Lost World
"Then, let the duel commence!"
Alexander Wales Belluraca, first prince of the Belluraca Kingdom. Ricardo Bardi, eldest son of the Bardi Count's family from the Ardia Kingdom.
"Those called forward, step up!"
The moment the historic first matchup was announced, the exam hall erupted in murmurs.
The students' chatter varied wildly, but boiled down to the same core question.
Why pair the first prince of the mighty seafaring nation of Belluraca against the eldest son of a mere count's family, noble or not?
Magic & Creature, the game spread by the progenitor archmage to all humanity, pitted players against each other with decks of 50 cards.
Of those, the 30 Origin Cards—the deck's backbone under academy rules—manifested a player's psyche through magic, built from the experiences of their lifetime.
Descendants of storied houses, however, tended to inherit fragments of their ancestors' psyches—not through any magical means, but through generations of ingrained education.
Such houses had endured for centuries, wielding influence across time. It was only natural their heirs' Origin Cards would pack more punch.
The Belluraca royals had weathered storms aplenty over their 800-year lineage. They were simply leagues above the son of a count's house not even three centuries old.
Even the professors, barking for silence, wore thinly veiled skepticism on their faces.
"Please return victorious, young master."
Isabella, Ricardo's sole attendant as his personal maid, offered a polite bow, utterly unmoved by the surrounding buzz.
"Wh-what's going on, Your Highness...?" "Hrm..."
Beatrice, lady of the Albany ducal house, clutched the ancient amulet at her throat. Its kaleidoscope centerpiece shimmered in shifting hues with every angle of light.
After a moment's hesitation, she timidly addressed the woman beside her, who let out an uneasy grunt.
Cascading golden waves of hair. A face like elegance made flesh. And eyes of such fierce crimson they burned in contrast.
Alessia Le Fell Ardia, princess of Ardia, tapped her smooth chin thoughtfully with a finger.
The entrance exam's duel order was set by the progenitor archmage's legacy: Federico's Flame.
This great magic had stood firm for 2,500 years since humanity's dawn. Tampering with it seemed unthinkable.
...No. Not impossible. Just difficult.
Alessia shivered faintly. Even she, lauded for her keen senses, found the mere notion of someone meddling with the archmage's bequest profoundly irreverent.
"...We'll watch for now." "Y-yes, Your Highness..."
Beatrice, ever timid and flinching at each tap of Alessia's chin, managed a shaky reply.
Odd as it was, Beatrice's nerves were nothing new. Alessia turned her gaze away, her blazing red eyes fixing on the two men ascending to the arena.
A Battle Table stretched 18 meters long and 9 meters wide between them as they faced off.
Alessia knew Alexander well enough by now—his lion-mane black hair, hulking muscles, rugged scowl. Nothing new there.
But his opponent, Ricardo, was a stranger even to her. A count's son from some remote corner, far from the capital.
His skin was ghostly pale, as if it had never seen sunlight, paling further against Alexander's sun-bronzed hide. Dull platinum locks framed eyes that gleamed deep crimson like hers—yet worlds apart in vibe. Ricardo Bardi's gaze carried the decadent allure of wine offered by a demon to the dying.
Embers of what once burned bright. That was Alessia's first impression.
"Hmph! The count's son, eh?" "Yes, Ricardo." "What a farce!"
Alexander twisted his already fierce features, bellowing in his booming voice.
Alessia, having crossed paths with him before, knew it wasn't meant to intimidate.
Belluraca royals hunted whales for sport across generations; he was just born rowdy.
"Whatever the case, let's end this quick! I've no taste for bullying the weak!"
...Not bravado. Sincere, as always.
"I'll learn from you."
A calm voice in stark reply. Alexander's boisterous seafarer's eyes twitched in mild annoyance.
"Now, as chief proctor, I'll roll Sir Medici's die to decide turn order! First, Alexander Wales Belluraca!"
The female professor swiftly produced a weathered die from her robes—Sir Giuseppe Medici's, humanity's first judge and her own ancestor.
This magic die, deemed second only to Federico's Flame in fairness, tumbled across the Battle Table... and landed on 3.
"Next, Ricardo Bardi!"
No need for another roll; the die danced again on its own. In a flourish of martial flair, it settled on 2.
"Sir Medici has judged! Alexander Wales Belluraca goes first!" "Hmph!"
Only then did Alexander crack a satisfied grin across his rugged face.
Never mind Magic & Creature's slight first-player edge; his brash nature despised going second anyway.
The moment order was set, both drew four cards. Eyes clashed briefly—then mouths opened in unison.
"My turn!!"
Alexander drew with gusto, scattering his deck slightly—but the Battle Table's magic array restored it instantly.
One Mana Crystal materialized in each player's zone. These built up one per turn start, the basic fuel for spell deployment, capped at 12 per player.
"—Ha!"
Alexander's massive hand dwarfed the card he checked, a grin spreading wide.
"Ricardo, was it? No hard feelings, but no mercy either! My deck demands it!" "Is that so." "Damn right! I activate a Zone!"
Zone. Field-wide effect cards that blanketed both players' sides. Unless decks synergized similarly, only the Zone player gained the edge.
For starters, Zone players generated two Mana Crystals per turn instead of one.
And he'd top-decked his one-of-a-kind card right away—reason enough to laugh heartily.
"Come forth, my homeland! Mighty seafaring kingdom of Belluraca—!!"
Alexander bellowed the name of his future throne—and the Zone itself.
With a thunderous thud, the card hit the table. Its data scanned, violent waves crashed across the field.
"Th-this is!" "The sea!"
Students buzzed excitedly from the stands. True to their words, ocean flooded the field in an instant, a grand kingdom rising in splendor atop the waves.
The domain of [Belluraca], forged by bold seafarers across 800 years, had been invoked.
"A Zone right out the gate... Princely indeed!" "That's not all."
A straitlaced young man with folded arms beside a hyped boy chimed in analytically.
"Not all?" "Look closely. Belluraca deploys ocean on activation." "Obvious from the visuals, but... Ah!" "Right. No ocean-adapted creatures in opponent's deck? GG. Unless they have their own Zone."
Indeed. The cradle of life, the sea. But its embrace was no universal mercy.
"Ahh... This is bad..." "Mm..."
Beatrice sighed knowingly; Alessia frowned delicately in sympathy.
A royal versus a count's son? Victory seemed decided. But watching one of her own nobles fall without a fight to a foreign prince? Infuriating for any princess.
"And now! I summon the Seabed Sentry!"
★2 / Water / Fish, Warrior
Status:1,600
Alexander summoned without pause.
"Huh? What's that?" "Battle Table glitch...? Can't see the creature."
Confused voices rippled through the stands.
Alexander's Seabed Sentry was nowhere in sight.
"No glitch."
The glasses-wearing straitlaced guy adjusted them with two fingers.
"Seabed Sentry... Name says it all. Ocean dweller." "So... it's under the water now?" "Likely."
A battlefield where the unworthy couldn't even breathe. An unseen predator lurking in the depths.
Not his fight, but the excitable boy gulped anyway, shooting Ricardo a pitying glance.
"Hahaha! That's my turn! Whatever you draw, my sentry's harpoon skewers it!"
Hand:3 cards
Soul Point:5,000
Mana Crystal:1
Alexander laughed confidently. But Alessia saw no flicker of unease in Ricardo's reflected gaze.
...Not overwhelmed. What's his play?
"My turn, then."
Ricardo drew calmly, brushing aside her curiosity.
"I'll deploy a Zone as well."
His steady voice cut across the field.
"—Lost World."
A world forever lost to some reincarnate. It cleaved the seawater and rose.