"Aww, yeah! 2-0, yo!" Lars pumped a fist. Everybody in StormBlitz was celebrating their sed victory of the day.

  "Good work, everybody," Kai delivered a cliche lihat sounded like something a captain would say.

  "Haha, you sound like a pany boss," Luke ughed. "But yeah, that was sick a game! I was ughing my ass off at them scrubs."

  "That's not a hing to say," Kai said that, but she secretly smiled. So, that's how ame looked like? Good, good.

  The team has been doing surprisingly well today. It almost felt surreal. Everything was going too smoothly.

  "Indeed, it was a battle worthy of Valhal!" Vi made noise. "Our unstoppable offense crushed the opposition without mercy!"

  "I agree," Yuel said. “Everybody did great.”

  Of course, he had a few nitpicks here and there, but he didn't feel like voig them right now. Overall, the team performed well, that’s all that mattered for now. Therefore, instead of bashing the few mistakes the team made, Yuel spent the break reviewing the enemy’s pys and decisions with the rest of the team.

  As it stood, Taurus wasn’t a threat to Stratus. These guys felt a warm-up for the much stroeams awaiting ahead. Yuel watched enough petitive middle-satches to know that today’s Taurus didn’t represent the level of the regionals. There were far stronger oppos awaiting Stratus there.

  In a way, this was a good pce to start. Everybody in Stratus was a greenhor came to pying in official matches, so this low difficulty setting was a great opportunity to gain experienbsp;

  Though, five games of this caliber might get a little b. Yuel smiled wryly. It was great that they were winning, but easy victories ofte pointless. There wasn't much to learn from them. Winning twice, maybe thrice, in a row could still be sidered fun even against a weak team, but it’ll definitely bee dull by the fourth time.

  "Hey, my dudes, I was thinking," Lars wore a grin as he grabbed everybody's attention.

  "You? Thinking?" Yuel asked. "Don’t lie to us."

  "Haha, harsh!" Lars ughed. "Anyway, catch this. I got this genius idea. What if we.... go even harder on the aggressio game!? All in! We go hard or we go home, yooooo!”

  “Aww yeah! This dude knows what’s up!” Luke gave a thumbs up. “You guys should treat this like a speedrun. Go for a faster wi game!”

  Speedrun? That’s disrespectful for the other team. Yuel thought.

  Truth be told, he didn’t have much sympathy for Taurus. These guys picked a fight on stage by insulting Kai, so it was only fitting to give them a taste of their own medie. But, still...

  “Let’s not get carried away,” Yuel warned. “They might’ve learned from their mistakes. If they prepare a strong lihat ters early-game aggression, we might dig our own graves.”

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine!” Lars started a fire with his words.

  “Yeah, just go out there and crush them!” Luke added oil.

  “Indeed, we shall reap apart their very souls!” Vihrew in an infmmable object. “They must suffer retribution for insulting our Valkyrian leader.”

  “Sure, let’s do it,” Kai kept the fme going. She was supposed to be the most reasonable pyer oeam after Yuel, but even she supported this dangerous idea.

  “Ok,” Nia oo. She had no reason to refuse. Sneaking around and killing enemies quickly was always fun.

  So, everybody wants to tihe aggression. Yuel frowned. It was worrisome. He had a bad feeling about this. his kind of reckless attitude could easily lead to disaster.

  At the same time, the team’s morale was exceedingly high and they had the momentum on their side. If they keep going with this flow, the game will be a breeze as well. Everybody will be perf their best and that'll make it even easier to overpower the enemy.

  Maybe it's better to py along. Yuel thought. Instead of being the usual “voice of reason” who put a damper on every euphoric situation, he'll try to go along with his teammates for once. Keeping the team motivated and united was crucial for victory. It might be better to head into the game with everybody still feeling fident.

  Some of us might be getting a little overfident, but we’re in the lead anyway. Even if we lose one game, we’ll still remain in the lead. We got some leeway. Yuel o himself. Frankly, he didn't see them losing to Taurus today. Even if they somehow end up losing the game due to recklessness, they should be able to adapt and win the remaining games. There was nothing to worry about.

  "Okay, let's do it," Yuel pyed along. "Let's use the same lineup as st game. At least, as much as the enemy will allow us with their bans."

  "Okay, let’s go!" Lars pumped a fist. "We gonna kie serious butt!"

  With that overflowing motivation, the team ehe stage for the third game. However, before they reached their tables, the referee came up to them.

  "Your oppo made three subs," the referee informed.

  "Three? In one game?" Yuel blinked.

  "Yes, three," the referee firmed.

  It was both sudden areme. Taurus repced over half their team.

  “Let’s see here,” the referee checked his tablet. "TheLegend, TheMyth, and Messi subbed out. Instead, you gade, StormMonster, and Lapot sure if it tells you much, but now you know." On that he referee left.

  That ges things. Yuel thought. If we don't know most of our ehen going in with an aggressive lineup bees ten times riskier.

  "Bring it on," Kai spoke with fidence. "No matter who they pull out, we gonna crush them."

  "Yeah, let's do it!" Lars pumped a fist.

  "Wait," Yuel argued. "They just repced three pyers. That ges everything."

  "Nah, it ges nothing," Kai crossed her arms. "The new guys are either better or worse than the previous bastards. Doesn't ge the fact we gonna mop the floor with them."

  "That’s some impressive unfounded fidence,” Yuel made a face. “The problem is, we don't know how good they are. We don’t know anything about them.”

  "I'm sure they're no big deal," Kai sneered. "Think of it this way. If they're weaker, we gonhem even harder. If they're stronger, it means our oppos haven’t been taking us seriously until now. Don't you think that's hel disrespectful?"

  I wouldn't be surprised if they did just that. Yuel thought. After all, Stratus had its reputation as the weakest team in the region. Perhaps, Taurus initially thought they could keep their best pyers on the bench today and hahis scrimmage using their sed-string. That'd expin the low skill level Taurus has been showing thus far.

  If that’s the case, it was all the more reason to prioritize caution for the game. Yuel had to gather intel on the new oppos before he could make any educated shot-calls. As, it seemed like he was the only ohinking that way...

  "Ning their best dudes from the start is nasty," Lars agreed with Kai's assessment. "If they still think we're noobs, we gonna show 'em what we're made of for real!"

  "Indeed," Vi nodded as well. "It’s bsphemy against fair sportsmanship! We shall respond in kind by thhly destroying their forces!"

  "Exactly," Kai nodded in approval. And so, this became a 1v3 for Yuel. Everybody wao go hard on the offense game.

  Looks like I have no say here. Yuel pursed his lips. Well, that’s alright. Even if we lose, at least we’ll learn some things. We’ll knoell the new pyers deal with hyper aggression. He did his best to look at the positive side of this pn.

  I think of it as gambling away our advantage in exge for information. It wasn’t the best trade in the world, but it was worth something. If our early aggression works, it'll make things easier from there. With that said, I'm still surprised Kai went along with this. I thought she was more reasohan that.

  Just you wait. Kai gred at one of the boys who subbed in. She only had a brief iion with him, but it was enough to tell that he was a total piece of shit.

  "I'll mop the floor with you in five seds." That's what that guy procimed in Kai's face. Hopefully, he subbed in for the Carry. If so, Kai will be able to tear him apart in the first couple of minutes.

  The enemy’s substitution was a godsend. Kai has already wrecked the precious scumbag who insulted her, so now the one showed up. She couldn't ask for anythier.. With this match, she'll prove to all of Taurus that she was a strong pyer. It'll make them think twice before making fun of female pyers ever again.

  "Hey, Yuel," Lars poioward the enemy camp. "Look at that guy."

  "Isn’t he the one who came to talk to us?" Yuel recalled. "Looks like he knew he'll be subbing in."

  "Yeah, probably," Lars grinned. "I told ya, I had the feeling this dude got something."

  "If you think he's strong, that's all the more reason to py safer."

  "Nah, it's the other way around," Lars shook his head. "If he's really that strong, it meaally gotta ram into these guys. I mean, if he's one of the best pyers they got but he didn’t y us until now, that's cocky as heck. We gotta show him what's up, yo!"

  "I suppose," Yuel didn't have a rebuttal. Frankly, that possibility irked him as well. He k was iable for other teams to uimate Stratus, but it was still irritating. Nobody liked being looked down on. Therefore, just like the rest of the team, Yuel wished to rain pure destrus on their oppos this round.

  "Besides," Vi added. "Maybe it’s not even their final form! They might be hiding eveer pyers in store! Their third, final form!"

  "Oh snap!" Lars excimed. "So, ya say we've been fighting the third-string until now!? No way!"

  "You ever know for sure," Vi said. "After all, their club is four times bigger than ours. They have spare soldiers for days."

  "A third form? That's pushing it," Yuel said. Though, it'd be amazing if that was the case. The team has already gotteo pying on stage, so it’ll be o tackle a harder and harder challeer each victory. It’d be a great learning experience.

  In the end, everybody's burning passion vinced Yuel as well. He was on board with the aggression game pn. There was still a tiny hint of reason at the back of his head, whispering against this idea. But, he ig for now. They will all-in on this one!

  At that time, Yuel couldn't imagihe sharp turn this entire scrimmage will take starting from this third game...

  DarkestCymore