The written exam lasted for three days, and in the meantime, Hikaru felt pretty good.
Most of the questions were ones the teachers had already covered. The few "advanced" questions were actually just old problems in a different form. For Hikaru, a student trained in a rigorous education system previously, these questions were easy once he familiarized himself with them.
And although he could confidently guarantee even Yu-Gi-Oh! judges sometimes get confused by the rules of many Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, at least Duel Academy exams didn't have that kind of thing.
Additionally, there was the "Alchemy" course. Not only did Hikaru have a natural talent for alchemy, but even without that talent, he could always ask an alchemist for help.
Of course, if anyone found out, it would definitely count as cheating. However, he wasn't the type to cheat just for the sake of grades, but it did make him feel more at ease.
After a few days of written exams, Hikaru was now fiddling with his deck, thinking about today's practical exam.
While the written exams were important, in Duel Academy, practical performance naturally held more weight and could contribute more points. Since his goal was to be number one in his grade, he naturally aimed to win.
And his opponent, unsurprisingly, would surely be Chazz.
Although the academy was generally "fair," sometimes, certain students made things more fair for others.
In the anime, Chazz was fine, he would be immediately expelled if he cheated.
But this world's Chazz, who was a disciple of Kaiba Seto, could undoubtedly count on his teacher's connections if he wanted to face Hikaru in a practical exam. The teachers would probably be more than willing to help him out.
Honestly, if it was the Chazz from the original facing him, he would probably be just fine.
Firstly, as a duelist, Chazz's "energy" was naturally high, so he was definitely worth being a daily opponent.
In the original, although he was positioned as the second male lead, he was always overshadowed by other characters. Early on, he was overshadowed by Syrus, then by Aster Phoenix in the middle, and later by Jesse. Despite being the second male lead, most of his moments were taken by others.
So, as an opponent, Hikaru's chances of winning were innately higher, making it easier to earn a scholarship. However, in this world, Chazz had become Kaiba Seto's disciple, just like in the manga, because of a different historical development.
Hikaru shuffled his main deck and Extra Deck.
First, his Main Deck.
After two months of iterations, he had already removed some useless fusion cards. The remaining cards mostly consisted of easy and simple fusions, strong fusion monsters, and Flame Swordsman-related cards.
Although his main deck still didn't have as many monsters as other people's decks, he no longer worried about not having enough monsters. In addition, cards that had remained in the deck without being fused, like Cannon Soldier, Giga-Tech Wolf, and Burstinatrix, meant his deck was, in a way, "half" monsters.
However, his Main Deck still had some "abstract" cards that were relatively difficult to use.
Beyond that, his Extra Deck had become much more luxurious than before.
Removing cards like Bracchio-raidus and Golden Mammoth, his Extra Deck had been almost completely replaced.
The "core" cards included two Flame Swordsmen, one Dark Flare Knight, Flame Wingman, Inferno Wing, Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, and even some newly added cards like Cyber Blader, and the exciting but currently unused Master of Chaos.
This also brought along some new problems.
That was, his Extra Deck was almost full, and he would need to remove some older fusion monsters.
Hikaru hadn't thought about this before because, in his memory, the Extra Deck in the anime could have as many cards as needed. But after being reminded by his teacher about the number of cards in the Extra Deck, he remembered that in the original, Jaden had also worried about what to remove in order to add "Shining Flare Wingman."
He shuffled his Extra Deck.
It was still "almost full," but not quite.
Even if he added Fullmetalfoes Alkahest he had just acquired, the Extra Deck still wouldn't be full. Even counting the Cyber Dragon fusion monster that had been created through Super Fusion after a duel, it was still enough.
However, it was essential to plan ahead.
"Next match, Obelisk Blue-Chazz, versus Ra Yellow-Hikaru! Please head to the designated arena to prepare!"
Hearing his name, Hikaru promptly packed away his deck and went to the exam hall.
On the other side, Chazz had been waiting for a while.
"Ah, Hikaru's opponent is Chazz? Go for it, Chazz!"
"Why are you cheering for me, you idiot!"
"Then, Hikaru-kun, go for it!"
"Just you wait," Chazz shouted angrily at the audience.
Then, he turned and looked at Hikaru.
Honestly, Hikaru's appearance made him a bit uneasy.
Students in purple uniforms were members of the Fusion Club, their reputation among regular students was very bad, they were mostly considered crazy.
Behind Hikaru, there were also a few Fusion Club students following him. When they saw Hikaru's opponent, they started gossiping.
"Is Hikaru's opponent that Chazz?"
"Isn't he the guy who got through by the back door?"
"I heard that after he lost to Jaden, and after the battle, he ran away. How dare he come back?"
"To be in the same dorm as a guy like him is really depressing. Good thing I switched to purple."
"Go, Hikaru!"
"Go for it, Hikaru, show that guy who's boss!"
Chazz frowned and clenched his fists, yet didn't argue or say anything.
Hikaru, on the other hand, immediately dropped his face and yelled to the students behind him, "Stop making me look like the villain!"
The Fusion Club students were still heavily influenced by the atmosphere of the Activities Department.
He turned around, put a smile on his face, "Chazz, long time no see, I'm Hikaru from the first year of the Fusion Club!"
Although still annoyed, seeing Hikaru like this made Chazz feel slightly better.
"Don't call me Chazz. I am, um…Chazz Lightning!"
He raised his hand high and yelled at the students behind Hikaru.
"Uh… okay?"
Hikaru hadn't expected that, although the timeline had changed a bit, Chazz's level of delinquency hadn't changed at all.
"Duel!" (×2)
[Hikaru, LP: 4000]
[Chazz, LP: 4000]
"My turn!" Chazz, eager to show off and prove himself, drew a card at lightning speed.
'That was fast!' Hikaru thought.
"I Normal summon, Armed Dragon, the Armored Dragon!"
A dragon warrior with copper-green scales and red armor flew out of the card.
"Armored Dragon?" When he saw that the North Academy still used Armed Dragons, he thought Chazz wouldn't be using them in this world. Moreover, he didn't expect there to be another series of cards for them.
[Armed Dragon, the Armored Dragon] Level 4│WIND│Dragon│1900 ATK
"A 1900 attack, Level 4 monster?"
"Sure enough, that guy must have used KaibaCorp's influence; how else could he have easily gotten such a rare card?"
The surrounding students began to discuss in hushed voices.
This only made Chazz more irritated.
However, Hikaru took a deep breath, raised his Duel Disk, and shouted, "I also have a card that everyone doesn't have!"
"The key is, whether or not it's used well!"
"Otherwise, everyone will just be like that senior Ryu, holding onto powerful cards but not knowing how to use them."
The Fusion Club students came to see him, whether to idolize him or simply to learn some techniques. Since they were already there watching, he had to take responsibility and put on a great performance.
He looked at Chazz, who was a bit confused, and snapped his fingers lightly. "Come on, Chazz, let me see you duel."
Chazz stood there, frozen with his card for a while, before finally taking a deep breath.
Now he understood why Jaden lost to Hikaru, but he didn't get discouraged, in fact, he seemed quite happy.
'So, there were people like this in the Fusion Club too?'
"Hmph, it's Chazz Lightning!"