's the serious type.
Seeing no one spoke, she started the lesson right away.
"Alright, open your books. We'll start with Lesson 1."
What followed was 15 minutes of torture for the students.
For the Mage House, they were a bit overwhelmed but could keep up—after all, the Mage House is full of eager learners.
But the other three houses were struggling hard. They couldn't follow the teacher's explanation at all.
Meil seemed to anticipate this but kept teaching, as this was the most basic knowledge. If they couldn't handle it, the later lessons would be a death sentence.
As for Snowy…
'Easy.'
Well, he'd already gone through an entire school year before, so this was nothing. Basic addition and subtraction? Child's play.
"77 + 33 equals what?" Meil asked a random student.
That random student was the blonde girl sitting next to Aelith.
"Um… 100! Ugh!"
A piece of chalk flew straight at her forehead, knocking her back.
"Wrong. Since this is the first math class, I won't deduct credits. But there won't be a next time," Meil warned.
She then looked around and noticed Snowy staring out the window.
"Snowy, 73 + 54 equals what?"
"Huh? Oh, 127."
"Good. Pay attention next time. +5 credits."
Snowy sat down, noticing everyone staring at him.
What's going on?
"Hey… How did you calculate that so fast?" a student next to him whispered, clearly impressed by his instant answer.
"It's just mental math, no big deal."
"Mental math? You did mental math with numbers that big?!"
Come on, it's super easy. Even with my average academic skills, I can handle this.
Oh, right, they're just starting the school year, so this might be tough for them.
"Loid, 95 - 62 equals what?" Meil asked the student next to me, making him jump.
"Ah! Um…"
"…33," I whispered.
"It's 33!" Loid answered excitedly.
"Snowy, no helping others next time. Loid, pay attention to the lesson," Meil glared at Loid, making him pale.
Heh, it seems the students are starting to lose their illusions.
They came here thinking they'd summon monsters and fight, not expecting to be tortured by math.
From addition and subtraction, it moved to multiplication and division, leaving the students reeling.
Only Aelith, Kaiser, and a few others from the Mage House answered correctly.
The bell rang, signaling the end of math class. Meil closed her book and addressed the students.
"I'm quite disappointed in this class. While there are a few talented students in this class, I want quality to match quantity. So, I expect you to start studying seriously from today."
With that, Meil left.
The students heard her but didn't care much—after all, they're just kids.
I felt a bit bad for Meil. It's understandable why she's so strict.
'One more class, and we can free.' Snowy thought, looking at the monster card in his hand.
He really wanted to head to the library to check out his little monster!