By the time the four knocked-out fighters woke up from their brief slumber, Wu had already packed away the mess and started scrubbing the floors. Lera rubbed her eyes as Wu's low grunts came from the corridor of the house. Then, she rolled up and poked her head in the corridor.

Fatera was the next to wake up, and she came behind Lera, pressing her arms over her shoulder and stuck her head above Lera's. Lera looked up and smiled as Fatera squeezed her shoulder before pulling her back.

"Should we just keep sleeping?" Fatera asked, when Ver's voice came from behind.

"No objections." Ver yawned and flipped to the other side, "Don't exactly have the most motivation after getting run at by two Fire Mecha's..."

"Ouch ouch ouch..." Augen said, wincing as he pressed himself to sit slowly. Fatera raised her eyebrows and walked towards him.

"Ya okay?" She asked, bending over to check Augen as he turned his head, his forehead accidentally bumping into her body.

"For a certain value of okay, I am fine." Augen said, cracking his neck and pulling his shirt down, "The forbidden Casts were always a bitch to use, so I always coupled it with my healing Casts...but out of everything, Forbidden Summer and Autumn were always the worst."

"There is a reason that they are forbidden." Lera said, helping Augen up, "You crazy boy."

"Well, power is reserved for those willing to go the furthest distance." Augen smiled, "We lost again...but this time..."

"It was much more fun." Fatera said, looking towards Lera and Ver, whose faces both turned dark.

"No...it wasn't..." Lera covered her face, the horrid imagery of the two flaming giants stomping Ver and her face in returning to her mind, "Well, it got really bad towards the later stages..."

The sounds of footsteps from Wu came as he turned around and started making his way back towards the room, and when he walked past, he saw the four of his teammates lying deadly still on the mattresses, their eyes closed and breathe slow.

"Hmm...seems like they were really knocked out hard." Wu said, putting the wet mop against the door before walking in. Then, he jumped forward and landed hard onto Lera and Ver as they scream and jumped to the side.

"WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU!" Ver shouted, dodging as Wu landed face-first into thin layer, "How did you know we are up?!"

"I am not stupid." Wu said, shaking his head, "Your sleep configurations are different from before. Lera was on the very edge when I put you down. Now, she's moved to the center."

Then, the group shared a laugh as Fatera threw a pillow his way, and just like that, an impromptu pillow fight broke out, which only meant they ended up having more cleaning to do. However, this time, Wu had help.

After an hour, the group had finally finished cleaning duty and sat around in a circle by the camp-fire as Ver roasted half a dozen small fish over it. Looking back at the battle, they were able to follow through with their plans, but they weren't able to react to the strategies from Lily's squads, and they allowed their strongest fighting forces to overcome Ver and Lera who's roles are to secure the coconuts. Additionally, though Fatera had returned to her form during the Winter Wars, she still wasn’t able to access her dominance mode.

"We were more focused on the coconuts than the battle in this case..." Wu said, scratching his head, "I allowed Yuna to pin me down, and I should have disengaged as soon as I realized their plans."

"And I couldn't break away from Braka and Shin, even in my Killa mode..." Fatera said as Ver turned to her with surprise.

"He could hold you down in your Killa mode?" Ver asked as Fatera nodded then shook her head.

"Not for forever, but just enough." Fatera sighed, "To bring our team to the heights we need, I need to access dominance mode. Augen, come with me. We...just need a little more time."

"Of course." Augen smiled as Wu raised his eyebrows.

"Something going on between you two, ey?" Ver joked as Fatera stuck her tongue at her before wrapping her arms over Augen's slender shoulders, her elastic body pressing into his shouldersas his face turned red.

"No...nothing out of the ordinary..." Augen muttered when Fatera laughed.

"That's not what he said last night!" Fatera said, before roughing up his dark green hair, "I am just joking! Of course! Hahaha..."

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"You all seem lively." Lily said, dropping down from above before she pulled back the flames back into her body, "You all know what you needed to work on?"

The five nodded, and Lily smiled before giving them a thumbs up. That settles the rotation of training for the next few days. Before the next big team scrimmage, the two teams will be split up into pairs to target their specific weaknesses. Augen and Fatera will work together to reaccess her dominance mode, Wu will work on space control with his Void Domain, Special, and Laser, and Lera and Ver will work on being able to handle pressure and help each other out.

Then, as days of intensive training passed, the end of the first week neared. After a depressing cloudy day, the sun returned with usual intensity as Wu woke up to the house completely empty. Then, as he walked out onto the sand, Lera's there packing together boxes of food before she waved her hand at him.

"Let's go to the beach." Lera said, "Lily said today's going to be a rest day!"

Wu blinked a few times, only just noticing the pieces of bright yellow fabric around Lera's small chest and perky hips. She smiled as he cheered and tossed away his shirt, revealing the dark tattoos of Void domain over his sculpted abdomen and chest.

"A BEACH EPISODE AT LONG LAST!" Wu said, running off and stealing the box full of food as Lera chased after him.

It was as glorious as anything Wu would have wanted in life. The weather was brilliant, and the beach glowed golden under the sun. The blue ocean came sweeping into the sand with tall waves rolling in towards them.

Far out in the distance, Lily's bikini is barely containing her serious businesses as she played catch with a topless Shin using a coconut. Ver's gone swimming with the Kraken again, and Fatera tightened her crop top around her chest, though her under boobs still slipped through. Augen's also enjoying the sun, his headband off and letting the scarring over his eyes ‘see’ the sun again.

Yuna, Braka, and Matty were swimming in the waves before Matty suddenly hopped onto the surface of the water, surfing down the gentle waves as Yuna and Braka tried to copy his movements. However, neither were even close as Yuna flopped onto the water in a panic as she lost her balance and Braka, growing up swimming in the ponds, dived into the water to pick her up.

"Ah...how glorious..." Wu said, dropping the box of lunches under the tree before Lera pushed him forward towards the ocean and Fatera waved her hand at him. That was when Matty rapidly curved his surfing board and splashed Fatera in the face.

"You little brat!" Fatera said, leaping up and channeling the Wave underneath her feet before standing on top of the water and started running towards Matty.

"Holy Chakra feet..." Wu blinked a few times before dipping his toes into the water as Lera giggled and placed her hand over the ocean surface, creating a canoe out of the Wave before jumping on. Then, she reached her hand towards Wu who took it.

"This is fine...right?" Wu asked, his voice quiet.

"This is what friends do!" Lera said, looking forward before she paddled forward.

"Lame!" Matty said, surging forward on the surfing board and avoiding Fatera's tackle as he charged towards Wu, "The best way to move on the water is surfing! There is no contest!"

"Then teach us properly to do it!" Yuna said, kicking Braka in the chest as he laughed and threw her stinky feet away, "I don't want Braka to save me all the time!"

"If that's the case, why did you cling to me that hard?" Braka asked as Yuna glared at him.

"So cheeky! Who taught you that?!"

"Oh, hold it steady and keep your balance." Matty said, spinning around Lera and Wu. As Wu was not able to create his own surfing board Cast, Lera volunteered to help him in the process, creating the Cast before she stood right behind Wu with her arms around his waist and her body pressed against his back, "Ride your momentum, trust the waters, and don't overcorrect it. Learn to relax..."

Just like skiing...right...Wu breathed in as his heart raced with Lera's touch. Then, Matty gently pushed from behind, guiding their board over the peak of a wave as they started accelerating downwards. The breeze from their downward travel brushing against Wu's body as he reached both hands out, trying to maintain his balance before falling backward, the board shooting from underneath his feet as their backs smacked straight onto the shallow sea.

"Oh come on!" Wu cursed, rolling over as Lera swam up to beside him, "I almost had it!"

Lera nodded, when suddenly Wu saw her exposed shoulders as she also looked down, the fabric surrounding her chest magically disappearing at the most convenient time.

"You okay?" Matty asked, surfing by when Wu reached forward, covering her up with a big hug as Lera also did the same, her fingers resting over Wu's chest.

"Yep!" Wu said, "You can go teach Fatera now!"

"I don't think that's something even I can do, to be honest." Matty said, shrugging before spinning around and heading away.

"Thank...thanks." Lera said, her face red like an apple as her grey eyes focused on Wu's chiseled chin. Then, she felt for his accelerating heartbeat as something within her started to heat up, “Did you see...it…?”

“I have seen it before.” Wu said, looking right over when Lera lightly slapped him in the chest before she started looking all around.

This...this is fine, right? Just like friends...Lera wondered, when Ver emerged from the depths of the ocean beside them and found Lera's bikini top.

"Don't get too excited." Ver said, smirking as Lera turned and slid the top back on, "If your assets are a little bigger...maybe it would have been held more firmly~"

"So mean!" Lera pressed her hand in the water, splashing Ver in the face as she laughed and dived down, leaving Wu and Lera behind. Then, when she reemerged on the other side of the Waves, the out-of-control Yuna's surfing board crashed right into her face as Matty and Braka died laughing on the side.

"Lunch is ready!" Shin said, unveiling the grill built from stones and fresh coconut tree wood, then, the ferocious group all turned their attention to him before the plates of foods were devoured immediately.