As soon as the first of Izumi’s monsters dropped onto the field, Kou looked back at Sana. “Hey Sana look at that… I don't think I’ve ever seen that monster before. Have you?” He asked, curiously. Sana quickly shook her head, unsure herself. She looked to her friend for an answer. “Naoki, you’re a collector right? You know anything about Dinomists?” She asked out of curiosity. “I’ve heard about them and own a few copies, I think, but I’ve never seen them in action before...” Naoki replied. “If you’re all so interested, I can run you through it all.” Kaito said while closing his notebook. “I don’t think I’ll get much out of studying this duel, anyway” he continued and beckoned his friends closer. This is so they could take a closer look at the duel. After they were all in position, Kaito proceeded to point things out. “Dinomist monsters like to be on the field together. Their true potential unlocks when multiples of them are gathered together…” Kaito trailed off as Izumi summoned Plesios. “...Further, they are a battle archetype. Through their effects, they weaken the opponent and strengthen themselves. Once they’ve got their sights set on a target, they won’t relent until the enemy’s been neutralized. They’re true war machines.” “Sounds like a terrifying deck to face.” Sana replied to Kaito’s last comment. “Definitely sounds like it, there might even be a chance that it could beat my deck...” Kou threw in afterwards. The duel continued on like this, with Kaito explaining the basis of his sister’s deck while his friends occasionally chimed in with their own blurbs to rationalize it to themselves, until finally Ren spoke up at the end of it all. “It sounds as ferocious as my Raidraptors, however, they appear to overwhelm rather than adapt. Like how the Dinomist trample over there enemies, my Raidraptors-” Ren was cut off. Even though after the duel ended the students had a little time to chat among themselves and discuss what they had found of it, he didn’t have enough time. The excitement died down alongside Ren as soon as some microphone buzzing caught everybody’s attention, the principal’s voice ringing through the speakers. He stood alone, with Izumi having already scuttled off back into the arena hallways. “Thank you for the wonderful duel! Now, first year students, please gather outside of the arena walls. Myself and miss Nonoka will give you a tour of the academy grounds to get you all familiarized and settled in. The second and third year students have gotten instructions on where to go back at the docks, so please move to your assigned locations.” The principal spoke with vigor and charm as he made the short announcement, handing the microphone back to one of the staff nearby to start the cleanup of the arena. The crowd dispersed as the third years were armed with the knowledge of where to move themselves towards. The instructions handed out earlier told them to gather at the main building at the center of the academy, in between the black and white towers, where the head of both the Xyz and Synchro dorm were waiting on them. They moved in one large group, mostly, unsupervised as the staff trusted their judgement. Still, it was noticeable to see that very few students talked to people outside their dorm on the way there, having the assembly look more like a rainbow-coloured parade from a bird’s eye view. The students had to pour in by going around the back of the academy, the five-piece rectangular shape being impressive no matter how often it’s gazed upon. The centerpiece being the biggest, going outwards in a symmetrical manner with two progressively smaller rectangles on either side. The cream walls indicate its rather stunning age, as the building has been towering here for an impressive amount of years. The small pyramids dotted around the edges of the roof atop the centerpiece made it look like it was wearing a royal crown. The reception was waiting atop the staircase to the main gate, with a slender woman wearing a labcoat hardly taking notice of the students as she tapped away on a tablet in her hand. The older man next to her, however, smiled upon seeing the arrival of the students. “Before we get to the point. please feel free to make yourself comfortable. After all that walking, I’m sure you would appreciate some rest.” the man said to the student body. “Noir, I have no desire to keep them longer than is needed. Let us just get straight to the point,” the woman next to him chimed in, briefly looking up from her tablet to see the student body scatter and take seats on both the stairs and the few benches a little further. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to the device. “Alright now everyone is seated, I would like to personally say, welcome to your third year! Ah, you know, back when I was a third year in my old school, I was a rather devious fellow. Duel monsters were quite the thing, and I always dueled the first person-” “Noir!” the woman sharply reprimanded the old man, giving him no time to continue his ramblings. Before another word came out of his mouth, the woman began to speak again despite her lack of interest towards the student body. “You all have more responsibilities now that you’ve come to your last year here. For those of you who still don’t know, I’m Aiko Chinen, the staff representative of the Synchro dorm. You’ll all have to fight for your dorm like in previous years, but your wins and losses will be accounted for more than ever. In other words, don’t fail.” she warned the crowd, eyes darting up to Noir’s to signal his turn to speak. His response was to step forward before addressing the crowd, clearing his throat as he did. “Well, as you all know, hittin third year means another thing comes into play: The ‘team-up’ system. The system works like this; Any dorm may form an alliance with the Xyz or Synchro dorm. In exchange, both dorms will be gaining from the other’s wins and losses and have access to each other’s special facilities. For example, if you were in an alliance with Synchro and defeated someone outside of either of your dorms, both Synchro and your dorm would both be getting points added to your global ranking.” The man finished his example by pointing at one of both the Water and Synchro dorm students, as if to suggest an alliance between the two of them. Aiko picked up where Noir left off soon after, though still refusing to look up. “If both of you manage to score in the top three at the end of a season, it will only make it easier for both dorms to climb up the next ranked season. Accomplish this at the end of the year and you graduates are rewarded with hard to obtain cards. If there’s no questions, you all have the rest of the day to spend how you see fit. This explanation is the last mandatory event for today.” Aiko finally pressed a button on the side of her device and put it inside of her lab coat, looking down at the teenagers amassed in front of her with complete apathy.