After killing Ignis, Yuel focused all his efforts on pushing the ne. A new minion wave soon arrived and to help him ihe Golem.

  He failed to finish the Golem befnis returned, but he brought it down to 40% HP. That's a huge lead when bined with his already existing advantages of level, gold, and minions. Even the number one Grandmaster in the world should struggle to climb out of this position.

  Still, given Ignis’s skill, anything could happen. At least, if she pyed as strongly as before...

  “You pesky *hic*! I mean, kid!” Ignis charged at Yuel as soon as she returned. “I'mma *hic* you this time!!”

  Frontal assault? Seriously? Yuel frowned. Did she really think she could just go on the offensive despite all his advantages? Frankly, it looked like throwing a tantrum.

  But, that's no reason to let his guard down. Yuel fired bolts while retreating to the bae. Thanks to his attack range advantage, he could bine offense and defeo one py. Truly, he every possible adva this point.

  As, things were hat easy with Ignis. She side-stepped the first shot without slowing down and swung her bde at the sed shot.

  “Think you *hic* the Great Ignis with these me shots? Ha!” Ignis parried the sed shot... at least, that's what’d normally happen. However, her bde failed to make tact. The bolt hit her.

  That's a first. Yuel followed up with another shot. It hit Ignis before she recovered from her swing.

  “Oh, now you've do! You’ve soooooo do!” Ignis rahrough gritted teeth. “I'mma kick yo *hic*! Just you- Aya!” Another bolt hit her. Ignis wasn’t moving much while ranting, so Yuel just shot her without waiting. “You little runt! Now the Great Ignis is REALLY mad!”

  And seems like that’s exactly what I want. Yuel smiled ily. That slow rea and poor coordination, she was finally pying like a drunk. Being salty must have thrown her off her game, so her automatic professional respoopped kig-in.

  The harder Yuel pressures Ignis, the faster she'll fall apart. Therefore, he didn't let up for a single moment. One shot after another without rest. Eventually, Ignis’s HP ran so low that, even in this unstable state, she uood she had to retreat.

  So, what if I do this? Yuel switched gears without warning and rolled forward.

  “Wha!? Whatcha think ya doing!?”

  Winning. As soon as he recovered from the roll, Yuel sent his wolf forth. If he could just pin her down again, he’ll get another-

  “Tooooooo bad! Haha!” Ignis dodged the assault with Fearless Charge. Even with her reduced rea speed, she was still leagues above Yuel. It was a ack, but it delivered the message: if Ignis doesn't retreat, Yuel will pou her until he gets a kill.

  “I swear I'mma mop the *hic* with ya when I return!” Ignis shoved her finger into Yuel’s face while recalling to base.

  Good luck with that. Yuel proceeded to push the undefended ep by step, he roag victory. Ignis was losing it, so this game should be in the bag now.

  By time Ignis recovered aurned from the base, her Golem was already at 20% HP. Just one more little push and Yuel will take it down, along with the whole game.

  “Don’tcha think you wo!” Ignis rushed at him again a again, her defense was g.

  This is getting risky. Yuel g his HP. Even though Ignis’s assaults ended in failure, she usually mao nd a few hits before being forced to retreat. Slowly but surely, she was grinding Yuel out of HP. I

  With Yuel now at 60% HP, Ignis could cut off his escape with Swordwhril and then score a kill. No, wait. She won’t do it because Yuel will assuredly score at least one critical hit in this exge and will out-damage her thanks t Star increasing his crit ce with every attack. So, with that in mind-

  “Gotcha!” Ignis charged forward and spun her bde through him! No time to think!

  Five hits plus a crit is like six hits, so that should work out, right!? With Yuel’s snail speed rea, he had no choice but trust his rough estimation. His Blink was still on cooldown, so fighting back was his only option.

  Yuel fired and Ignis sliced. He shot again and she sshed. A shot for a slice, a ssh for a bolt. It was a race to the death!

  “Nuuuuuu! Flippin’ crit!” Ignis smacked her own forehead. She realized her miscalcution too te.

  You have killed an enemy!

  With this, the match retty much settled. Yuel took down the Golem, which spawned super minions from his side. He also took the time to clear buff camps, further boosting his overwhelming advantage. Before long, he invaded all the way into Ignis’s base.

  The Colossus of the 1v1 mode was much weaker than the one in 5v5. On top of that, Yuel was effectively a Carry, so his DPS with basic attacks was nothing to s. Together with his super minions, Yuel made a quick work of the Colossus. Only 30% HP left to finish this game!

  “Nuuuuuuu! Stahp!” Ignis rolled on the sofa, jumped around, shook Yuel’s shoulders and did everything in her power to interfere. There was nothing for her to do until she respawns, so she did everything in her power to slow Yuel down. That’s some the mature tactic right there.

  But, it was useless. The Colossus was already at 10%, so Ignis won't be able to achieve anything even if she to revives now.

  It's over. I wo- “Agh!” Yuel jumped after something smmed his face! In real life! What the-!?

  “Don't wanna!” Ignis filed her arms and tossed sofa pillows. Right into Yuel’s face.

  “Stop tha- ack!” Headshot! Critical hit! The pillow smashed right into his nose! Goddammit, seriously!? It was both hirious and sad at the same time. Ignis was supposed to be the adult here, but she was ag like a five-year-old. Even though she were drunk, that didn't excuse this childish behavior... or maybe it did? Yuel obviously had no experieh being drunk, so hard to say.

  Either way, he must this game. He ighe barrage of pillows and focused on taking down the Colossus. Despite the interference, he successfully fihe job.

  VICTORY

  He did it! He beat a pro! ... a pro who was drunk, five levels below him, partially uimated him a him ter-pick her. But even so, it was a win! Yeah!

  Still, if Ignis were to take him more seriously from the get-go and wasn’t so drunk, she probably would have torn him apart despite all the other advantages he had. Just how strong was she iop fulp.

  This was a great experience, aside from the pillow missiles at the end there. Yuel got a lot of insight into how Ignis pyed the game. How she waited for the right moment to strike, how she dodged and parried his shots and so on. There was much he could learn from just pying her.

  Did Het to py his sister every day? So lucky. No wonder he was such a strong defensive pyer. He must have learo defend so well in order to stay alive against Ignis. If only somebody in Yuel's family ro pyer... sigh.

  “No fair! Hax!” Ignis pouted. “One more! I'mma *hic *ya this time!”

  “Sis,” Howard leaoward her. “It's already te. He o-”

  “OOOOONE MORE!”

  “... alright,” Howard sighed he turo Yuel. “Will you?”

  “Sure.” Yuel his was a rare ce to py against a pro, so Yuel wouldn’t miss it for the world. He'd stay up all night to keep pying Ignis.

  “ then!” A fident griuro Ignis’s face. “Let's go! I'mma show you hoyers get things done!”

  They started the third match. Ignis should still be salty from losing the previous round, so it’ll hamper her performance... or not. Despite her rowdy behavior, she apparently regained her posure during the short break.

  Not good. Yuel had to stick Ranger because of the “house rules”, so Ignis tered him with ease. The third game easily went to her. Yuel barely nded a si.

  However, game Yuel tered her bad got another win, though it was a close game. Whenever he mao throw Ignis off her game, that made her slip and opehe road to victory. That was his secret on against her.

  The fifth match went to Ignis, and so did the sixth. ering her Viking proved harder thahought. This was some serious challenge.

  And so, the night went on into the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth games.

  “Aaaaa~” Ignis yawned, opening her mouth so wide she could swallow the whole living room. After rubbing her eyes, she dropped on her side. “Tired. Sleep.”

  “Yes, yes,” Ellen and caressed Ignis’ hair. “It's already te, so you o go to bed.” She spoke softly as if addressing a baby.

  “Finally,” Howard sighed in relief. The party was over. After 12 matches, the final score was 4-8 in Ignis’s favor. Yuel held his ground quite well if he had to say so himself, but his tactics weren't enough to match Ignis’s strength. She was at least as meically strong as Lars and she amplified said strength with airtight deaking. Will Lars also reach that level one day? How long will it take that goof?

  “So,” Yuel turo Ignis. “How did I py?”

  “Like poop,” Ignis closed her eyes and lifted her . “But well, guess it's not that bad for ye. You even mao beat the Great Ignis a few times. Not too shabby, kid.” She threw him a smile. Maybe she wasn't that bad after all. “You got nothing on Wardy, though.” Okay, never mind. She’s the worst.

  That st ent was totally unnecessary, but I'll take it. Yuel pyed good enough to impress a pro, so that's good enough for now. His goal was to blow Howard out of the water, so he’ll make Ig her words then.

  “This sted way lohan I pnned,” Yuel put down the troller and stood up.

  “Sorry about that,” Howard smiled wryly. “She's not like that usually.”

  “No problem. It was fun.” Though, at the same time, a bit frustrating too. Howard could spar with su amazing pro pyer on a daily basis. So damn lucky.

  “Hey, Wardy...” Ignis mumbled half-asleep. “Before I pass out and fet... uys agreed to py your team this weekend. They're salty about losing to the Fals, so they wan by beating some kids. So mature, haha... yawn~”

  “... alright.” Howard answered with a pause while trying to lead Yuel toward the door. However, Yuel didn't budge.

  What did he just hear? Ignis said “uys” who “lost to the Fals” will “py Howard's team”. It's a one plus one which he really wished he didn’t put together right.

  Ignis’s team, the Sweepers, lost to the Fals today, that's why she was drunk in the first pce. And, these “guys” will be pying against “Howard's team”, which likely referred to the new first-string led by Howard. In other words, a scrimmage between StormBlitz and Sweepers! And it didn't sound like the first time either.

  “What's wrong?” Howard asked. “Fot something?”

  “So that's what you've been doing i the whole summer,” Yuel muttered. “Pying against pros, huh.”

  “From time to time, yeah.” Howard didn't even try to hide it. His team gained valuable experience by pying against pros. It’s the first time Yuel heard about any of this. Nobody mentioned anything about this evehey visited the club. Not Gilbert. Not Roi. Not Dan. Nobody.

  “First time I'm hearing about this,” Yuel did his best to hold back the malice. “So, it's like a summer training camp?”

  “Something like that,” Howard shrugged. “Pro teams are quite busy, so it's not easy te a match with them. But, they agree to py us from time to time because our team is det. I personally think they just enjoying stomping us, haha.”

  Why. Why was this the first time Yuel heard about any of this. While he and Lars were busy doing something basic like grinding in Ranked, Hot to py against real pros. And not just some 1v1s, but real 5v5 matches.

  “Why.” Yuel bit his lip. He didn't want to e off as aggressive, but he couldn't tain it anymore. “Why I never heard of this? You told everybody to keep hush about it, didn't you? Why?”

  “I only told them to not spread the word too much.” Howard turned around to face Yuel. “I knew how you and Lars would react. You'd be begging to py against the Sweepers tht?”

  “Of course we would. Any ce to py against real pros is a huge deal.”

  “Exactly, and I didn't want to deal with that. As I said, pro teams are busy even in B-League. It's not like they're at my bed call. They do sis a favor by pying us during their off-hours. So, I 't waste these opportunities on anybody but the first string.”

  A long and airtight response, as expected from Howard. He must have already pnned out how he'd answer such questions. He never failed to prepare the defense in advance.

  “You could've at least told me,” Yuel insisted. “I thought I'm the vice-captain.”

  “I don't think that really s you. I told you: I'm responsible for the first string, you handle everything else. This is a first string business, so it's not your .”

  “I see...” Yuel ched his shaking fists. It's true, it didn't him. After all, he was just a member of the sed string. Even though he was the vice-captain, the first string had nothing to do with him. Because he wasn't on the first string. Because he couldn't beat Howard.

  “Then,” Yuel spoke through gritted teeth. “What if I bee part of the first string?” He gred at Howard with all the determination he could muster.

  “In osition? You want to try beating Roi to take Top? Will be pretty rough, haha.”

  “I'm serious.”

  “Huh.” Howard's smile vanished. His eyes turned sharp, like that of an eagle eyeing his prey. That pierg gaze, it always made Yuel step back.

  But, not today. Yuel gred back without budging. He had enough. If he doesn’t fight baow, then when!? He had to defeat Howard and win himself a spot on the first string. Things couldn't go on like this. As long as Yuel was stu the sed string, he was nothing. A nobody.

  Yuel had to get out. He had to get to the first string. Then, and only then, he'll be sidered a real petitive pyer. He couldn't waste another year sitting on the bench.

  “Alright,” Howard finally unlocked his gaze. “If you're that serious, I'll give you a bsp; but only one. If you and Lars beat me and Elly, we'll surrender our roles to you.”

  “Really!?” Yuel’s heart skipped a beat, but only for a moment. No, it’s still too early to celebrate. “What do you propose? A 2v2?”

  “Nah, that'd be silly. Let's have a proper 5v5. You take Roi, Dan, and July. I take Gilbert, Tai, and Gregory. We’ll decide who pys on the first string with a best-of-three.”

  “But, that's...” Yuel frowned. It's quite clear Yuel's team had an advantage. Roi and Dan were first string pyers and they were superior to Taison and Gregory in virtually every way. Yuel's team will only have a slight disadvantage in Mid, but acc to his estimation, Julia wasn't that much below Gilbert.

  Yet, Howard was fident. Did he really think he could win against these odds? If so, he was suggesting that he and Ellen were much better than Yuel and Lars and that’d bahe teams out...

  “Sounds crazy?” Howard smirked. “I know what you're thinking, but this is the best way. If we beat you with this arra, you'll accept that I deserve the first string more than yht?”

  “Yes, I won't pin.” Yuel pursed his lips. Having Roi and Dan will give Yuel’s team a huge advantage, so the only reason they possibly lose would be because of Yuel and Lars. If they happen to lose, there’d be no choice but to admit that Yuel and Lars didn’t deserve the first stri.

  “But,” Yuel started. “If I win, will you really step down from the first string?”

  “You have my word,” Howard nodded. “If I 't overe this much, there's no hope of leading the team to the championship. May as well give up right here and now.”

  “I see.” It sounded over-the-top, but Howard must have arrived at this clusion after participating in many real matches. He has already fought on the petitive stage, so he knew how tough it was. For him, this unfavorable battle for the first string wasn’t even sidered his greatest challe’s just another milestone on the way to the top.

  “Okay,” Yuel said. “I'm in. When we're doing it?”

  “Let's do it before the weekend, on Friday. I'll tell Roi and Dan that you're in charge of them until then. Both teams will use this time to prepare.”

  “Sounds good.” I just hope he's not pnning t this match. Yuel frowned. Getting Roi and Dan was a huge advantage, but it could turn out to be a double-edged sword. After all, these two were on the first string, so they respected Howard as their captain. They might py poorly on purpose to ensure Howard's victory.

  “Don't worry,” Howard said. “I'll tell them to take this seriously. If they mess around, feel free to report. It's an important matd they must treat it as such. If they 't, they're not fit to py petitively. Simple as that.”

  “Sounds good.” It's dht eerie how well Howard read him, but these words were reassuring. It will be a fair matd it will have the first string on the line.

  Yuel came this far. He’s now just oep away from the first string and the petitive se. He won't let this opportunity slip by! He and Lars will win this matd cim their rightful pces as StormBlitz’s Support and Carry!