Instead of moving using a cluster of smaller chariots, Lily instead took out the big guns. The specially-made large twelve-person chariot Casts for the Boarded's own use were created with a simple activation of her Wave, and the Lincoln equivalent of chariot Casts had just materialized right in front of the group.

Lera's jaws dropped, and she ran to the elegant Cast before placing her hands over the Cast lines over its body.

"This is the first time I have seen something like this..." Matty said, his hands also reaching out and touching the surface of the car. Then, his fingers glowed before he felt for the way the Cast is put together, guiding the duplication Manifest through the channels of Cast lines where the Wave flowed through.

With his lips curled up, Matty pulled his hand back before projecting it out to the side, creating an exact copy of the large chariot.

"Yuna-sama." Matty said, fixing up his beach shirt with bright orange flowers all over it before sliding it open to reveal his chiseled abdomen, "Would you care to join me for some...fun?"

"Nope." Yuna twisted her fist over Matty's head, messing up his white hair playfully, "If you want to get with me, you gotta try harder."

"Can't be that cheap." Braka added as Matty lowered his head in defeat and dispelled the Cast.

"Come on, hop in." Lily said, her hands swiping, "My team goes to the front carriage, Fatera's go to the back."

"Ha, see, it's my team now!" Fatera laughed, slapping Wu in the butt as she walked past him before she marched happily into the backside. Lera chased after her as Ver and Augen moved behind Wu. The group of ten quickly loaded the carriage up before it rattled away from the Illiol air space and started flying towards the direction of the tropical island somewhere South and a lot closer to the sea level.

"Just to reiterate our plans, so you all know what's going on. The Summer Selection happens at the end of the Summer term, but the preliminary selection for the main thing actually happens at the start of the summer term, when we return from the Winter Break." Lily's voice came through a communicator Cast that was embedded into the body of the chariot itself, drawing the attention of all five in Wu's carriage.

"The preliminary selection follows a similar format to the Summer Selections, be it a strategic five-man for per unit battle royale, where those that capture the most amount of strongholds at the end of the battle royale wins." Lily said when suddenly, Braka's scarred arms reached into Wu's carriage and dropped off a stack of paper, "Read the rules for more detail.

"But during the next two weeks, we will both be undergoing rigorous individual and team-based combat training in preparation for the Summer Selections. And it all starts from the moment we arrive. Those that arrive and take control of the dining hall at the center of the island will...have certain privileges for today."

"Oh shit...now there is a competition to win~" Fatera rubbed her hands together excitingly, however, she had no interest in reading the stack of paper, so it was up to the brains of the group to figure it out. And the brains of the group consisting of...everybody else.

"That means we will figure out some sort of strategies to fight together then," Wu said, handing over a portion of the paper that outlined the background of the Summer Selections before laying out all on a bench in front of him. Augen sat opposite Fatera before they got into a strange staring contest with Fatera making faces at Augen, utterly unaware that Augen was still able to read the expressions through the slight distortion of the Wave on her face.

"The premise seems simple enough to me." Ver said, leaning over Wu's shoulder as her hair brushed against his ear and sent a jolt of electricity down his back. Lera picked up the piece of paper about the background of the Summer Selections, though her eyes inevitably found their way towards Wu and Ver, who appeared unreasonably close...

Just what is this strange heat she's feeling inside? Lera wondered, forcing the words on the page to be registered inside of her mind, "The Summer Selections had been used as a means to selecting the best mobile five-man units ever since the establishment of such teams. The key objectives are a combination of strategic map-play, objective conquering, and group combat. This directly translates to the various combat situations and tasks that will be performed in lines of duty."

"So it's a mix of battle royale, capture the flag, and...is that it?" Wu asked as Augen chuckled and nodded.

"Essentially." Augen said, "For the societies in the Eastern continent, it's the single most popular event in the whole year. So most of us ended up watching it while growing up. We all start out in our own stronghold along the perimeter of the map, then, there are mutual strongholds positioned at various locations towards the center, each with different sets of supplies within. The effective area of combat will be constantly shirking at regular intervals, driving people deeper into the map. The goal would be to conquer the stronghold towards the center by the time the effective area had shrunk down, and the last remaining group in the game wins."

"What's stopping people from making a straight line dash to the middle?" Wu asked.

"There are neutral Casts and defenses set up at each of the neutral strongholds. They are formed in a cascade, so the defenses deeper inside are built off the defenses to the outside." Ver said, running her finger through the page before she turned and sat across from Wu.

"And the most exciting of all, you can teleport between all of the strongholds you currently possess." Augen said, "Through a teleporting Cast specially made for this event. This is just to further prevent any turtling."

"So that means the most optimal strategy is to somehow conquer your way towards the center of the map..." Wu murmured, rubbing his chin as many ideas danced in his head.

"Or we can just go around beating up everybody!" Fatera said, raising her fist up.

"It can't be that simple, right?" Lera asked.

"To be fair, there had been years where that's the strategy used by the winners..." Augen said, letting his mind travel back in time when a group of five aggressive Channelers just went around destroying and ambushing all of the other teams that simply wanted to make their way into the center and avoid battle. They even did so much as to fight three teams at the same time while outside the effective area and bathed in the cloud of soft toxin.

That was hella fun to watch, but honestly, that's not the strength of this group. Augen knew that for sure. However, he doesn't know the strengths of this group either, despite what the flashes of the future told him. That is why they are here though, to figure all of this out.

"And what we are going to do once we get to the island is an abbreviated version of the Summer selections." Lera added, putting the page down as Wu nodded and sat beside her. Her face blushed a little, unsure whether to forgive Wu for acting like nothing's happened, but there is no way that Lera's going to be the one to bring it up.

"Anything stopping us from using chariots to get there?" Wu asked, throwing the first and most obvious option out there.

"No." Augen said, "In fact, most people use chariots of some sort to move through the woods, though in certain areas and environments, moving on foot is actually safer and faster, as you would expect. For example, Casters with long-range attacks can easily take down a chariot that's moving above the treeline, but it's far harder to hit groups of individuals moving through the woods separately."

And my one-shotter can too... Wu thought for some more. It's also far easier for those to be riding on Chariots to be ambushed, due to how visible they may be. So in situations that visibility is not worth the speed advantage of chariots, they will have to do things the traditional way.

"We know Lily has some sort of long-range attack, but their best bet is Matty or Braka, but neither have really shown their artillery arsenals." Ver said, pooling together all of her combat knowledge about the other group, "Yuna is a close-quarter fighter, and Shin...that I have no clue. Lera? He's from your college, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but I only heard that he is a Manifester..." Lera said, recalling her training days at Illiol. She had only sparred first with her college parents, and then with Lily.

"Ya all can take the chariot. I will run." Fatera said, "I'll be the vanguard."

"Then I will assist you." Wu said, tapping the booster Casts under his boots, "I'll fly beside you."

Lera opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It was a sound plan, and apart from Ver constantly expanding her Wave to use Whirlpool purple, Wu and Fatera are, in fact, the two person with the most amount of mobility. But the thought of Wu and Fatera going off into the distance only makes Lera feel a little frustrated inside.

Shaking her head, Lera tried to lock away those silly thoughts and focus on the task at hand. Regardless of what she wanted to do, it is all about what needs to be done. In order for them to fight together as a unit and defeat the PORA in the future, Lera must suppress her own selfish thoughts.

"That's...a good idea." Lera said, with great difficulty as she avoid looking at Wu who glanced back at her.

"Augen, for your sake, I think it will be good to talk about our strengths, weaknesses, and our combat tendencies too." Wu said, smiling at the newest member of his team, "You seemed to know about us, but I know that visions don't tell you absolutely everything."

"To only lose my eyes? I only know fragments of the future, and a bit more of the past." Augen said, reaching into his pockets and taking out the cards that he used against the Ghost, "Thank you for taking care of me, Wu. So I will start. I am Augen Zuku, a Caster specializing in forbidden Casts, and here is what I can do."

With that, the composition of Wu's (or Fatera's) team as himself as the Outlier, Lera, and Augen as the Casters, Ver as the Manifester, and Fatera as the Channeler is established. Now, let's get the party started.