Liberta Duel Academy is a Yu-Gi-Oh! roleplay site set in an Alternate Universe (AU) version of the original series of Yu-Gi-Oh!, set roughly 50 years after the end of the Dark Side of Dimensions movie. Liberta Duel Academy is set in the city of Silvershine located in a fictional small country known as Silva, somewhere along the western coastside of Europe.
September through October 20X1 - Welcome, Class of 20X4!
The new school year at Liberta Duel Academy is here! Students - new and returning - are adjusting to their school life and getting themselves settled in. The entrance ceremony presented the principal's address, spoke of Dorm Rankings, and introduced the Student Council. Alongside the standard Master Duels, the experimental "Specialty Duels" were announced to those new to the academy. So unpack; duel a fellow or two; explore the academy and the city of Silvershine! Action; adventure; slice of life; it's up to you! How will you have yours unfold?
Post by Shinsei Tsuyokawa on Apr 18, 2022 7:42:36 GMT
The lunch bell rang throughout the school and everyone was set to go eat. Shinsei left his class area to head for the cafeteria, while many students brought their own lunch to school Shinsei didn’t bother. His mom would always leave before Shinsei even woke up for work, so he didn’t bother to waste time at home making a lousy sandwich. The school food wasn’t too bad, the place was founded by Seto Kaiba and with such an eccentric billionaire being the founder, fundamentals were not skipped on. The Line was long but quick as many of the students knew exactly what they wanted. Shinsei was among them as he knew exactly what he wanted today, the fan favorite Winged Nuggets of Ra
The name of the food was self explanatory, chicken nuggets in the shape the Wing Dragon of Ra's wings. These chicken nuggets were a loved by all the students, never seeing the end of the lunch meal, its fate always to be eaten fully. This was the only thing Shinsei looked forward towards every day after class. However disappointment would strike him as when he got to the end the dish that contained the nuggets was empty. Shinsei did not want to leave empty handed, so with hesitation he took a few plates of what he would like and left with a lackluster plate.
But fortune would soon shine on Shinsei as an opportunity would strike him to get the nuggets he so required. He passed by a couple of girls talking, minding their own business. But one of them had a plate full of nuggets, all untouched. Way more than what the average students get, she clearly must have gotten extras as she took them all. Shinsei was not gonna lose his favorite meal time because of a self entitled brat he thought to himself. So he walked over to her table, dropped his plate in front of her and picked up theirs. The girls, clearly confused and angry, attempted to stand up. But Shinsei just stared them down with a death glare, the intent of his eyes put them in shock as they had no clue what to do. So the two girls did the only thing they could by pure instinct; cry. Their cries echoed throughout the cafeteria which caused a massive scene.
Post by Arasen Ishikawa on Apr 18, 2022 8:30:46 GMT
It was the midday break between classes and official lunch time at Liberta. Though some students preferred to eat outside on sunny days like these the cantina was still brimming with crowd, their meshed up chatter filling the cantina hall. Unsurprisingly for him Arasen sat alone at lunch. Though he didn't mind his own peace he didn't necessarily go out of his way to avoid other students but rather he barely knew anyone around the school. The cacophony of sounds surrounding the hall didn't seem to bother or distract him as he went over his notes from the previous class, something he had a habit of doing at lunch. Due to his rigorous training and teachings at the Celestial Heart most of the academy's curriculum for the first year posed no issue for the boy, requiring mostly for him to pay attention and go over his notes once in a while to ensure high grades.
The lunch break flowed as it always did, that is until the usual cacophony of sounds was considerably changed with what seemed to be someone crying out. Getting most of the cantina crowds attenton and turning many heads towards the direction of the disturbance. It seemed to be a female student and her friend that were the cause of the desperate noise, while being stared down by a rather angry and unpleasant looking ginger haired student. Noticing a plate full of the popular Winged Nuggets of Ra in the boy's hand Arasen pieced together what was going on. The other thing he noticed is the considerable withdrawal of other students as well as most of them close to the trio piping down. It was clear as day that this wasn't the boy's first instance of something like this and that some of the other students were clearly frightened of this angry individual. ....And he knew it. And that's why he took advantage of it. Or so Arasen thought as his usually stoic expression began to show visible signs of frustration.
Not even half a minute passed which seemed like an eternity to Arasen who's fist was clenching so hard that it started to shake. The two frightened girls turned away from the angry bully who was piercing them with his fiery gaze. And just as he was about to walk back to his seat a thunderous voice cut the air of the cafeteria.
''HEY!''
Many heads turned towards the direction of the sound only to see a tall silver haired boy approaching the trio, with purposeful strides. ''Give her back that plate.'' Arasen said with a little less louder tone but definitely the same level of intensity. The crowd started bickering once again as most of them probably were seeing this bully confronted for the first time as the tall Arasen essentially towered over the significantly shorter fiery bully.
Post by Shinsei Tsuyokawa on Apr 18, 2022 13:10:17 GMT
With food in hand and no one able to stop him, Shinsei was about to head towards a free table to sit down and enjoy his lunch. But to him and everyone else's surprise someone grew a spine and stood up to his actions. The boy was lengthy, much taller than Shinsei and his silver hair helped make him stand out more. The two appearance wise alone were polar opposites. But that wasn’t what Shinsei focused on, Shinsei was focused on the order to return the plate back to the girl. With a scoff Shinsei grabbed one of the nuggets and bit into it as he talked with his mouth full “Yeah, and what ya gonna do if I don’t?”
Shinsei couldn’t help but both hate and respect the stranger for confronting him. Most of the students are too weak and entitled to fight for what they want, so it makes it easy for Shinsei to get away with many things. But a weakling will always be a weakling, even if the stranger attempts to stop him Shinsei felt confident he’d still win in the end.
Still munching on the current nugget with his mouth open out of pure spite and disrespect. The rest of the crowd looked at the two stare each other down, Shinsei waiting for the first move. But before the stranger or himself could do anything, random people in the background of the crowd started to shout out “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Just as typical of the losers at this school, they enjoy seeing others fight but wont fight themselves. Shinsei just shrugs at the stranger “These are the kind of people you want to white knight for?”
Shinsei couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of this guy coming in defense of the girls, protecting damsels in distress. Continuing to eat at his current nugget Shinsei had another question for the guy, an attempt to pick his brain. Only one other time did someone step in to confront Shinsei for his actions, and the girl that did so pissed him off to no end. Would this guy be the same, Shinsei thought to himself. “What do you get out of this? Why do you care about some girl, I’m assuming you don’t even know having her overfilled plate taken from her.” With a small smirk across his face Shinsei tried to twist the view into his favor. He didn’t really care if he was in the right or wrong as that is meaningless to him. But if he could make the stranger pause and get into his head, then Shinsei could say he outplayed them before the battle even started.
“You come here attempting to play the hero, how do you know that this brat isn’t the villain?”
Post by Arasen Ishikawa on Apr 18, 2022 13:58:19 GMT
The eyes that narrowly stared Shinsei down glanced to the side when the crowd started to chant, only once taking the gaze off of the target of his frustration. Still angry at the injustice and outright bullying he witnessed just moments ago Arasen didn't give much attention to his shorter soon to be nemesis's provocation, answering with a sharp tone -''It doesn't matter who she is.'' - the ever present intensity of the silver haired boy not subsiding for a second. Shinsei almost did get to his head with his attempted mind game but even if he didn't witness the overtaking of the plate in question the sheer sight of the crying girls, Shinsei's expression and demeanor and the obvious looks and withdrawal from those in crowd closest to them were proof enough for him to know what was going on. Though he didn't feel the need to give the bully any sort of explanation.
-''Cut the crap.''
If the crowd seemed hyped before the excitement was through the roof now as the room filled with a choir of ''oooh's''. ''People like you are what's wrong with most of our world...'' he cut himself off mid sentence, sensing that a rather ranting monologue about his personal beliefs was coming out... and there was no need to share any of it with the others. In line with his own as well as the overarching mission of the Celestial Heart Arasen held strong beliefs about the current society and the world and believed he knew at least a couple of sources of such discord. Right now Shinsei wasn't just a bully, he was an embodiment of what Arasen believed was the poison that perpetuated cycles of hatred and surface level thought, each action sending toxic ripples throughout the world. People in power and without a trace of their humanity or empathy or anything that's truly human trampling over and ravaging the innocent, the good natured, the naive. It pissed him off to no end. Right now Arasen wasn't staring down at a school bully. Right now Arasen was facing what he thought of as 'the enemy.''
-''If you're so tough... Why don't you come and take my food then...'' his narrowed gaze never leaving the smaller boy as his left hand that held his duel disk slowly rose up.
Post by Shinsei Tsuyokawa on Apr 20, 2022 9:40:42 GMT
Shinsei’s provocation has yielded no results, the silver haired boy was still insistent of him being the instigator, which wasn’t wrong. But that was beside the point, Shinsei was getting the Winged Nuggets of Ra one way or another. But the soon to be fight took a turn Shinsei was not fully expecting but not surprised. When the stranger raised his arm holding his Duel Disk, the implication was obvious. Instead of decking each other with their fist, they would do it with their decks. Not exactly out of the ordinary considering the world they lived in and how prevalent Duel Monsters was to everyone, it was still a turn Shinsei couldn’t help but chuckle at.
“Haha, so that’s how you want to handle this?” Shinsei placed the food on the table as he reached for his own duel disk and pulled it out of his backpack. With the sound of the device wrapping around his left wrist Shinsei made a devilish grin that would frighten a weakened heart “Whether be it our fist or decks, I’ll still trash you. Don’t be a disappointment for me now” Shinsei figured he’d also take this opportunity to expand his influence over the school, proving that he’s the best at the school. While we didn’t know the stranger directly, or even his name, rumors around the school do spread rapidly. A silver haired boy with notable skill and aced the entrance exam. If Shinsei could beat him single handedly it would show his own skill by comparison.
Duels were prohibited in the cafeteria due to various reasons, but Shinsei didn’t care. All that mattered now was the heat of the moment and the victory of any challenge. With a few easy steps away from his opponent, Shinsei took out his deck and placed it within his Duel Disk triggering the device. The lights flash from the device and after enough distance was given the two Duel Disks connected, a duel space was registered.
DUEL! Shinsei declared he would go first, for no other reason than he could. His starting hand was not the best, and was in fact fairly limited, but was not cut off from plays entirely. But the starting move did give Shinsei a way to help set himself up and leave a small threat out on the field with low cost. He grabbed a card from his hand and placed it into the spell and trap zone “I activate Emergency Teleport to special summon Psi-Reflector”
A little psychic monster popped out of a portal in defense mode with only 400 ATK and 300 DEF. But the monster's effect is what made it a true threat. “I activate the Psi-reflectors effect to add Assault beast to my hand, and then I’ll immediately discard it to add Assault Mode” The play to an experienced player was obvious but to an unskilled loser, the play seemed nonsensical to add a card just to discard and add another card. But everything was set up for an easy Synchro summon.
“Next I’ll use Psi-Reflector’s second effect, by revealing Assault mode I can revive Assault beast and add up to four levels to the monster” Shinsei gave it only an increase of a single level. With a Tuner and a non-Tuner on the field, Shinsei could conduct a Synchro summon. The two monsters jumped into the air, the Psi-Reflector turned into a green circle, a gateway for the monsters to transcend, while Assault beast turned into five stars. Together they made level six, allowing Shinsei to summon Stardust Charge Warrior.
With his Synchro monster out Shinsei activated its effect “When this card is Synchro summon I can draw a card” With his new card added, Shinsei continued his climb as he activated another spell card. “I activate one for one to discard Junk Converter to Special summon Cyberse Synchron” Cyberse Synchron was a level one tuner monster with a very helpful effect for this situation. “I activate Cyberse Synchrons effect to double a monster's level on the field, and I choose itself” Cyberse Synchron made a light glow as the card turned from level one to two allowing Shinsei to Synchro summon again using Stardust Charge Warrior. The two combined made level eight as Shinsei brought out a mighty beast to fight this battle.
“I Synchro Summon Draco Berserker of the Tenyi!” This level eight monster busted out of the ground as it roared with pure rage, the mighty Synchro stood at three thousand attack and with a helpful effect at hurting his opponents first play. While the play itself wasn’t all that intimidating at face value, it did surprise a few of the onlookers. A low cost efficient way to bring out a decent high level monster leaving him with a full hand still and set up with future plays.
Post by Arasen Ishikawa on Apr 22, 2022 6:45:26 GMT
Arasen watched on with narrowed eyes portraying held back anger as Shinsei's synchro monster appeared. A muscular angry, berserking demon... fitting incredibly well with it's user, even perhaps mirroring him to some degree. Though some of the crowd watched the turn come to an end in amazement and perhaps some of them even in fear, seeing their school bully actually being able to back up his talk. Arasen though didn't flinch at the sight of the monster and Shinsei's quite impressive resource management, instead just staring down both his opponent and his monster.
-''My move!''- He spat out as soon as Shinsei gave the signal his turn ended, yanking the card out of his deck at the same time. ''I activate Drytron Al-Zeta from my hand.'' The white haired boy said holding up the Al Zeta card. ''By tributing Drytron Alpha Thuban from my hand to special summon this monster to the field.'' He then slapped Zeta's card onto his duel disk and at the same time a mechanical dragon appeared from the ground. Though in contrast to Shinsei's Dracoberserker breaking through the ground, Drytron Al-Zeta instead simply formed as an array of white light ascended up to it's height from the ground. ''Now Al-Zeta allows me to add Meteonis Drytron to my hand.'' His duel disk ejected the ritual card while he promptly grabbed it with his two fingers and added to his hand, doing so with a notable flow and ease as if it were a well practiced and ingrained move. Arasen waved his hand to the side signaling the next effect -''Drytron Alpha Thuban activates in my graveyard. My tributing Drytron Ras-Beta from my hand Alpha is summoned to my field.'' Yet another mechanical dragon appeared in the same manner as the first one, then Arasen's duel disk ejected another card, the boy grabbing it between his two fingers and showing it to his opponent. It seemed to be a ritual monster, the blue hue of the card layout giving it away even at a considerable distance. -''Drytron Alpha Thuban adds Drytron Meteonis Draconids to my hand...''
The somewhat odd way his cards worked did confuse the crowd for a bit but they soon started to get hyped up again, realizing that Arasen had just added a ritual card and a ritual monster to his hand - which meant things were about to go down. However some more keen eyes in the crowd piped down for a moment, another wave of confusion washing over them as they started to comment between themselves. ''Wait.. That monster he added is a level 12... how the hell will he summon it with those level 1 things...'' Not paying any mind to the crowd around him Arasen played his previously added card. ''I activate Meteonis Drytron!'' - prompting a unison 'huh?' from the crowd. ''This card allows me to tribute machine type monsters who's attack equals or exceeds the ritual monster's attack, circumventing the usual ritual level requirement.'' he explained as both of his machines were engulfed in light and the usual ritual circle with flames appeared around the field, an animation occurring for many ritual summons in the game. The distinction between this animation and the others was soon revealed as the the two visages of the tributed dragon machines formed into one light beam that hit the ground, carving an insignia across the middle of the field, one that resembled the Draco constellation.
-''I summon Drytron Meteonis Draconids!''-
The monster took flight, emerging from the cacophony of lights that engulfed the ritual circle. He appeared with a roar, his stance portraying aggression and eagerness to battle Shinsei and deal justice, mirroring Arasen's current feelings.
-''Battle. Draconids attacks your Draco Berserker!'' The machine dragon instantly reacted to the command, leaning backwards in his flight so that it was now positioned over Arasen as he fired a beam of starry light towards the angry demon on Shinsei's side of the field.
-''I banish Cyberse Synchron from my graveyard to avoid Draco Berserker's destruction!'' - Shinsei declared as the hulking demon still stood after Draconids's beam of light dissipated, now covered in pale whiteish hue due to the effect of Cyberse Synchron.
Not skipping a beat, and seemingly intent on removing that monster from the field Arasen activated the field spell Drytron Fafnir -''I can now add a Drytron spell or trap from my deck to my hand.'' A holographic row of cards appeared in front of Arasen who swiped away at it so fast that it dissipated seemingly as soon as it appeared. The boy knew his next move exactly, his deck exactly and with every motion of his arms it was becoming more and more clear that this first year student was someone with some serious training and skill, able to distinct his cards by a moments notice and without much thinking. Manuevers probably done so many times over the years it became second nature. The selected holographic card slipped out of the duel disk and into his fingers, it was then slapped onto the duel disk without the boy even looking at it. ''I activate - Drytron Asterism!'' The mechanical space dragon started to glow as the spell activated and it's owner continued to explain.
''By reducing Draconids's attack points by a 1000 he can destroy one face up card on your field...''
*Drytron Asterism*
The giant Drytron's attack dropped to 3000 as it seemingly pulled energy from within his own metallic husk and gathered it into his mouth before releasing an explosive wave towards Shinsei's field, promptly destroying the raging demon that was Draco Berserker and wiping it clean. The crowd shielded their eyes from the intense glow and lights that Arasen's monsters naturally produced, given their theme and build but soon began to cheer and hype up among themselves as soon as the dust settled.
Not waiting for any of the crowd yells and cheers to subside and further showing his indifference to the watchers Arasen continued his turn by activating Pot of Desires. Banishing the top 10 cards from his deck in order to draw two new cards. -''From my hand I activate the spell Ursarctic Drytron.'' he pondered for a moment how fitting it is that this card came about in this specific duel and would help him deal out what he saw as justice, thoughts of a certain person who once wielded it scratching the surface of his mind ''...you'd approve of this..''. The card who's art held a small white bear that almost resembled a plushie from that angle activated, clearly having a different 'look' to it than most of what Arasen played so far even if it held the name 'Drytron' within it's title.
-''This card allows me to fusion summon...'' The collective sound of the crowd became a united 'ooooh' as they expected the one who confronted their school bully would now be able to snowball Shinsei with card advantage ''...So I fuse the field spell Drytron Fafnir with the field spell Ursarctic Big Dipper in my hand.'' the ''oooh's'' from the crowd immediately turning into confused stares and occasional 'huh?'. As if Arasen's deck and playstyle wasn't already relatively odd enough now the boy was fusing field spells of all things... The two field spells both resembled some aircraft carriers but for spaceships which was visibly clear as both of their cards now appeared on the field as holograms before dissappearing and morphing into two beams of light that circled around the same axis signaling the fusion summon. 'I summon... Ultimate Flagship Ursatron! In defense mode!'' over the entire cantina a giant monster appeared, though one could only know it to be a monster since it's owner announced it as such but by all appearances it looked like a giant spacecraft or something. The thing towered over even the boy's ace Drytron Meteonis Draconids and it was actually scaled down in size due to the duel disk technology trying to fit it in the closed space that was the school's cantina. The crowed's feelings were split, some watched in amazement, some in what looked like fear as Urastron's shadow covered them. Still looking unfazed as ever and indifferent to the reactions around, seeming only focused at the task at hand - the duel in front of him, Arasen announced his next move - activating the effect of the previously discarded Drytron Ras-Beta from his graveyard by discarding another copy of Alpha Thuban from his hand. Ras-Beta appeared on the field with a roar, unsuprisingly it was another mechanical dragon, this one with a pronounced mandibula and a cannon for one of it's arms. ''Ursatron's effect activates.'' he calmly announced as the machine floating above him slowly started producing various mechanical sounds. ''When a monster is summoned to my field I can add one Drytron monster to my hand.'' he held up the added card, Drytron Gama Eltanin before proceeding to summon it by tributting his Ras-Beta from the field. ''When Drytron Gamma Eltanin is summoned I can revive one other Drytron from my graveyard, so come forth Alpha Thuban!'' The field was now swarming with various mechanical machines, it seemed Arasen wasn't gonna even try to hold back against Shinsei. Suddenly Gama Eltanin's attack points dropped by a 1000! -''By lowering the attack of one of my Drytrons i can add back Meteonis Drytron to my hand.'' he explained as he reached for the ritual spell from his graveyard. ''And now...''
Suddenly both of the smaller Drytrons transformed, their mechanical visages now becoming two yellow orbs of light. Perhaps someone from the crowd could notice what was happening and react in some way if not for the sheer swiftness of Arasen's moves. ''With Drytron Alpha Thuban and Drytron Gama Eltanin I build the overlay network! Two shall become one in order for light to pierce the darkness and shine the way for a better future - Appear celestial protector! Xyz Summon! Drytron Mu Beta Fafnir!'' Not waiting for the monster to even amaze the watchers or scare his opponent he strectched out his hand calling out for it's effect and sending one more card from his deck to the graveyard.
-''I End my turn.''- the boy solemnly said as he stared down over Shinsei's empty field, his narrowed eyes portraying the same level of intensity as when he initially approached Shinsei.
Post by Shinsei Tsuyokawa on Apr 27, 2022 11:19:58 GMT
Ascator into archfiend, sent to grave. Use a pot of avarice to Draco and Archfiend and tuners back into the deck. Draws over take and gets negated. Uses Fleur and summons Fire ant. Make Librarian then uses Converter to summon Ant, into Archfiend again. Use effect, and attack.
Shinsei didn’t expect his monster to last long, but the fact he died and his opponent threw out even more monsters made the plan of attack even more difficult. “My turn!” He exclaimed as he drew his next card. Modern Duel Disk technology had some very handy features, one of which allowed him to check out his opponents cards and read what they could do. Out of the three, the only non immediate threat was the fusion monster. Where there Xyz can stop a spell activated, and the ritual can send a card from the field to the grave. Shinsei needed to blow through two disruptions in order to pose a threat to the board. “I activate Ascator, Dawnwalkers effect!” By discarding a card Ascator can special summon itself and a Fire Ant Ascator from his deck.
Together Shinsei had a tuner and non tuner on the field that reached level eight. Shinsei combined the two monsters together and launched into a Synchro summon. Together the monsters formed into a bath of fire. The field consumed with a raging flame an intimidating dragon took shape. The synchro that took the field was Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend posing a threat to the board.
“I activate Archfiend’s effect to destroy the field!” Scarlight can destroy all special summoned monsters on the field whose attack is equal or less than its current attack. The dragon's arms lit up as flames started to consume the field. The monsters about to be destroyed Arasen activated his ritual's effect to send Scarlight to the grave. A bright light shone from the consuming flame as a meteor shower burst forth. A series of crashes landed onto Scarlight sending it to the graveyard. With Scarlight no longer on the field, the destruction effect faded away and the flames disbursed, unable to destroy the monsters.
“I activate Pot of avarice!” This card allowed Shinsei to return five monsters from his deck to the grave and draw two new cards. With how little resources Shinsei had used in order to throw major threats into the field he made. His opponent chose not to negate his draw, which Shinsei was thankful for as he sent Scarlight and various other monsters back into his deck, and his draws favored his fortune “Next I’ll activate Synchro Overtake!” But his opponent had different plants as he negated this spell instead. But his ability to stop the destruction was too late at this point.
“I’ll activate Fleuret De Fleur!” The only choice still sat in his graveyard that opened up the gates for Shinsei to make the comeback reviving Junk Converter discarded earlier the game. Shinsei then proceeded to summon a Fire Ant Ascator for another synchro summon. But the monster he currently went into was of little matter as the two monsters fused to make T.G. Librarian. What Shinsei wanted was Junk Converters effect and a level five out.
“Junk Converter allows me to special summon a tuner from my grave when sent to the grave for a Synchro summon” Fire Ant Ascator was not done as it was brought back from the grave, and an all too familiar situation appeared on the field. The girl who had her nuggets stolen started to slowly count numbers on her hand as it dawned on her face as to what was gonna happen. Be in shock, fear, or just a gut reaction she stood from her chair and yelled out to her defender “Watch out he’s gonna-” But before she could finish her warning Shinsei launched into a final synchro summon. The flames returned, the fire raging harder than before as the cafeteria was nearly fully engulfed in the hell fire. The demon of hell, the dragon of fear had returned once more; Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend.
“Now this time you will burn!” Shinsei cried as his monster's flames exploded from its body, an unforgiving burst of flame consumed all of his opponents' monsters destroying all of them burning him for fifteen-hundred life points. With the board cleared and Shinsei the only one with a monster he declared an attack as Archfiend punched down on his opponent in a direct attack, dropping them to three-thousand-five-hundred life points.
“I end my turn, hero” Shinsei couldn’t help but mock the self righteous attitude this stranger had as he said hero in a satirical mocking tone. But despite his current situation Shinsei was worried. He only had one card in hand and it was the Assault Mode added before, and only Archfiend on the field. Despite the early low cost investment Shinsei had to spend a lot just to get over his opponents board and was worried about being able to sustain such a duel. But Shinsei showed no worries, his face still filled with a smug satisfaction. He might hate his opponent but he would be lying if he wasn’t having fun, his first true challenge, his first sense of true fear of defeat. His heart beated faster and faster, the adrenaline of a true challenge was filling his body. Finally Shinsei thought; a worthy opponent to push his limits.