The match between Lars and Nia began. Nia picked Ninja for its OP stealth whereas Lars went for Pirate. Or, at least, it should've been a Pirate...

  "Haha! What's with this dude?" Lars ughed at his own character. He ying on Vi's at so the Pirate had quite the... iing design. "Pft, haha! This looks so weird!"

  “That’s the High Seas entator!” Vi said. “He plunders all the hot moments of the match!”

  “Sick, yo!” Lars gave a thumbs up.

  The Pirate was wearing a slick suit, like those dudes delivering news on TV. He was holding a microphone instead of a pistol and when he fired basics, he talked into the mic to produce sound hat flew forward.

  When switg to the “cutss”, this newsman attached a stand to his mid waved it around to attack. Stuff was hirious. 10/10 skin.

  After Lars finished messing around with this silly skin, he focused och at hand.

  "Ninja, huh," Lars smiled mischievously. "This goneresting. I'mma go invade her blue camp."

  "Wait," Kai was quick to object, as always. "o be so aggressive. We're here to test her not to beat her up."

  "But, ya gotta invade in these situations," Lars said. "I got da range so I gotta use it against her."

  "I agree that invading is a strong py here,” Kai said. “But, if it works, it'll put her in a terrible positiht from the start. Dying in the first minute of the match always feels like shit."

  "Haha, true dat," Lars nodded. "Okay, I'mma give her a break and py nice. Don't expect mercy from me ohough. That dude sure fight so I wanna go all out, yo!"

  "Just don't overdo it..." Kai's almost sounded pleading. She knew first hand how overwhelming Lars was as an oppo so she prayed this beast won't crush Nia to the point of no recovery.

  While Lars was on his way to his Wraith Camp, Nia was also in the middle of making her first big move.

  Pirate. What a pain. Nia twisted her lips. Now, it’s proven: they're bullying me.

  As an assassin, fighting a marksman was either the most fun thing ever or a total disaster. If Nia get close enough to strike, she'll destroy that guy in a blink of an eye. However, when the marksman was the cautious type who knew how to properly position himself, he'd just stay away and spaia out. There was very little an assassin could do against marksmen like that. Ban marksmen from Duel pls, ktnx.

  What do I build against Pirate? Nia checked her surroundings. Ok, clear.

  She stealthily took out her phone and inputted the Ninja vs. Pirate matchup iipmancer app. It gave her a build reendation and a few tips.

  Imperial Spear. I see, the cssiia his was the standard Ninja opening so there was nothing special reended against a Pirate oppo. That made some sense because Imperial Spear was such a great setup for Izuna Drop, Ninja’s ultimate.

  There was only oeresting note against marksmen in general. Tipmancer warned against early invasions. That made sense because marksmen had a huge advantage when ambushing assassins. They struck from afar so the assassin couldn’t immediately retaliate.

  I bet this tip right here is why so many Ptinum marksmen have been invading against me retly. They all must be using Tipmaoo. Cheaters.

  Iingly, this tip worked both ways. Assasins also had a great be from invading marksmen as long as they could get close ued. Not all assassins had the tools for it but any assassin with stealth could pull it off. And, Ninja was one such css.

  Should I try it? If I get an early kill, it’ll make the game that much easier. But, what if he notices? I haven’t erased my prese. The invade may fail and then I’ll die instead. Too risky.

  Nia gave up on that idea and quietly headed toward her Wraith Camp. It was better to take this slow and safe like she has always done. Instead of going all-in with an invade, she should focus on pying around the enemy’s potential invade instead.

  Let’s see. Nia hid behind a er and spied on her Wraith Camp. There was nobody around but that didn’t mean anythi. Her oppo might be lurking nearby and waiting for her to step into the camp. She couldn't risk it.

  The wraiths spawned in the camp at the same time minions spawned on the ne. So far, still no sight of the enemy Pirate. Was he there? Was he lurking around in the shadows and waiting for an opportunity to jump her!? It was too scary to test out.

  Therefore, instead of approag the camp by herself, Nia activated Shadow e. It summoned a copy of the Ninja a it running forward. Naturally, Nia directed the e toward the Wraith Camp.

  This should bait him out if he’s there. Nia cautiously advaoward the camp as well. She was stealthed while her e was alive so there was no risk of the enemy spotting her right now. Instead, the enemy could see the e and will hopefully focus on it.

  But, nothing happehe e ran into the Wraith Camp and attacked the wraiths. There was no sign of the enemy Pirate in the area.

  He’s not invading? Really? Ok then. Nia looked around one more time and proceeded to clear the Wraith Camp together with her e. The e died pretty quickly but at least it tanked hits a some damage to the wraiths. That helped Nia clear the camp a little faster. Thank you, my twin. Your efforts will not be in vain.

  After getting the blue buff, Nia retreated deeper into her side of the map and circled around the walls to arrive on the ne from a safe position. It took lohis way but she didn’t want to risk running into the Pirate in the middle of the juhis was an important exam and her oppo was a marksman so she had to tread carefully.

  By the time she arrived at the he Pirate was already there, waiting to bully her. She didn't dare to e any closer. It was scary.

  Instead, she let her minions csh at the ter of the map and watched the unfoldis from afar. The Pirate was helping his minions by c fire but Nia just stood at a distand did absolutely nothing for her allies.

  What a funny skin. Nia thought as she watched the Pirate do his thing. Instead of a gun, he was holding a microphone and firied up entary at the minions.

  "What a shot!" "Beautiful st-hit!" "Such a high-level!" Every other shot was apanied by a one-liner like this. It was rather silly but funny to watch. It helped Nia pass the time as she waited for her Shadow e skill to e out of cooldown.

  By the time Shadow e came online, Nia's entire minion wave was already gone. So, she just retreated tolem and waited for the ining enemies. Ohe eepped into the Golem's area, Nia summoned her e and assaulted the iogether with her dear twin sister.

  When Shadow e was used in broad daylight like this, the enemy obviously knew whiia was real and which was a fake. So, even though the enemy couldn't shoot the real Nia because that'd aggro the Golem, the Pirate was free to attaia's sister without any risk because she was just a bot.

  At least, hopefully, that's what the ehought. In practice, the Golem treated Nia’s e the same as the real deal. So, no matter whether the Pirate shoots Nia or her dear sister, the Golem will make quick work of them!

  Nia caught many amateurs off guard with this strat. She lured them into the Golem area and made the shoot the e, which aggro'd the Golem on them aed at least half their HP. It was easy to go for an early kill from such a position.

  As, this Pirate didn't it such a mistake. He focused on shooting the Golem a both Nias clear his minions. Tch, what a smart fellow.

  "I'm gd you didn't fall for it," Yuel ented. "It’d be a very sad game if you attacked the e."

  "Hey, who did you think I am?" Lars grinned. "I ain't Challenger for show, ya know? I know some stuff too. Attag the e uower is a newbie mistake. I've graduated from that ages ago, yo!"

  So, you actually fell for that before? Yuel chuckled. With that said, it was hard to bme Lars for it because most people fell for that on their first time. Even Yuel got burned by that iion once.

  In his mind, the e was a minion so it should've obeyed the rules of any normal minion. In other words, attag the e shouldn’t have triggered enemy minions and towers. Therefore, with a high-damaging “mob” on the only made seo focus on it first before pushing the tower.

  That’s why Yuel carelessly shot the first e he ever entered. Unfortunately, that triggered the entire enemy wave on him and he had to run for his life. It was one of these embarrassing mistakes that will stay on his mind for life. After living through this dangerous situation, there was no way he'd ever fet the game treated the e as a real pyer for minion aggression purposes.

  This special characteristic of Shadow e was the only way a Ninja could pete against a led oppo during the ning phase. During the minion wave, Nia stayed in the back again but, this time, she sent her e to the frontlio clear minions

  Even though Ninja was a melee css, Shadow e allowed the css to do remote farming like this. The e had much lower HP than Nia so it could easily die to minion fire. But, that wasn’t an issue because the enemy minions saw the e as a real pyer. That made them prioritize other minions first.

  Thus, the e stayed out of harm's way as it sshed away at the ehe e's stats were just a pertage of the inal's so it couldn't clear the wave as quickly as Nia could've had. heless, the power of Ninja's basics was rather high and Nia bought Imperial Spear for extra power so the e cleared the minions fast enough. On top of that, all the farm the e earned went directly to Nia.

  I wish there were more automated remote-trolled options like this in the game. Yuel thought. Sending somebody else to do all the hard work for him was the best. A css like that would rely primarily on the pyer's ability tize and less on their meical skill. Yuel would have maihe heck out of such a css. Unfortunately, there was no such css for Support.

  Nia's e vanished after a while but it did its job. The enemy's entire frontline was gone and it became a battle between bowmen.

  Your efforts won't be in vain. Nia silently thanked her departed twin sister. Even though Nia didn't participate in the farming at all, she earned solid exp and gold thanks to her sister's efforts. Nia still had to clear the rest of the enemy wave uower and suffer a farmiy for it, but it wasn't so bad.

  And so, this routied itself. During every minion wave, Nia sent her dear sister to wreak havo the frontline while Nia herself only cleared the remains afterward.

  "You're not going to attack her?" Yuel asked.

  "Hmm, I dunno," Lars tilted his head. "Like, I'm getting some damage on the Golem every time so it gonna die eventually. This ain't like the hax Golem of MOBA that heals itself all the time faster than Wolverihis smaller Golem dude pys it fair. He knows to admit defeat like a real man."

  "True, you'll eventually take the Golem down at this rate. But, you don't want to try sg any kills on her? In all the times I've seen you py Duel, you’ve always tried to get in the enemy's fad kill them."

  "Nah, why take the risk?"

  "Why indeed," Yuel frowned. He had nothing to retort with. There was really no reason for Lars to go out of his way and aggress on the enemy here. That’s just put him in unnecessary danger.

  So, Lars's id-back attitude made perfect sense. But, that's exactly what was so scary about it. When did this goof learn to py patiently like this? It was still ohing when Yuel especially asked Lars to py patiently. But, for the hungry beast to be cautious like this of his own accord? Unfathomable.

  I feel like I've been thinking that a lot tely. Yuel realized. Over the past two weeks, it felt as if Lars's hyper-aggressive approach to the game has been dying out. Instead of chasing every kill, Lars opted to keep himself alive even if it meant giving up oing opportunities.

  The seleatch is probably still on his mind. Yuel thought. He uood the feeling because it was the same for him. Even though this was just a test match for Nia, Yuel couldn't help but wonder whether Nia had some amazing defensive skills and was going mount a devastating terattack the moment Lars aggresses. Even though a freshman shouldn’t have any amazing skill like that, Yuel couldn’t erase the possibility from his head no matter how hard he tried.

  Lars robably ed by the same thing. That's why he chose the slow and careful approach. If he win without taking any risks, he’ll take that route.

  And so, the same routied without interruption. Both sides farmed slowly and cautiously. Ead every time, Lars won the exge and nded a few shots on the Golem. It was a slow process but a safe and effective ohe Golem's HP has already dropped to 50%.

  If Nia pns to make a move, it should be sometime around now. Yuel thought. There was no doubt that Nia will try something soon. She was the type to py defense for a long time and then suddenly to go on the offehat's how she caught Vi off-guard st game. Will the same tactic wainst Lars?

  Another wave, another slow burn. Lars smiled wryly. Holy, he was itg to jump in with his guns bzing. Or, with his mic bzing, in the cast of his High Seas entator skin. Gonna ehe opposition to death, yo!

  But, he didn't dare. There was no telling what sort of trap he might run into. It was unnecessarily risky. If things keep going like this, Lars will eventually win. So, it was better to take it easy and slowly poke the Golem to death.

  The usual pn. How surprising. Lars yawned as he saw the Ninja e dashing toward his minion wave. Yet again, this wave gonna py out exactly the same as before. There was nothing for him to do but shoot the minions and wait until they push all the way to the enemy Golem.

  There won't be any a or any surprises here. It was the usual Ninja e wave-clearing tech. Zzz. He could do this in his sleep.

  Same as always, he just fired at the enemy minions from afar. He gonna this up quickly and advaoward the-

  SLASH!

  "Wha!?" A bde cut across his back! From where!? How could there be somebody standing behind him!?

  The Ninja e was right over there, clearing minions. And, as always, the real Nia was... nowhere in sight, actually! She was right behind him and she was about to end his whole career!