Wu would have been rolling in his grassy bed if he realized that Lera had been thrown directly into a hot-spring scene in the middle of the tournament arc, but apparently, to help the participants recover from the chaotic battle royale and preserve the qualities of the one-on-one battles, the Boarded members of the Infinite Academy had been running this exclusive resort half-way up the mountain for over a decade now. It all happened after one notorious year when the one-on-one battle became a battle of attrition, and it was literally the one with the greatest endurance and healing ability that won, rather than anyone with a marketable set of powers nor any shining star with a Wave using genius that looked to be Sky Guardian Corp-worthy. Every once in a while, there are a generation of Wave users that possessed such inhuman potential that they will all develop into Wave users that could shake the entire world to its core with their every move, and now, those fellow talented individuals are...fighting over who's getting into the hot baths first. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Yuna shouted, her hands raised overhead and about to blast aside the girl in front of her when suddenly, a blue ring formed around her wrist before she was yanked towards the wall, "Fucking John King! What's the fun in fighting without using the Wave!" "I think that's the point, Yuna-sama." Matty Joels, the polite looking young man white hair and blue eyes said, his eyes glancing towards the seductive curves of Yuna's body as her towels was shaken off by the impact. He smiled lightly before Yuna kicked a sandal his way and it rocketed off his crotch, folding him over. "Hmph!" Yuna said, shaking her hands lose and puffing her small chests out as the automatically generated blue ring dissipated and let her go when she lowered the Wave within her body. She kicked up the towel and threw it over her shoulder before marching forward, "Get your pervy eyes off me. We are not even at the hot baths yet! Also, where the hell is Braka?!" "He's...still pissed about you said about him, so he is going to skip the baths tonight." Matty said, pressing himself up with his arms extending overhead as the eyes of other girls that walked along the same corridor lingered towards his well-built figure and snow white skin. His body is layered with muscles, yet the proportions "WHAT?!" Yuna stomped her feet hard as a shockwave was sent through her entire body, "What a WUSS!" "Who are you calling a wuss!" Braka sprinted through the hallway before he flipped over a group of other students and landed firmly right in front of Yuna. Then, he pointed his finger right at Yuna before it accidentally flicked the tips of Yuna's twin peaks in front. As the soft touch melted away in Braka's hands, his face became steamed up more and more until it was turned bright red. "Brrrrrrr..." Yuna growled like a wild dog before she charged after Braka who turned tailed and ran straight into the massive bathes that leaking steam into the corridor through the open doors, "I DON'T NEED THE WAVE TO KILL YOU!" "You should have covered yourself up!" Braka threw out a word of retort before vanishing into the steam as Yuna made a sharp turn to follow him. Matty shook his head before strolling into the bathes too. Such a ruckus... Lera thought before she let out a sigh and enjoyed her private time in the women only part of the bathes when suddenly, two dashing figures jumped over her and crashed into the pool of water. "Yeah, show em, girl!" Fatera's loud voice came through before she surged from underneath the water and started swimming in circles in the tiny bath, her busts floating in the water like massive buoys, "You did it, Lera!" "As expected." Ver emerged from right besides her and puffed her chest out with a cheeky smile as Lera frowned with jealousy and sank her chest down below the surface, "Good to see you here, Lera." "Is it so hard to just want some peace?" Lera asked, her mouth half submerged and bubbling as she talked. "Yep." Ver laughed, and that's when Lera noticed she didn't bother with her eyepatch here, "A bath is meant to be shared." "That's right, little one." The Kraken said with great satisfaction as it extended one of its tendrils out from Ver's stomach, enjoying the refreshing minerals from the specially prepared bath. "That's kinda...ew. No offense." Fatera spun around and looked down at Ver's stomach before the tendril shot up and gave her an equivalent of a middle finger. "Don't disagree..." Ver sighed, "It's not the most attractive of my qualities." "Who are you trying to attract?" Fatera asked, jumping in place before she started doing some high knees to keep the blood flowing as the warmth alone wasn't enough. Lera tensed up slightly before she also turned to look at Ver, awaiting her answer with anticipation. "Well..." Ver rolled her head to glance back at Lera with a mysterious smile as her cheeks gradually reddened, "I mean...I haven't known too many nice boys...but there is this one in particular. I don't know if he is taken though..." "Oh! Who is that?!" Fatera asked as Lera sank her face into the water and tried to ignore the conversation. "You know that person too." Ver giggled before she wrapped her arms around her own body and smiled, "He's just...so different from everybody else. So...weird. So...cute." "I am going back to rest." Lera said, raising from the bathes as Fatera made a long face and grabbed her wrist. "Come oooon! Stick around!" She asked, dragging Lera down into the water again, "Let's talk boys!" "I didn't know you are interest in...romance and stuff..." Lera said. "I'm not, but it's fun to talk about it!" Fatera laughed, "My husband is strength and victory!" Lera rolled her eyes before she and Ver entered a spontaneous staring contest as blood rushed to her head. Her heart was beating so loud that she felt every beat sent out a ripple through the water. "So...who do you like, Lera?" Ver asked, resting her arms along the edge of the bath as she retied her dark blonde hair into a tighter bun. "No...nobody." Lera turned her face with a stubborn expression, "I...I'm not telling you." "Hehehe..." Fatera giggled with an evil look before she rushed over, bringing a splash of water that crashed into Lera's face, "Is it Wu?! It must be WU!" "Of course it is!" Ver laughed as Lera sealed her tongue and looked away with her face red like an apple, "When did it first happen? Was it before I joined the group, or was it after?" "I am not telling you!" "Ah...maybe it's before!" Ver scratched her chin, "Will this be the first time a Savior and a Guardian get together?" "Spiiiicy!" Fatera made an exaggerated tone, "You like that way, don't you, Lera?" Lera lowered her head, and her mind inevitably travelled back to that night. Her fingers gently ran down the sides of her arms as she remembered the touch of Wu's calloused hand, the sensation of his breathe and the pressure from his weight...As she dug her nails in and became lost in her memories, Ver and Fatera watched as her face became even redder than before. I...I wonder where he is right now. Lera thought, looking up into the starry sky above as Ver and Fatera finally decided to change their topic of conversation, just for now. The resort itself was surprisingly big on the inside, and each of the Winter Wars tournament participants are allotted a tiny room of their own with a view of the rest of the Infinite Academy and the snowy landscape. Then, there is also the complementary buffet. As everybody slowly trickled away from the bathes back into their dressing gowns that was prepared for them individually, all of the individual contestants then dragged their feet towards the buffet before absolutely devouring the chef-made dishes set up on dozens of different tables. Fatera, despite her loner outlook, actually rather enjoyed the company of Lera and Ver after their time training together. She likes Ver cause of her strength, and she likes Lera cause of her adorable reactions to her and Ver's teasing. And now, there is one more thing they could tease her about. Loading her plateful of roasted meat of different variety before pouring a river of gravy on top, Fatera then ate to her heart's content as Ver, now with her eye-patch back on, enjoyed a smaller portion of cooked fish. In the meanwhile, Lera had already finished her first bowl of potato stew. The stimulation from the hot bathes seemed to have awakened the appetite in all of the participants as the room became eerily quiet with the sounds of chewing, swallowing and cutlery occasionally clicking against the plates and bowls. Then, as the pots became emptied, replacement sets with a slight variety was brought on immediately for the refill. It was another half an hour before a handful of chatter returned to the room. "Oh shit..." Fatera leaned back as her stomach became fully puffed up with food, "I may have...BURP...eaten too much." "Got to pace yourself." Ver said, sending a tiny piece of shrimp down her throat before Lera returned to her table with yet another bowl of potato stew, her third one of the night, "ARE YOU GOING TO EAT ANYTHING ELSE, LERA?!" "What?! I like potato stew." Lera said, as she turned out to be the one solely responsible for devouring the potato stew pot. "This is a buffet! You are supposed to try different things!" Fatera added before dumping a piece of chicken into her plate, "If you want to increase the size of your bust, you need more protein and fat in your life!" "Is that actually true..." Lera's eyes glanced down at the pair of sheer magnificence in front of Fatera's body, then she turned her eyes towards Ver who magically sat straight. "If that's what the boy is in to~" Ver asked, shimmying with her shoulders and causing Lera to blush with slight jealousy. "...fine..." Lera mumbled before stuffing the chicken down her throat. It honestly tastes incredible. Now...maybe Wu will like it more if I am a little...bigger? "Glad you are all enjoying your meal!" The sound of John King cut through the reemergence of chatters, "Don't worry! I am not here to stop you! After careful considerations, we have arranged your tournament brackets based on your performance at the battle royale! The brackets will start the day after tomorrow, and posters had been posted at various corners in the resort, including one...right over the ice-cream table, if you didn't realize we have ice-cream here." "WHAT?!" Fatera jumped onto her chair and leapt towards the ice-cream table before John King waved a hand and captured her by the waist with a set of blue ring. "Please line up orderly." John King smiled as Fatera stuck her tongue out at him. However, even the glutton knew not to piss off the man behind all of her enjoyment. "Also, if you look on your table, the brackets would have been displayed there too..." John King said, "Now...just make sure not to overeat and get sick tonight...Fatera." "OVUH IIT?" Fatera turned with her lips snow-white and her mouth full of ice cream said as the crowd of students laughed at her reactions. "So her name is Fatera?" Yuna said, sipping a cocktail made for her by Matty, "Who's fighting her again?" "It's...Braka?!" Matty laughed and shook his head as Braka opened his eyes after enjoying a nice fresh bite of sushi. "HUH?! BUT SHE'S MINE!" Yuna screamed as Braka's jaws dropped. "Well...To be fair. You get to fight her after the first round..." Matty said, his eyes glancing towards the name next to Yuna Hu. "Your opponent is named...Lera Huten." That night, Fatera did overeat, and she couldn't fall asleep until two hours after midnight and a few trips to the toilet.