Xaspool, a major city that covers its small continent, being home to millions of people. The city had grown over time, having to be split into 5 sections, known as the Districts; Kojo-Chiku, Mizu-Chiku, Kasai-Chiku, Hi-Chiku, and Daku-Chiku. Each district has its own purpose in the city to help it strive. Kojo-Chiku is the district that helps plant trees, flowers, and fruit and vegetables for the entire city to use. Mizu-Chiku is the part of the city connected to the ocean, allowing access to the city and other continents. They also are home to fishermen. Kasai-Chiku was home to many mechanics, welders, and creators of machines, helping create things for the other districts. Hi-Chiku was the district that would help conduct energy and supply it amongst the districts, also being the location of the city's largest college. Daku-Chiku is home to the city's largest and most secure prison. It is also home to the city's main police force, with its main office located in this district.
While the city strived in this way, there was another reason such a giant city was so important to the world: The Card Tournaments. For what game, you may ask; Force of Will. The game mysteriously appeared to the world, along with monsters connected to them. See, the thing that made Force of Will so unique… was that the monsters were real living beings, connected to the cards. When played, the players had access to mana, which they used to summon their monsters, called 'Resonators'. Players had access to small pocket worlds where their monsters could live. These worlds were accessed through a unique card created by their 'J-Ruler', their main card. Due to the nature of the game, players were titled as 'Summoners.'
This game thrived in Xaspool, to the point where it was the city's major sport. Tournaments were held many times and people became champions. One though, stood out from the rest, having defeated his opponents mercilessly with his rare cards. The young man became known as the Dragon God, Samuru. Samuru was one of the first players to use the ability of J-Rulers in a match with a first edition card he won in his first tournament. He became the regional champion with his rare Ruler; Bahamut. During his match though with the world champion, Samuru was accused of using Illegal cards in his deck and the young champion left, never being seen again.
As time went on, Samuru lost his fanbase and soon became only known as the Tyrant Ruler and was hated by all… except one.
"Wow, Umeji!" A small kid shouted in excitement. The boy had slightly tanned skin and red shining hair. He was amazed at a teenager in front of him, who was just winning a battle against a random person who had challenged him.
"I win. Pay up." The teen said with a grin. The teen, named Umeji, was a slender boy with fair skin and short green hair with a section of bangs coloured white. He wore a sleeveless moss coloured sweater, alongside beige jeans. He grinned as a green aura around him faded away as his opponent, a young adult, got up and held out a card for him. Umeji swiped it away and looked it over, "Good. I'm done here. Let's go, Kaba."
The boy nodded and followed behind Umeji, "Wow! I can't believe you won another battle! I bet you're unbeatable!"
Umeji chuckled and put the card he won in his pocket, "Of course, I could possibly be the best in Kojo-Chiku, but I doubt that. There's plenty better than me."
Kaba huffed his cheeks in disapproval at Umeji's statement, the teen simply ruffling his hair in response. The two were friends because their parents knew each other from business so they ended up hanging out a lot. Umeji was a Ruler, having been playing the game since he was young. Kaba didn't play though, not having the money to buy enough cards, though he does ask for cards for his birthday. The main district was full of people, business folk, summoners and their Ruler's, it was quite a mob of a place. As the two were walking, they'd notice one of the skyrails arriving. The Skyrails were a quick way for people to travel between the districts, the skyrails themselves essentially being monorails but higher up and faster.
"You think those are people arriving for the tournament coming up?" Kaba asked. Umeji shrugged and was about to walk away before Kaba stopped him, "Come on, let's go see!"
The teenager was dragged into the station, where a bunch of people were awaiting to get onto the Skyrail, or waiting for people to arrive. The two watched as the elevators lowered, having new arrivals with their bags and such. When the people were all stepping onto the ground, Umeji would notice one in particular; a young teenager like him. The boy seemed to be around 13 years of age. He had tan skin and messy red hair. He wore brown pants and a black jacket over his muscle shirt, but the jacket was the thing that caught Umeji's attention. The boy began to walk outside of the station, holding a backpack.
Umeji and Kaba quickly went outside, the teen stopping to strange kid, "Hey!"
They turned and looked at the two kids who stopped him, "Uhh… yeah? Did I drop something?"
"You're wearing that ironically, right?"
The kid blinked a few times in confusion before realizing what they meant. He put his bag down and removed his jacket, "You mean this?"
On the back of the jacket was a logo of a dragon's head from the side with horns and spines making what almost looked like a mass of long messy hair of flame: the logo of Samuru, the Dragon God. Umeji stared at it before chuckling, which slowly evolved into laughter.
"Oh I get it! You're only wearing it because the logo looks cool, right? Thank god, I was worried you were the Tyrant's fan."
"I am."
"WHAT?!" Umeji and Kaba screamed in utter horror at such a statement. No one was a fan of the Tyrant Ruler, it just wasn't a common thing! Everyone hated the Ruler for cheating and using illegal cards! But this boy seemed to still be a fan. Did he just not know of what happened?
"Y-you know why he was called the Tyrant right?! He was using illegal cards! He's a cheater!" Kaba shouted, trying to show where this new kid had to be wrong!
"I don't believe that." The boy said with a smile on his face, "I think he was falsely accused! He's one of the greatest Rulers, there's no way he'd resort to cheating."
The boy ran over and stepped onto a bench, pointing at the two from his new heights, "And I'm gonna become a champion like he did, and challenge him!"
The two stared, as well as some people who were passing by, seeing a young teenager standing on a bench, yelling. Umeji stared up at the boy before stepping forward, "You're an idiot."
"Eh?! What was that?"
Umeji crossed his arms and looked at the boy, "You're a fan of a cheater. That's not normal. Even if he isn't a cheater, it's not like you could ever reach that rank of champion."
"Hehe…" The boy chuckled before taking out a deck box, "Wanna try me?"
Umeji looked at the box. It was very plain, just a black box with a flip lid. No special designs or material. With a scoff, he took out his own; a green flip box with a musket design on the front, "Damn right. What's your name?"
"I'm Matsuya Tobei, but people call me Tobi." He said with a proud grin before jumping off the bench. The two stepped a bit away from each other, making space. People noticed what the two were doing and began to make room for them. The two removed their decks from their boxes and slid in their J/Ruler cards into them.
"Call forth mana! In the name of my Ruler, Puss in Boots!" Around Umeji, aura formed in a circle, coloured green. The aura burst around him, his hair beginning to shine. He smirked as the deck floated next to him. From the deck, a card shot out and landed next to him, taking form. Standing next to Umeji was a cat wearing boots, a hat and a cape. The cat crossed its arms and stood by Umeji. This was his Ruler; Puss in Boots.
"Call forth mana! In the name of my Ruler, Kirik Rerik." As like Umeji, red aura formed around Tobi, bursting and causing his red hair to glow. His deck floated next to him as the Ruler card shot out and landed behind him. With a shake, a large humanoid stood behind him. It was a lizard man with a warrior's garb, slung over his shoulder. A large knife was sheathed against his waist and on the back of his head, long white hair to fit with his chin beard.
"A dragonoid…" Umeji stated to himself.
The dragonoid laughed loudly and proudly, looked at his summoner, "Tobi! Getting into more battles?! Good, I need to stretch my legs!"
"Let's do this, Kirik!" Tobi shouted, pumping his fist.
Umeji lifted his hand and formed a coin, tossing it, "I call heads."
The coin bounced around before landing with a hard impact, landing on heads. Tobi sighed but shrugged and smiled, "Let's see what you got then!"
Umeji smiled as they both held out their hands, summoning 5 cards from their decks. Some people stopped and watched as others passed, not interested in the match. Umeji raised his hand, "I'll start by calling a Wind Magic Stone."
A stone appeared in his hand coated in green aura. It floated around Umeji's side of the field before he pointed at a card, "I shall use it to summon a resonator; Gnome, Element of Earth!"
The card shot forward and formed a little man wearing a top hat and wielding a large gardening hoe. It huffed and knelt down.
"I end."
Tobi / Umeji
4000 / 4000
5 Hand / 4 Hand
0 Mana / 1 Wind Mana
Empty / [Gnome, Element of Earth]
Tobi smiled and looked at Kirik, "Since the game has begun, Kirik gains a few effects. Firstly, I get to gain ten Strength counters on Kirik!"
Next to the dragon man, 10 small orbs appeared, "I also use Energize to gain a coin with a special effect where if I banish it, I gain a fire Will."
The coin formed next to Tobi as Kaba watched, surprised, "Whoa! Two skills in one turn?"
"I call a Fire Magic Stone!" Tobi shouted as a red stone floated on his side. He then grabbed the coin and crushed it, "I then banish the coin to produce 1 Fire Will!"
A faded red stone appeared and both vanished, "I then use both to summon Apprentice Martial Artist!"
A blue dragonoid appeared on the field, cracking its knuckles, "I then remove three Strength Counters from Kirik!"
"What?" Umeji was surprised how much Tobi was already doing in his first turn.
Kirik crushed three of the small orbs as the blue dragonoid jumped up, looking pumped up. Kirik laughed, "Now Apprentice Martial Artist is summoned refreshed! Now, strike him, my student!"
The martial artist dashed low to the ground, past Gnome. It jumped and struck a flaming punch at Umeji, who crossed his arms to brace for impact. A barrier appeared around the teen as the martial artist struck it hard, jumping back to its side. Umeji panted as a number appeared next to him; a 4000, becoming 3300.
"I then end my turn."
Tobi / Umeji
4000 / 3300
4 Hand / 4 Hand
1 Mana / 1 Wind Mana
[Apprentice Martial Artist] / [Gnome, Element of Earth]
Umeji drew a card and raised his hand, "I call another wind mana stone."
The two stones vanished as he raised a card from his hand, "Since Puss in Boots is my Ruler, I get to pay one less mana to summon; Athos, the Three Musketeers!"
In a gust of wind, a man stood on the field, wearing a black outfit with a red cape. He also held a rapier in his hand, "Haha! Another duel so soon!"
"Oooooh! So you use a Musketeer deck?" Tobi shouted before Umeji grabbed his deck.
"When I summon Athos, I can search my deck for an Addition: Resonator card and put it in my hand, but since my Ruler is Puss in Boots, I get to equip the card to Athos instead!"
From his deck, Umeji pulled out a card, which he threw to Athos. The musketeer spun around and caught it. When he was facing Tobi and Kirik again, he was holding a Bayonet, "Musketeer's Bayonet!"
"Muskteer's Bayonet allows a chosen Resonator to gain +400 ATK. Since Athos is a Musketeer, he also gains First Strike and Pierce! I end my turn."
Tobi / Umeji
4000 / 3300
4 Hand / 4 Hand
1 Mana / 2 Wind Mana
[Apprentice Martial Artist] / [Gnome, Element of Earth] [Athos, the Three Musketeers]+[Musketeer's Bayonet]
Tobi grinned as he drew his next card, "I call a Fire mana stone!"
Tobi picked up a card and tossed it to the side, "I use my two mana to chant one card from my hand."
The Apprentice Martial Artist stood up and looked ready for a brawl, "I attack directly!"
Umeji had no choice but to hold up his arms as the dragonoid struck the barrier, dropping his Life from 3300 to 2600.
"I then end my turn!"
Tobi / Umeji
4000 / 2600
4 Hand / 4 Hand
2 Mana / 2 Wind Mana
[Apprentice Martial Artist] / [Gnome, Element of Earth] [Athos, the Three Musketeers]+[Musketeer's Bayonet]
Umeji looked at the challenger he had… this boy. This fan of the Tyrant. He knew what was coming next… the perfect turn, the one that would end this match in his favor. Tobi, meanwhile, was smiling in joy, as well as Kirik. These two just seemed excited to be in a match but how could this match end? Who will win in the end? Is the end result locked by destiny already?
"Not often we find a child in this place. What's your name?"
"I-I don't know…."