The chills of the mornings on the day of the Summer Selection quickly became overpowered as the sun gently baked the floating island with its radiance. The floating castle of the Kings and Queens hovered right over the main arena with massive projection Casts detailing the positions of all the participating teams over the map of the forest on its bottom side.

The course for the Summer Selections spanned the entirety of the forests underneath the countless floating structures, and each of the strongholds was placed at semi-regular intervals, each with its individual sets of supplies and defense Casts. All thirty teams started on the outer radius of the island with a one-hour clock before the shrinking circle started moving inward.

Wu's squad was dropped off at the Southwestern corner of the Academy, a flatter plane with fewer trees than what they are used to. Glancing around at his squad, Fatera's looking confident as always with the dash of red ribbon over her shoulder. The team color looked awfully out of place for everyone else on the squad, except for Fatera. In fact, the red only made the crimson glow in her eyes stand out even further.

"That's exactly why the team leader is me!" Fatera laughed before spinning around, showboating her outfit. If she struggled to wear even the lightest of armors during the Winter Wars in the midst of snow, there was little chance that it was staying on for longer than ten minutes in the Summer Selections.

Augen smiled from right behind Fatera as his deck of cards now orbits around his body before he opened his palm, returning his arsenal back into a full deck.

"Our focus right now is to win." Wu said, drawing everyone's attention right away, then, he gestured towards the red ribbon over his own shoulders, "I mean...I don't like being the passive protagonist either, but that is all that we must focus on right now. We will stay in the game, and we will defeat the other teams. When the time comes, we will be the boots on the ground for the Twin Generals and strike back against the PORA!"

"This red is making us the prime target." Ver added in, and Fatera clapped her hands together in excitement.

"Good. That means we don't have to go find the others." Fatera said, and Wu can't really disagree with her.

"Let the SUMMER SELECTION...BEGIN!" Principal Khan's voice sounded like the voice of gods, rumbling through the air and penetrating through every corner of the Academy as the thirty squads moved simultaneously. Fatera let out a long squeal of excitement before she started running ahead.

All of the strongholds had a distinct signature in the Wave, and before they were set off, Augen had already pinpointed the nearest stronghold for them.

"Three hundred meters, Northwest, or...10 o'clock." Augen said, hoping that he did the conversion right.

"Yep." Wu nodded before slapping him lightly on the shoulders as the groups moved. Lera would have created a Chariot Cast in order to move around, but the general strategy is to conserve their energy and Wave as much as possible, as this will end up becoming one of the longest days of their lives.

"Rapid Layering!" Lera casted, a grid expanding outwards from their fast-moving bodies and acting as an additional measure of safety beyond the Wave sensing abilities of Augen and Ver. Then, beyond the trees, the outline of the first stronghold started showing its face.

Just like before, the individual Casts recycled back into the Array as Lera moved.

In the meanwhile, the top-seeded teams had already secured their stronghold before moving on up the leaderboard, which was presented on a massive projection Cast floating over the entirety of the Academy. From the start of today until the end of the selection, everything within the Academy was halted, as all eyes were placed on the thirty participating squads.

"Someone's here!" Augen and Ver said simultaneously before Ver ripped off her eyepatch and Augen drew out a handful of the cards.

Then, through the rustling leaves came five sprawling Channelers with light grey over their shoulders and armors of Wave surrounding their muscular bodies. They flew over the branches with their fist raised and surrounded Wu's squad in a single coordinated attack.

"I got it!" Lera shouted, reaching her hand up before long thick vines spawned from the ground and reached out towards those five, "Trap!"

"We know your playbook, Lera." One of the channelers with a tattoo under his eye said coldly, the Wave around his hand flattening into the shape of a blade before he slammed hard onto the ground. However, before he could move next, the firm soil started softening up under his feet, and he started sinking down through it.

"Good luck keeping track of everything I can do." Lera shot back, turning towards Fatera who had already cleanly knocked out one of the attacking squad members, his body sent through rows of trees. A trail of smoke rose through the air as a symbol of her brisk victory, and the other three reshaped their Wave under their feet as to not sink into the ground after landing.

"Take them down quickly." Wu said when Fatera blitzed right past him.

"Ya don't have to tell me!" Fatera smiled, her body nearly horizontal to the floor as she stomped her foot through the ground so violently as to tear apart the earth itself. She moved with mighty speed and reached the regrouping Channelers in an instant.

"FORMATION!" The leader called out, the four remaining Channelers immediately grouping up and joining their Wave together, forming a fortress made of muscle and willpower right as Fatera rammed straight into them with her fists held by her side and a swirl of crimson Wave pulsated through her knuckles.

The titanic clash rocked the ground as Lera even felt the shockwave through her Cast array. This inevitably alerts all other squads nearby of the clash, and she extended her reach further as Wu launched himself up into the trees before he acted as a lookout.

"We have studied you too!" The Channelers said with a single voice, "We may not defeat you individually, but when we channel our Wave together and through one another, we-"

"Hard mode...Punchy Punch!" Fatera said, drawing her fist back all but an inch and recoiling through that infinitesimally short distance. All of a sudden, it was as if the floods came knocking on the gates after a night of rain, and the wall formed by the Channelers collapsed easily.

With a smile on her face, Fatera marched through the gates as the Channelers gritted their teeth and roared together, trying to hold her back and attacking her from all directions all at the same time.

That was when Ver threw her hands forward, a dark purple whirlpool swallowing up Fatera before rapidly changing in color and expanding. It was a switch from Whirlpool Purple to Whirlpool black, as the tendril of the Kraken came swinging out, the flames combining with the roar power of the tendril whipped through the tough Channelers, dispersing the group's formation and knocking all of them out cleanly.

"Whirlpool Dark Purple!" Ver shouted, repositioning Fatera right beside her who crossed her arms with dissatisfaction as Ver took home the finishing blow.

"Fatera." Augen said, sensing her annoyance, but she put a hand up and interrupted him.

"I know I know..." Fatera said, "Save it for the big ones. Yeah."

"That's right." Ver smiled, looking ahead towards the stronghold beyond the trees, "This is only the beginning."

"Let's go." Wu landed down beside them, "So far, no one had gone into the strongholds yet."

And so the group kept going all the way until they arrived at the structure Cast. It was shaped like a cylindrical tower that stood among the woods, and there was a neutral shield Cast that needed to be knocked down in order for the group to truly take it over, and all Wu had to do is to use his Void domain laser, and the group slipped right through with no problem.

Alas, team Science had one point on the board. Ver felt for the location of the stronghold in the Wave before placing down a single scale into the walls, allowing her to instantly create a portal back here for when they need to return to defend this stronghold.

"There...is one more team around," Augen said calmly, stepping back from the windows when suddenly, the entire defense tower rocked as the siege began. Ver poked her head out, and she saw a pair of brothers standing right outside the Castle, each of them with dragon tattoos over their body. Right behind them, massive offensive Casts were set up as they fired off one blast after another.

"That should be the last of the other squads in this region?" Wu asked, looking over to Lera who had already started integrating the defensive Casts and shield Casts of the stronghold into her Cast array.

"Likely." Augen said, placing a card down on the bottom floor, "Winter Bark."

Winds started blowing around the stronghold before so much dust and leaves were picked up that the layers of air practically acted as an additional shield, as the attacks from the siegers bounced right off.

"Damn it. I knew it." One of the brothers said, moving forward, "These Casters are useless...I will just curse them all."

He squatted down, his fingertips brushing against the door before black tendrils crept towards the base of the tower. However, before it got even close enough, an overwhelming black fluid suddenly extended out from the tower, covering the area where the attackers are at.

Then, Ver rose up from the black fluids alongside Wu.

"Hey, Ornate Dragon." Ver waved her hand as the eyes of the Ornate dragon glowed with love.

"YOU REMEMBERED MY NAME!" The Ornate dragon jumped up joyously when his brother beside him took off his black fur jacket, which was already a questionable enough choice in the summer.

"You can make her yours after we win. Rise! Dragon of Fire!" The big brother said, creating a massive Manifest of a dragon before it split fire right towards Wu.

"This really is a reunion..." Ver sighed, immediately realizing that the pair of brothers had been infatuated with herself and Fatera since way back in the day. She turned towards Wu, who cocked his wrist forward and fired off his Void domain laser.

The tiny and nearly invisible highly focused dark beam cut through the Curse Casts like a hot knife through butter, and it easily severed the connections of the curses with the Ornate dragon. Ver then launched herself forward, the Sky Splitting Sword in hand before she got ready to cut down the Ornate dragon.

"NO YOU DON'T!" The brother declared, pointing his finger forward, "Burn her! My Dragon!"

There was nothing.

Then, the big brother looked up with shock to see his Manifest flickering in and out, a gaping slash exposing the Wave lines connecting its head with its neck. With a single swipe, Wu had beheaded his Manifest, and then...

Wu's massive knees seemed to have taken over his entire field of vision, and soon, all he saw were stars when he was easily knocked out.

Landing down through his body, Wu then fired off a flurry of blasts, forcing back the remaining three on the Dragon's squads as they scrambled and ran away.