Sizing Up the Opponents

"Phew, finally..." Yuel sighed as he dropped on a chair. His muscles were legit dead right now. However, the torture was finally over; they finished cleaning up the clubroom.

"Okay!" Lars was pumped a fist, still full of energy as ever. "Now, let's 2v2!"

"Eh," Kai made a face. "Don't you want to rest first?"

"Nah, rest is for the weak! Let's go go go! Or, wait, are you guys tired?"

"Eh?" Kai frowned. "N-Not really, not me. I just thought the others might be. No way this much would tire me. It was like a brief workout, nothing more."

"Okay, then let's do it!"

"A moment, please," Vincent's voice resounded from somewhere but he was nowhere to be found. "Don't know about you, but I need to take five. Or fifty, even."

"... why are you lying on the floor?" Kai raised an eyebrow.

"This may look like the floor to you, but it's actually a bed. I dub it the Makeshift Floor Bed!"

"You're literally just lying on the floor."

"It's the Ultimate Makeshift Floor Bed!"

"You gonna get yourself dirty."

"Nah, we just wiped it clean, remember? Therefore, it's the Ultimate Sparkling Makeshift Floor Bed!"

"Whatever," Kai shrugged. "If you need a rest so hard, then we should take a break."

"Yep, let's take a huge break," Vincent said. "Like, for an hour or two."

"Just how tired are you?"

"Imagine I'm a Warlock who ran out of MP early on and continued spamming spells all day long at the cost of my HP. That's how tired I am. I'm literally dying over here."

"Seriously," Kai shook her head. "Aren't you supposed to be a boy? Get a grip."

"I identify as the Digital Boy class. I got high INT but low STAMINA."

[I guess I belong to that class too.] Yuel silently nodded. He also needed some rest for his sore muscles, but thankfully he didn't have to admit it. [I'll let Vincent look like the only unfit guy in here. Flawless strategy.]

"Okay," Lars sat down. "Tell me when you dudes are ready to go."

Everybody sat down, except for Vincent who insisted to keep planking on the floor like a noodle. It's like he was making a public statement against the atrocity that was cleaning.

Nobody was busy right now, so it was a great opportunity to make some small talk and get to know the other members. Alas, Yuel hasn't invested any SP into his "Small Talk" skill, so it was unusable. On the other hand, Lars had that skill as a passive ability he was born with.

"So," Lars started. "Where's the rest of the club? You're not the only ones here, right?"

"There are two more," Kai said. "Luke made an excuse to ditch cleaning, as expected. Ben was supposed to come, but I guess his... Eh, his 'friends' probably dragged him somewhere again."

[The other members sound like a bunch of troublemakers.] Yuel thought. He hoped a small club like this would be a house for a few but very competent individuals, but that impression has been shattering with every passing moment. And, it didn't help that the school was treating the club like dirt, which probably further discouraged new students from joining.

It felt like a catch-22. The school didn't think highly of a club dedicated to a video game, so it treated the club like a nuisance. As a result, the club got a barely functional clubroom that was hidden deep in the basement and was allowed to recruit only a small number of students. As a result, the club performed poorly in tournaments and the school got another reason to cut the club's numbers. It's a vicious cycle.

Not to mention, any sensible student who learns the grave circumstances surrounding this small club would be discouraged from joining. Even the non-competitive players, who'd normally jump on any opportunity to be in a "video gaming club", will steer clear of a club like this. So, it was expected that the skill of club members would be all over the place.

"What ranks are you two?" Yuel asked.

"... Diamond V," Kai answered with a pause. It was a decent rank for a middle schooler, so it was unclear why she sounded uncomfortable saying it out loud.

"Yeah," Kai clicked her tongue. "I know what you're thinking. Compared to Challenger V, Diamond V must be looking like shit to you, huh?"

"I didn't say anything," Yuel answered plainly. "Diamond V is decent."

"I don't need your sympathy."

"Um, sure," Yuel didn't know how to handle this one so he just let the topic die out on its own. "What about you?" He turned to Vincent.

"I'm still Platinum IV. Gotta be honest, the grind is real in Platinum. It's the Grind of a Thousand Years."

"I see," Yuel said. At one point in time, he also thought that the grind in Platinum was rather absurd. But, after he passed that, he thought the grind in Diamond was way more absurd. And then, he reached Challenger and... well.

So, at this point, the grind in Platinum felt like a child's play. In fact, Yuel and Lars already hit Platinum II by the time they got to middle school. Platinum was definitely not the kind of league a competitive player should be stuck at, especially not a senior in middle school.

Getting to Diamond V like Kai and being stuck there for a while was acceptable, especially without a strong team to help carrying you. But, being stuck in Platinum? Please.

[Well, maybe I'm exaggerating.] Yuel stopped himself before drowning in the negativity. Kai was Diamond V, which was decent. Vincent was Platinum II, which should be easy to convert to Diamond V with Yuel and Lars's on the team. That is, provided that Vincent was at least a semi-decent player.

In conclusion, by the time the regionals hit, there was a good chance four out of five players on the main team will be of Diamond quality or higher. Not too shabby.

But, before all that, there was the 2v2. Online rank alone wasn't nearly enough to determine a player's real skill level, so it'll be interesting to see how well Kai and Vincent perform in practice. Nevertheless, Yuel was inclined to believe that a duo of Challenger V would stomp a duo of Diamond V + Platinum II.

Kai might be an opponent to look out for, but Vincent was most likely lacking in some areas at the moment. He'll be the weakest link in the enemy duo, so Yuel and Lars should focus on outplaying that clown. Even though normally it wasn't the best idea to focus the Support, here it sounded like the best plan.

"So, about the 2v2," Yuel said. "When are we doing it?"

"Wait, we're really doing it today?" Vincent asked with a long face. "C'mon, guys. We just finished cleaning our super secret base. I'm dead tired."

"I'm also a little tired," Yuel admitted. "But, let's just play a friendly match."

"These aren't the eyes of somebody who wants a friendly match," Vincent smiled wryly. "You look like a hound who craves to devour the gods."

"That's just my normal look," Yuel said. [He's sharp. I have a feeling I shouldn't disregard him based on rank alone. He might be the type whose strength lies in strategizing.]

If that's the case, then Vincent's rank might not represent his true skill. There was no telling how far Yuel would've gotten in Ranked on his own without Lars's overwhelming carrying strength. Yuel's forte laid in tactics and strategies, which were difficult to utilize with limited team communication. Online players rarely agreed to follow the advice of some random on the internet.

Perhaps Vincent, just like Yuel, excelled in those areas more. After all, despite Vincent being such a clown, the club entrusted him with scouting last year and Kai wanted him as her Support. So, Vincent might hold great value when he plays in a strong organized team.

"C'mon," Lars urged. "Let's rock, my dudes!"

"I'm down," Kai nodded and gave Vincent a look.

"Oh c'mon," Vincent sighed. "You guys have to make me out like some kind of party popper, don't you? Alright, fine. Let's do that 2v2."

Everybody was on board now. The only things left to discuss were the rules of the match and how they'll play. From what Yuel could tell, the room only had two computers. So, it was impossible for all four of them to play on computers.

"Are we going to play on tablets?" Yuel asked.

"You can play on the PC if you prefer," Kai said as she pulled out a controller. "I'll stick with tablet."

"Yeah, I also prefer the tablet," Vincent took out his controller.

[They're way too nonchalant about it.] Yuel frowned. If it were him, he'd do anything in his power to play on PC instead of a tablet. It was the superior platform for this sort of game.

Was it possible these two were more comfortable playing on a tablet? That'd be unusual because PC was the popular platform that gave players an edge. If they really felt more comfortable on a tablet, that might be a bad habit that required fixing ASAP.

"Okay," Lars nodded. "Then, let's use the PC!"

"No," Yuel objected. "It'll give us an unfair advantage, so let's use tablets too."

"Welp, okay," Lars twisted his lips but obediently took out his tablet. He was very much a PC player, so his performance on tablet paled compared to how strong he played on PC. Under any other circumstances, Yuel would make Lars play on PC for sure.

However, in this 2v2, the goal was to prove they were better fit to play Bot than Kai and Vincent. Therefore, playing with a PC advantage would defeat the entire purpose. They had to play on even grounds with their opponents and destroy their opponents fair and square.

"Are we doing banning?" Vincent asked.

"We really have to?" Kai made a face. "I thought this was a friendly match. We should just go with blind picks."

"Friendly match, huh," Vincent smiled wryly. Apparently, he was the only one in that camp who understood Yuel and Lars's intention with this match. "How about we do a short banning phase? Say, just ban three classes and that's it."

"Fine by me," Yuel said.

"Geh," Lars pouted. "We gonna waste time on that stuff? Let's just play already, yo!"

"It sounds unnecessary," Kai shrugged. "But, I'm fine with a quick ban."

"Alrighty," Vincent nodded. "We're all set then. Oh, wait. We need to open the door." He dashed to the metal door and opened it wide.

"Is there a reason for doing that?" Yuel asked.

"Indeed," Vincent nodded. "There's a big, deep and sophisticated reason for this ritual. From the beginning of time, humans have worshipped the sun as a god and-"

"A real reason?" Yuel asked again.

"It's to help the wifi," Vincent dropped the act. "Even though we're connected to the school wifi, it doesn't reach that well down here. Sometimes we get lag spikes and disconnects. So, by busting this door open and exposing our clubroom to the sun, our wifi connection gets a goldy boost!"

"I see," Yuel wasn't entirely convinced but it seemed reasonable. It was common to lose reception inside tunnels, so perhaps this bunker room had the same signal blocking capabilities.

[I only get four bars down here.] Yuel checked the wifi signal on his phone. He has been maintaining solid five bars throughout the day at the school, so this basement was truly an exception.

"With the door closed, no signal could ever hope to penetrate these walls!" Vincent started his nonsense again. "Even the FBI wouldn't be able to spy on us in this secret Anti-Signal base!"

[Why would the FBI want to spy on a lowly Mancers club like this?] Yuel retorted mentally.

"I like this," Lars gave a thumbs up. "Keep the door open so we get at least some sunlight. Not gonna lie, this place is dark as heck. We need some sun energy, yo!"

"Oh, I see you're a follower of the Sun Order," Vincent nodded repeatedly. "I see, I see. So, the secret to your power must be the sun! Wait, don't tell me! Are you perhaps the Sun Messiah prophesied to save Stratus from the bottom of the competition!?"

"Yep, that's me. The one and only, Gunz the Sun Dude, yo!"

"Can we move on to the match already?" Kai asked right before Yuel brought it up. Ninja'd by a split second.

"Yes," Yuel followed up on her words. "Let's start already."

The two pairs split up and went to opposite sides of the room to set up their tablets. This storage room didn't have many computers, but at least it had desks and chairs for days. This was probably the place where they stored reserves for classrooms. And, apparently also where they dumped the old, barely functional ones...

"W-Whoa!" Yuel slid off the chair and dived into the floor.

"Pft, haha," Lars offered a hand. "You okay, dude?"

"Y-Yeah," Yuel's cheeks felt a little hot. "Who put these broken chairs in here?" He shot a glare at the stupid chair. One of the chair's legs was didn't reach the floor properly, so the entire chair tilted to the side when Yuel tried sitting on it. "We gotta be careful with what we pick."

"Yep," Lars nudged the nearby table. "This dude right here also sways pretty hard. Gonna be a pain to play on."

After conducting a careful inspection, Yuel and Lars finally found a stable table and a safe pair of chairs. Now, they were ready for battle!

"You ready over there?" Vincent shouted from the other side of the room.

"Yeah!" Lars replied with a shout.

"Alright, only took you guys a year!"

[Well, excuse me for being new here.] Yuel grumped. As expected, the veterans found functional desks and chairs instantly because they knew what's up. So, everybody was waiting for Yuel and Lars.

But, everything was set now. They were ready to duke it out in a 2v2.

Honestly, this arrangement wasn't ideal because both pairs were in the same room and there was a chance they'll overhear each other's plans and shot-calls. However, it seemed difficult to hear anything unless somebody was literally shouting, so it should be fine.

"These guys are out for blood," Vincent whispered to Kai.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just warning you that these guys will be playing seriously," Vincent explained. "They got no chill. They're like hungry hounds."

[Especially,] Vincent thought. [Because they want to prove they're the strongest duo around here. Which, to be fair, is probably the case.]

However, that blockhead Kai didn't realize any of this. She probably saw this as nothing more than an opportunity to fight Challenger V opponents and to compare her skill against theirs. She was simple-minded like that.

Unlike Kai, Vincent wasn't particularly attached to playing in Bot. Playing Top was usually more fun due to its 1v1 nature. Studying one opponent at a time was the best.

Nevertheless, Vincent wanted to take this match as seriously as possible. Based on the scrimmage with the Leopards, Gunz and Chessmaster were absolute mad lads; they were most likely going to wreck Vincent and Kai. Therefore, there was no reason to hold anything back.

"What's with that face?" Kai asked. "You look like you've accepted defeat."

"Nah. But, I know they're super mega ultra good," Vincent admitted. "They were the hidden Golden Duo of StormBlitz's second string. If not for Aegis and Athena being such a strong duo in the first-string, I'm sure these two would have played on the main team."

"Then," Kai started. "You say they're at least as good as the average first-string middle schooler?"

"No, my scouter says their power level is even beyond that," Vincent grinned. "I bet you they're going to be among the top ten players in the region this year. Maybe even top five."

"So, their Challenger rank isn't just for show," Kai nodded. "That's all the better. If we want to take the regionals this year, we have to be able to win against players of this level."

"Yeah," Vincent glanced away. [But, I have a feeling we're going to get destroyed. Well, it doesn't mean we can't try.]

Vincent brought up his super secret notes on the tablet. It had records about all the notable players from the region, including Gunz and Chessmaster.

"For the banning phase," Vincent said. "We have to ban Trickshooter. It seems to be Gunz's strongest class."

"Then, let him try it," Kai scoffed. "I'll beat him."

"You don't get it," Vincent shook his head. "Remember I said he might be one of the top five middle schoolers in our region? Well, that's when he doesn't play Trickshooter. But, when he got his hands on Trickshooter he becomes the god of destruction! An unstoppable killing machine!"

"Please," Kai narrowed her eyes. "As if I'm going to buy any of these exaggerations."

"Then, let's put it in perspective," Vincent said. "Remember Fenrir, the captain of the Leopards last year? You agreed with me that that little wolf was a monster."

"Yeah, the guy was nuts."

"Well, I'm sure Gunz can give him a run for his money with Trickshooter."

"Seriously?" Kai frowned. "Okay, maybe Trickshooter needs to go after all. I'll beat him in his weaker form first, then I'll destroy his final form."

"Sounds good," Vincent nodded. [Though, no offense, but I have a feeling you're the one who'll be destroyed first, even by his "weaker form".]

During the StormBlitz vs. Leopards scrimmage, Vincent was sitting on the front row and saw everything up close. In the two matches Gunz played, he wrecked the Leopards' members left and right even without Trickshooter. That guy was the Insane Beast of the Apocalypse!

However, Gunz alone wasn't the biggest threat ever. He was undeniably powerful, but he seemed to lack in the decision-making department. However, when somebody led Gunz into the right situations, he shined brightly like the Sun Messiah and delivered godlike results.

Of course, Gunz's shepherd had to be none other than Chessmaster. It was always difficult to analyze shot-callers from simply watching a match, but Vincent was convinced of one thing: Chessmaster had the Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception. That guy always found weaknesses in the enemy's positioning and struck where it hurt.

Going for the enemy's weakness was the most basic tactic, but Chessmaster polished into art. He employed superb tactics to force enemies into bad positions and crush them like bugs. So, there was no doubt Chessmaster will display the full strength of his Mystic Eyes in this match as well.

What weakness would Chessmaster target? Most likely, he'll go after Vincent first. Based on Chessmaster's reaction to Vincent's Platinum rank, it was clear Chessmaster disregarded Vincent as the weakest link. It was the logical conclusion to draw and it was true to some degree. Vincent really wasn't as strong as Kai, especially not on his own.

With that in mind, Vincent will probably have to defend himself a lot this match. Therefore, a tanky class with solid escape options should work well. Knight sounded like one solid option for that. Its primary escapes were the forward dash from Shield Bash and the Noble Steed ult.

Unfortunately, both of these were relatively slow escapes. If Vincent wanted to escape from the clutches of a beast like Gunz, he needed something more immediate. It already sounded like he'd have to purchase Blink at game start, but he needed backup options in his kit because Blink's cooldown was quite notorious.

Lumimancer was a Support class that had a blink effect in its kit, but it wasn't a tanky class. Electromancer also had Thunderclap, but it wasn't even a Support class.

Wasn't there anything else? Vincent frowned as he scrolled down the list of classes. Tanky characters were rarely fast, which made sense from a design perspective. Most of the beefy characters with good movement were bruisers designed for either Top or Jungler, not for Support.

For example, Viking had great mobility via Axe Blitz, which instantly wrapped him to the location of his axe. However, Viking was a rather selfish frontliner who was mostly interested in going in, getting some damage done in and getting out. It wasn't the type of class that cared too much about creating opportunities for its teammates.

"Say," Vincent started. "You know any tanky Support classes with good escapes?"

"Eh, Knight?"

"Figured," Vincent sighed. "I'll go with Knight then."

The banning phase of the game began. As Vincent and Kai agreed, the first class they banned was a Trickshooter. Then, as if in direct retaliation, the enemy banned... Knight.

[Here come the Mystic Eyes of Weaknesses Perception!] Vincent grinned like a mad scientist. [The Chessmaster is already onto me! We're super screwed, hahahaha!]

With that, the "friendly" match started off!