After officially joining the club, Nia had tister her “golden niame” in the game. However...

  This name is already in use

  “Hm?” Nia titled her head. “Somebody stole my name?”

  “Looks like it,” Kai said, “You’ll have to e up with a new one.”

  “But, I like BckFlower...” Nia sulked.

  “If you’re in need of niame suggestions, I got plenty to spare!” Vi said. “For starters, how about Vanishing Phantom?”

  “Hmm, I dunno?” Nia twisted her lips. “Ah, how about Vanishing Flower?”

  This name is avaible

  “Ok, I’ll take it then,” Nia said.

  “You really like having ‘flower’ in your name, huh,” Kai said.

  “Flowers are nice,” Nia smiled softly. “They’re all quiet and chill fellows.”

  “Huh,” Kai wasn’t sure what to make of it so she just let that ent slide.

  And so, Nia became an official member of Stratus through and through. She got her golden name and attended club practice.

  “You should take this opportunity to rotate to Top,” Yuel lectured during a match. “When the enemy ner is dead but our ner isn’t there to take advantage of the situation, it’s often a good idea to rotate there and push the ne yourself.”

  “Oh, smart,” Nia nodded and followed the instrus. She rotated to the undefeop Lane and pushed the eower along with allied minions.

  Aurret has beeroyed!

  “Good job,” Yuel nodded. “What do you pn to do ?”

  “Hmm, return to the jungle and farm?”

  “Is that your favorite pastime or something?” Yuel smiled wryly. “Now is a good time to gank Mid. Their Lancer will most likely rotate to defend Top, so it’s a great ce to force a 2v1 situation in Mid.”

  “Oh, I see,” Nia nodded and ganked Mid.

  An enemy has been killed!

  With some help from Lars, Nia dealt the killing blow on the enemy Sorcerer and got the kill.

  This is going well. Too well, even. Nia never had a MOBA match that went so smoothly. She delivered one py after another and everything just clicked. Just by following Yuel’s advice, she dictated the entire momentum of the match.

  “That’s the kind of power Junglers have,” Yuel lectured. “Depending on your decisions, the entire flow of the match might ge. So, you have to make sure you learn from all these examples.”

  “’t I always just ask you for advice? That’s easier.”

  “Sorry, but that won’t fly in a serious match. I won’t have the time to tell you every little thing.”

  “Tch, bummer. What an unreliable app.” Nia pouted.

  “That’s why you have to learn to do all of this on your own,” Yuel said. “If you want to keep practig after club hours, you drop by my pce after school so we keep pying.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  A polite dee. I see. Yuel sighed. He has been spending most of his club time on coag Nia, with the i of turning her into a full-fledged Jungler. However, she still had a lot to learn. If she doesn’t start practig past school hours, she might not be ready in time to participate in the uping scrimmages. That’ll be a huge waste of practical experience.

  Nia opened up to him bit by bit and now listeo his advice without resisting, but she didn’t sider them close enough to hang out together. Or, perhaps she didn’t think she hat extra practice because she didn’t feel the same urgency that was eating Yuel. Either way, it was unfortunate.

  So, I have to find a way to get her up to speed with what little time we got during club activity. Yuel cluded. As a whole, Nia showed more promise as a Juhan a certain memer. So, she had a real ce to-

  “Heeeeey! Earth to Yuel,” Lars called out. “The match is ready.”

  “Ah, right,” Yuel shook his head auro reality. Before he realized, school was over and he was back at home, pying with Lars. Darn it, who gave time the right to fly so fast? It must be passing the speed limit. I’ll sue.

  “What’s keeping ya busy all the time?” Lars asked. “Ya don’t even review ames half the time tely. Not like I’m pining, but ya know.”

  “I was looking up guides for jungling and taking notes,” Yuel expined. “Nia still has a lot to work on, so I’m trying to find the best way to teach her.”

  “Whew, that’s some dedication. Are ya like her coach or something?”

  “I guess I am.”

  “Heh, ya sure like the girl,” Lars smirked and jabbed lightly. “When’s the wedding? I gonna be yo dude of honor, haha.”

  “Again with that nonsense?” Yuel rolled his eyes. “I just want to get her up to speed so she’s ready to py on a petitive level as soon as possible.”

  “Ya sure p everything ya got into this ohing. I don’t even remember the st time you criticized anything about my pys. It’s all Nia, Nia, and Nia 24/7.”

  “What, you wao scold you more often?” Yuel asked. “I thought you hated that.”

  “Heh, of course I hate that stuff. But, ya know, gotta face the harsh truth every now and then so I git gud. If ya ain’t there to tell me I’m doing something wrong, who will?”

  “I suppose that’s true.”

  “Yep, it totally is, But, instead of doing that, you spend all day fawning over yirlfriend. Not cool, dude.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  “Sure feels like one, she even made ya fet what we’re training for. We got a huge battle ahead of us, remember? We gotta wreck Athena and Aegis and all that jazz! Did ya fet all about them?”

  “Of course not,” Yuel shook his head. “Everything I’m doing is for the sake of seg victory in that match.”

  “Yeah, sure feels like it when ya ignore me and focus on yo girl the whole day.”

  “What, you feel lonely?”

  “H-Huh?” Lars jumped and gnced away. “T-That’s ain’t what I’m saying, yo.” He cleared his throat. “I just want ya to focus on what’s important. We gotta win that rematatter what. So, we gotta practice super hard every day for that thing.”

  “Yeah, I agree.”

  “But, instead, you’re all over Nia 24/7. You ain’t even scolding me on stuff, like that greedy rotation I did to Mid i match. I got my ass royally whooped there in a 1v2.”

  “That rotation wasn’t so bad, actually,” Yuel argued. “It didn’t turn out well because the enemy repared for it, but it could’ve been a solid py otherwise. So, I didn’t feel there was a o say anything. I was sure you kly what went wrong there.”

  “Wait, you actually remember that py? I thought you didn’t eve because you weren’t paying attention, haha.”

  “Of course I saw it,” Yuel said. “But, it was an alright rotation so I said nothing. Sure, it was a tad risky but it was fine. In general, you’ve been making much safer decisioly so I have much less reason to worry.”

  “Seriously?” Lars blinked. “So, like, ya tellin’ me I’m pying like a pro and stuff?”

  “Well, ‘pro’ is a stretch. But yes, you py way better than before,” Yuel said. “That’s why I don’t review our matches as oftely, which brings me back to Nia. You’re in a great good spht now, but Nia got a long road ahead of her. So, I o guide her. If she improves enough, I believe she has the potential to help us in the rematch against StormBlitz.”

  “Oh! For real!?” Lars’s eyes glittered. “She got some secret on and stuff!?”

  “Perhaps,” Yuel said. “At the very least, I prefer her over Luke right now. He’s a good pyer but his memes won’t cut it in a petitive enviro.”

  “Welp, dude is the Meme Jedi. He gotta use memes.”

  “I admit that, for a memer, he’s a strong pyer. But, that just won’t work on the highest levels. He has to start taking the game more seriously or Nia will take his spot.”

  “Haha, so that’s how it is!” The familiar dazzling griuro Lar’s face. “So, you’ve been training Nia to increase our ces of winning the rematch! I see it now. So, ya didn’t fet about oal after all.”

  “Of course not,” Yuel asserted. “We’ll get our rematch at the regionals and cim victory.”

  “Hell yeah! That’s more like it!”

  “The thing is, to properly train her, I need Nia to beore cooperative. No matter how many times I asked, she doesn’t want to join us for after-school training. But, I don’t think she’s just being zy. Maybe she’s still wary of me? I ’t tell for the life of me.”

  “Well, it makes sense. She’s a girl and all,” Lars shrugged. “Not gonna lie, I also won’t feel fortable going to some girl’s pce a few days after meeting her. It just be like that.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Yuel had to cede. Maybe he was too used to how Julia always came over to train. Then again, the only reason she came here was to spend time with Lars. Also, Julia was at least the same year as them. Meanwhile, Nia was just a freshman. That surely added another yer of awkwardness.

  “I think ya rushing it, dude,” Lars said. “Just keep teag her like you’re already doing. I’m sure she’ll appreciate how much of a walking encyclopedia you are”

  “Thanks, I guess.”

  “But hey, we gotta improve too, ya know?” Lars insisted. “You don’t have any special training ideas for us? Like, sitting under a waterfall or climbing the Everest!?”

  “How any of that is going to help us improve at the game?”

  “I dunno, dude. That’s what they always do in cartoons and stuff, and it works!”

  “Too bad we’re not living in a cartoon,” Yuel shook his head. “For now, I don’t have anything special in mind. As I said, your performance has bee retly so I haven’t found any gring fws to work on. Just keep polishing yourself as a Carry and you’ll be fine.”

  “Ya sure about that?” Lars asked. “Don’t wanna rub it in or anything, but we did kinda lose to Athena and Aegis...”

  “Yes, but we were close,” Yuel insisted. “I think we’ve reflected enough on our mistakes from that day. You’ve been w on your deaking and I’ve been w on my shot-calling. We’re heading in the right dire. We’re already in a much better pce than we were a few weeks ago.”

  “Really? Sick, yo!” Lars grinned. “’t wait to test this out in a real match! When are we fighting StormBlitz? Let’s bring the fight to them!”

  “All iime,” Yuel said. “I think we’re both doing fine right now, so I rather focus on Nia and the rest of the club. We have to pull them up to our level before we start w about ourselves.”

  “Gotcha, dude!” Lars nodded. “Okay, the match is starting! Let’s ro’ roll!”

  fident in their respective abilities, Yuel and Lars tinued polishing their skills the straightforward way: by pying Ranked. However, unbeknown to them, three ued visitors were about to show up and shake up their fidence...

  DarkestCymore