"Welcome to Illiol college!" Lily Watts said as the new group of students landed alongside the golden chariot within the Illiol college airspace. The crowd of students all gathered around the various quads and courtyards, watching as the door of the chariot swung open and the fresh bloods entered into the next phase of their destiny. Then, the college choir started to sing as an array of warm lights were lit up all around them. A glowing path was revealed over the ground, guiding them into the main parts of the college. Lera watched on at the scenes in awe, though her eyes inevitably traveled towards the winding tower that's positioned near the back of Illiol college and marveled at its similarity to the Tower of Constellation. However, from listening in to the conversation of her fellow college freshers (first-year students), it appeared that Illiol is indeed one of the oldest of colleges around. "Woah..." The girl next to her said, looking up at the choirs which were standing in midair, supported by a single fancy-looking Cast as their voices were projected all around the courtyard, creating an aura of holiness for the fresher's arrival. Then, as they arrived at the end of their current path, a pair of wooden gates swung open, guiding them into the fancy dining hall. When looking from above, Illiol college looked like 3 sets of squares joined together. The squares are the buildings that are at most three-level high, and filling the squares are the quads, gardens, and the tower. The golden chariot landed them in the grass quad area, and they have just entered the building between the garden and the quad. Lily Watts was dressed in a full white college uniform with a green and gold crossed symbol over her right chest. Her hourglass body filling the uniform to the brim, yet her waist was slim enough to make any girl jealous. Her eyes are big and beautiful, and her dark blonde hair is lusciously long and shiny. Lera found herself staring at her as she confidently scanned the group of freshers. "Allow me to introduce myself." Lily said, stepping forward onto the stage as the freshers were guided to sit at the table closest to an elevated region towards the back of the dining hall, the place designated the 'High Table' where only the more respected and senior people can sit at, "My name is Lily Watts, and I am a member of the Boarded, which means I am one of the top fifty strongest Wave-users within the academy. There are various lingos around here, but you will catch on." One of the freshers opened his mouth wide at her achievement, but like Wu, Lera had no idea how impressive that feat truly is. "My position is enough to make me the president of this college, but..." Lily continued, her eyes continued to linger over the group of freshers before a hidden tone of disappointment rose up within her, "Like you, I was sat at that very table. I was nowhere near my current position, but that's what the academy allows for. It's rapid growth, in the face of adversities, from all directions. All of you have come here to get strong, and you will get a chance to do it in your own way." Then, she turned around and looked towards the vice president, a quiet man with white hair and pale skin, "You may do the pleasantries now." "Anyone with potential?" The vice president asked, and Lily forced a smile before silently shaking her head. The vice president sighed slightly and stepped forward, bringing a professional appearance and started introducing the general structures of Illiol college and the greater Infinite Academy. Each college has their own way of initiating the freshers and making them feel 'welcome and at home'. Though, what each of the colleges really needs is for the individuals to get stronger as quickly as possible and do well at the various tournaments that are held towards the tail end of the winter and the summer terms, the Winter Wars and the Summer Selections. The higher an individual is ranked within the Winter Wars, the more prize money their college will receive, and that can then be used to better the college facilities, welfare, and the pockets of the college presidents. For the Ville college, Charlie does not particularly care for anything that's outside of it, so long as he has full control of what goes on within. Plus, his own pockets were already lined with deducted stipends of the students. Though as Ita took control, things will be different. However, for the Illiol College, ever since Lily's rise to prominence, they have been eying to becoming one of the strongest of colleges. Therefore, they have developed the college family system, where each of the individual freshers was designated their college parents which will be in charge to taking care of them and whipping them into fighting shape outside of the basic classes. With Lera, after learning of her origin, her college parents became immediately despaired by the prospect. Like Jolyne Atlas said back at Varous during her training days, Lera's combat floor can be extremely low, despite her high ceiling. Lera tried her best and followed the training, but due to the low level of Wave inherently within her, none of her Casts was able to reach a level of output that can be used within the Winter Wars. She may have been a great Utility-based caster, but that does nothing in terms of getting her through the Winter Wars tournament. There are the Summer Selections which are team-based battles, but that competition is far more individual compared to the Winter Wars which is more college-based. "USELESS!" Her college dad said, shoving her backward into her cast array before jumping onto her, "Fight back! Lera! Use your strength to destroy my shields!" Lera grunted out, throwing her hands forward as the Cast array came to life, but her strongest Store/Release didn't even dent the Wave shield around her college dad. He swung his fist down, though his entire body was bound by the Vines shooting out from the Trap Casts. Before hitting Lera's bubble bubble, he retracted all of his Wave back into his body and simply glared at her, pausing for a moment to demonstrate his superiority. Then, he spun around and stomped away as her college mom lied back and moaned about their misfortune. It wasn't too long before Lily Watts became personally interested in her training. The comments for her combat style have been 'soft', 'indirect', and 'supportive', so she took the liberty of training Lera like a punching bag, unleashing portions of her power and forcing Lera to make rapid decisions in adjusting her Cast array in response to her attacks. Similar to Wu, the next few weeks of her life consists of going to basic classes with the other freshers taught by the Academy instructors and getting beat up within the college by Lily Watts, though for Lera, at least Lily was trying to whip her into some sort of a fighting shape. Maybe she won't be able to progress in the Winter Wars, and maybe she will never be able to stand on her own. At the very least, she could wear down a few of the strongest fighters from the other colleges. That was at least what Lily had hoped. Then, after learning how a kid from Varous is rebelling against Charlie back at the shitty little Ville, Lily probed Lera about her relationship with Wu. That was when everything changed between them. Now, Lily fully punished Lera for her mistakes with brutal beating, and soon, the injuries to her body became too great for her to recover in time for her normal classes. She was still progressing, but...what was the cost? When Charlie was eventually defeated by Wu, Lily instead used the powers of the Vice President and imprisoned Lera for unexplained reasons. Nobody in the college knew about what happened, and even if they did, nobody would have done anything. Lera tried to fight back with all her might, but after Charlie explained all that has happened within the Ville, stating Wu actively decided not to get Lera involved, Lera's vision turned blurry as blood rushed to her head. Then, Lily offered her a deal. A deal to prove her value, not only to the college, to Wu, but also to herself. With Wu's reappearance in her life, instead of the antsy teenage anticipation that she carried with her every night, there was only an strange intensity burning within her. She was released, and when Wu held her in his grasp again, all Lera wanted to do is to shouted at him for abandoning her, accuse him for all of his wrongdoings. The words just came out so naturally, and as Wu looked away, visibly hurt by her words, Lera regrettedthat instantly. But was she wrong in being mad at him? There was a reason that Wu decided not to seek her help. And that's the same reason that her college parents gave up on her, and that's the same reason that Lily Watts is beating her up day in and day out, and that's the same reason that she's here. It's about her strength. If she doesn't have it, nothing matters. Regardless of what has happened on the way to strength, Lera has gotten stronger. In fact, she had been designing a special spell just for Lily Watts, hiding it away in plain sight within her Cast array like a trump card. She wanted to wait for a proper day to use it, but now that Wu is here, there are no better time than the present. Returning to the present, the same set of Cast symbols reformed in between Lera and Lily Watts, signifying the acknowledgment of their enactment of the Law of Combat as the crowd cheered. Lily and Charlie shared a knowing glance as the wide-chinned exile from the Ville college sat next to Olivia in the stands. Lily shrugged and rolled her shoulders in circles, loosening her body up as Ita pulled on Wu's shirt slightly and got him to sit down. "You have got a lot to prove here, Lera Huten!" Lily Watts said, her voice rumbling and echoing within the arena that is the middle of the tower as the crowds seated on the spiraling staircase quieted down to hear what she has to say. "That's true," Lera said. "And you are willing to risk being expelled from Illiol!" Lily continued, her voice elevating in pitch and tension. "I am already risking it all by being here." Lera said, glancing towards Wu whose eyes are locked onto her with his fist clenched. "Even though the boy you loved has abandoned you, you fight for him still!" Lily said, as Wu's heart raced and his face turned red. Lera looked down onto the ground, drawing her book of Casts by her side and deploying her Cast Array onto the environment around her. Then, she looked up with apple-red cheeks and glared at Lily. "No. I fight for my own dreams!" "And you shall fall for it too." Lily said, her body instantly set ablaze as she started channeling her own power. Then, with Wu watching intently, Lily dashed down through the air, leaving a trail of smoke in the air as Lera brought her Cast array to life.