"Alright! We will be cheering you on, especially you, Wu~" Jolyne lingered her finger on Wu's cheeks before he was stiffly pulled back. Lera appeared right behind him like the guardian angel she is and picked him up by the shoulders, creating some much-needed separation between Jolyne and Wu.

"Alright now." Lera said, waving her hand at one of the Twin Generals as the King watched the trio with amusement, "Just get on with your day...don't you have to meet other...world leaders or something?"

"We do indeed." The King chuckled, "Though I'd much rather watch this than to talk to those geezers."

"My king," Joseph said with his low voice, "You are a geezer too."

"But at least I am cool!" The King gestured with his index finger straight up in the air, "Let's go, Jolyne."

"I will catch you all later~" Jolyne continued, intent to carry on the bit, "Lera, watch over Wu for me."

Wu's squad watched as Joseph, Jolyne, and the King made their way back onto special made Chariots before it lifted off into the air. Wu followed the Chariot with his eyes until it merged with the countless other air traffic heading towards a brand new floating structure that, like the mountain range for the Winter Wars, were created through a joint effort between John and Principal Khan and built on a yearly basis.

That is where the King's and Queens from all around the world are going to stay, and the Union itself was overseeing the entire event, from dining, accommodation, entertainment, to security. Though the entourage from the different Kingdoms also had different levels of security, typically more security personnel indicating the strength and power of the Kingdom.

Though that was only true to a certain extent, as a pair of guards the level of the Twin Generals are far stronger than a whole platoon of lower-level commanders.

When the King of Varous arrived in his little suite with Joseph and Jolyne, he seemed a lot more content about the situation of his living than the twins themselves.

"This is blatant disrespect..." Joseph growled lowly, looking around the room with three single beds lined up one against another, "You are a King! You shouldn't have to-"

"It's fine." The King smiled, "Allow me to tell a geezer story, but when you two were no more than babies, your late father entrusted me to take care of you two, and you would be afraid of the dark..."

He sat down slowly and lied onto the soft mattress, his eyes reflective as he recalled the past, "We would lie together in the same room, and Jolyne would be trying to kick Joseph aside and steal his blanket. Haha..."

"I did not do that." Jolyne said, looking out of the window and shaking her head in denial.

"She still does it nowadays." Joseph laughed, his mood lifted slightly, "Don't worry, my King. If anyone disrespects you, they will pay the price."

"Just...be cool. This is a new trend in Sonne right?" The King asked, pointing his index finger up in the air again, "I saw the teens performing this pose on the streets."

"I...don't know," Joseph said, when his stomach grumbled.

"Go get some food, Joseph." The King said, "I knew you were still hungry after that meal."

"That Fatera ate all my portions..." Joseph sighed, "I will be back, Sis."

"Yeah yeah." Jolyne said, sitting back onto her bed before she swirled her finger and sets of puppets made from the towels stood guard right by the door, "I shall watch over the geezer."

"I'd prefer if you don't call me that."

"But Joseph did?!"

Leaving the arguing pair behind, Joseph fixed up his general's uniform before he marched down the hallway towards the dining hall. There were fresh fruits and meals prepared upon request at all times, and he ordered a few meal sets before heading over towards the fruit stands.

Scanning around the room, Joseph subtly activated his Wave sensing abilities, feeling the countless figures matching his strength and then some more. Though it appeared that the groups of people were mingling casually with one another, there was still a clear divide between representatives from the Eastern and Western continents. He spotted a few familiar faces from Ethereal Realm and Talonia. These three countries dominated the Eastern continent, and they appeared to have been the only ones from there here.

"Isn't that my cute little Joseph?"

An exaggerated voice came from behind, and Joseph turned to see a white-haired woman covering her mouth slightly, her face blushing as she catwalked towards him. She had deep black eyes and a tall nose, and she stood even slightly taller than Joseph, who is more than qualified to be a man mountain, "Fancy seeing you here, love."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Nice to see you too." Joseph's face reddened as the Captain of the Talonia Valkyries approached him. She placed a hand around his arm, not hiding her affection, "Alina Vuk, Queen of the Great Northern Wolf."

"Aw...stop it." Alina tapped him in the arm before she glanced around and whispered into his ear, "Are you doing anything tonight?"

"No, Alina." Joseph shook his head, "We are here for business."

"Oh you killjoy." Alina said before puffing her chest forward and winking, "You didn't miss this?"

"I missed you as a person and a...friend, and that's it." Joseph said earnestly as Alina sighed and gave up for now.

"Fine...I shall try again tomorrow. Just you wait." Alina turned around and slid a piece of grape into her mouth. She tilted her chin towards a group gathered on the far side of the room as a squad of soldiers dressed in yellow and red surrounded a structure Cast turned into a throne. A massive overweight man with extravagant clothing sat atop it all, "You see that? The King of Yarka. The man with the most power in the world."

"Hard not to see him." Joseph admitted, when suddenly, he caught glimpse of a group of females eating in silence, their clothing made primarily of light blue-colored cloths and each of them had a ribbon around their hair. They are far away from the Yarka group, and they aren't interacting with anyone else, "Who are those again?"

Alina squinted her eyes, and she pressed a finger to her forehead. Joseph remembered that gesture when she tried to summon her memories, and he patiently waited for her.

"I believe that is the traditional clothing from Necrovia..." Alina said, "I am surprised they even bothered coming here. They are usually far more isolated than anywhere else."

"Right...Maybe they had someone in the selections." Joseph nodded, his eyes scanning through the group when suddenly, his gaze was caught by a girl with a pair of golden eyes, and she looked at him briefly before looking down with sadness in her eyes. Questions arose within him, but he knew better than to interfere with people he doesn't know.

"So...who do you have in the game?" Alina asked, pointing up when the different squads that are in the Summer Selections are shown as colour-coded dots that both showed the teams and their nationalities all around. Through all of the countless dots on the projection Cast, Joseph looked for the team name that Wu told him about back when they were having the meal at Fatera's house.

"We got...that team." Joseph said, pointing his fingers straight up as Alina followed his point.

"Honestly...if I called it team Scientology for the giggles, nobody will ever know..." Wu murmured, laughing maniacally before shaking his head. The Summer Selection begins officially tomorrow, and he could no longer contain his own excitement. The whole squad had moved into Fatera's house for the last few days together, and all throughout the Academy, palpable energy filled the air.

"Wu, let's get changed now." Lera said, coming to their shared room, "The Pre-Show is tonight."

"Alrighty." Wu said before looking at a small set of ribbons with their designated team color. It was bright red. Like a warning sign, or a signal.

However things will be, it's not going to be easy, but Wu has full faith in the power of his squad.

The night came swiftly, and all of the participating teams were called towards the Arena for their introductions. The floating structure carrying all of the King's and Queens loomed straight over the Arena as countless excited students filled the stands all the way up.

Near the backstage, the various squads in their individual colors stood in a long line with quiet chatter going off in between them. The thirty total participating teams will all be introduced today in inverse order of their seeding based on the previous record, performance at the preliminary round, and more.

Standing as the 27th seed, Wu's Squad was the fourth one to go out.

"OOOOH YEAHHHH!" Fatera yelled out loud, running first before Wu, Augen, Lera, and Ver followed right after her. The voice of Principal Khan came along with their entrance, accompanied by semi-enthusiastic claps from those that are massive fans of Ver and Fatera from their Winter Wars performance.

"And here you have the 27th Seed! Led by the incredible...invincible...unbelievable FATERAAAA!" Principal Khan screamed into the mic before a massive projection of Fatera shown up in the middle of the Arena.

"HOLY SHIT THAT IS ME!" Fatera jumped up.

"That is you indeed." Principal Khan said before giving out the rest of Wu's squad's five minutes of fame, "And the name for Fatera's squad is...Sci-Ski...Um, S-Science? Science!"

"It's really not that hard to pronounce..." Wu sighed before feeling thankful he didn't actually name it Scientology.

As expected, the crowd became more and more excited as the higher-seeded squads were introduced. Lily's Squad was listed as the 15th seed, bang on in the middle of the squads. Nana Kata, one of the higher Boarded members that Fatera tried to train with, was listed as the eighth seed.

Then, those squads that were even higher ranked were made up of majority of Boarded members and Union members that were close to them in strength. As expected, John didn’t actually participate in the Selections due to his game-organizing duties. But it’s not like his strength was going to magically go away.

The first seed was lead by a full squad of Boarded members that Wu didn't recognize, and the entire arena was exploding with cheers and applause when they walked in. Like angels dropped from the heavens, they each carried themselves proudly before the leader reached his hand up, sending out a flurry of Casts like mini-fireworks into the air.

"Wu...you notice this?" Lera murmured in his ear before he turned to her. She's pointing towards the squad color painted over each of their shoulders, "All of the other squads are various shades of non-red colors, with us being..."

"Obviously the red and the group that stands out...huh..." Wu murmured back, clenching his fist, "So the battle had already begun."

"Can they do this?" Joseph asked, clearly noticing the same color trends as Lera.

"They will have to." Jolyne said firmly, "They hold the fort down there, and we do it up here. Though I haven't seen any hint of PORA yet."

"They will." The King said, placing his hands on both Joseph and Jolyne's shoulders, "Have faith. They are stronger than you think."

And with that, the Summer Selection is here!