First Blood

Yu Pengkai's eyebrows were virtually knitted together ever since the game had begun, a stark contrast to Kevin's overly-bubbly mood. In fact, Kevin was currently making his champion dance around in circles next to an empty jungle camp, entirely oblivious to the fact that the allied soldiers were spawning and would soon reach his lane.

"Just you watch us shred them!" Kevin's voice went up an octave.

While Josh wasn't as clueless and was camping in a top lane bush, he was playing Alexander the Great, a useless champion. Plus, he too did not buy any starting items. Maybe there was something actually wrong with the tutorial.

Per habit, Yu Pengkai immediately began to look for their win conditions. Only this time, he really couldn't see any.

There were two tanks on the team, one going top and the other stationed at the bot lane. They had no supports, much less any champion for crowd control—rooting, stunning, or charming. Instead, there was an excess of ADCs, three to be exact, but something told Yu Pengkai that none of them would live up to their name of Attack Damage Carry.

In short, there was no ounce of ability damage on the team. If the enemy team collectively had a single brain cell and built armor, the game would be set in stone.

He looked to the opposite side of the screen. On the counter side, there was a Cleopatra whose charm could single-handed root half the team, a Jing Ke who could assassinate every single one of their team's ADCs, and a Paracelsus who could heal while dealing toxic damage. Not to mention, they also had an ADC and a tank to complete the set, and it was quite a normal team composition.

Just great, Yu Pengkai thought, glancing at the clowns he was spectating. He forced himself to see the positives instead.

Although playing a squishy ADC against a mid laner was not ideal, if Kevin could at least get one kill, he could easily snowball and poke down the enemy mid laner with his improved range. Plus, Cleopatra was a champion who depended heavily on her first item, and without it, her damage was virtually negligible.

Speaking of the devil herself, the enemy Cleopatra materialized from the fog, strutting forward confidently as her golden headset bobbed from side to side. Meanwhile, it appeared that Kevin finally remembered to go to the lane, a moment too late that he missed his first three soldiers.

Kevin's Joan of Arc walked up in front of her soldier wave, raising her arms into the air as if to throw her sword at the defenseless Cleopatra. The shiny metal flew across the screen, piercing the entire enemy wave as well as the Cleopatra with an illuminating aura.

"Yo! Won't ya look at that! I am such a god at Kings of Valor!" Kevin could barely hide his excitement, not knowing that he had been taking hits from the entire enemy soldier wave from his point and click ability. Their little swords and arrows were all pointed at the Joan of Arc, slowly but surely chipping away at her health.

With that single thrust, he was already down a sliver of his health, and it was apparent to Yu Pengkai that the trade was not worth it. A look of blatant disapproval inched up his face.

Kevin continued commanding Joan of Arc to thrust her shiny sword at the enemy soldiers, hitting them repeatedly and without break, not realizing at all that he only received gold if he hit them for the last time and effectively killed them.

Yu Pengkai sighed, attempting to redirect his attention back to the chemistry textbook.

However, Kevin clearly had no intent to let Yu Pengkai go back to his studies this easily. "Yo, look at this second ability!"

A halo of light suddenly appeared around Joan of Arc, and she stepped forward, her sword being replaced by a small cannon in its place. The fiery red cannonball hurled forward, bouncing off two minions before hitting Cleopatra firmly on the side as it chunked a quarter of her health.

It was as if Kevin suddenly remembered how to auto-attack, and he lunged forward for a few more point and click hits.

Seeing Cleopatra down to a quarter of her health and trying to recall at her tower, admittedly, even Yu Pengkai had a moment of short-lived hope. With this recall, if Kevin could get a few more soldier kills, he might actually come out ahead in terms of gold and secure an early advantage!

Things obviously did not go per expectations. Somehow, it made sense for an ADC to try to tower-dive at level two. And as much as it didn't make sense, it didn't stop Kevin from trying anyway. Leaving the rest of her ally soldiers behind, Joan of Arc stepped just outside of the enemy tower range and proudly raised her cannon.

"I got her! I got her!" Kevin exclaimed, a wild look in his wide eyes.

Yu Pengkai could almost see Cleopatra's invisible smirk as she raised her staff. Swinging it at a full arc, she cast a charm spell. Seeing the golden scarab beetle fly out, Joan of Arc couldn't even side-step before being charmed, immediately walking in a mummy-like state toward Cleopatra and the awaiting tower.

A sizzling blue tower shot hit her.

Then another.

Joan of Arc flashed away with a sliver of health, fleeing for her life, but Cleopatra was faster. With another swing of her staff, a giant golden orb materialized against at the tips of her hand.

She threw it out, and a ball of dazzling sunlight burst through the minion wave.

"First blood!"