With Nia awake, it was now possible to kick the memer off the team. That already solved one of the team’s biggest issues.

  But, that won't magically solve all our problems. Yuel thought.

  There was no question that Luke's memeing dragged the team down a lot i game, but that wasn't Stratus’ only problem. Regardless of Luke, the team failed to get any offense rolling on any ne.

  Yuel and Lars failed to bust through the iron wall of Rook and Merlin, whereas Kai failed to achieve anything notable against TheTheorist. Though, there was one big differeweewo cases.

  "Kai, correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't really try to go on the offehat mu the st game, did you?"

  "Hmm, I guess I didn't," Kai replied pinly. "There weren't any good opportunities as far as I could tell."

  "Is that so." Yuel didn't have enough evideo refute that cim.

  Normally, Kai was the kind of pyer who could be left to her own devices so long she was in a stable mood. As such, Yuel usually paid less attention to her uatiohere were more pressing issues at hand. And, in that particur game, he was more preoccupied with the airtight enemy defense in Bot, as well as the overwhelming enemy offense in Top.

  So, did Kai really not have any good opportuo start pushes in Mid? Frankly, Yuel couldn't ahat off-hand. He'd have to watch the repy ter in order to firm that cim. Regardless, this ressing issue right now.

  I could check the repy now, but there’s not enough time for that. Yuel thought. This isn’t the only issue I want to discuss, so I ’t waste too much time on it. I better get to the point.

  "Was Theorist's defense really that good?" Yuel asked. "I had the impression she pys it too safe, so you should’ve been able to exploit her passiveness at least a little."

  "Yeaaaah, she sure turtled, alright.” Kai sighed deeply. “But, that doesn't mean it's easy to find opportuo pressure her. I mean, she pys for the Leopards, so she's no pushover. I'm not gonna find any free opportunities just lying around, you know?"

  "Iing, because Vi sure found a few good opportunities when he pyed against Theorist in Top,” Yuel pointed out. “And, sidering your pystyle, I was sure you’ll be able to push Theorist around eveer than Vi did.”

  "His circumstances were totally different, though," Kai argued. "He ying a ter-pick, so, of course, he found opportunities. Oher hand, I was on even ground with Theorist as far as our csses were ed."

  Sorcerer and Sage were both best known for their led options, so they were like two picks that effectively celed each other out. As a result, the 1v1 in Mid turned into a duel between snipers. So, it wasn't hard to imagine why Kai struggled to find any good opportuo push.

  Still, I was sure that Kai will be able to get at least SOMETHING started. Yuel knotted his brows. I had a feeling their Bot duo will stump us because their defense is on par with Howard and Ellen's. So, I was hoping that at least Kai will build some momentum for the team.

  As, Kai did nothing of the sort. Though, perhaps part of the bme y with Yuel for making Kai py Sorcerer. She might’ve needed a mgressive css to get things rolling.

  With all that said, Vi had a different expnation for the whole thing.

  "If I may have a word," Vi started. "I suspect that a big part of this particur issue lies with Beat's ‘Softhearted Amazon’ trait. I believe I've informed you of it before."

  "Oh, that thing..." Yuel made a face. "Yes, you mentiohat Kai might be xer against female oppos."

  "That's BS," Kai denied immediately. "We already went through that, and I’m pretty sure I made it clear: I'm not gonna go easy on anybody. Male, female, trans, whatever. If they’re my oppo, then I gonna mop the floor with them all the same!”

  "Indeed, I'm certain that this is what you genuinely believe in your heart." Vi nodded. "heless, I suspect that reality doesn't quite align with that belief you cim to have. After all, I've seen much evidehat supports the existence of your Softhearted Amazon trait."

  "You’ve seen what, exactly? Me going easy against girls? That never actually happened."

  "Did you not say that sometimes you go easy on female oppos during PE lessons?"

  "Well, yeah, because it's usually that easy." Kai admitted. “Most of the girls there barely know how to py, so if I tryhard, then I’ll just stomp everybody.”

  Really, the petitive level in girls’ PE lessons was a joke. It felt like half the girls there didn’t even care about peting at all.

  And, even among the girls that did pete, Kai ofte like she was head and shoulders above the others. It was unclear whether she was naturally gifted or whether it was her petitiveness with boys that pushed her skill that high up. Either ying any ball game against girls during PE lessons was too much of a no-brainer for her.

  As such, Kai only had two options in these situations. First option: go all-out and domihe game. This usually made the girls pin about how much of a “tryhard” Kai was.

  Sed option: py in “chill mode” without trying too hard to destroy her oppos. Of course, she still made sure to perform well and lead her team to victory, but at least nobody pined anymore.

  Most of the time, Kai picked the tter option, as uncharacteristic as it might’ve seemed.

  "But, that's only in PE," Kai insisted. "In Mancers, I don't ever hold back."

  "Is that so." Vi clearly wasn't vinced. As the Arbiter of Talents, he was certain that he knew anything and everything about his teammates’ special traits.

  "In that case,” Vi said. “Allow me to pose you the following question. On a scale of 1 to 10, how salty do you sider yourself after failing to make any substantial pushes in Middle Lane?"

  "Eh, like 5/10, I guess?” Kai shrugged. "I mean, I just didn't find any good opportuo push in this particur game, but I'll definitely find some in the one."

  "There, I rest my case."

  "Huh?" Kai cocked her head. "You proved what, exactly?"

  "I shall let Chessmaster draw his own clusions from this exge."

  "Hmm." Yuel thought long and hard about Kai’s answer. Indeed, it wasn't too hard to spot the tradi here. Basically, for some reason, Kai didn't sound nearly as petitive as she usually was.

  Normally, Kai would rant to no end about failing to defeat her ne oppo. But, for some reason, that wasn’t the case against Theorist. Kai simply waved off the whole thing by saying she “didn’t get any good opportunities”. This was rather uny.

  I didn’t take Vihat seriously on this point until now, but I’m starting to see what he meant. Yuel thought. It’s not as if Kai “goes easy” on girls per se. It’s more that she’s less petitive against them.

  Perhaps, somewhere at the back of her mind, Kai didn’t register female oppos as a real threat. It would be ironic, sidering how much the girl herself hated it when others uimate her based on her gender.

  Or, maybe I’m reading this whole thing backward. Yuel thought. Maybe it’s just that losing to boys automatically triggers her and pushes her to be more petitive, whereas losing to girls just fails to recreate the same effect.

  In other words, it was a double-edged sword. Against males, the salt of losing pushed Kai to the edge. Sometimes it allowed her to outperform herself, but other times it also made her lose sight of herself.

  Meanwhile, against females, none of that happened. Kai didn’t get tilted from losing, but her did she feel salty enough to push herself to the limit.

  Now I also uand why Vi was able t this up in the first pce. Yuel thought. He’s usually all about finding pyers’ strengths while pletely missing all their weaknesses. So, I’ve always thought it’s weird that he, of all people, would e up with this “Softhearted Amazon” trait, which sounded like a weakness.

  However, it turned out that this trait was a two-in-one deal. It had its fair share of ives, but it also had some positives.

  So, where does that leave us? Yuel knotted his brows.

  Based on Vi’s evaluation, Kai will tinue being chill in Mid so long as her oppo was Theorist. This meant Kai’s performance will be stable and she won’t ever go off the rails, but it also suggested she won’t try too hard to bust through Theorist’s turtling.

  So, I ’t rely oo build any momentum. In other words, it’s up to Lars ao get something going in Bot.

  Hopefully, with Nia ba ission, Stratus will be able to pick up the pad create some good opportuo attack. However, the way things stht now, there was one more issue the team had to wrestle with.

  I’ve e to terms with the fact that Mid will probably remain at a standstill, but there’s also Top to sider. Yuel thought. Over there, we were pretty muder the enemy’s thumb, so we have to ge that somehow. There IS ohing we try, but...

  That’ll be a big, experimental ge. Perhaps, it was too big for Stratus to afford at this stage ich...

  DarkestCymore