"Hereby, we enact the Law of Combat." Wu and Charlie said at the same time in the middle of the courtyard, their hands up in the air and voices loud, "I offer Ita..." "And I offer my place within the Ville college." Charlie said, before the symbol of a strange-looking Cast the shape of a snowflake blinked into existence in the space in between the two. Then, as the special formation disappeared, Charlie dashed himself forward towards Wu, planning to take him down directly and immediately. "Oh?" Wu blinked a few times before reaching his right hand to the side, activating the One-Shotter gauntlet with the turn of his wrist, "Are you not going to rely on your Structure Cast?" "Are you strong enough to make me use it?" Charlie asked back, snapping his finger as the Book of Cast soared besides him, "May the Wind aid in my conquest!" A vortex of air whirled around Charlie's body, scooping him up in the air and tossing him towards Wu. As Charlie got closer and closer, Wu let out a slow breath, calming his mind and body as time seemingly slowed down around him. Then, as Charlie channeled the Wave, conjuring up a Wave sword in his hand and slashing downward, Wu moved his right arm across his body with utmost efficiency and parried the attack with the gauntlet. It was perfectly paced, oriented and timed. Wu formed bubble bubble at the same instant as Charlie's attacks arrived, knocking him to the side before Wu spun his body around, avoiding the followup attacks like an elegant dancer. As Charlie rapidly spun himself around, he saw Wu pointing the One-Shotter gauntlet in his face before a massive orb became materialized over his knuckle. Then, Wu clicked the trigger, and the orb was fired off. "May the Wave protect me!" Charlie shouted, a semi-transparent medieval-style whole-body shield forming in front of him before he stood his ground and tanked Wu's attack headon. He could have avoided the shot by rolling out to the side, but he needed to win this battle with the utmost amount of ease to secure his position within the college. And to do that, he needed to show everybody how strong he is, relative to how weak Wu is. As the swirling orb clashed into the body of his Wave-shield, Charlie's massive forehead became immediately covered in sweat as the the intensity of the attack started overwhelming his own strength. He felt as if his body was slightly lifted off the ground by the impact itself, yet if he wavered even by a tiny bit...everything he had built up within the College would have been for naught. He must stand his ground, and he must not yield to Wu's attack! With a roaring effort, Charlie shoved the shield forward as it contorted around Wu's attack with an unpleasant screech. Then, creating yet another Wave-blade in his hand, he stabbed it right at the orb, detonating it as a brilliant white flash briefly lit up the entire courtyard. Bearing the physical pain from the explosion, Charlie lunged forward, hoping to take advantage of the chaos and knock Wu down when the latter easily avoided his ranged attacks and close-quarter slashes before sweeping his feet low with a low kick, knocking Charlie off balance. As the dark blonde cunt fell back onto his butt, Wu jumped up into the air and prepared to slam down right on his face when Charlie let out a primal scream and reached his hand forward. The ground around them morphed according to his command, and the mud came to life, grabbing Wu's arms and holding him in midair. "YOU INSOLENT BRAT!" Charlie cursed, standing up and shouting as the smoke of the explosion settles and everybody in the college watches on in anticipation. Ita bit on her lips and clenched her fist as Wu was pinned down by Charlie's Structure Cast almost immediately, though she knew the consequence of interfering those in the middle of their combat, "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" "Don't care." Wu smiled, shooting out consecutive blasts to free his arms and legs before landing down onto the ground. Now that he has pushed Charlie to rely on his trump card, the scale of victory had already started tilting in his direction. "YOU WILL!" Charlie declared, marching forward, aided by the flowing mud before two massive arms made of mud rose from the side and collapsed inward, intending to crush Wu like a fly. Estimating the speed of approach of the mud walls, Wu launched himself in the air with the help of his gauntlet, then, he conjured up a crater-making shot before launching it right at the feet of Charlie. His expressions sank the moment he sensed the depth of power from Wu's attack, and he threw up a meter-thick wall in between Wu's strongest attack and his own body. The blast from the One-Shotter splattered over the surface of the mud wall and sent it exploding in all directions. The shockwave also launched Charlie flying up into the wall before he could get out of range. Right before his head was about to slam against the concrete, Charlie reached out with his hand and drew the rocks towards him, flipping his body around before stomping against the side of the buildings and pushing off again. Right as his boots departed the wall of the building, the rocks on the walls shot forward, giving him an extra boost of speed as Charlie surrounded himself in an entire set of Wave-armour in midair and prepared to cut down Wu again. "Flashbang!" Wu shouted, slapping over the top of his gauntlet briefly and activating Lera's Brightening cast on it as Charlie closed his eyes against the blinding light. Then, when he opened it again, Wu was nowhere to be found. Charlie landed in a roll, his armor set absorbing the impact as he slid over the ground and scanned the environment around him. "Charlie!" Olivia warned as a shadow emerged from right above him. He looked up, and Wu's fist nailed right across his face, the helmet immediately shattered by a small blast from the One-Shotter. A trail of blood was torn over his face, and Wu felt the knuckles of his gauntlet shattering Charlie's cheekbones, a loud and immensely satisfying crack. Charlie swallowed the blood and snarled underneath his breath. Then, he pumped his fist, channeling all of his Wave into the Structure Cast that governs every single corner of the college. He will crush Wu into the dirt, squash him into the pancake, and leave his remains to be fed by the worms and the flies! However, unlike before, as he sent forth more and more of his power into Cast that he placed at the hidden basement, hoping to control the structure of the Ville College with his thoughts, all of those Wave seemed to have disappeared into the ether. Like drops of rain falling into the ocean, never to be found again, the Cast he left behind are not only unresponsive to him, but also...started to suck him dry of the wave? No...he must have just gotten the wind knocked out of him. Charlie shook his head and still his thoughts before he blasted Wu back. However, his opponent had a satisfied smile on his face as he watched on at Charlie as he continued pouring his Wave power into Cast. Though, it felt like he's feeding a beast with an endless appetite, and nothing he did could have satisfied it. "What...what is happening..." Charlie murmured as Wu stretched his arms and sat down right opposite him. "Go on. Use your Struture Cast." Wu taunted, "Use your only weapon behind your tyranny! Show me your power!" "What have you done?!" Charlie shouted, now realizing that the Cast is starting to suck away the Wave within his body even if he tried to stop it. He felt his head becoming lighter and lighter, and the level of natural power within him diminishing at a mind-boggling rate. His Wave-armour were zapped away, and he dropped onto his knees as the Structure Cast continued sucking away what remained of the Wave inside of his body. Without the strength enhancement, he struggled to even move as his eyes sunk in, his skin became crumbled, and his body started shrinking away. He...if he were to live...he must sever his connection with the Structure Cast! Charlie ground his teeth together and looked over to his crumbled right hand, where the symbols that were left behind all over the college were duplicated over it, and he tried to cut it off. However, he couldn't even conjure up a single blade with the remaining level of Wave he had inside of him. As the life within him started to fade as well, Wu was the one to step over his wrist and put his gauntlet right up against his right hand. "You looked like you needed saving..." Wu said, as Charlie looked up at him with tears surrounding his hateful glance, and he moanded lightly. "Please...stop this...I...am sorry..." "Very well." Wu nodded before he sent a blast of Wave right through Charlie's right wrist, disintegrating his hand and cutting off his connection with the Structure Cast. The entire college shook in response to the development before the lines of writing and symbols Charlie had set up long ago started to fade away one line after another. As he passed out on the spot from the pain of losing a hand, the crowd watched on in shock as Wu slowly stood up straight and let out a cry of victory into the air. At last, Charlie's reign has come to an end. At his hand, with the price of a hand. Ita ran towards Wu in tears before she hugged him around tightly and tackled him to the ground. The Casts of the Law of Combat formed over Charlie's body and showcased the end of the battle as Ita pressed her face over Wu's chest and rubbed her chubby chin all over it. "Ok ok now..." Wu said, patting her head, "You could have told me your full plan beforehand...I don't even know what the heck the Law of Combat is..." "It doesn't matter now." Ita smiled and pressed herself up, "Now, we are free at last!" Charlie, according to the offerings in the Law of Combat, was kicked out from the college, and his closest supporters split up into two parties with one half going with him to wherever he'll seek shelter in, and the other half turned face and swore allegiance to Ita and Wu. However, Wu's not remotely interested in the college politics and he left the running of the college in Ita's hands. The truth of Charlie's power was revealed to everybody within, and the reason for his dominance being a hidden structure cast came as not much of a surprise, considering how carefully Charlie controlled everything. However, without the threat of his literally looming overhead, the Ville college is finally free. Wu stepped out onto the walkway connecting the colleges, and he sniffed the beautiful fresh air now that the nuisance that is Charlie is gone. At last, he is free. As he walked through the walkway, the trio of Wave users approached him out of habit, but they also swiftly moved out of the way now that Charlie's no longer able to pay them for the services. Wu waved a hand towards the Caster and rubbed his fingers together as he smiled back. Thanks to him, the three of them are also a lot richer than before. After walking around the walkways for a little bit, Wu returned to his college where Ita's waiting for him, and they celebrated the day of freedom, and the beginning of Ita's reign as the latest Head of the Ville college. The adventures are for another day, for now, he need to rest, recover, and figure out what the hell to tell Lera.