Cardfight!! Vanguard: Generations Volume 4 [Ryouta Rival]

- Part 3

After breakfast, we were told to gather in the hall to receive the rules of the seventh and final challenge of the Mixed Outdoors Bootcamp special exam.

Unfortunately, because I was talking to Akihiro, I didn't have any chance to talk to Yukina before the final challenge begins. Well, she'll be fine though. The girl's side has been more or less decided thanks to the landslide victory Ichinose's group got yesterday.

That meant that it was the boy's side that was still in fierce competition mode. With such slim margins between the top groups, even the smallest point gains could be overturn the outcome of this special exam.

I was one of the last people to arrive, joining my group that had now shrunken down to five people at the back. Unlike yesterday's explanation, we had returned to being separated by gender.

"It's do or die time. Let's try our best to win as much as we can, even with all our handicaps."

The one who gave us those encouraging words wasn't Nakajima, our new leader, but rather the usually silent Yamamoto, who had regained his usual edge thanks to Shimada no longer breathing down his neck.

It's surprising just how much someone's personality can change based on the people around them. Yamamoto was a strong person, but while in Shimada's presence, he seemed as docile as Kishida or Nora.

Now that he was free of those chains, he now had a much more confident, almost leader-like, look about him. It would've been nice to see this side of him earlier in the exam, but it can't be helped. At least we got to see it now near the end, where it really counts.

"Yeah. Everyone might be tired, but today's the last day, so let's go all out, alright?"

Nakajima, feeling some kind of responsibility as leader, added onto Yamamoto's words half-heartedly. I didn't like that he was staring straight at me when he said "let's go all out" though.

"Ahh... it's a pain in the ass, but fine. I guess I can stop slacking for one day and actually give it my best."

Kouji, mistakenly believing Nakajima's snide comment was meant for him, promised to also go all out. Considering there was an aspect of today's challenge that he genuinely excels in, I had high hopes he would pull through.

"I'll do my best too." Kishida said.

Seeing as everyone else had said their piece, they all turned to me to see what I'd contribute. I raised an eyebrow before scratching the back of my head.

"...yeah, me too."

Somehow, they all seemed disappointed in me. Even Nakajima, the one who disliked me the most, looked at me with a gaze of admonishment.

Stepping on stage to give out the rules of the final challenge was none other than Hiden-sensei, the A Class homeroom teacher. They really like having him be the one present, huh?

"Hello and good morning everybody! I hope you've all recovered from yesterday's gruelling challenge with a well earned rest and are ready to take on what's about to come! Woooooooooo, aren't you all excited that we're nearly at the end of this thing? I know I am! After today, you'll have completed the Mixed Outdoors Bootcamp special exam, and I could not be more proud of all of you for making it this far! Well done, well done! But before I can offer more praise, one more challenge stands between you and your hard earned summer vacation! That's right, I'm talking about the final challenge! The one that will test all of your skills like never before! So, let's proceed forward with the rules, shall we?!"

From what little energy the boys could scraped together, we cheered in frightened anticipation for what was about to come.

"Alright, I hear you all loud and clear! Welcome to the final challenge, the Three Merits Assessment! As the name suggests, we'll be grading your groups on three distinct aspects! The first aspect, intelligence! Two members of each group will be taking part in a marathon of exams that lasts one hour each and cover all five core subjects!"