The Law of Combat is the single oldest law of the Infinite Academy, and within the founder's vision, it is the singular constant that will push the students of the Academy forward. This very law allows for students to fight over anything and everything, so long as the deals are agreed upon by both sides prior to the start of the combat. Then, the Cast that was woven into the very fabric of the Academy will become the witness of this combat. Lera knew exactly what Lily Watt's strengths are. Over the days of being beaten up and burnt by Lily's flames, she came to know her habits of attacks. Being a rare elemental Manifester of Fire, Lily Watts channels her Wave through the manifestations of flames as it not only shields her from the majority of Cast attacks but also gives her a versatile weapon for attacks of countless variety. "Dive bombing Fire!" Lily shouted, her fist a pair of fireballs as it slammed straight down towards Lera. The latter snapped her finger rapidly, creating her bubble bubble instantly as the ground underneath her feet also started to soften. The impact of Lily's fists on the shield sent a shockwave traveling out in all directions, blowing back the rows of students before they cheered in response. Lily pressed her arms forward as flames jetted out from underneath her feet and propelled her like a rocket. Lera started slowly sinking into the ground, then as Lily continued dominating over her physically, Lera suddenly let go of her resistance and dodged out of the way, redirecting all of Lily's force into the ground. The flaming girl blew right past Lera as she rolled back up onto her feet and leaped into the air, her body spinning around to face Lily again with her book of Casts out and ready. "Bind! Bouldering!" She said quickly, commanding the mess of Vines to rise up from her Cast array and wrap around Lily's body as her momentum caused her to sink deep into the softened ground. Lily yanked her arms free with force and tried to propel herself away when even more vines crawled out from the ground and continued to weigh her down. Not only is Lera's Bouldering making Lily's entire body heavier, but she's also making all of the Vines heavier, as it felt like layers of chains being dumped onto Lily. "You know this won't hold me." Lily said, the flames expanding out from her body and engulfing the area around her, "What exactly is your plan here?!" Then, right before Lily prepared to burn away everything around her and bake the entire insides of towers with her heat, a chilling cold were suddenly sent through her spine, and she looked up to see splashes of water pouring down onto her. The flames immediately turned those water droplets to steam, and it started to fog up everything around the battlefield. "What..." Wu and Ver both shared a surprised expression as Lera threw her hands upward as the ground continued cracking up underneath Lily. Then, the water pipelines that ran underneath the Tower was completely broken up by Lera's Store/Release casts as the elemental opposite of Lily's Manifest started dampening her own combat power. "That's...cheating!" Charlie shouted, his hands out wide as the other students from Illiol ignored his silly complaints. The use of environments had always been a major part of the Law of Combat, and Lera had just demonstrated her resourcefulness. Lera first noticed the pipe works running underneath the grounds of the Tower when she's first performing her Rapid Layering, and thinking back to the basics of hydraulics that Wu has taught her, she broke through the surface of the pipes with a condensed orb of the Wave before wrapping a handful of the vines around the pipes downstream to the leak. That redirects the pressure of the water and sent it streaming upward, and she's able to capitalize it to her advantage. Being completely soaked and her flames weakened to an unexpected extent, Lera then carpet-bombed Lily with countless orbs of the Wave as she's pinned down by the charred Vines. Dozens of bright flashes went off in the middle of the tower, lighting the insides up as the students cheering for Lily all went completely silent while the onlookers who rooted for the underdogs gasped in awe at Lera's counter attack. After the bombardment, the smoke was all that remained near where Lily's standing. However, Lera knew exactly how tough her opponent really is. A gentle breeze slowly cleared away the smoke as Lily's battered body was still nailed down onto the ground, though the Vines were all pretty much shot from Lera's attacks. Then, Lily moved her head, a smile floating up her dirtied face. She stood up slowly, her body still drenched in the sewage water as she easily freed herself from the vines after they were completely obliterated. There were fresh pains from Lera's attacks all over her body, but none of those were deep enough to really hurt Lily nor her combat abilities. Growing up in the city of the Green Dragon in the southwestern part of the Yarka Kingdom, her family relished the fact that Lily was one of the extremely rare Manifesters who is able to channel the elements, being a fire elemental Manifester. However, that power that allowed her to reign supreme within her own little city also caged her within a certain limit in her mind. Everybody thought that she can be strong with the powers of the flames, but the more adept fighters from the other major cities are still able to counter her and defeat her with ease. Then, she suffered her worst defeat at the hands of a Water-Cast user from a rural small town. As Charlie, her little brother, watches in horror, the flames of power within Lily was sniffed out. Unsatisfied with her current level of power, she then trained day in and day out, hoping to restore her position within the Yarka Kingdom Power Rankings. Then, years later, she found herself here, being drenched in sewage water, fighting against yet another stupid girl from rural Varous. Lera may have thought that she had exploited one of her major weaknesses, but little did she know, Lily had already suffered such a defeat before. And like anyone that's strong, she does not make the same mistake twice. I may have channeled the strength of the flames, but that's not who I am. That's not all that I can do, and I will show it to you. Lily thought, breathing in and out slowly and honing herself with the rhythm of the Wave not only within her, but also around her. She allowed herself to be injected with freshness of life as the sound of her heartbeat became louder and louder. Then, it started to affect the environment around her. With every pulse, her body's temperature became hotter, and waves of heat radiated out with her as the epicenter, following the exact same rhythm. Ver's body tensed up, and the voice of the Kraken came through her mind, "She is close." "Close?" Ver murmured, drawing Wu's attention as the crowd turned their attention towards Lily, "Close to what." "Perfect Synchrony." The Kraken said, "That was what Kaire Jin meant when she thought we were in the Perfect Synchrony state." Perfect Synchrony state, the ultimate level of power for any Manifester, as the Manifester and the Manifest became perfectly in sync with one another, and the manifests act as an extension of the user's body, strengthening their attacks way beyond the simple addition of the powers of the two. It's a multiplication of strength. As power continued to accumulate within Lily, Lera unloaded even more of her attacks onto her, not allowing her even a moment to relax and reset. However, as Lera's attacks neared her, the waves of heat bounced them right off without Lily even having to conjure up any active defensive measures. Lera can feel her heart pounding and the scale of victory diving in the opposite direciton. She ground her teeth together and poured more of her Wave into the attacks, now sending forth a massive bulge in the ground and hoping to knock Lily up from her feet. As the pressure built within the earth, Lily finally opened her eyes as her pupils became bright red. Then, a surge of flames exploded from within her as she rode the knock up from Lera's attack and flew towards her. "It's over." Lily declared, the movements of her body so effortless and easy that she couldn't believe how easily she rammed through Lera's defenses. However, before she could deliver the final blow and finish up the nuisance that is Lera Huten, she felt a pop going off within her body. A sharp tearing pain instantly exploded within her mind as she looked down to see her ankle pointing the wrong way with the flames shooting out laterally and sending her body off balance. So close... She was this close to perfect synchrony, yet during the very first moment of distraction, she has lost control of her Fire manifest. Bearing the pain, Lily forcibly retracted the flames into her body and tackled Lera onto the ground. Then, with nothing but her bare fist, and she laid it all onto her. As Lera's head was knocked from side to side and her face became bruised, the crowd started cheering for her to give up. However, instead, she sealed her lips and glared at Lily, hoping to knock her off with a close-range blast. As the orb of the Wave exploded over Lily's face, she ate it up like a pudding and continued swinging away at Lera. "I am not just the Fire Manifester. Lera. This is why you have lost!" Lily said, holding up both of her fists as a flame was lit in between her hands, "Give up now, or die!" At that moment, Lera saw flashes of her past. And as the shining ball of flames started dashing towards her through the blurry vision, she partially opened her mouth when suddenly, the smile of Wu was the thing in front of her. If she dies here...what would Wu think? If she dies here...will Wu regret what he has done? Will he become strong enough and move forward? Is the duty of a guardian to die to foster the development of the Guardian? Where does it stop...? Lera opened her mouth, but nothing came out as she sealed her lips for good. Lily smiled with satisfaction and slammed her hands down. That was when a dashing figure entered her field of vision, and it was Wu with his One-Shotter gauntlet punching Lily square in the face, sending her flying off Lera. Her facial features were so comically contorted that it even brought a chuckle of Lera's battered-up face. The crowd gasped as Ita screamed in shock, her little hands wrapped around Ver. The Law of Combat, the oldest and most sacred law in the Infinite Academy...was just broken by Wu Hui, the supposed Fourth Savior of this world.