The fight between Lars & Julia and Gilbert & Gregory began.

  “Die!” Julia fired wind bsts.

  “Tch,” Gilbert got hit despite his attempt to dodge. Julia’s attacks were fast and fierce, she has been pying like Gilbert has never seen before. From the moment she arrived, she has beelessly barraging Gilbert and he couldn’t do anything about it.

  Thankfully, Gregory’s ult was mitigating some of the damage Gilbert was receiving. That kept Gilbert alive for now. Otherwise, he would have been dead meat by now.

  This fight is getting ugly. Gilbert assessed the situation.

  While Gilbert was busy dealing deal with Julia, Gregory has been trying to aggress on Lars with little success. As a melee fighter, Gregory had to get close in order to strike. Unfortunately, Lars stantly maneuvered around the area to get out ory’s range and fired from afar. As a result, the only thing Gregory achieved was keeping Lars away from Gilbert.

  Per Howard’s orders, everybody should prioritize killing Lars whehere was a ce. Therefilbert should be following Gregory’s offense and focus on taking Lars down.

  As, Julia’s presence ruined everything. She stuck to Gilbert like glue and shut down all his offeions. Her earlier surprise Hurrie forced Gilbert to retreat away from Lars and that gave Julia enough time to step iweewo of them. So, to get tilbert first had to pass through Julia.

  You ain’t getting through! Julia fired without tiring. You wanna kill Lars? Over my dead body!

  “Geh!” Gilbert flinched. Even though he used a dodge-roll, Julia immediately hit him during the recovery animation. How could she be so good? She was supposed to be nothing more than a scaredy-cat defensive pyer. This pin wrong.

  Go down already...! Gilbert cast Pilr of FIre under Julia while she was busy shooting. Alright, this should do the trick!

  Thanks to the s of Infinity in Gilbert’s built, the ticks of damage from Pilr of Fire will slow down Julia’s movements. That’ll make her into a much easier target-

  “Not gonna work, dumbass!” Julia blinked away as soon as she saw the circle of fire f under her feet. She pletely dodged Pilr of Fire!

  Seriously? Gilbert grimaced. What’s with this rea speed? It’s almost as if Julia’s rea time was on par with the likes of Lars and Taison. How was that even possible!?

  Damn, ead every one of these rookies. Gilbert gritted his teeth. These greenhorns were one year youhan Gilbert and they haven’t been pying the game for nearly as long as him, a...! Damn. Gilbert had to put them in their pces!

  “Don’t force the fight,” Howard cut into Gilbert’s thoughts. “You ’t win every battle. I thought you learhat a long time ago.”

  “Ah, I...” Gilbert paused for a moment. “You ’t win every battle.” These words took Gilbert back all the way to the first time he came across Cssmancers in grade school.

  It was during fifth grade when he first heard cssmates gettied over some “RPG MOBA” thing, whatever that meant. Out of curiosity, Gilbert took a peek at their tablets and followed the match. On the surface, it didn’t really look like anything special. The graphics weren’t on par with AAA games and the map looked kinda small and basiothing to be excited about, really.

  However, one boy in the group caught Gilbert’s attention; it was Howard.

  “Ted,” Howard called out. “Rotate to Mid, please.”

  Why, though? Gilbert cocked his head at this request.

  Howard arently asked his ally, Ted, to head to the middle ne of the map. But, why? As far as Gilbert could tell, Howard’s team was already in the lead in the middle ne and another ally was already proteg that ne.

  So, wasn’t it better to make Ted push somewhere else? From how Gilbert uood the game, the objective was to push as much as possible in order to ihe enemy base, so...

  A few seds ter, the reason revealed itself. Right as Ted reached the middle ne, an enemy wolfman jumped appeared the opposite jungle! If not for Ted getting there in time, the situation on the ne would have turned into a dangerous 1v2, which would have surely spelled disaster.

  Howard told Ted to go mid to ter that ambush!? Gilbert’s jaw dropped. T-This was kinda... A-Amazing! He has never seen anything cool like that before!

  As a result of this py, Ted and his ally ourhe tables on the enemy and killed the wolfman attacker. Then, hey pushed through the middle ogether and the eeam gained huge momentum. Many other things happehat game too, but this one brilliant py was burned into Gilbert’s mind to this day.

  Right afterward, Gilbert joihat group of boys and started pying Cssmancers with them. He couldn’t tell left frht at first, but everybody helped him get up to speed. Especially, Howard was extremely knowledgeable about the game and taught Gilbert many useful things. There was also Aron, a stern boy who was one year older than the rest and gave all his advi a form of criticism.

  It didn’t take long filbert to realize how deep and plex the game was, which made it that much more fun to learn. He believed that, with enough study and practice, he’ll eventually get to Howard’s level and will be able to pull off cool tactics too!

  Thanks to everybody’s help, Gilbert grasped the cepts of the game in no time and learned how to do his job in every role. However, he ainfully far from pulling off any of the “cool pys” he had in mind.

  To win a match, the team had to push all the way into the enemy base. To do that, the team first had to get some kills ahe enemy defenders out of the way.

  Therefore, sg kills was crucial. Especially, when Gilbert pyed Mid, one of his main jobs was to burst down as many enemies as possible during team fights. As, that was easier said than done.

  The first shog event that was burned into his mind was back when he ran into Trever in the ju was a fair 1v1 and they both had damage-dealing csses, so it was supposed to be a close fight, right? Wrong.

  “Tough luck, kid!” Trever decimated Gilbert without breaking a sweat. Even though it was a 1v1, to Gilbert this felt more like a 1v100.

  W-Well, he’s a year older than me so, of course, he’s strilbert tried to wave off the result based on the age differe wasn’t even an excuse or anything, it was the truth. Trever and Aron have been pying the game for much lohan Gilbert, so that’s why they defeated him so easily in 1v1.

  ... then, what about Ted? And Scott? And Billy? They were all fifth graders just like Gilbert, yet they’ve also been tearing him apart in 1v1.

  “Hey look, it’s Gil! I’ll kill him real quick before I recall.”

  “Oh shit, a gank!? Oh, nevermind, it’s just Gil. I hahis.”

  If it was “just Gil”, there was nothing to worry about. That was the general sensus formed in the group. Despite Gilbert’s efforts to get kills on these guys, he rarely ever won a fight against any of them. They were all so wild, so fast and s. He simply couldn’t keep up with them.

  “Why? Why ’t I kill them?!” Gilbert smmed his troller.

  “Careful, you’ll break it.”

  “E-Eh!?” Gilbert jumped. He should’ve been the only o here, but Howard returo the for some reason.

  “I know the feel,” Howard said. “Sucks when you get run over in 1v1, right? Trust me, I know. There’s somebody who mops the floor with me every day in 1v1, haha.”

  “Mops? You?” Gilbert blinked. Within their group, Howard was actually quite skilled in 1v1 situations. So, who could possibly mop the floor with him like that? And, on a daily basis, too.

  “Anyway,” Howard tinued. “You ’t beat everybody. Sometimes, you gotta let go.”

  “But,” Gilbert objected. “If I ’t beat them, then we ’t win.”

  “Nah, that’s not true.”

  “Huh?”

  “I think you're just too hung up on the idea of ‘winning’. You don’t have to win every battle to win the war,” Howard expined. “Think of it this way: as long as you haven’t lost, the enemy hasn’t woher.”

  “Huh? Well, that’s true, I guess.”

  “Getting kills is important and all, but Mancers is a deeper game than that. If you ’t beat somebody, don’t push it. Avoid the fight and search for a better opportunity ime. There’s nothing wrong with retreating when you ’t handle something. Just defend against them until they mess up, then punish them. That’s how you do smart defense.”

  “Smart defense...” Gilbert mumbled. Howard’s words were simple, yet strangely captivating. There was some sort of wisdom ihat transded the uanding of a mere grade-schooler.

  “So,” Gilbert started. “How exactly do I py this ‘smart defense’?”

  “I’ll teach you all about it,” Howard answered with a delighted smile. “It’s my favorite strat.”

  That day, Gilbert learned a valuable lesson that has been guiding his pystyle ever since. Against meically skilled oppos, there was o rush into a 1v1. Even when Gilbert couldn’t score a kill, it was fine as long as he didn’t die himself.

  Ever since he started applying this mi, he noticed something iing: the enemies he thought were uable actually had very obvious fws. As long as Gilbert was on the defehe enemies chased him, unloaded their es on him and overextended all over the pce. They hungered for that one kill so much that they were willing to throw caution to the wind.

  A ce! Gilbert turned around ohe effect of Trever’s “The Hunt is On” expired.

  “Say what!?” Trever excimed. “Heh, you finally going to fight, kid?”

  I win here. Gilbert opened an attack. Trever exhausted all his tools against Gilbert’s defense, so this was a ce to turables around! Gilbert activated Eldritightmare to cover the entire area in darkness and attacked with everything he had.

  “Gah! I gotta get out!” Trever realized his mistake, but it was too te. He was way too deep into eerritory to make an escape now. It was over.

  You have killed an enemy!

  That was the day Gilbert’s pystyle was fleshed out. When he faced a weaker oppo, he immediately went with an offense and struck them down. Oher hand, when the oppo was to, Gilbert focused on defense and waited for the right time to strike back. As soon as the oppo showed any hint of weakness, Gilbert instantly switched to offense and struck them where it hurt.

  That’s exactly what he should be doing against Julia right now. This eime, Gilbert has been trying to keep up with Julia’s attacks and strike her down, but it was a mistake. As frustrating as it was to admit, Julia arently more skilled than Gilbert in a fight. Even though she was a rookie, he couldn’t handle her wild attacks in a straight 1v1.

  Therefore, he should simply st. Trying to achieve the impossible won’t help the team win.

  Calm down. First, Gilbert had to slow down and reassess the situation. Admitting that he was weaker than Julia in a fight was embarrassing, but pying Mid wasn’t just about sg kills in 1v1s.

  Not being able to beat Julia in a 1v1 didn’t mean Gilbert couldn’t be a better pyer than her. While Julia had her explosive offense, Gilbert had his banced bination of offense and defense. Perhaps he couldn’t defeat Julia upfront, but he could outwit her and turides in his favor.

  Gregory is starting to run low. Gilbert threw a g the ongoing fight between Gregory and Lars. About half the damage that piled on Gilbert was transferred tory and that’s on top of the damage Lars dealt tory directly. As a result, despite Vanguard’s tankiness, Gregory has been falling apart.

  At this rate, this battle will be lost. What were Gilbert’s options here? Getting a kill on Lars would be great, that was the goal of this gank in the first pce. However, that possibility has been slipping farther and farther away by the moment.

  If Gilbert could somehow get Julia out of the picture it’d be great, but he couldn’t defeat her right now. Then, what else could he do here? Retreat? Gilbert may make it out alive if he starts running now, but Gregory was doomed for sure.

  Not to mention, running away against Julia felt wrong. If he was truly the superior Mid Laner here, he should be able to find a way to both survive AND turables around on Julia.

  What was Julia’s weakness? Where did her overwhelming offense slip up? How could he turuation against her? These were the questions he had to answer while defleg her blows.

  “You flipping dumbass!” Julia cursed. “Stop dodging a dead already!”

  Her defense isn’t that good. Gilbert dodged shots and observed Julia’s movements. This explosive offense was indeed overwhelming, but it left Julia wide open to ter-attacks. If Gilbert just find the right timing for striking her...!

  “What are you doing?” Howard asked in a stern voice. “Retreat already. I didn't think I even had to say it.”

  “Ah.” Gilbert paused. Retreat? Against Julia? Was this situation so lost that there was no other option? But...!

  Unfortunately, the decision was made for him. Lars slipped past Gregory and darted tilbert. Now, there were two damage dealers on Gilbert's tail. The effect of Vanguard’s ult won't st much longer, so Gilbert had to get away while he still could.

  Alright, full defense. Gilbert had to get out of here alive, even if it meant giving Julia another “win”. It’ll be a small price to pay pared to giving Julia an actual kill.

  “You ain't getting away!” Julia moved to cut off Gilbert's escape route. She has been saving Squall for a moment like this, so it was time to put it to use. “Eat shit!”

  I khat'll e. Gilbert o himself. Julia kept her slowdown tool for the moment Gilbert decides to flee. To ter that py he booted Burning Spirit, which gave him a boost to his movement speed. It allowed him to speed up ahead and dodge Julia’s bst of wind.

  “Goddamit freaking aghhh!” Julia roared inprehensibly as she tinued chasing. There was only one nearby exit from the jungle and it was narrow. It’ll be easy to hit Gilbert once he's forced into that passage-

  “Whoa! Watch out!” Lars called out.

  “Wha- Ah!?” Fmes rained from the sky! Bze of Inferno! The hellfire covered the erao the narrow passage and threateo torybody roached. “That stupid dumbass idiot...!”

  Alright. Gilbert should be safe now. It was unfortunate he had to spend his ult like that, but it created the strong line of defense he o slip away from his pursuers. It served as but a momentary slowdown against his pursuer, but that’s all he o get away when his movement was boosted by Burning Spirit.

  I’m safe now, Gilbert o himself. Though, Lars still got a ce to catch up if he has Six Wings + his ult. But, st I’ve seen he didn’t have Six Wings, so I should be safe.

  “Oh man,” Lars started slowing down. “He got away. I should've saved my Six Wings for this.” He had Six Wings earlier, but he unleashed all the fast shots ory to scare that tanky dude out of the picture. As a result, he didn't have access to his ult now, so he couldn't pursue Gilbert anymore.

  “We still catch up!” Julia cast Jet Stream, which created a trail of wind in front of the jungle wall.

  “You wanna keep chasing?” Lars asked. “I don't think we outrun that dude.”

  Jet Stream buffed the movement speed of allies who passed through it, but Gilbert also buffed his own movement speed. So, sidering the current distaweehey couldn’t possibly catch up on foot with just a little boost of speed.

  “No, idio- Ahem!” Julia cleared her throat. “You cut him off with your leap!”

  “Oh, you mean to jump across the wall? I hop over this wall, but that ain’t enough to get me to the ne from here.” Lars was still too far away from Mid. He could diagonally leap over the wall in front of him, but that’ll still keep ihe jungle.

  “No, the wind!” Julia insisted. “Jump through the wind and it’ll send you flying all the way to ne!”

  “Huh? ht! That stuff really worked that way!” Lars grihis was one heck of a rare py, but he saw this sick stuff before. Angelic Grato Jet Stream gono some cool results!

  As Lars approached the stream of wind, he activated Angelic Grace. Even though it was a “leap” ability, in practice it was more like an airpne going taking off. The Seraph ignited his jetpack, did a cool spin while jumping forward and only then took off toward the sky.

  That horizontal jump at the beginning of the animation was the key to this entire py. While still taking off from the ground, Lars passed through the jet stream and VROOOM! He was uoward the sky like an arrow!

  “Woohoo!” Lars cross over the first jungle wall and also went beyond the jungle wall behind it! He reached all the way to Mid with a single jump! Sick pro-level shortcuts, yo!

  Angelic Grace kept him afloat for a while, so he could snipe anybody from this high ground. From this position, it was easy to see the entire ne and find his prey.

  “Gotcha!” Lars fired without warning. Bam! Hit! And, another one! And another! Even without Six Wings, te game's Seraph's shots were preeeeeetty good!

  Wha!? Where!? Gilbert jumped. One ser beam pierced his back, aruck his shoulder and a third nded on his head. How!? Did Lars have Six Wings after all!?

  No, Seraph couldn't fire from the sky during Divine Messenger, so that had to be Angelic Grace. Did Lars blink through one wall and then leaped over the wall? No, that sounded unlikely either... Damn! None of that mattered right now! Gilbert had to figure out how to dodge Lars's snipes- agh! A fourth hit! The attacks just kept ing!

  Damn, it's over... Gilbert sighed. One more hit and he was done. He did everything he could, but that was the end of the line.

  Ohin Lars's firing range, nobody could get away. It required a superhumaion speed or an acute ability to read oppos’ movements, but unfortunately, Gilbert didn’t possess either of those skills. He lost enough matches ba grade school to know he couldn't overe such a differen skill.

  Well, at least the oo kill him will be Lars and not Julia...

  You have been killed!