Phew, I escaped damage. Vi sighed in relief. But, is this what Challenger was hoping I’ll do? Or, did I thwart any of his pns? I suppose I'll never know.

  With that question still lingering in the air, Vi made his way back to the minions.

  Upon arrival, he found his army devastated. That’s to be expected after a meteor-level sm crashed upon them.

  A, all of them still lived. It artially thanks to Knight's Chivalry passive that boosted their defense.

  As the l this nd, it is my duty to protect my soldiers. Vi puffed his chest despite the fact he didn't lift a finger in that whole ordeal. He passively emitted an aura that grahe defense buff, nothing more.

  Jests aside, I must figure out how to proceed from here. Vi knotted his brows. This is a tricky situation.

  Until a few moments ago, Vi had been in total trol of the ne. Chivalry bolstered the defense of his minions by a ft amount, which was incredibly impactful during the early game. It put Vi ahead in the ning race even without him spending his skills to that end.

  However, that fully charged Barbarian Sm ged everything. It dealt enough damage to even the pying field in one fell swoop.

  In fact, it did more than evening the odds thanks to the sm’s stun effect. If the two of them tinue farming this wave with just basic attacks, Challenger shall emerge victorious in this exge.

  However, I also possess a Noble Phantasm that turides of battle! Vi decred boldly. It's called Justice of Knighthood - Unstoppable Shield Bash!

  Or basically, just Shield Bash. Truly, a name so simplistic it could make one cry. Hopefully, the criminal responsible for approving such a trite skill name was booted out of the design team for itting this atrocity.

  But regardless of the terrible name, if I borrow the power of the skill here, then I shall be able to shift the tides of battle in my favor! Vi procimed. What's more, with Justice of Knighthood - Valnt Sword Strike, I may cim further advantage and demolish the enemy's entire lineup!

  Holy, naming the follow-up "Bde Swing" was an eveer crime than the already bad “Shield Bash”. It’s as if the design team wasn’t even trying at this point. Truly, a disgrace to the art of skill naming!

  But for better or worse, the terrible skill names did not reflect the skills’ actual strength. They were very capable tools that would assist Vi in gaining a great advantage here!

  As, he would have to gain said adva the expense of throwing away his best escape tool. And, since he executed a Dodge Roll just a sed ago, it meant Vi won’t have any means to create distaween himself and his oppo if anything happens.

  Though his Barbariaeor Sm is off the table for now, I ot allow myself to be careless. There is always the possibility of him entering Berserk mode and choosing violence.

  Even though Barbarian Sm ate away at Challenger's Rage meter, it was a no-brainer for this savage css to refill it. Berserker gained Rage for each strike he delivered and his swings grew faster and faster by the moment. Surely, his Rage meter was shooting through the roof at this very moment.

  On top of that, Berserker gained even me from getting hit by enemies. So, in case Vi unleashes his Justice of Knighthood arts and gains the upper hand in battle, it will result in his minions aggressing on the Berserker and giving him Rage free of charge.

  With all of that bined, surely this gentleman will be able to transform into the maion of pure rage and unleash his fury on the nd! And, Vi would be left with no means to escape from that mighty typhoon!

  I ot say I like that hypothetical sario, not at all. Vi shook his head. I've had enough misfortunes befall me for a single game. I shall farm slowly and safely for now.

  And so, Vi stayed his hand for this round. He didn't unleash Shield Bash and instead hacked away at the enemy soldiers with simple sshes. He was fully aware that this weak routine was going to result in his oppo's victory, yet he tinued farming slowly but safely.

  For his oppo, this was yet another disappointing turn of events.

  Bruh, you’re still not gonna use your skills? Ronald raised an eyebrow. Aren't you misjudging the situation here? Like, hello? I'm totally gonna win the exge at this rate.

  And, he really did. Ronald eliminated all the enemy soldiers while keeping all his bowmen remained alive. This was the sequence of Bckhole’s passiveness.

  Aaaaand he's already retreating. Ronald sighed. Seriously, it's one disappoi after another with this guy.

  The more time passed, the dimmer and dimmer Ronald’s fighting spirit grew. InformationBckhole was nothing but one huge disappoi so far.

  Was this weakling really a part of Stratus, a team strong enough to win a game off the Leopards? Or, maybe the whole thing was just a fluke? Maybe none of these guys was anything to write home about???

  "My, is that a sigh I spy with my little eye?" Cato asked. "What happeo that gung-ho attitude you had when the game started?"

  "Meh, I'm just not feeling it anymore." Ronald shrugged. "This guy is a pushover. I thought I'd finally get to fight a real bruh in Top, but this ain't it, chief."

  "My, such btant uimation."

  "But, am I nht, though? This guy is clearly a pushover. Even when he has good opportunities, he's wussing out on them."

  "These all might be parts of a greater pn," Cato suggested. "Maybe he's pying like this to make you lower yuard. And, judging by your attitude, I’d say he’s pretty successful at that."

  "You’re saying he did all that on purpose? Nah, pretty sure he's just that bad." Ronald asserted. "I mean, he didn't even leave much of an impression back wheched their previous scrim. Like, didn't we agree he's pretty mediocre? Sonya, what's this guy's score, again?"

  "It's 5/8/8," Sonya answered. "The overall score is definitely above average for this region."

  To maintain a good point of reference against the region’s average skill level, Sonya defined a score of 5/10 on her list as “the average score for this region”. As such, anything above 5/10 meant that the pyer possessed “above average” skill.

  With this metric, a score of 8/10 was actually rather high. It meant the pyer was far above average in that particur category.

  In that sense, Bckhole's score of 5/8/8 was notably above the region’s average. His meical skill was mediocre, but his deaking and game knowledge were very solid, at least based oa thus far.

  heless, in the end, this score was just "above average". pared to the members of the Leopards, it was indeed fair to sider Bckhole underwhelming.

  "Man, I k." Ronald shook his head. "That 5/10 is for his meical skill, right? Yep, this bruh is as average as they get. I mean, I got a whooping 10/10 in that category!" He puffed his chest.

  "His deaking is a notch above yours, however," Sonya pointed out.

  "Meh, just by a little, right? Isn't mine like 7/10 or something?"

  "Yes, it is. At least, usually, it is..."

  "My, my, my," Cato interjected. "I sense regrets in that voice. Did you miscalcute when you gave him that 7/10?"

  "Ronald is... difficult to frame with numbers.” Sonya sighed. “His numbers fluctuate from game to game. For example, sometimes his meical skill looks like 10/10 but other times it's just around 8/10. The same applies to his deaking"

  "Then, how did you assign his final numbers?"

  "Using the most straightforward method: weighted average. I took samples from notable high-level Ranked games and did a weighted average of his performance across those."

  "And this is the result, huh." Cato nodded in uanding.

  Frankly, Ronald didn't deserve these numbers. Across the many Ranked games they pyed together, there were a few occasions when all of Ronald's stats dropped through the floor. Yes, the brat was just BAD in every sense of the word.

  However, if Sonya only took samples from the "hard" Ranked matches, then it made sense for the weighted average to look the way it did. After all, Ronald performed his best when fag strong oppos. That's also the reason why he started this game with a bang.

  Ronald's suggestion to go for an early invade panned out very well. On top of that, his pys in the ne were well-thought-out and effit.

  Judging by this particur instance, Ronald could easily vinybody that he was a petent pyer who deserved to py on the Leopards’ first-string. And, as frustrating as it was to admit, this whippersnapper really possessed the necessary skill, but only when he was willing to fully unleash it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very on.

  All that sighing Ronald foreshadowed a dee in his performance. Ohis brat grew bored of his oppo, his focus always slipped away aarted uimating all his oppos.

  Naturally, what followed was careless pys and reckless overextension. That's why Cato had to step in now before it was too te...

  DarkestCymore