Pulling up the Weak

After officially joining the club, Nia had to register her "golden nickname" in the game. However...

『This name is already in use』

"Hm?" Nia titled her head. "Somebody stole my name?"

"Looks like it," Kai said, "You'll have to come up with a new one."

"But, I like BlackFlower..." Nia sulked.

"If you're in need of nickname suggestions, I got plenty to spare!" Vincent said. "For starters, how about Vanishing Phantom?"

"Hmm, I dunnoץ" Nia twisted her lips. "Ah, how about Vanishing Flower?"

『This name is available』

"Ok, I'll take it then," Nia said.

"You really like having 'flower' in your name, huh," Kai said.

"Flowers are nice," Nia smiled softly. "They're all quiet and chill fellows."

"Huh," Kai wasn't sure what to make of it so she just let that comment slide.

And so, Nia became an official member of Stratus through and through. She got her golden name and attended club practice.

"You should take this opportunity to rotate to Top," Yuel lectured during a match. "When the enemy laner is dead but our laner isn't there to take advantage of the situation, it's often a good idea to rotate there and push the lane yourself."

"Oh, smart," Nia nodded and followed the instructions. She rotated to the undefended Top Lane and pushed the enemy tower along with allied minions.

『An enemy Turret has been destroyed!』

"Good job," Yuel nodded. "What do you plan to do next?"

"Hmm, return to the jungle and farm?"

"Is that your favorite pastime or something?" Yuel smiled wryly. "Now is a good time to gank Mid. Their Lancer will most likely rotate to defend Top, so it's a great chance to force a 2v1 situation in Mid."

"Oh, I see," Nia nodded and ganked Mid.

『An enemy has been killed!』

With some help from Lars, Nia dealt the killing blow on the enemy Sorcerer and got the kill.

[This is going well. Too well, even.] Nia never had a MOBA match that went so smoothly. She delivered one play after another and everything just clicked. Just by following Yuel's advice, she dictated the entire momentum of the match.

"That's the kind of power Junglers have," Yuel lectured. "Depending on your decisions, the entire flow of the match might change. So, you have to make sure you learn from all these examples."

"Can't I always just ask you for advice? That's easier."

"Sorry, but that won't fly in a serious match. I won't have the time to tell you every little thing."

"Tch, bummer. What an unreliable app." Nia pouted.

"That's why you have to learn to do all of this on your own," Yuel said. "If you want to keep practicing after club hours, you can drop by my place after school so we keep playing."

"I'll think about it."

[A polite decline. I see.] Yuel sighed. He has been spending most of his club time on coaching Nia, with the intent of turning her into a full-fledged Jungler. However, she still had a lot to learn. If she doesn't start practicing past school hours, she might not be ready in time to participate in the upcoming scrimmages. That'll be a huge waste of practical experience.

Nia opened up to him bit by bit and now listened to his advice without resisting, but she didn't consider them close enough to hang out together. Or, perhaps she didn't think she needed that extra practice because she didn't feel the same urgency that was eating Yuel. Either way, it was unfortunate.

[So, I have to find a way to get her up to speed with what little time we got during club activity.] Yuel concluded. As a whole, Nia showed more promise as a Jungler than a certain memer. So, she had a real chance to-

"Heeeeey! Earth to Yuel," Lars called out. "The next match is ready."

"Ah, right," Yuel shook his head and returned to reality. Before he realized, school was over and he was back at home, playing with Lars. [Darn it, who gave time the right to fly so fast? It must be passing the speed limit. I'll sue.]

"What's keeping ya busy all the time?" Lars asked. "Ya don't even review our games half the time lately. Not like I'm complaining, but ya know."

"I was looking up guides for jungling and taking notes," Yuel explained. "Nia still has a lot to work on, so I'm trying to find the best way to teach her."

"Whew, that's some dedication. Are ya like her coach or something?"

"I guess I am."

"Heh, ya sure like the girl," Lars smirked and jabbed lightly. "When's the wedding? I gonna be yo dude of honor, haha."

"Again with that nonsense?" Yuel rolled his eyes. "I just want to get her up to speed so she's ready to play on a competitive level as soon as possible."

"Ya sure pouring everything ya got into this one thing. I don't even remember the last time you criticized anything about my plays. It's all Nia, Nia, and Nia 24/7."

"What, you want me to scold you more often?" Yuel asked. "I thought you hated that."

"Heh, of course I hate that stuff. But, ya know, gotta face the harsh truth every now and then so I can git gud. If ya ain't there to tell me I'm doing something wrong, who will?"

"I suppose that's true."

"Yep, it totally is, But, instead of doing that, you spend all day fawning over your girlfriend. Not cool, dude."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Sure feels like one, she even made ya forget what we're training for. We got a huge battle ahead of us, remember? We gotta wreck Athena and Aegis and all that jazz! Did ya forget all about them?"

"Of course not," Yuel shook his head. "Everything I'm doing is for the sake of securing victory in that match."

"Yeah, sure feels like it when ya ignore me and focus on yo girl the whole day."

"What, you feel lonely?"

"H-Huh?" Lars jumped and glanced away. "T-That's ain't what I'm saying, yo." He cleared his throat. "I just want ya to focus on what's important. We gotta win that rematch no matter what. So, we gotta practice super hard every day for that thing."

"Yeah, I agree."

"But, instead, you're all over Nia 24/7. You ain't even scolding me on stuff, like that greedy rotation I did to Mid in the last match. I got my ass royally whooped there in a 1v2."

"That rotation wasn't so bad, actually," Yuel argued. "It didn't turn out well because the enemy was prepared for it, but it could've been a solid play otherwise. So, I didn't feel there was a need to say anything. I was sure you knew exactly what went wrong there."

"Wait, you actually remember that play? I thought you didn't even see it because you weren't paying attention, haha."

"Of course I saw it," Yuel said. "But, it was an alright rotation so I said nothing. Sure, it was a tad risky but it was fine. In general, you've been making much safer decisions recently so I have much less reason to worry."

"Seriously?" Lars blinked. "So, like, ya tellin' me I'm playing like a pro and stuff?"

"Well, 'pro' is a stretch. But yes, you play way better than before," Yuel said. "That's why I don't review our matches as often recently, which brings me back to Nia. You're in a great good spot right now, but Nia got a long road ahead of her. So, I need to guide her. If she improves enough, I believe she has the potential to help us in the rematch against StormBlitz."

"Oh! For real!?" Lars's eyes glittered. "She got some secret weapon and stuff!?"

"Perhaps," Yuel said. "At the very least, I prefer her over Luke right now. He's a good player but his memes won't cut it in a competitive environment."

"Welp, dude is the Meme Jedi. He gotta use memes."

"I admit that, for a memer, he's a strong player. But, that just won't work on the highest levels. He has to start taking the game more seriously or Nia will take his spot."

"Haha, so that's how it is!" The familiar dazzling grin returned to Lar's face. "So, you've been training Nia to increase our chances of winning the rematch! I see it now. So, ya didn't forget about our goal after all."

"Of course not," Yuel asserted. "We'll get our rematch at the regionals and claim victory."

"Hell yeah! That's more like it!"

"The thing is, to properly train her, I need Nia to become more cooperative. No matter how many times I asked, she doesn't want to join us for after-school training. But, I don't think she's just being lazy. Maybe she's still wary of me? I can't tell for the life of me."

"Well, it makes sense. She's a girl and all," Lars shrugged. "Not gonna lie, I also won't feel comfortable going to some girl's place a few days after meeting her. It just be like that."

"I suppose you're right," Yuel had to concede. Maybe he was too used to how Julia always came over to train. Then again, the only reason she came here was to spend time with Lars. Also, Julia was at least the same year as them. Meanwhile, Nia was just a freshman. That surely added another layer of awkwardness.

"I think ya rushing it, dude," Lars said. "Just keep teaching her like you're already doing. I'm sure she'll appreciate how much of a walking encyclopedia you are"

"Thanks, I guess."

"But hey, we gotta improve too, ya know?" Lars insisted. "You don't have any special training ideas for us? Like, sitting under a waterfall or climbing the Everest!?"

"How any of that is going to help us improve at the game?"

"I dunno, dude. That's what they always do in cartoons and stuff, and it works!"

"Too bad we're not living in a cartoon," Yuel shook his head. "For now, I don't have anything special in mind. As I said, your performance has been decent recently so I haven't found any glaring flaws to work on. Just keep polishing yourself as a Carry and you'll be fine."

"Ya sure about that?" Lars asked. "Don't wanna rub it in or anything, but we did kinda lose to Athena and Aegis..."

"Yes, but we were close," Yuel insisted. "I think we've reflected enough on our mistakes from that day. You've been working on your decision-making and I've been working on my shot-calling. We're heading in the right direction. We're already in a much better place than we were a few weeks ago."

"Really? Sick, yo!" Lars grinned. "Can't wait to test this out in a real match! When are we fighting StormBlitz? Let's bring the fight to them!"

"All in due time," Yuel said. "I think we're both doing fine right now, so I rather focus on Nia and the rest of the club. We have to pull them up to our level before we can start worrying about ourselves."

"Gotcha, dude!" Lars nodded. "Okay, the next match is starting! Let's rock n' roll!"

Confident in their respective abilities, Yuel and Lars continued polishing their skills the straightforward way: by playing Ranked. However, unbeknown to them, three unexpected visitors were about to show up and shake up their confidence...