The fame between Stratus and the Leopards began. It was Stratus' st ce to even the odds, so the pressure was on.

  Most of the team tried to pretend as if they weren’t bothered by this at all, but it was impossible to not feel any pressure uhese circumstances. In particur, Ben was the most nervous of them all.

  But, even he somewhat quered his fears for now. The presenike and Co. did wonders for helping him to take his mind off things. By the time the game loaded, Ben’s mind was already fully occupied with how he was going to py this important game.

  They invaded us st game. Ben recalled the start of Game 3, where the Absolute Duo appeared out of the blue in Stratus' territht at the start of the game. That one small but critical py had hefty sequences for the rest of the game.

  In fact, maybe it wasn’t a stret that this py determihe entire momentum of Game 3. For an aggressive p like the oratus used, suffering an early death breater implications. It pletely killed their ces of building an early lead.

  Not to mention, the situation also put Luke on the spot. He had to fill up for Vi in Top instead of jungling, which threw his entire game pn further into disarray. Truly, that one invade was very critical.

  Even though Stratus wasn’t sp the same kind of aggressive lihis time around, an early death should still be avoided at all costs. Perhaps dying in the early-game wasn’t as bad as dying in the mid-game, but it’ll definitely hit the team’s morale very hard if the same sario repeats itself again. At the very least, Ben knew for sure that it’ll hit his morale super hard.

  Especially, if I know I could’ve preve. Ben o himself. “Um, if it’s not a problem, I’d like to pce three wards ht at the start.”

  “Sure,” Yuel said. “Pce as many as you deem necessary. The enemy might invade again, so it’s best to exercise caution. In fact, I’m gd you’ve brought that up yourself. It shows you uand what we’re dealing with here.”

  “Yes, the enemy’s Top and Jungler are very aggressive, right? I’ll do my best to not give them any opportunities.”

  “Good. With your defensive pystyle, you should be able to disce them fr anything funny.”

  “Y-Yes!” Ben tensed up a little. I-Is he really pg so much faith in me!?

  That was rare sidering Yuel wasn’t the optimistic type. He wouldn’t say “you do it” unless he truly believed it.

  I-I totally ’t mess up here! Ben gulped. I ’t betray that trust!

  “Duuude, look what you’ve done.” Lars chuckled. “Ben looks stiff like a statue all ain. o puch pressure on him.”

  “That wasn’t my iion,” Yuel said. “I just shared my predis.”

  “Well, in your case, if you tell somebody you’re ‘expeg’ them to perform, then you’re like SERIOUSLY expeg them to perform.”

  “Yes, of course. Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it?”

  “Well, ya know, usually teammates say things like that to each other to ence and stuff,” Lars expined. “Like, ‘you totally do it, yooooo!’ That kinda stuff just means you believe the dude got the powah, it’s not the same as saying ‘you gotta pull this off or else I’mma be disappointed in you for life!’. That’s some Asian parent moment.”

  “Is that so.” Yuel shrugged. “I’m not the type to say things like this unless I really expect it to be true.”

  “Yep, exactly! That’s the whole problem, dude,” Lars said. “When you say something like that, you mean it in a super serious way. Dude gonna feel like he disappointed you if he screws up even a little.”

  “Well, it’ll definitely disappoint me if Ben’s defense ’t fend off the Absolute Duo,” Yuel admitted. “But, that’s the extent of it. In the end, this is Ben’s debut game, so ces are that things won’t go that smoothly. I’m aware of that.”

  “Welp, that’s something ya should’ve told him first before pg these giant expectations on him.”

  “Is that so?” Yuel g Ben.

  “W-Well…” Ben cmmed up. “I guess it’s more reassuring to know that the expectations aren’t too big. Otherwise, the pressure is too much…”

  "I see." Yuel sighed. Looks like I still have a lot to learn. unication is such a plicated topic.

  With that sorted out, Ben proceeded to purchase 3 normal wards, the maximum amount a pyer could carry at oime. Spending so much money on wards prevented him from buying any HP Potions for the early-game but he sidered it a good iment and even Yuel agreed.

  I won't o recover any HP if I just stay out of harm's way. Ben reasohe wards should help me with that.

  After making the purchase, Ben hurried to the jungle. He had three important wards to pd he had to do it before the enemy ehe jungle. So, time was of the essence.

  The first two wards were a no-brainer. Ben pced ohe enemy's Wolf Camp and the other he tral entrao Top Lahese two were the standard meta spots to cover.

  However, this time, Ben had one more ward at his disposal. So, where should he pce this ohere were multiple options.

  I think the most important is to prevent surprise invades. Ben reasoned. Last game, I think they rotated from around here. So...

  The upper half of the jungle roperly warded i game too, yet the enemy mao sneak by regardless. This implied they passed through the middle of the jungle.

  Kai pced wards in the lower half of the jungle in both games, so the middle is the only optio.

  Therefore, Ben decided to seal that exploit. The enemy won't get a ce to unleash another devastating invade, not under Ben's watch.

  But, as he approached the area, his blood turned cold. There was anure ahead of him!

  "A-Ah, i-it's their J-Jungler..." Ben stuttered as he delivered the news. He thought that he mao calm down by now, but the mere sight of AbsoluteWinner sent a chill down his spine!

  H-He's the one who killed Vi st game. Gulp.

  AbsoluteWinner was arguably the stro pyer of the stroeam in the region. Furthermore, while the majority of the Leopards prioritized defense, Challenger was airely differe.

  But, was it right to call him an "aggressive" pyer? Not quite. That descriptioer described AbsoluteChallehe other half of the Absolute Duo. That guy was a cssid straightforward attacker, the type who submitted oppos through sheer force.

  He’s also a dangerous pyer, but nowhere near as dangerous as Winner. Ben gulped again. H-He is also aggressive but in a smart, methodical way.

  If Challenger was a hot-blooded gdiator, then Winner was a cold-blooded assassin. This boy was like a killing mae. Each of his strikes was swift, decisive, and deadly.

  Against normal aggressors like Challenger, Ben usually knew how to handle himself. These guys were strong and scary, but it ossible to deflect their attacks with careful defense.

  Oher hand, how was Ben supposed to defend himself against an assassin? And not the sneaky type of assassin, but an assassin who had no problem brawling with the target in order to thhly decimate them. Pyers like that were both smart and strong, they had it all!

  "Don't worry," Yuel said. "Just pce the ward as you intended."

  "B-But, that means..." Ben gulped.

  In order to pce the ward as he inally inteo, Ben will have to step a little forward, as it was impossible to reach the important crossroad from his current position.

  But, walking forward meaing closer to the dangerous killing mae. W-What if Witacks all of a sudden!?

  "You’re close to the ter of the ju you’re still our territory," Yuel expined. "He won't dare to invade right in front of you, especially not alone."

  "Alone? ht." Upon further iion, there was no sign of AbsoluteChallenger anywhere in the viity. It meant Winner was isoted at the moment.

  “Also, keep in mind that they have no data on you whatsoever,” Yuel said. “So, I’m sure Winner wouldn’t risk attag you so openly.”

  “R-Right, he’s a smart attacker.” Ben nodded. “I also don’t think he’ll take a risk like this.”

  Somehow, the fact that the enemy was “smart” actually pyed in Ben’s favor this time. By logically thinking about the pros and s of the current situation, it was sometimes possible to figure out what Winner will, or will not, do.

  "B-But, he's still here, though..." Ben tensed up uhe enemy's pierg gaze.

  From the moment they aowledged each other's preseneither of them moved an inch. It almost felt like these tearedowns in ovies. It almost wouldn't be strange for one of them to pull out a gun and shoot the other. Any moment now.

  “S-Seriously, why is he still here?” Be sweat f on his forehead. “If he doesn’t pn to attack, then he should’ve left by nht?”

  "He's gathering information," Yuel expined. "I'm sure this meeting was ued for him as well, so he wants to see what you'll do ."

  "Is that so..." Hard as he tired, Ben couldn't calm down his shaky nerves. He felt like a b rat. Winner’s intense gaze was disseg him alive!

  Seriously, the man watched Ben’s every move. It’s as if he was trying to find the ti hint of weakness in Ben's as. It was thhly uling.

  "W-Well, I pce the ward," Ben said. "But, he'll see it."

  "Yes, that's probably the thing he's looking toward to. But, I say just do it."

  "R-Really? But, then they'll know we got a ward here."

  "Yes, they will,” Yuel said. “But, knowing that the ward is there won't ge the fact that this ward is tricky to py around. And, they surely won't buy a Sentry Ward to remove it."

  "Oh. Yes, that's true." Ben nodded.

  With newfound fidence, he stepped forward and pced the ward at the crossroad as intended. It was an important interse that ected four juhs. In other words, this one i ward sealed off multiple roads that the Leopards could’ve used to iratus’ territory ued.

  Even if they know the ward is there, they probably 't do anything about it. Ben reasoned. If anything, knowing about this ward might just disce them fr anything funny. This sounds good.

  On that note, Ben turned around and headed to the Wraith Camp, where Nia was already waiting.

  As soon as Beed, so did Winner. What clusions did the enemy draw about this whole exge?

  "They have a ward here." William pced a pin on the map for everybody to see.

  "Dang, for real?" Ronald made a face. "How are we gonna ihem now? Like, we gotta circle around the entire jungle if we wanna keep a low profile."

  "I don't remember when we agreed to invade."

  "Wait, we not gonna do it? But bro, it worked out so well st time!"

  "Yes, it did. And now they're cautious, as they should be.”

  “Dang, so we’re not getting another opportunity any time soon, are we?”

  “Not this round, that’s for sure,” William stated matter-of-factly. “But, the fact we made them pce that extra ward out of paranoia is already good enough. After all, they had to spera gold on it.”

  “Bro, what ‘extra gold’?” Ronald cocked his head. “It literally only costs 50.”

  “Yes, it’s a 50 gold advantage for us right off the gate, isn’t that nice? Besides, who knows how many other wards they bought to protect themselves against us.”

  “Yeah, I re they might’ve bought a bunch of extra wards.” Ronald nodded. “But, that just gonna make it that much harder for us to gank early on.”

  “You’re not looking at the whole picture,” William said. “For one, buying ara ward means that their Top had to give up on potions. Vanguard doesn’t have any recovery, so without potions, it’ll be much easier to harass him into recalling.”

  “Oh, you’re right!” Ronald checked out EnduringPhoenix’s build, which was now known to the eeam thanks to William spotting the d. Ihe guy didn’t buy any HP Potions.

  “EnduringPhoenix, huh.” Ronald smirked. “It looks like somebody isn’t going to endure for that long in ne, hehe.”

  “Riiiight.” William rolled his eyes. “Anyway, make sure you take advantage of this. If necessary, I lend a hand.”

  “No problem, bro!” Ronald promised. “I’ll bully the guy out of ne, easy.”

  With that decided, the duo grouped up at the Wraith Camp and took down the monsters. After that, they proceeded to clear the Wolf Camp op.

  Once all of that was doh, the brothers went separate ways. Ronald tinued onward to Top, whereas Wilim retreated deeper into the jungle.

  The game was starting for real now. Will Ronald be able to put the enemy’s ck of positions to good use? He sure had every iion of doing so!

  DarkestCymore