Now this is awkward.

As Fatera moves ever closer to Wu, both Lera and Ver jumped towards him. Ver focused on creating some distance between the two while Lera dragged Wu back by surrounding him with the sweet embrace of Lera's body. Wu's eyes were covered by the soft arms of Lera, and he will happily melt away within her if not for the impending danger to his livelihood.

"You can't take him!" Lera shouted protectively as Ver squared up Fatera, "He is mine!"

"Wha?" Fatera tilted her head back, "Yo, you gonna man up and speak for yourself?"

Ver half turned around, and Lera uncovered Wu's eyes at last, though he's head is still pressing into her breasts, and Lera didn't intend to fully let him go just yet.

"Argh...I mean, you literally came out of nowhere." Wu said, slowly freeing himself from Lera's soft embrace and trying not to accidentally squeeze her perky breasts as he pressed away, "How could I trust you to fight alongside me? And why would you even bother with us?"

"Because this is going to be a good fight." Fatera laughed, her hands on her wide hips and her crimson eyes hidden behind the eyelids which curved upward as if this is the most entertaining thing she has ever heard, "The worse the odds, the better! Why else?!"

"Are you crazy? Or stupid?" Ver asked, her arms crossed, "This is not a game."

"It isn't to y'all." Fatera said, now serious, "Cause you can't afford for it to be. Cause you are not strong enough."

"Ita." Ver said, sighing and looking at Ita, "Can I just kick her out of here? Can't promise anything about property damage."

"How 'bout this?" Fatera said, pointing a finger upward into the sky, "Let's use the Law of Combat! I promise to go easy on ya, and all of ya can come at me at once! If I win, I am his partner in this fight, and if I lost, I'll fuck off. How's that?"

"Ver. Wait." Lera said, "She's very strong."

"So am I." Ver said, her full attention directed in front before both herself and Fatera pointed their fingers straight up into the air, "I enact the Law of Combat."

"I enact the Law of Combat." Fatera followed, "If I win, I will fight alongside Wu in the Ring of Fire."

"If I win, you will fuck off." Ver concluded as the symbol of the Cast formed in the air between them.

Lera dragged Wu out from the courtyard as the rest of Ville college's students moved away from their unconscious college-mates and cleared out some space for Ver and Fatera. The challenger sat casually atop a short stone column and patiently waited as Ver subtly extended out her Kraken's tendril and started probing her level of power.

"Got anything?" Ver asked after a little while as she loosens her eye patch in preparation for the battle.

"Nothing too useful. But don't worry. I will..." Suddenly, the air around Ver became warm and heavy, and both herself and the Kraken slowly drew their attention towards Fatera as she dropped into a high horse stance with her legs just a bit wider than shoulder-width and her mouth opened sharply.

She breathed in and out once, making a loud hissing sound as the flow of the Wave around her reverted in direction with every single inhalation and exhalation. Then, as Fatera slowly lowers her hands down by her side, compressing all of the distractions down and away from her mind, Ver's heartbeat became the only thing that she heard.

With total concentration on her opponent, Fatera measured her up. Then, a confident smile formed over her face.

"Get ready!" She warned, dashing through the ground with a blinding speed, yet her movement was so elegantly silent that it looked as if someone has turned the volume of the real world down.

Ver immediately became alerted as she tried to reposition herself with Whirlpool Purple, however, Fatera's way faster than anyone she has encountered before. Then, the bottom of Fatera's sandal stopped an inch away from Ver's face before a blast of air sent her flying backwards, the sounds of her movements returning with a loud whoosh.

Damn it! Ver cursed underneath her breath. Fatera's holding back, and she was being way too careless!

"I said get ready!" Fatera shouted, seemingly annoyed. She waited for Ver to form the various colored whirlpools all over her body before rushing forward again. This time, she added a bit more speed, and sounds of high frequency explosions accompanied her every step. She closed in the distance between the two in an instant, and with her right hand formed into a palm, she slashed diagonally down Ver's body.

The Kraken's burning tendril shot out from a black whirlpool over Ver's shoulders and knocked Faterea's strike aside. Then, Ver crossed both hands in front of her body and blasted jets of high-pressure water streams, "Whirlpool RED!"

"Nice one!" Fatera took the hit directly, her white tank top drenched and shaping tightly around the twin peaks, a pink pattern near the tip leaving the boys of the Ville in awe as Lera covered Wu's eyes again. Fatera dug her heels in, riding the momentum of Ver's attack and falling backwards before she raised one foot in the air and kicked upwards.

Ver narrowly avoided the kick as Fatera's sandals scraped past her nose. However, something semi-transparent around the sandals knocked onto the bottom of her chin and sent her stumbling backward.

"Be careful!" The Kraken warned as Fatera rolled back onto the feet and rebounded back towards her. Without her doing anything, the Kraken instead activated Whirlpool Purple in the air right behind Ver and warped her away before Fatera rammed straight through the splattering of the dark purple fluids.

Reemerging from the other corner of the courtyard, Ver stilled herself and immediately powered up even further, "Whirlpool Black: Kraken Two!"

Dark whirlpools formed around her shoulder blades as two more burning tendrils grew out from it. Then, she held the Sky Splitting Sword in her hands and launched herself towards Fatera.

"Come at me!" Fatera laughed, running forward like a drunken mad woman with her arms flailing out to the side. Then, she cocked a fist back as Ver tossed her Sky Splitting Sword straight up to the tendrils as their ends joined together and wrapped around its handle.

With a surge of the Wave, the Sky Splitting Sword was set on fire and rapidly expanded to become three meters in length. Ver can't go all out without destroying the entirety of the Ville college, but the ability to fight within confines of space and time is also a measure of power.

"Whirlpool Black Special: Sunder!" Ver shouted, slamming the sword down towards Fatera as the tip left behind a trail of fire in the air.

"Punchy PUNCH!" Fatera said, sending her fist forward as a glowing-red boxing glove made of the Wave formed around her hand.

Then, their attacks clashed. The entire floating structure of the Ville College quaked and strained before the blast wave cleared away the smoke and cracked the windows all around the courtyard.

That was when Wu saw the true extent of Fatera's power. The Kraken's tendrils were ripped straight off her back, and the Sky Splitting Sword was sent flying straight up into the air as Ver was sent flying into the wall and created a human-shaped dent on the historic building of Ville college.

Fatera was about to string together yet another attack when she realized that Ver had already been knocked unconscious by the hit, and she grunted in frustration before dropping her hands down.

The Sky Splitting Sword came spinning down right towards her head, and she reached up before catching it by pinching her fingers onto the body of the sword, avoiding the sharp edge as it slowly shrunk back down to its normal size.

Fatera tossed the sword onto the ground in front like trash before she turned around to face Wu and Lera behind the cracked windows, "So...Ya ready to be my partner?"

Ver and Lera became trauma buddies by the time the former woke up from the defeat, and as Fatera dragged Wu away to the forest down below to train for the Ring of Fire, Lera, Ver, and Ita took turns watching over their training sessions just in case something...sensitive happens.

Though they all knew if Fatera truly had any crazy intentions, they would not be able to do anything.

"Come on man! Ya need to match mah pace!" Fatera said frustratingly as Wu's legs collasped underneath him, "If you can't match my aggression, I can't even carry you through the fights!"

"I...haha...I thought you liked challenges?" Wu said, pressing himself up, "Giving...giving up already?!"

"No shot!" Fatera said, shaking her head before dashing towards Wu and pulling him up onto his feet, "Ya an interesting fella, Wu, and I am sure we can figure out a way to fight together! If not, I will just hard carry ya."

"Yeah...about that..." Wu tried to steady his breathe, but even with all of his physical training in the past weeks and the accumulation of combat experience, the power-creep caused by Fatera was simply too overwhelming. In his current state, he wouldn't even be able to keep up with her.

Not only does he need to learn Fatera's combat tendencies, he also needed to figure out a way to at least keep up with her, or...

"Or how about you fight around me?" Wu asked, and Fatera turned around before laughing with her hands over her stomach, "I can provide you with long range support and..."

"Forget it!" Fatera shook her head, "All you need to win is strength! That's all I have ever needed to win, and I haven't lost yet!"

"If you intend on fighting alone, why bother coming to me?" Wu asked.

"Because I need a real challenge." Fatera shrugged before looking uninterestedly at Wu with her crimson eyes, "Ya are nothing but a means to an end, Wu. But no offense, since if I can hard-carry ya to victory, ya would have been forgiven for your mistakes, and I would have had my fun, and hopefully my challenge."

Wu clenched his fist together, and he swallowed his frustration. As ridiculous as this is, Fatera's right. At the current rate, she might as well just go one on two for all three of the Ring of Fire battles...There should be no shame in him relying on the strengths of others...

In that case, he will simply fight to survive, while Fatera fight to win.

"Then I will stay out of your way." Wu said, looking straight at Fatera, "You are strong. Insanely strong, so I will be relying on your strength from now on."

Fatera tilted her head with an intrigued smile, then, she nodded and stepped away from Wu as she began her own training. After trying hard for an entire morning, it is painfully clear that Wu simply cannot fight synchronously around Fatera.

As cowardly and unsatisfying as it is, at least he will stay around in the Academy...right?

Wu thought, looking down at his gauntlet as Ita lowered her golden chariot and brought forth lunch for the two.