Looks like I haven't aplished my mission. Yuel cluded after seeing that Nia’s expression was still tense. I thought that what I told her was very reassuring, but maybe I should’ve sugar-coated it more? Or, maybe I should've praised her more? I 't tell...

  "Dude," Lars interjected. "Why 't ya just be more straightforward there?"

  "What do you mean?" Yuel asked.

  "Like, I know ya like keeping things as ‘objective’ as possible and whatnot. But, doncha see Nia is still nervous and stuff?"

  "Yes, I do see that."

  "Then, why not just address that problem directly?"

  "How, exactly?"

  "Easy, yo! Like this." Lars cleared his throat. "Hey, Nia, awesome gank there!"

  "Eh? Um, thanks?" Nia was taken aback for a moment.

  "You totally gave these dudes a run for their money, didncha? They didn't see that gank ing at all!"

  "Yeah, they sure didn't."

  "So, how did it feel putting the champs on the spot like that?"

  "It was... pretty cool, actually." Nia shivered for a moment as she thought ba that situation with this new perspective. Her heart pounded as she remembered the rush of adrenaline she experie that moment.

  Thinking about it, Stratus ying against the regional champions here. And, acc to Yuel's evaluation, Nia was actually applying pressure oop dogs the entire game.

  On top of that, Nia successfully delivered a gank that these champions failed to foresee. Sure, it was a rash gank that didn't achieve all that mu the end, but it heless went through the champions' defenses and spooked them hard.

  In other words, Nia was actually capable of stumping the best pyers in the region. Wasn't that kind of amazing!?

  "Ya totally made them sweat, yo!" Lars dialed up the positivity. "So yeah, like Yuel said, o rush anything. You proved you totally bust through their defenses like a pro. So, rex, yo. You're doing fine."

  "Yeah, you're right. Thanks." Nia took a deep breath. At long st, her tense expression vanished pletely. One could even rename her Vanishiy.

  "Welp, that's that." Lars nodded in satisfa. "This is how I meant ya should do it, dude."

  "I see..." Yuel sighed in resignation. "Unfortunately, I 't hype things up like this.”

  "Nah, ya totally ,” Lars insisted. “Like, did I even say anything wrong there? I bet you agree with most of it."

  "... I suppose I do, to aent."

  Lars painted Nia's achievements in an overwhelmingly positive light, but he didn't say anything wrong per se. There was no denying that Nia was indeed perf well against the regional champions.

  The main difference here was that Lars glossed over all of Nia's faults when he delivered his narrative. He didn't bme the girl for rushing her gank or anything of the sort. Instead, he cluded his hype speech with the message "There's o rush", which delivered the same message overall but with much less hostility.

  That's the ohing I always struggle to do. Yuel criticized himself. If I see a problem or a mistake, I just have to point it out. Otherwise, it'll keep eating away at me.

  As somebody who excelled at finding others' faults, it was impossible for Yuel to stop himself from pointing fingers at others’ issues. This talent was like a blessing and a curse at the same time.

  I'll keep in mind that this is one way to approach such problems. Yuel took a mental hen again, I doubt I execute such a fervent spee practice...

  "Anyway, dude," Lars said. "I'mma be real, the main reason I butted in was because that stuff was distrag you. I really need ya over here right now. These dudes be pnning something again."

  "Got it." Yuel put the topic of Nia aside and focused on the ne in front of them. As much as he wao mull over other problems the team was fag, there was simply no luxury to do so, not against Rook and Merlin.

  "They decided to advance all of a sudden," Lars said.

  "Yes, they sure did."

  "So, whatcha say? Do we hit 'em?"

  "Hmm." Yuel carefully examihe ne and the mini-map.

  ", dude,” Lars pleaded. “Please tell me we gonna attack them. I've been waiting to go ham on these dudes for so long!"

  "It's not that simple."

  Every move Rook and Merlin made was carefully calcuted. That came as no surprise, sidering Rook was self. The team’s shot-caller was naturally capable of ing up with solid shot-calls for himself.

  On top of that, Merlin seemed like a very cooperative parthe two of them were in synost of their moves, as if they were on the same wavelength.

  Winner and Challenger cooperated very well too, but this is different. Yuel thought. I 't sense any fri between them all.

  For example, Winner and Challenger were very powerful when they perfectly coordiheir attacks. However, they couldn’t maintain that level of coordination at all times. Occasionally, those two seemed to bicker and fall out of sync.

  Thanks to that, despite how strong the “Absolute Duo” was, Yuel found ways to exploit their problems and turables on them. But, the same couldn't be done against Rook and Merlin.

  Merlin is a peculiar Carry. Yuel thought. Most of the Carries I’ve e across have very assertive pystyles, but not him.

  Merlin wasn't the type who wao charge forth and demolish everything that stood in his way, which was how most pyers acted in that role. Instead, he had no problem taking it easy and following Cato’s script.

  The best example Yuel knew of such a duo dynamic was Howard and Ellen. These two were in syn almost everything, therefore Ellen didn’t e across as a very assertive Carry.

  But, Ellen still had her own ideas from time to time, and she coaxed Howard into allowio execute these crafty schemes. So, even though these two agreed ohing 95% of the time, there was still 5% of freedom left for Ellen to enforce her own will.

  Oher hand, in Merlin’s case, the level of freedom seemed like a ft 0%. He didn’t seem to craft any eborate schemes, therefore it was impossible to properly outpy him. The guy simply didn’t care for taking the initiative ever.

  They're almost like a puppet and a puppeteer. Though, maybe I'm not giving Merlin enough credit here. Yuel thought. I suspect he's not mindlessly following orders. His pystyle is probably just simir to Cato's. It's like these two are made from the same mold.

  That much was already evident from the way Merlin pyed in Mid. Even though he was alohere, he didn't exhibit much assertiveness over there, either. He pyed it very safe and calcuted, always trying to avoid taking risks.

  The only real differeween that and Merlin’s performan Bot was that Cato occasionally dragged Merlin into more eborate schemes here. For example, like this suspiciously bold py that was happening at this very moment, with Rook and Merlin uncharacteristically advang toward the frontline.

  I'm sure that part of the reason they're not afraid to approach is that they know Nia has just left Top. So, at the very least, there's no ce of Bot being ganked any time soon.

  Like the rest of the Leopards, Rook and Merlin were always on guard against the possibility of being ganked by Nia. Whenever ered Bot Juhe duo immediately fortified their defenses and turned Bot into an unattractive o gank.

  This method was effective at discing Nia fr anything in Bot, but there was a cost to this solution. Being overly cautious often came at the expense of slowing down their farming speed. Yuel and Lars oftehese opportuo push harder and improve their ne trol.

  That’s the main reason why, despite Nia’s pressive achievements in this game, Yuel had a positive evaluation of her performance. Her mere presence piled pressure on the enemy, making them sacrifice their farm in exge for improving their defehis made Yuel and Lars’s lives much easier in the ne, and it brought simir bes to other nes as well.

  But, when it’s 100% guarahat Nia is away, thewo have no problem being a little more assertive. Yuel carefully analyzed the advang enemies. But, being aggressive isn’t in their nature in the first pce, so this is definitely bait of some sort. The question is, what are they trying to achieve here...?

  DarkestCymore