Cards of Remnant

Chapter 35: The Innocence of Youth - Part 1

"An Action Duel?" Ironwood dryly remarked, his gaze unimpressed as Belladonna, Xiao-Long, Valkyrie, and Ren readied to duel amidst a glorified playground. "Really?"

"Come now, James," Ozpin chuckled at his expense, the two headmasters standing at one of the railings of the ballroom's second floor. Being, on paper, teacher chaperones to the dance, students gave the pair a wide breath, which would be useful if anything sensitive came up between them. "I never would have thought you an aura manifestation traditionalist."

"Hardlight manifestation is not what I take issue with," the general reminded his friend. Archaic Mistral dojos and prideful Vacuo pit duelists might scorn using technology to manifest monster bodies instead of aura, but Ironwood had never been one to shy away from new technology's potential to save lives. Hardlight dust bodies might have been weaker than aura bodies, but they could be utilized by easily mass-produced Atlesian Knights. "The Action Duel format has just never seemed like something that has a place in the academies to me. It's for Heartland's arcades and carnivals, not training for battle with the Grimm."

"I activate my field spell, Ritual Sanctuary," Ren evenly announced, his green duel disk's side opening up for him to gently place it inside.

If it was a real duel, his Stormflower's systems would activate to spread his aura over the wide range of his spell. But since it was an Action Duel, the linked-up duel disk instead sent a signal to the Heartland Entertainment Hardlight Dust Projector on the central stage next to Sun Wukong. The hi-tech machine blinked a bit and used its dust fuel to manifest a solid wedding cathedral on Ren and Valkyrie's side of the duel arena, mish-mashed with the circus and its colorful trapeze.

Valkyrie skipped and twirled up to the head of the central aisle, spinning in her pink dress like she was a bride awaiting her wedding bells. Meanwhile, Ren dove through the pews and snagged an Action Card that had fallen down when his field spell had displaced its ledge in the action field.

"With Ritual Sanctuary out, once per turn, I can discard a spell card in order to add a ritual spell or a Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand," he explained, revealing his Action Card to be an Action Spell before discarding it to yank something else out of his deck. "I search for Machine Angel Ritual."

"See?" Ironwood pointed out. "In a real duel, there wouldn't be a card just lying around to let him go plus one in his card advantage like that."

"I concur. Which is why we don't teach it outside entertainment dueling classes. We must prepare our students for reality," Ozpin said, before brandishing that infuriating twinkling smile of his gesturing out among the rambunctious crowd of hunting duelists. "But, this is hardly a class. They're children, James. Let's let them play the part. After all, it's not one they'll be able to enjoy forever."

"Point," Ironwood acknowledged. The general stood up and yanked his uniform straight. "I suppose I should get back to playing my part so they can then. You and Glynda have this covered, so I'll bolster my guards at Beacon Tower."

"Yes, the guards you posted at my CCT Tower, when I told you that I saw no reason to do so myself," Ozpin joked, a teasing chuckle under his breath. "Come on, James, it's a party. The world won't collapse if you relax for one night–"

"General! There you are! Quick, Penny's crash–oh, hi… headmaster…"

Ironwood turned to see Ruby Rose rushing to a sudden stop before him and Ozpin, dragging Penny behind her. A twitching, glassy-eyed Penny that was repeating a single ominous phrase. "Would you like to send a report? Would you like to send a report? Would you like to send a report?"

The general's face blanched with panic. Penny had crashed? A crashing Penny was in front of Ozpin? No, no, no! How was this even happening?! Penny was an Ignis, the most powerful artificial intelligence ever created, ever-evolving and improving every second. She hadn't crashed since literally her second day alive. What the heck could possibly have compromised his current systems so badly?!