Going to the frontline sounds like all sorts of trouble, so let's not do that. Nia o herself. She had no i in testing the Knight for a temporary ne adva was useless for her anyway. All that really mattered was sg a kill on that guy and then push hard for the win.

  So, instead of heading to the frontline, she’ll wait near her Golem and make the minions e to her. That'll be much less of a pain to deal with.

  Nia tossed a smoke bomb on the Knight. The explosio slight damage to him and made his minions seek revenge on Nia. But, unbeknown to the minions, that was exactly what Nia wanted from them.

  She retreated tolem and lured the minions into its fire range. Once all the enemy swordsmen stepped into the danger zone, Nia booted her Stealth for a moment to erase the minions’ aggression.

  Hehe, that’s right, Nia smirked. Even though you’re bots, even you ’t detect me.

  Her momentary stealth state fused the minions and made them fet they were targetting Nia just a moment ago. So, instead, they returo their natural game pn: attag whichever enemy minion was closest to them.

  While all of this was going down, Nia’s minions chased after the invaders and caught up to them at the Golem. Since all minions were close to each ht now, the battle broke ht there in the Golem’s area. Instead of stepping out of the area to avoid heavy damage, the enemy minions remained in the lion’s den while g with their oppos. These bots were too dumb to realize they were in a deadly situation.

  “So, that’s how she’s going to do it,” Vi o himself. “Beautiful! I like this ter. What do you all think?”

  “It’s not bad,” Yuel admitted. He used a simir tactic against Knights when he pyed Top so this was a solid advaech.

  “But,” Yuel said. “She took it a bit too far. I uand she wants to clear the minions faster but was it really neccessary to lure them all the way to the Golem? She’s losing exp and gold this way.”

  “It’s fine,” Kai objected. “Losing some farm early on isn’t a big deal in 1v1 if you make up for it ter.”

  “Not gonna lie, I’m not a fan of that stuff,” Lars said. “You gotta take ALL the farm, yo! Last-hit all the things!”

  “Not everybody py by yh standard,” Kai said.

  Hmm. Yuel frowned. It’s hard to judge this py whewo best Duelists here don’t see eye to eye about it. I suppose it’s a passable approach for this Rogue vs. Knight matchup.

  In the end, Nia cleared the enemy swordsmen way faster than they killed her swordsmen, all thanks to Golem rampaging around and tossing boulders. After that, she stayed uower a her surviving minions fight on their own. It was a battle of 2 swordsmen and 3 bowmen vs. 3 bowmen.

  I rather not let these swordsmen reach my bowmen. Vi was itg to step onto the frontlio block the path of the ining swordsmen. The bowmen minions were rather squishy, so they’d die fast if the swordsme close.

  With that said, Vi couldn't just run ahead and aggro the swordsmen because said swordsmen were closely apanied by three bowmen behind them. If Vi steps forward, he'll aggro that entire dangerous gang. The DPS of three bowmen focused oarget was nothing to s, especially during the earlier parts of the game. Even as a Knight with Mistmail, he didn't want to soak all that damage.

  Ultimately, Vi stepped bad waited for enemy swordsmen to arrive. He had no choice but use his minions as a meat shield in this situation. He was like a Chessmaster and the bowmen were his disposable pawns, muhahaha!

  Once all the enemy minions focused their fire on Vi's bowmen, he charged to the frontlih Shield Bash. He smmed his shield against one of the swordsmen and killed the already-injured warrior on the spot. Meanwhile, his bowmen shot dowher swordsman.

  Phew, safe. Vi breathed in relief. None of his bowmen was lost in this exge so it turned out much better than he expected.

  To things up, Vi followed up with Bde Swing to cut through all three enemy bowmen in one fell swoop. Along with the backup fire from his bowmen, he swiftly finished off all the enemy minions. However, he only had one and a half bowmen remaining after that whole exge. This tiny group of survivors was far from enough to properly push the enemy Golem.

  Nia didn't show any signs of ing out to fight the bowmen, so there was no opening for Vio attack. He just let his bowmeure into eerritory alone a bombarded by the Golem. The bowmen merely got two shots oower before dying.

  With that, the first minion wave was over.

  "It turned out pretty equal," Vi summarized.

  "Not quite," Yuel objected. "She missed a lot of farm with this approach."

  The game punished pyers who farmed while hugging their tower. All exp and gold earned from minions ihe Golem's range were reduced by 30%. So, even if the pyer scored st-hits on these minions to be from x1.2 earnings, that still put them at around 85% of the normal earnings. In other words, by luring the minions tolem, Nia threw away over 15% of the farm she could've easily gotten.

  "Geh, I think I fried my brain with all them numbers," Lars rubbed his temples. "In short, she missed a lot of farm, right?"

  "Yes."

  "Well," Kai crossed her arms. "If you finished showing off your math skills, let me just say that optimizing farming is not something you'd expect from a freshman."

  "I suppose you're right," Yuel agreed. "I just had to mention it because it might bee an issue for her going forward. It's alrighty to trade some farm for extra safety, but she'll have to mount a ter at some point if she wants to win. Otherwise, Vi will eventually outlevel her aroy her Golem.”

  "Yeah, I'm quite aware,” Kai made a face. “Thanks for expining it to me like I'm a Broier from kindergarten."

  "So," Vi got everybody's attention. "Do you guys wao test anything specific? Or, do I just let her maintain this routio see if it goes anywhere?"

  "Sure, why not," Yuel said. "So far, the situation is in your favor in terms of farm. As long as she keeps using that tactic, you'll win by default."

  "Fair enough," Vi nodded. "Alrighty, I'll keep doing my thing and see how deep the rabbit hole goes."

  During the minion wave, Nia repeated the same routine. She dropped a smoke bomb on Vio lure the enemy minions tolem. Ohey invaded deep enough into the danger zone, she eealth to make them fet all about their aggression.

  Everything pyed out exactly like st time. Yet again, only one and half of Vi's bowmen survived. They got a couple of hits on the enemy Golem before perishing. What brave soldiers they were.

  Even after just two waves, the gap in their farm was already being apparent. Vi leveled up to Lv.7 in the middle of that exge while Nia only hit Lv.7 at the very end. In a couple of waves, Vi will ht beat her by one level. If Nia had any ter tacti mind, she better execute it soohan ter.

  As, the oute of the minion wave was exactly the same. Yet again, Vi let Nia do her thing and carefully observed her moves. But, she did nothing new.

  He's not biting. Nia pursed her lips. Most oppos got irritated by such a defeactid i this point. However, this Knight patiently observed her without overextending. He was like a predator eying his prey. Scary.

  Is he judging my every move? Along with everybody else over there? Nia felt cold sweat on her forehead. These examiners monitored every single move, every twitch, she made. They judged everything and will fail her for the smallest of mistakes. They might even fail her for just breathing. Or, even worse, they might fet to grade her at all...

  I-I'll show them! Nia ched her troller. If all that Knight gonna do is stand there and ugh at her, she had an idea of her own. The Knight was already down to 80% from her repeated smoke bombs, so he'll be within kill raer just another one bomb. That's when she'll make her move. The hunted will bee the hunter! She'll overtake the bully!

  When the wave came, Nia executed her routine per usual. She threw a smoke bomb on the Knight, lured the minions tolem, and fihem off. Then, instead of waiting in the safe zone, she retreated deeper into her ne a around the er.

  "Oh, she's gone," Vi g the mini-map. "It appears she's pnning to use this time to farm the Wraiths. They're right about to respawn."

  "Man, talk about disrespect," Luke shook his head. “She’s practically handing you the ne for free.”

  "What do I do?" Vi asked everybody. "Do I go ambush her at the Wraiths?"

  "I don't think you o go that far," Kai was quick to object. "It's just an exam."

  "But, a mistake is a mistake," Vi argued. "I 't just let her get away with it, right?"

  "Shouldn't you just push?" Luke suggested.

  "Yeah," Lars said. "I'd totally use this time to push hard. Gotta make them regret leaving the ne behind like that. She should’ve stayed and fought till the bitter end like a true duelist."

  “That works," Vi nodded. "I feel the Golem beggio invade."

  "To be fair," Kai said. "I'd probably push too. If my oppo is the type to he ne for some side farm, I'll capitalize on it every siime."

  "Alrighty then," Vi cluded. "I'll push like my life depends on it. Here es doomsday!"

  Vi charged ahead of his minions with Shield Bash and smmed the enemy wave. The enemy began firing at him but that's exactly what he wao make the most out of this opportunity, he wao keep his minions as healthy as possible for the invasion. The longer his minions survive in the Golem's area, the more he'll be able to push. Therefore, he tanked all the ining damage to keep his minions at perfect health.

  Is this really okay? Yuel wondered. He didn't say anything oopic but the others knew better than him how to py Duel, but it felt like everybody was rushing it a little. Just because Nia walked away from the ne didn't necessarily mean she went to farm the Wraiths. I agree that's the most likely sario but it's better to stay vigint. A single mispy cost the ech here.

  Despite the worry, Yuel kept these thoughts to himself. Maybe he was overthinking it and what the others suggested was the superior line of py. After all, Lars and Kai ranked much higher than him in Duel so they should know better. Besides, the oppo was a freshman. What kind of tricky could Nia possibly pull?

  “Alrighty,” Vi finished off the enemy wave. He lost a k of his HP in the process but, in exge, all his soldiers were at full health. The healthier they were, the molem hits they’ll be able to tank for him.

  Without further ado, Vi charged into the Golem's area with his loyal army. The minions tahe Golem's sms and boulders while Vi hacked away at the Golem's legs.

  Even though this was the same Golem from the MOBA mode in terms of design, it was quite smaller and didn’t hit as hard. Therefore, it took the Golem quite a while to kill all of Vi's minions. On top of that, the Golem’s HP and defense were nowhere as tough as those of the MOBA Golem. Thus, its HP plummeted quickly from all the attacks. If all goes smoothly, Vi might bring this Golem all the way down to 30% HP.

  However, that was too easy to be true. While Vi was busy attag the Golem, an invisible figure crept up to him from behind. Ohe invisible assaulter got within ra struck from the shadows!

  "Whoa!" Vi jumped. A bde sliced his baia was right behind him! She’s back so fast!?

  Got you. Nia smirked. She stuck to the Knight's bad sshed away at it. Thanks tue's passive, Backstabber, each of her attacks dealt 30% more damage. On top of that, her Lv.3 Murasama stole defenses on each successful hit, making the Knight even more vulnerable. This guy done goofed and he was about to pay for it!

  "Darn, this is rough...!" Viurned around and dashed out of the Golem's area. He couldn't strike back from this positioo the Golem’s looming presence. If he lifts but a single finger on Nia, the Golem will be all over his business. Vi will turn into dead meat within seds. Therefore, his only option was to get the heck out of there!

  "What a marvelous trap!" Vi made noise while running away. “I shall dub it the Ultimate Bait-and-Switch!”

  "It's just a basic bait," Yuel said. As he feared, everybody jumped to clusiarding Nia’s absence from the ne. Despite being a freshman, Nia tinum rank in Duel. It wasn’t a rank anybody could easily get to while pying poorly, especially not with assassin csses. So, it was no surprise Nia could pull off such a basic bait tactid, yet...

  "You saw that!?" Kai poi the s. "Wasn't that a pretty high-level py?"

  "Yeah!” Lars excimed. “Dude totally fooled me, yo!"

  Are these guys seriously Diamond and Challenger ranks in Duel? Yuel made a face. If they could fall for such a simple tactic then even Yuel had a ce against them...

  "Welp, I'm pretty much done for," Vi’s HP dropped to 20%. He successfully got out of Golem's ra Nia was still breathing down his neck. Even though tinuously dishing out attacks slowed her down, she kept up with Vi due tue's superior movement speed. Vi wasn't going to shake her off just by running.

  "This is my st stand!" Vi made noise. "Let's us see if you stop my magnifit escape pn!" He rolled forward just as Nia's strike was about to nd. That made her whiff the attad created some space between them.

  However, it wasn't enough by itself. Vi's Golem was still far away and there was o hide. If they both keep running, Nia will easily catch up to him ahe deal. Therefore, Vi had to pull out his secret Noble Phantasm!

  "e forth, Sleipnir!" He summoned a bck demonic horse via his ult. It was dangerous to mount Sleipnir in front of the enemy because he was more vulnerable to attacks than ever during the mounting animation. However, from this dista should be safe enough.

  If Vi just get on the horse and ride away, he'll get out of this sticky situation and- Whoa! A bde from behind!

  Nia instantly closed the distah Phantom Strike and stuck her dagger into his back! Sihe attaded from behind, it activated ara effect of Phantom Strike: it stunned Vi on the spot! That allowed Nia to follow up with further attacks.

  "Alright, now I'm officially done for," Vi smiled wryly and raised his hands in resignation. "GG."

  You have been killed!

  FIRST BLOOD!

  "Yes!" Kai pumped a fist but immediately hid it away. “Ah, ahem. She did well.”

  "She totally pawned ya, haha," Luke ughed. "She sure knows how tue. I already like that girl."

  "Yeah, that was smooth as heck," Lars nodded.

  "Was it, really?" Yuel wondered. "I thought invading the Golem back there was rather risky. It redictable something like this might happen."

  "Now that I think about it," Vi crossed his arms. "That’s true. I feel that push was way too brave for me. Love me or hate me for it but I normally don’t py like that. So, I’m shocked I didn’t stop myself. Don't tell me you guys pressured me into it on purpose?"

  "Nope," Lars shrugged. "Pretty sure I would have pushed as well."

  "Yeah," Kai agreed. "I would have gone on the offensive as well. Nia just outpyed you. Deal with it, scrub."

  "By the sound of it, she would have outpyed you too in this situation," Vi pointed out.

  "Huh, guess that's true," Kai somehow forced these words through her teeth. "But, I'm sure I would've retreated without dying, unlike a certain someone."

  "If you say so," Vi rolled his eyes. Typical Kai. With that said, perhaps her Rhythm Reader would have indeed rescued her out of this predit. The Rhythm Reader vs. the Ultimate Bait-and-Switch! It’ll be the battle of the tury!

  As, no matter how hard he tried to ugh it off, something about this turn of events still bothered him. Vi didn’t sider himself a particurly skilled pyer but he prided himself on his ability to analyze his oppos’ offense and adjust his defense accly. As such, he should've picked up on Nia’s sneaky atta and pyed more cautiously. Yet, he failed to do so.

  Did she outsmart both my Arbiter of Talents and Information Bckhole skills!? Impossible! None should be able to escape their gravitational pull!

  Yet, it was a faia outpyed him. With ease, on top of that. Did Vi uimate her because this was just an exam for a freshman? No way. At least, that wasn’t his iion.

  Then, did he go for that risky py because everybody else talked him into it? Maybe he cracked a little under peer pressure. But, that couldn’t be all because the idea of an ambush didn’t even cross his mind when Nia left the ’s like he couldn’t even think of such a basic sario. It was so odd.

  Welp, maybe I’m just overthinking it. Vi shook his head. Everybody made mistakes and he was no exception. No problem! ime, my fwless Information Bckhole shall reveal all her ing tricks!

  While Vi was waiting to respawn, Nia had a great opportunity to make something big happen. How was she going to capitalize on this situation? Will she use this time to push the ne? Or, will she steal one of the camps?

  Unfortunately, none of the observers could tell because they had to watch the game from Vi's point-of-view. Thus, nobody could pass any judgment on Nia during this critical situation.

  “That’s why I wao watch from her point-of-view,” Yuel ranted.

  “It ’t be helped if she feels unfortable being watched,” Kai was quick to object. “It’s always more stressful when others watch you py.”

  “Yep, I know the feel,” Luke nodded. “Always feels like ya gonna fudge something up when ya got eyes on ya.”

  “I suppose,” Yuel was no alien to this feeling. When somebody was there, watg and judging every twitch he made, it had a ce to affect his deaking. For example, sometimes, he went for the safe option to look good in front of the crowd rather than gamble on riskier py with a higher payoff.

  So, there was no question that watg Nia closely would most likely hurt her performahen again, Yuel survived StormBlitz’s exam while being interrogated by Aron nonstop the whole time. So, being silently watched wouldn’t kill Nia.

  “You just watch the repy ter,” Kai said.

  “I know,” Yuel said so but he wasn’t satisfied. That’s why, while everybody was waiting for Vi's revival, Yuel focused on his own tablet. He has sneakily joihe game as a spectator shortly after it began. This way, he could see the entire map from an omnist point-of-view.

  Unfortunately, speode had a dey of one minute for this match, which was the lowest dey the game allowed to set for atches. So, his tablet was still showing Vi carelessly pushing Nia’s Golem. However, shortly after that, it’ll show exactly what Nia po do with this huge opportunity she got.

  Will she push? Or, will she take the red/blue buffs? This was where her pystyle and deaking will be tested in a big way.