CH.499 Sage exam

CH.499 Sage exam

It was just a few days later that I found myself in the Hero’s country again. This time I was invited by them. ... Actually, last time I was also invited, because they wanted my help in finding out where the books went. But that one originated from me asking for the books, so it falls somewhere in the ‘my fault’ category.

What they invited me for was a sage exam. No, I’m not taking an exam, Mariina is. You do remember who she is, right? Alice’s aunt, has a contract with an earth spirit, likes to use golems.

And for some reason, the sages decided I should be there observing her exam.

... Admittedly they didn’t even want me. They actually wanted Gaia, the superior spirit of earth there, and for some reason, the sages knew I could summon her. So they invited me, so I could summon Gaia.

Which I would complain about, but at the same time, I actually don’t mind. Because seeing a sage exam is worth being used like this.

I also got acquainted with another sage. Because apparently they needed five sages overseeing the exam for a new sage. Unless special circumstances are ongoing, like if there aren’t that many sages alive, or if that many sages simply cannot make it.

The fifth sage who observed the exam was named Ray Way, which really got me feeling like he is a traitor, for no other reason than his name. I mean think about it, and spoilers for Zexal by the way, the Ray-way in Zexal almost led to the bad end, because Ray wasn’t quite as nice as he was showing.

Ray Way was highly skilled in both Wind and Dark Magic, and he used a type of necromancy magic. He could use it on people, but he mostly used it on monster corpses, because it is more efficient that way. And, you know, no questions about morality.

He even had the Inventory skill, which he used to carry a bunch of monster corpses with him, so he could bring them out and re-animate them whenever he wanted.

I spoke with him a bit about human necromancy, and he explained that while it isn’t technically illegal, most don’t do it, as monster necromancy is generally both better and easier.

Monsters, on average, are more powerful than people. So while the corpses of adventurers, guards and knights make for good undead, most common people really don’t.

Eventually, the time for Mariina’s exam came. It really wasn’t as special as I assumed.

I mean, when you hear ‘Sage exam’, you think it would be something fantastical, but realistically, it is just a magic showcase.

And while Mariina is very skilled, more skilled than I could ever be solo, with Spirit synchro I could probably get close, if not equaling her skill.

But that is because I didn’t really realize what was going on. This wasn’t technically an exam. Mariina was going to be a sage, this was more of a ... tradition, I suppose. Because there are times when the people don’t study under a sage to become a sage.

It was still cool to see, but I was kind of hoping for more.

And perhaps ask and you shall receive, because after Mariina was granted the title of Sage, the now six sages turned to me and told me it was my turn.

I was naturally a bit taken back, but they told me that they wanted to make me a sage. It would grant me access to the demon summoning books I wanted, if we are able to recover them.

And while my skills might not be sage level, which they admitted they might be, my monsters more than exceed the skill required for a sage, and enter into the territory of a great sage.

And since my monsters are a part of my skill, they said it would count, so they wanted a showcase from me.

Mission: Granter of MagicGoal: Grant a magic attribute to hard working people who don’t have one Reward: Grants 1-5 monsters of the attribute given.If the recipient is an extremely hard worker, cards may come in sleeves or toploadersThis mission is repeatable

But they did agree to my suggestion, not that they need to. I’m a sage, I can tell them I’m doing that, and if they want to stop me, they need at least five sages to order me to stop.

So the next time there was a free attribute analysis day, I was there. And those that had no attribute affinity were told that they could go through an experimental attribute granting ceremony, if they wanted.

We didn’t get all that many people, but I did manage to get 12. Sadly most of them were children, and they didn’t exactly count as ‘hard working people’ for the mission, so the rewards I got weren’t all that amazing.

Out of the 12, 9 wanted the Light attribute. Which is understandable, as it is the most appreciated attribute. One wanted Fire, one Earth and one Water.

For the rewards, I got Consecrated Light, White Duston, Outstanding Dog Mary, Rainbow Kuriboh, Sage with Eyes of Blue, Priestess with Eyes of Blue, Galactikuriboh, Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord and last for the Light attributes, Fortune Lady Every.

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So yeah. While they are really good cards, I got only one card per person, and they all have low attack stats. Almost like ‘not hard working’ equals low attack.

For the Fire, Earth and Water, I got Soul Resonator, Key Mouse and Number 71: Rebarian Shark.

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Yeah. One of those isn’t like the others. Rebarian Shark is lowkey OP. But I’ll get to that in a moment.

First, Galactikuriboh. I don’t know if you know this, but his effect allows him to special summon a Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Which means that by triggering his effect, and then using Compulse to return the Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon to my hand, I can get myself a sleeved and toploader copy of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.

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Next up, Fortune Lady Every. She is a Synchro. My challenge is one away from 60. So I summoned her and claimed the next reward. Deep Sea Repetiteur and Deep Sea Minstrel.

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I then summoned Repetiteur for the challenge.

Summon unique Synchro MonstersUnique Synchro Monsters summoned: 61 Aromaseraphy Rosemary; Aromaseraphy Sweet Marjoram; Red Dragon Archfiend; Black Rose Dragon; Psychic Lifetrancer; Clear Wing Synchro Dragon; Magical Android; Avenging Knight Parshath; Goyo Guardian; Nitro Warrior; Thought Ruler Archfiend; Ruddy Rose Dragon; Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar; Light End Dragon; Power Tool Dragon; Garden Rose Flora; T.G. Hyper Librarian; Dark End Dragon; Hundred Eyes Dragon; Lightning Warrior; Seven Swords Warrior; X-Saber Souza; Stardust Dragon; Minerva, the Athenian Lightsworn; Shooting Quasar Dragon; Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon; Shooting Star Dragon; Turbo Warrior; Tempest Magician; Revived King Ha Des; Queen of Thorns; Iron Chain Dragon; Doomkaiser Dragon; Blackwing Armor Master; Earthbound Servant Geo Gryphon; Accel Synchro Stardust Dragon; Ally of Justice Catastor; Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier; Flamvell Uruquizas; Mist Wurm; X-Saber Urbellum; Power Tool Braver Dragon; Ancient Fairy Dragon; Ancient Sacred Wyvern; Arcanite Magician; Archfiend Zombie-Skull; Blackwing Armed Wing; Dark Strike Fighter; Exploder Dragonwing; Hyper Psychic Blaster; Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon; Trident Dragion; Turbo Cannon; XX-Saber Gottoms; Red Rising Dragon; Scarlight Red Dragon; Red Nova Dragon; Red Supernova Dragon; Garden Rose Maiden; Fortune Lady Every; Deep Sea Repetiteur Next Reward is given at 65 unique Synchro MonstersNext Reward: Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo + Superheavy Samurai Big BenkeiSpoiler[collapse]

Interestingly, my next reward isn’t your usual Synchro + Tuner reward, but instead I have a Synchro and a non-Tuner. Probably because Warlord Susanowo needs a Superheavy Samurai non-Tuner.

And I do like Superheavy Samurais. Kind of. I love that they can attack in defense position. But I don’t like their ‘no spells and traps’ gimmick. I think that is a bit much. If it was just ‘no spells’ it would be better. In my opinion.

And now to Lesbian Shark, I mean Rebarian Shark. He is my fifth Xyz monster, so I get my first Xyz summoning challenge reward. But that still isn’t what makes him OP. I’m getting to that.

Summon unique Xyz MonstersUnique Xyz Monsters summoned: 5Crimson Knight Vampire Bram; Dhampir Vampire Sheridan; The Zombie Vampire; Number 24: Dragulas the Vampiric Dragon; Number 71: Rebarian SharkNext Reward is given at 5 unique Xyz MonstersNext Reward: Number 39: Utopia Double + Double or Nothing!Spoiler[collapse]

Utopia Double and Double or Nothing is a fine reward. And thanks to Utopia Double, I should be able to get other Utopia monsters, so I’ll experiment with that later on.

And now, we finally get to why Rebarian Shark is overpowered. See, it has this fun little effect. “If this card is sent to the GY: You can choose 1 "Rank-Up-Magic" Spell from your Deck and place it on top of your Deck.”

Or as it translates for me, “If this card is sent to the GY: Pay 1 Pack token to generate 1 random "Rank-Up-Magic" Spell.”

So yeah. I can get Rank-Up-Magics.

Which might sound useless at first, after all, I don’t have XYZ monsters that need Rank-Up-Magics.

But remember, monsters operate on a Rank system. So if Level Up! can level up people ... well, I’m sure you are smart enough to figure out what Rank-Up-Magics can do to monsters.