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

He failed to finish the Golem before Ignis returned, but he brought it down to 40% HP. That's a huge lead when combined 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 played 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 backline. Thanks to his attack range advantage, he could combine offense and defense into one play. Truly, he every possible advantage at this point.

Alas, things were never that easy with Ignis. She side-stepped the first shot without slowing down and swung her blade at the second shot.

“Think you can *hic* the Great Ignis with these lame shots? Ha!” Ignis parried the second shot... at least, that's what’d normally happen. However, her blade failed to make contact. 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 done it! You’ve soooooo done it!” Ignis ranted through 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 intently. That slow reaction and poor coordination, she was finally playing like a drunk. Becoming salty must have thrown her off her game, so her automatic professional responses stopped kicking-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 understood 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 reaction speed, she was still leagues above Yuel. It was a naive attack, but it delivered the message: if Ignis doesn't retreat, Yuel will pounce at 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 lane. Step by step, he was approaching victory. Ignis was losing it, so this game should be in the bag now.

By time Ignis recovered and returned 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 won yet!” Ignis rushed at him again and yet again, her defense was lacking.

This is getting risky. Yuel glanced at his HP. Even though Ignis’s assaults ended in failure, she usually managed to land 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 exchange and will out-damage her thanks to Morning Star increasing his crit chance with every attack. So, with that in mind-

“Gotcha!” Ignis charged forward and spun her blade 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 reaction, 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 slashed. A shot for a slice, a slash for a bolt. It was a race to the death!

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

『You have killed an enemy!』

With this, the match was pretty 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 sneeze at. 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 slammed his face! In real life! What the-!?

“Don't wanna!” Ignis flailed 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 hilarious and sad at the same time. Ignis was supposed to be the adult here, but she was acting 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 experience with being drunk, so hard to say.

Either way, he must wrap up this game. He ignored the barrage of pillows and focused on taking down the Colossus. Despite the interference, he successfully finished the job.

『VICTORY』

He did it! He beat a pro! ... a pro who was drunk, five levels below him, partially underestimated him and let him counter-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 in her top form? Gulp.

This was a great experience, aside from the pillow missiles at the end there. Yuel got a lot of insight into how Ignis played 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 playing her.

Did Howard get to play his sister every day? So lucky. No wonder he was such a strong defensive player. He must have learned to defend so well in order to stay alive against Ignis. If only somebody in Yuel's family was a pro player... sigh.

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

“Sis,” Howard leaned toward her. “It's already late. He needs to-”

“OOOOONE MORE!”

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

“Sure.” Yuel nodded. This was a rare chance to play against a pro, so Yuel wouldn’t miss it for the world. He'd stay up all night to keep playing Ignis.

“C'mon then!” A confident grin returned to Ignis’s face. “Let's go! I'mma show you how real players 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 composure during the short break.

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

However, next game Yuel countered her back and got another win, though it was a close game. Whenever he managed to throw Ignis off her game, that made her slip and opened the road to victory. That was his secret weapon against her.

The fifth match went to Ignis, and so did the sixth. Cornering her Viking proved harder than Yuel thought. 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 late, so you need to 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 mechanically strong as Lars and she amplified said strength with airtight decision-making. Will Lars also reach that level one day? How long will it take that goof?

“So,” Yuel turned to Ignis. “How did I play?”

“Like poop,” Ignis closed her eyes and lifted her chin. “But well, guess it's not that bad for your age. You even managed to 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 last comment was totally unnecessary, but I'll take it. Yuel played good enough to impress a pro, so that's good enough for now. His next goal was to blow Howard out of the water, so he’ll make Ignis eat her words then.

“This lasted way longer than I planned,” Yuel put down the controller 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 such an amazing pro player on a daily basis. So damn lucky.

“Hey, Wardy...” Ignis mumbled half-asleep. “Before I pass out and forget... Our guys agreed to play your team this weekend. They're salty about losing to the Falcons, so they wanna vent 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 “our guys” who “lost to the Falcons” will “play 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 Falcons today, that's why she was drunk in the first place. And, these “guys” will be playing 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. “Forgot something?”

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

“From time to time, yeah.” Howard didn't even try to hide it. His team gained valuable experience by playing against pros. It’s the first time Yuel heard about any of this. Nobody mentioned anything about this even when they 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 to arrange a match with them. But, they agree to play us from time to time because our team is decent. 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, Howard got to play against real pros. And not just some 1v1s, but real 5v5 matches.

“Why.” Yuel bit his lip. He didn't want to come off as aggressive, but he couldn't contain 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 play against the Sweepers too, right?”

“Of course we would. Any chance to play 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 beck and call. They do sis a favor by playing us during their off-hours. So, I can't waste these opportunities on anybody but the first string.”

A long and airtight response, as expected from Howard. He must have already planned 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 concerns 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 concern.”

“I see...” Yuel clenched his shaking fists. It's true, it didn't concern him. After all, he was just a member of the second 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 become part of the first string?” He glared at Howard with all the determination he could muster.

“In what position? 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 piercing gaze, it always made Yuel step back.

But, not today. Yuel glared back without budging. He had enough. If he doesn’t fight back now, 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 stuck in the second 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 considered a real competitive player. 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 chance, but only one. If you and Lars can 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 plays 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 players and they were superior to Taison and Gregory in virtually every way. Yuel's team will only have a slight disadvantage in Mid, but according to his estimation, Julia wasn't that much below Gilbert.

Yet, Howard was confident. 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 balance the teams out...

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

“Yes, I won't complain.” Yuel pursed his lips. Having Roi and Dan will give Yuel’s team a huge advantage, so the only reason they can 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 string yet.

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

“You have my word,” Howard nodded. “If I can't overcome 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 conclusion after participating in many real matches. He has already fought on the competitive stage, so he knew how tough it was. For him, this unfavorable battle for the first string wasn’t even considered his greatest challenge; it’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 planning to rig 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 play 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 match and they must treat it as such. If they can't, they're not fit to play competitively. Simple as that.”

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

Yuel came this far. He’s now just one step away from the first string and the competitive scene. He won't let this opportunity slip by! He and Lars will win this match and claim their rightful places as StormBlitz’s Support and Carry!