"Wu Hui!" Ita said, lunging onto the dinner table with a drink in hand and pressing her face towards the boy that ended everything, "Do you like me or not?!" Wu was taken aback by Ita's words, and the crowd made the instigating sound and cheered as Ita turned her head and down yet another gulp of drinks, "Did you not hear what I said?" "Uh...yeah. I did." Wu hesitated, his heart racing, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the drinks or Ita's words. The girl stepped over the dishes with her usual agility, and she jumped onto Wu's lap, folding him over during the landing, "Ouch!" She lightly rests her hands over Wu's shoulders, and it was then that Wu truly realized how light her body truly is. Her face is beet red, and her white twin tails rested on her shoulders before she grabbed onto one of the tails and tickled Wu with the tip, "Come ooooon. A girl has asked you an important question!" "I...I suppose..." Wu swallowed hard as the breath of alcohol brushed into his face, "After everything that has happened, I don't dislike you." "What's that supposed to mean?!" Ita slapped Wu in the shoulders and moaned in annoyance. She hopped off his lap and returned to her seat, sulking at his response. "Sorry Ita, but I..." Wu lowered his head and wrapped his fingers around the drink. "It's Lera isn't it? Are you two already married or something?!" Ita asked, propping up her legs and pointing at Wu, "Have you two gone all the way?!" "Well...argh...I mean...we are both single..." Wu stuttered, trying to wave off Ita's curiosity, but she instead crawled along the bench towards him. "...But?" "...I can't say." Wu shook his head as the sensation of Lera's body returned to his mind. "HAH! So this is the kind of person you really are!" Ita laughed, "Well, so long as she isn't in Illiol college, she should be fine!" Wu's body halted, and he turned to look at Ita before the sudden realization hit. "Yeah, Illiol is where Charlie's big sister, Lily Watts' at!" Another student said, "I would recommend staying as far away from it as you can." OF COURSE! Wu cursed his own carelessness. After getting kicked out of the Ville college, Charlie would not have anywhere else to go! Before, Wu had assumed that Charlie's bluffing about the fact that his sister is from Illiol College, but after what Ita and the other student said, he realized the bitter truth at last. "She is." Wu said slowly as the entire room was plunged into silence, "We need to go. Now." "Shit." Ita shouted, slamming the empty cup down onto the ground, "Alright, everybody! Let's mobilize and go get Lera for Wu! After that, you will confess to me, right?" "I...I never said that!" Wu protested, but the entire Ville College is already starting to move. With everybody in high spirits after Charlie's defeat, they packed up all they need for battle before getting the college-owned golden chariots ready. However, before Wu could open the door, someone else had already knocked on the college front door. Wu looked through the class and saw a tall figure with dark blonde hair. However, before Ita could totally freak out, Wu swung the door open, revealing Ver and her dark eye-patch. She had a similar dark blonde hair to Charlie's, though the aura that she gave off was that of a chiseled adventurer rather than a brat of royal birth. "Hello~ Mr Savior~" Ver smiled, "You have already developed quite a reputation, haven't you?" "Hey...you..." Wu pointed a finger at Ver and tilted his head. It makes perfect sense that Ver will be here in the Academy, but the fact that she's here at the Ville college front door, "What reputation?" "The idiot that keeps getting beat up by the same dudes!" Ver said, shrugging, "When they described what you looked like and how you fought, I had to come take a look for myself! And there you were a few days ago getting beat up again! I would have helped you, but you know, I was kinda busy." "I...it was called tactical feeding." Wu said, clearing his throat and puffing his chest out, "It was all part of a plan. You know how I work. But everything is fine now." "Yeah right..." Ver nodded slowly and appeared unconvinced as the crowd of people lined up behind the door, ready to head towards Illiol college according to Ita's command, "What is going on here?" "Lera's in trouble." Wu said, and Ver's eyebrows twitched slightly, "She's at Illiol, and we are going to rescue her." "Then I am coming too." Ver said, gesturing to a golden chariot floating above her, "I got a ride." So it turns out that while Wu's busting his ass off in dealing with the bullshit of Charlie and skipping all of the initial basic classes, Ver's also busy not being the model student at the Academy. Instead, she carried on with her normal mercenary work, now instead of working for the various employees within the colleges as a member of the student's Guild of Mercenaries. She was initially looked down as a newcomer, but when she showed the local guild her Token, the negotiation processes for payment and getting new jobs became a lot smoother. And there she is, piloting her very own golden chariot mere weeks passing after the entrance exam. "So that's what you have been up to..." Ver nodded her head slowly before she turned to look at Ita who's sitting right behind Wu, listening in to the two of them, "I would have thought Lera will not leave you after all that has happened." "I think we took the principal of the Academy too seriously when he talked about the college designation process," Wu admitted. "Yep! It's all just a front." Ver chuckled, "It's a literal forest here. The strong rule, and it's always been that way. The seemingly random allocation is just a matter of giving people different and unfamiliar starting points, and those bigger colleges gets to pick and choose!" The Illiol college is located a lot closer to the central area of the Academy than the Ville college. As the golden chariots of Ver's descended and parked outside the airspace of Illiol college, which looked like several massive gardens were strung together in mid-air. The group waited outside as Ita, Ver, and Wu headed in first. Ita obtained Charlie's proof of leadership for the Ville college, and they moved through the unguarded gates with fancy ancient-looking arches quietly. "They are here." A low voice spoke in the darkness of the arches before the owner of the voice merged into the shadows, "Alert Lily." The college was quiet and appeared deserted at this time of the day, though a line of Cast was suddenly lit up on the ground as sets of glowing arrows guided the three into the deepest garden of the Illiol college. A sprawling vertical structure with a spiraling staircase towards the outside towered in the middle. In terms of architectural design, it looked exactly like the Tower of Constellation back at the Pinnacle Research Institute. However, instead of books, the walls were filled to the brim with various plants and flowers. There were countless students already seated around the spiraling staircase, and they all moved out of the way quietly when Wu, Ver, and Ita entered the building. "Aha! My friends from the Ville!" A fuzzy feminine low voice came from above as the three looked up. And a figure covered in flames floated in the middle of the space. Ver's body tensed up slightly at the display of power, and she instinctively moved towards Wu in a guarded stance as Ita also silently channeled the flow of the Wave within her, "We have been expecting you." "And you are?" Wu asked. "My name is Lily Watts, and I am one of the Boarded in the entirety of the Infinite Academy." The flaming figure said as the intensity of the fire around her body slowly decreases with her descent down to the ground, "You have taken good care of my little brother, I see." "The same can be said for me too." Wu bowed slightly sarcastically, "He had also taken great care of me." A smile crept up Lily's face before she held her stomach and burst out in laughter. Then, she turned around and pointed to a cage made of plants above them, shooting a jet-stream of fire and burning away the vines. A body dropped from within onto the ground, and Ver broke the fall with a whirlpool red underneath it. That was when Wu saw Lera's body being tied up by ropes. Her eyes widened and she struggled when she saw Wu. He charged forward towards her as Lily Watts simply stood and watched alongside the massive crowd. "Lera! Are you okay?!" Wu said, blasting off the vines from her wrist and body before removing the towel around her face, "Are you hurt? What did they do to you?" "Wu..." Lera said, biting her lips, "What is going on...Why did you lie to me..." Wu's body stiffened, and he knelt besides Lera in silence. "Didn't you promise to contact me? Didn't we say to fight this together? Am I not your..." Lera said, gritting her teeth as tears flowed down her face, "Charlie told me everything..." "Lera..." Wu reached his hands forward, but instead, Lera pushed herself up and avoided his hand. "So." Lily Watts said, "What's your final decision, Lera? Are you taking my deal?" "Deal?" Wu turned his head in confusion, "What deal?" "Accept my challenge through the Law of Combat." Lily Watts said, her arms crossed, "If you win, we will never bother you or any of your friends again, and you will earn a personal favor from me in addition to that. If I win...you will be exiled." "Lera?!" Wu reached forward, but Lera turned herself away and wiped her tears, "Wait! What are you..." "I accept." Lera said, pointing her hand forward, "Hereby, we enact the Law of Combat. If I lose, I alone will be exiled. If I win, you leave him alone." Then, she turned with her grey eyes darkened and saddened towards Wu, her voice cutting deeper than Ver's Sky-Splitting sword. "Wu. I will prove it to you...the true extent of my strength."