Chapter 14 : What Joke Did I Even Make?

“Is it strange?”

Yide leaned back comfortably in the white space, observing the outside world with his legs crossed.

“Don’t forget, I helped you build your deck.”

“I know exactly what’s in your deck.”

“But how did Mr. Yide know it was already in my hand?”

Sonia tilted her head.

Since it wasn’t a formal duel, she didn’t try to hide anything and asked directly.

Hearing the question, Yide smiled: “Sometimes, even if you do nothing, you’ll reveal information to your opponent.”

“What’s more, you hesitated just now, didn’t you?”

“There are only a few cards you can play on the second turn.”

“If you had cards like Mana Wyrm or Flame Juggler in your hand, you should have played them on your turn.”

“If you had Furious Burn, which can deal three damage for two mana, you should have played it without hesitation to get rid of my Enraged Panther.”

“But you clearly hesitated and did nothing, which can only mean you now have Scorching Blood in your hand, which only deals two damage and will lose card efficiency if it doesn’t kill.”

“But if you ask me, even with Scorching Blood, you shouldn’t have kept it in your hand just now.”

“If you can’t even deal with my second-turn minion, how will you deal with my third-turn minion?”

Yide said, playing a third card.

Stampeding Kodo ★★★ (Three Stars) Fire

Beast 3/4

Another vanilla minion, but already with four health.

Then, on the next turn, Yide played another card that made Sonia despair.

Hound Pack ★★★★ (Four Stars) Fire

Beast 3/5

Watching one minion still on the board and another appearing, Sonia already knew she was far behind in this game.

But her eyes were still full of confusion.

Didn’t my deck already defeat a D-rank duelist?

Why now, looking back, can’t I even win against a deck made of vanilla cards?

“This is the second lesson I want to teach you.”

Yide smiled, feeling a bit strange.

This kind of teaching scenario had never happened when he was with Lovelan.

It wasn’t about hiding things; it was just that at the time, his own strength hadn’t been proven, and he wasn’t even sure if his experiences from his previous life would be effective in this different world.

But now it was different.

Before leaving Loveland, he was only one step away from S-rank.

His understanding of dueling was no worse than any S-rank duelist.

“When your deck is fully understood by your opponent, its weaknesses will be magnified.”

“So, never let your deck be stagnant.”

“Now that you’ve been through this duel, you should understand your deck’s biggest weakness and how to compensate for it.”

“…”

Sonia looked at the pendant hanging opposite her desk, subconsciously recalling Yide’s confident demeanor when he controlled her body.

She was certain her hesitation just now was at most less than a second.

And Mr. Yide analyzed so much in less than a second.

Even more terrifying was the comparison between the two duels.

First, he helped her assemble a new deck to defeat a D-rank duelist, and then he turned around and used the cards she had left over to build another deck and utterly defeated her using that deck.

Crucially, Sonia really did understand her deck’s biggest current shortcoming in just one duel.

“Come on, now tell me, where do you think the problem with this deck is?”

Since he had revealed his purpose, Yide didn’t continue the duel but looked at Sonia curiously, waiting for her answer.

“Um… my removal cards… are too weak.”

Sonia said nervously: “Because they all require enough damage to destroy, if the damage isn’t enough, it becomes a vicious cycle.”

“And… and… Scorching Blood isn’t as good as I thought… Ugh, I can’t think of anything else.”

The girl’s voice grew quieter and quieter until she finally lowered her head.

But Yide’s snap echoed in the girl’s heart.

“BINGO!”

“Be more confident, what you said is basically correct.”

Yide encouraged the girl, who dared not look up.

“Actually, there’s a reason why Fire is usually only good for aggressive decks. Compared to other elements, most Fire removal relies on damage.”

“And pure damage is very difficult to fully control in duels where minion stats grow exponentially with the number of turns.”

This isn’t obvious in low-level duels, but the higher the level, the more apparent it becomes.

In fact, the strength of Enshir’s Dueling Spirit was already beginning to show.

If a 2-star 2/3 template is considered a standard stat line, then the Flame Lance Portal given by Enshir’s Dueling Spirit, as a 6-star card, should be within the range of creating a 6/7 minion.

But Flame Lance Portal is a powerful card that costs six mana, deals ten direct damage, and leaves a 5/5 on the board; it’s already a devastating weapon in low-level duels.

“When those people only know that Fire is only suitable for aggressive decks, you’ve already figured out why Fire is only suitable for aggressive decks.”

“So, be confident.”

Yide encouraged Sonia.

But Sonia fell silent.

When she looked up again, large tears were streaming down her face, and her eyes were red.

Yide immediately panicked: “What’s wrong? Don’t cry! Did I say something wrong?”

Sonia bit her lip, trying to stop her sobs, but she couldn’t help it: “No, Mr. Yide… I’m just so surprised…”

“It’s the first time anyone has complimented me on my dueling, and it’s from you, Mr. Yide. I’m sorry, Mr. Yide…”

At the Dueling Academy, all she ever heard was ridicule and schadenfreude.

Adding to that, her dueling skills had always been poor; even from her good friend Tivia, she mostly received comfort.

If it weren’t for Yide, she might really have left Ringworld City by now and given up dueling forever.

Now, not only did she have a chance to stay, but she also gained Yide’s approval, and Sonia’s emotions finally genuinely poured out for the first time.

Watching the girl cry, Yide understood that she didn’t need comfort right now, so he didn’t say anything.

About five minutes later, Sonia’s crying stopped.

She sniffled, her cowlick trembling.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Yide, for making a spectacle of myself.”

“I was supposed to be printing cards, but it ended up looking like you bullied me.”

Yide chuckled: “It’s okay. You did well enough.”

“You only cried once. Many who’ve played against me have already given up dueling entirely.”

Sonia giggled: “Mr. Yide’s jokes are too exaggerated.”

Yide paused.

What joke did I make?

“But, speaking of that,”

After she stopped crying, Sonia recalled Yide’s earlier words and suddenly realized a serious problem.

“Mr. Yide, according to you, isn’t my deck in a bad spot?”

“If Fire truly isn’t suitable for control, then isn’t my future bleak?”

If this deck couldn’t keep up with the power level once she reached C-rank, wouldn’t she have to switch to a different deck?

“It’s good that you’re aware of that.”

Yide nodded, a smile playing on his lips: “But did you forget that your true elemental affinity was never Fire?”

Sonia looked a little confused: “Mr. Yide, do you mean…”

Yide spread his hands: “To ensure your strength grows, you’ll still need to set aside a portion of any extra Refinement points you get in the future for refining Fire element cards.”

“However, with the other portion, you can start trying to refine cards of other elements.”

This was Yide’s plan for Sonia.

He never intended for the girl to stick solely to the Fire element.

Aside from the fact that the girl herself wasn’t suited for Fire, even Yide himself, after playing cards for Loveland for three years, couldn’t stand playing only one element up to S-rank now.

For people in this world, playing the same deck their entire lives was normal.

But for him, unless it was for a competition, he’d be sick of playing the same deck for more than three days straight.

Sonia also felt a sense of anticipation about using cards from other elements.

But she quickly became troubled again: “But I still don’t know which elements suit me!”

Yide smiled: “Isn’t that easy to solve? We can just test it out now.”

Saying that, he had Sonia open the Refinement Catalog and then pointed to the name of one of the cards.

“Are you interested in this effect?”

Forced Ejection Device

Water

Flash: Return target minion on the field to its owner’s hand