Reigniting the Engines

It was the second game in a row in which Kai was facing Theorist in the lane.

Based on all the available data from previous scrimmages, as well as Kai's own experience, she concluded that Theorist's defense was uncrackable. Kai simply couldn't find a way to bust through it, not without external help.

[But, where's that "help" at?] Kai sighed.[ Seriously, our Junglers can be such a pain sometimes…]

In the last game, Luke was the one who had the power to help Kai to bust through Theorist's defense. But, did he do it? Well, he tried for what it was worth. But, he didn't achieve much of anything.

Likewise, Nia hasn't helped Kai achieve anything so far, either. In fact, in Nia's case, it was a deliberate decision. The girl didn't even [try] to do anything, at least not yet.

And, whenever Kai interrogated the girl about it, Nia dodged the topic with vague statements like: ["I think they're keeping an eye on me. Scary. I can't rotate like this"]

That was the girl's excuse for not committing to any ganks the entire game. Supposedly, she hasn't "erased" her presence yet. But, how could she even tell whether the enemy really "forgot" about her yet or not?

[I think she's just nervous, which is understandable.] Kai thought. [She's just woken up and immediately got thrown into the heat of things. It's going to take her a while to acclimate to the stage again.]

Basically, for now, the team pretty much didn't have a functional Jungler, at least not for ganks. It was unfortunate.

Of course, there was still some hope that Nia will eventually overcome the pressure and will start scoring kills left and right. However, there was no telling when that'll happen. So, until then, Kai was alone in the lane, faced with an unbreakable wall of defense.

[It looks like I'm not gonna get anything done in this game either, huh.] Kai sighed. [It's getting kinda annoying, to be honest.]

As the captain, she would've liked to be the one who pulls the team forward. Especially right now, when the game was stuck in this awkward deadlock where nobody could make any progress.

But, that wasn't even the only reason for her irritation. There was also the nonsense Vincent spouted during the break, that whole talk about Kai being the "Softhearted Amazon". Basically, he claimed that Kai was "going easy" on Theorist because she was a fellow girl.

[Bullshit.] Kai asserted. [I bet none of them would be able to do any better in my shoes, except maybe for Lars and MAYBE Yuel if he manages to come up with some trick. Anybody else would get stalled just like me. Seriously, Theorist's defense is just that airtight.]

In fact, in the first two games, Vincent already got to play 1v1 against Theorist. Even though it happened in Top and not in Mid, the experience should be largely the same.

And, what did Vincent achieve against Theorist in those two games? A whole lot of nothing, that's what. He couldn't break through the tight defense by himself, just like Kai.

[Maybe I should start calling him the "Softhearted Idiot".] Kai scoffed. [Seriously, I don't understand what they're expecting me to do here. I know I'm a strong player, but I can't make miracles. If there are no openings, then there are no openings... right?]

Kai paused for a moment. She decided to reevaluate the lane situation on a whim because of these thoughts, and an interesting detail came to her attention.

[Her position is kinda...] Kai's eyes jumped back and forth between Theorist and the minions. [Pretty sure I can hit her if I shoot at the right angle from over there.]

This was unusual. Normally, Theorist's positioning was pitch-perfect. The girl left no openings for Kai to exploit like ever. So much, so that Kai practically stopped bothering to search for such openings. But surprisingly, there was an opening staring in Kai's face at this very moment.

Theorist summoned her Whirlwind and then distanced herself as usual, but she didn't retreat quite far enough into her territory. From this distance, Kai could very well snipe that turtle with Repelling Force.

[I'll have to aim really well for it, but it's doable.] Kai thought. [Let's do this, then!]

She spent a moment reaching the perfect position for taking the shot. This delayed the attack by about another second, but it was going to be worth it if the shot connects.

[Here goes!] Kai summoned a Magia Orb and followed up with Repelling Force, unleashing a magical shockwave around her. The black force hit the magical ball, kicking it like a soccer ball!

The orb pierced through the enemy minions and continued onward, flying toward the Aeromancer standing at a distance.

Honestly, it was a very long shot. The ball had to fly such a long distance that it almost seemed like it won't even reach the target. Not to mention, it was very easy to make a miscalculation with a shot this delicate, even for a skilled player like Kai.

But, not this time. Her aim was on point here. The magical orb successfully grazed the target right before vanishing into thin air. It was a hit!

[I did it, huh. I actually hit her!] Kai couldn't believe it. Somehow, this simple achievement brought her so much joy. It's almost like she overcame an impossible hurdle, even though she had scored shots like this many times before.

[I thought her defense was better than that. Did I overestimate her?] Kai wondered. [Or, maybe this was just a rare one-time mistake. Everybody makes mistakes, after all.]

Either way, it seemed like, at some point, Kai developed the impression it was absolutely impossible to bust Theorist's airtight defense. Therefore, she gave up on it ever happening and stopped even looking for opportunities.

[But, that's just dumb.] Kai shook her head. [No matter how good her defense is, it'll have some cracks every now and then. In fact, that's what Yuel always preaches, doesn't he? And, of course, I know that as well. So why did I…?]

It was a little odd. Normally, Kai would stop at nothing to discover such openings. She would keep pushing harder and harder, giving the defender zero rest in the hope to crack them by force.

Yet, she didn't do any of that against Theorist. For some reason, instead of trying to brute force through the enemy's defense, Kai chose to respect Theorist's skill and leave the girl alone.

[This is really not like me. I'm starting to get why Vincent dubbed me the "Softhearted Amazon".] Kai grumped. [But, it's not because she's a girl or anything, that's just dumb talk. I just got a little overwhelmed by her tight defense, that's all. I'll fix that.]

The hit Kai scored on Theorist proved that there were cracks in that seemingly flawless defense. And, it was Kai's job to apply pressure on these cracks in the hope to shatter the enemy's entire defense.

[From now on, I'll pay attention to every little detail.] Kai promised. [Her defense CAN be busted, that's the mindset I need to go with from now on.]

This was a seemingly small shift of mindset, but it was going to have big implications on the state of the lane and the game at large. Theorist had already realized as much after being hit.

[It hit me…?] Sonya adjusted her glasses. [Hmm. Yes, I see. My position was a little suspect. I should've created more distance between us.]

If she wanted to play it 100% safe, Sonya could've simply retreated all the way back to her tower. That didn't require any thought at all and there was no chance for any errors there.

However, for the sake of optimizing farm, Sonya didn't retreat all the way. She only retreated as far as it was necessary in order to not become an attractive target for Repelling Force.

[But, I didn't retreat enough this time. I was short by a step or two.] Sonya frowned. [I have to say, she sure has a sharp eye to spot a tiny mistake like this.]

Just as the data suggested, Beat was a mechanically skilled player. And, unlike in the Taurus scrim, Beat's performance was stable today. She was arguably a little too passive in the last game, but now she's baring her fangs again.

[This is not good.] Sonya frowned as she watched what unfolded after she was hit. The damage she received was nothing to worry about, but the implications of being hit extended beyond just damage.

Sonya's minions had no intention of letting this transgression go unpunished. So, they ignored the enemy army in front of them and focused all their attention on Beat.

Naturally, the offender was also very much aware of these consequences. It seemed like she started retreating before the Magia Orb even hit Sonya, and she even used Dodge Roll to retreat faster. Truly, the girl was very confident about the accuracy of her attack.

In response to the assault, Sonya's minions ignored everything around them and chased after Beat. On the other hand, Beat's minions were still focused on Sonya's minions. As a result, once Sonya's army moved away from their usual positions, Beat's army followed suit.

Essentially, Sonya's soldiers were chasing Beat, and Beat's soldiers were chasing Sonya's soldiers. It was a chain reaction.

Ultimately, the entire scene moved away from the center of the lane, which was the spot in which Sonya always cast her Whirlwind. The tornado slowed down the departure of the minions but it couldn't entirely stop them from leaving. This led to a huge damage loss for Sonya.

On the other hand, Beat only benefited from this development. As she retreated, she also fired basic attacks at the minions that chased her. This slowly hacked away at the minions' HP in addition to the hits they were already receiving from Beat's squad.

In the end, Sonya's entire army perished without delivering any damage to Beat. On the other hand, Beat's army was fully intact and suffered minimal injuries.

For the first time since Sonya and Beat had started facing each other in the lane, Beat finally got herself an opportunity to push hard.

[This is not good. It might give her momentum.] Sonya thought. [If she starts dialing up the aggression, then I have to prepare accordingly.]

There was a peaceful status quo on the lane until now, but it seemed as if things were about to change. Beat was now like a beast who tasted meat for the first time. This one successful exchange might awaken her innate aggression.

[Well, it's only speculation at the moment.] Sonya thought. [Let's hope I'm overthinking this.]

Unfortunately, she wasn't. In the next wave, Beat showed similar signs of aggression. She approached the frontline even more boldly than before in order to land a shot on Sonya with Repelling Force. And, as embarrassing as it was to admit, the shot actually hit home.

[Tch, seriously?] Sonya frowned. [I knew I had to be on guard this time but I still allowed myself to get hit. This is unacceptable.]

How could it happen? Sonya knew exactly what was coming and how to deal with it. In her head, the problem was already solved before it even appeared. So, why did that Magia Orb hit her?

[I wasn't paying enough attention.] Sonya criticized herself. [If I wasn't busy checking the map back then, then I would've noticed Beat's telegraphed approach. But, I totally missed it]

A momentary lack of attention made Sonya commit yet another uncharacteristic mistake. It was time to make another report so she was preoccupied with deducing where Vanishing could possibly be, but that Magia Orb hit her right in the middle of the investigation.

[Focus.] Sonya took a deep breath and concentrated all her attention on the lane. It was important to supervise Vanishing, but right now, it was more important for Sonya to handle the lane situation.

[It seems like Beat decided to wake up.] Sonya thought. [I'll have to start paying more attention to her now.]

Even somebody like Sonya couldn't multitask all the time. Right now, she had to be wholly focused on Beat's aggression, and supervising Vanishing could wait.

This meant the next report had to be postponed. Interestingly, nobody had said anything about the delay so far, not even Cato.

This truly showed how the responsibility of tracking Vanishing fell on Sonya and Sonya alone. Nobody else was paying much attention to the phantom's movements at all. And, why should they? The girl hasn't posed a threat ever since the game started.

However, as it turned out, the one time when the phantom's movements were left unsupervised was about to become a critical moment…