"WELCOME BACK TO THE INFINITE ACADEMY! Who put the Cast in broadCAST? That's right! It's me! Principal Khan! YEEAAAAAH!" Lighting up the entirety of the high human world society in flames with his passionate words alone, Principal Khan gripped his long wrinkly fingers around the broadCast in his hands and projected his voice into the entire arena as it roared with life. Floating over the middle of the battleground that Wu, Fatera, Charlie, and Lily once fought months ago was a massive piece of Cast paper that had the projection of the true battlegrounds of the Winter Wars on. Instead of taking place right in the arena, the Winter Wars are actually hosted within an man-made mountain range attached to the Northern edge of the infinite academy island which caught the cold winter front from the Northern sea and had been covered in snow ever since a few weeks ago. The massive region centered around the man-made mountain was isolated and used constructed for the exact purpose of the Winter Wars as the colleges that once roamed near the Northern part of this region were displaced to outside the bounds of the battlefields. Then, all those that registered for the Winter Wars are to head towards this part of the Infinite Academy on the day of the Winter Wars with the eyes of the High Human society watching from all over the world. The outcomes of the Winter Wars in terms of the overall rankings directly determine the heights any individual student might go up to within the Infinite Academy and outside of it. For some, this is their ticket to a prosperous future back in their home country, for others, this is a ladder towards an even higher level of power. For Lera, this is a chance to showcase her improved strength not only to the entire world, but also to Wu. For Ver, this is another fuck you to her father and a demonstration to all those back at the Ethereal realm as they waited for the return of the Ethereal tournament in three year's time. For Fatera, this is a chance to freely beat up as many strong Wave users as she wanted, particularly in her rematch against Lily. She had been fighting against a combination of Wu, Ver, and Lera throughout the month of preparation, and despite the rapid growth in strength for those three, Fatera's still head and shoulders over them in terms of strength. However, when she learned of Lily's participation, her motivation to train only grew further. And now, on the battlegrounds of the first stage of the Winter Wars, Fatera is fully locked in onto her opponents...if she could find them. Going back in time, before the start and broadcast of the first stage of the Winter Wars, the hundreds of participating students were gathered into the arena where they received the instructions about the first stage of the battle. And that's how Fatera ended up in the exact position that she's in right now. Lost, alone, and just a little too cold. Fatera stretched her arms slightly before looking down at her light piece of armor and tossing it into the snow. She much preferred the freedom of movement for the various parts of her body anyway. Rocking her signature crop top, she is now ready to dazzle the world with her fists and feet. "The first stage is a battle royale where the participants were dropped off in various parts of the battleground, and they were each handed a compass Cast which takes them towards a designated location on the map. In order to progress to the next round, you must reach your destination and collect the pendant. However, there are only 64 designated locations, and hundreds of participants! So do what you got to do to get those pendants." The bell rung for the participants and the compass Casts sprung into life within the hands of each of the participants. Fatera smiled and looked in the direction of the arrow. Then, she tucked the compass in between her crop top and her busts before charging forward in the snow. Lera looked up in the air before she fixed up her beanie and looked down at the compass Cast within her hand which showed an arrow pointing currently at her 4 o'clock position. She spun around and looked on at the fields of endless snow within the forest and sighed. Then, she knelt down and spoke lightly, "Small Car." Her chariot formed around her body, though its size was far smaller than the one she used to take Wu around in. Now, it looked more like a motorcycle with a bonus set of bubble bubble surrounding it, and as she drove off, it leaves nothing but a tiny thin line in the snow. Though not completely invisible, it's still better than strings of footsteps or the obnoxious sweep left by her normal car. The name of the game is speed and numbers. Due to the fact that there are 64 destinations and 64 pendants with hundreds of participants, that means the one that arrived at the destination first will also have to defend the pendant. Worse yet, because nobody knows where everybody else is going, there is always an element of uncertainty regarding whether the person passing by is fighting for you pendant or not, meaning that it's far safer to just mow down everyone in sight or avoid everybody. As Lera whooshed across the white snowy landscape, sounds of explosions and lightning cracking echoed through the valley that she's flying across as sounds of battle came from all around her. Making a few sharp turns and obscuring her movements by going through the thickest branches of trees, she suddenly looked up to see a glowing golden arrow flying right towards her before it bounced off against bubble bubble and pierced through the snow. "You are brave to ride a chariot around!" The ambusher's voice came from all around her before sets of golden arrows rained down right on top of her, "And for that bravery, you will fall!" "I don't have time for this." Lera said, leaning off against the side of the chariot and gently scraping against the snow, "Rapid Layering: Trap!" A massive array of Casts surrounded her and her attacker that was hidden within the trees. Then, countless vines the thickness of fingers grew out like creepy tendrils and wrapped themselves around everything in sight, including the attacker who then fell off the tree after the vines injected toxins into his body. Even Lera was surprised at how effective at her upgraded version of the Trap Cast was. Looking back to the original inspiration of the Cast, she simply mimicked the biological functions of a special type of predatorial plant found native to the Kingdom of Varous. However, if she could create Trap Casts based on one type of plant, why did she have to stop there? That's where the far more vicious and poisonous cousin of the thicker vines was used, and it was far more effective. Leaving behind the poisoned attacker, Lera continued forward in her journey. In the meanwhile, Fatera jumped from rock to rock, making as much noise as possible as like a madman stumbling through the town square. To her chargrin, dozens of shadowy figures jumped out from underneath the snow and charged towards her. All of them looked identical with their snow-white outfits, and they slammed their heavy bodies into Fatera, burying her into the ground before landing countless punches and kicks into her body. "What. Is. This?" As a pair of hands found their way to Fatera's busts and gave it a good ol' squeeze, Fatera elbowed the ground behind her as a surge of power pooled within her. Then, the impact sent the snow flooding out from all around her before launching her high up into the air as the countless figures fell off her body, "SHOW YA TRUE SELF!" "WE ARE ALL TRUE!" The shadowy figures declared before pulling off a thin sheet covering their faces, and they all looked identical. "ATTACK!" One of them ordered before he crossed his arms in front of his chest as more and more of the figures split out from his body, "SNOWMAN'S PARADE!" "Parade my ass." Fatera raised a fist into the air before she took a glance at her compass Cast. Then, she pulled her fist back and redirected the Wave within her body towards her feet as she jumped in place once, shooting her feet into the ground. Jets of air were compressed right underneath her feet, and an explosion went off, creating a massive shockwave that instantaneously vaporized all of the shadowy figures that was not the original. Then, riding the reaction force from the impact, Fatera flew through the air towards her destination. "Are you sure you don't want me, little one?" The Kraken asked with a yawn as Ver dropped another girl onto the ground after knocking her out with a jet stream of water to the jaw. "Save it." Ver replied before she vanished within the Whirlpool Purple once more and teleported to the next place insight where she detected the presence of an enemy. Then, emerging like a rising dragon, Ver kicked the ambushing Channeler right in the stomach before following up with a flat strike with her Sky-Splitting sword. "I dislike the crude way of fighting that you have picked up." The Kraken sounded like a disapproving dad, but Ver has already had one of those before. "Just shut up until later." Ver shot back, tightening her eyepatch as the voice of the Kraken was quieted down. Ever since she started training with Fatera over the past month, Ver has vastly enhanced her ability to fight in close quarters. Even though she still can't remotely compare to Fatera, when fighting against the rest of the small fry, she found no need to use her true power. "YOU!" One Caster emerged from the snow before he pulled out a spear with Cast enhancements and dashed through the air towards her, "Shall fall before my spear!" "Tsk." Ver lunged forward, the Sky-Splitting sword at her side as it swirled around and cut cleanly through the body of the spear and pinned right into the sides of the Caster, throwing his bloody body against a tree before it flopped down, "Unless it's one of the legendary spears, you ain't doing shit, buddy." As the familiar faces made progress towards their goals within the first stage of the Winter Wars, dozens of figures wearing identity obscuring masks, massive jackets, and whole-body armors gathered around an abandoned building buried under the snow before the opening to an underground cave was suddenly revealed next to it. From within, a figure wearing a gown with a bloody rose emerged with her face obscured a white facial covering, "Show your invitation as you enter. Or the breathe you are breathing now will become your last." "Hah, the loli has attitude!" One of the taller students with a fabulous beard laughed when suddenly, a flash of light surrounded his neck before vanishing. Then, his skull rolled off his neck as the smile remained on his face. His body quickly fell forward as the blood started melting the snow underneath. "Hmm..." The figure in front of him moved out of the way and prevented the blood from tainting his clothes, then he moved forward, holding the invitation in hand. The girl glanced down towards the invitation for a moment before turning her head and gesturing for the figure to enter. So it begins the chaotic Winter Wars!