"Friendly" Greetings

Five minutes before the scrimmage, the team walked onto the stage as instructed by the referee.

"Ah, people..." Nia walked behind Kai while throwing nervous glances at the audience. Indeed, there were some people here now.

Official scrimmages were publicly announced on a big screen and they were free to watch, so they naturally piqued the curiosity of some people. Some of them were scouts for high school teams, searching for promising middle schoolers. Others were spies from middle schools, coming here to research their rivals.

[It's safe to assume everything we show here today will be used against us in the next scrimmage.] Yuel thought. Some representatives from the Leopards were surely lurking in the audience right now. They'll record everything. Therefore, if possible, it was best to keep some of the team's tech a secret today.

Unfortunately, Stratus wasn't exactly a powerhouse team that had the option to go easy. They'll have to go all-in from the very first battle to establish their footing. They've trained hard up to this point, but there was no telling where they stood compared to the competition. They'll have to brace themselves for the worst and go hard from the start.

"Oh, hey!" Lars exclaimed and ran to the edge of the stage. "It's July! What's what up, yo!?" He waved at the audience while shouting.

[I-Idiot, shush!] Julia's ears burned. She threw a bunch of glances around. Phew, nobody figured it was about her. She timidly raised a hand and waved back, then immediately retracted her.

"That's Julia?" Yuel blinked. It had to be a mistake. From this distance, the best way to recognize Julia was by her long ponytail. However, the girl Lars was waving to didn't have one. She had a medium length straight hair. Judging by that, it couldn't be Julia.

"She did a makeover," Lars said. "I think the long ponytail was nice, but this look is more savage. She now looks like someone who totally gonna mop the floor with ya in a duel, haha."

"I suppose," Yuel couldn't help but stare at Julia's uncanny new look. Right then, he felt intense bloodlust.

[Don't look at me, idiot.]

"Ugh," Yuel instinctively glanced aside. Yeah, this was Julia alright, no question about it. She was the only girl he knew who could transmit her murderous intent like that across such a long distance.

[Did she come to spy on us? It looks like she's alone here.] Yuel scanned the audience but there weren't any other familiar faces. It didn't look like anybody else from StormBlitz's first-string was here.

[They probably consider this a low priority scrimmage.] Yuel smiled wryly. Even though data gathering was extremely valuable for teams, there was no need to bring the entire club to watch every single scrimmage. That's the mentality StormBlitz operated on.

For example, last year, StormBlitz's first string didn't bother coming to watch that many scrimmages. Instead, Aron sent freshman like Yuel to scout. The scouts were tasked with summarizing the key points of the matches and presenting them to the first-string, accompanied by a replay of the scrimmage.

[Maybe some of StormBlitz's new recruits are here.] Yuel examined every single student, but there was no way to tell since their school didn't have a uniform. Any of the middle schoolers here could be a spy from any middle school from the region.

[Howard and Ellen didn't even bother to come. I see how it is.] Yuel got the message, loud and clear. As of yet, Howard wasn't thinking much of Stratus. As far as he was concerned, they were the weakest team in the region and the fact Yuel and Lars joined mattered little. [We'll prove him wrong.]

[I'm glad you made it.] Julia smiled softly after making sure nobody saw her. [You two deserve to play on the first-string. Now, let's see how high you can pull that trainwreck of a team.]

"Ms. Julia, ma'am!" Philip boomed loudly outta nowhere with a salute.

"Agh! Damn you," Julia shot the boy a glare. This idiot almost gave her a heart attack! "What do you want?"

"It's my first time scouting a match, ma'am!" Philip exclaimed while shouting. "I'd be eternally grateful if you give me a pointer or two or three. What should I focus on? What kind of plays do I need to analyze? What is the best angle for seeing all the details!?"

"Pipe down," Julia barked. "You're drawing too much attention to us. Sit down."

"Oh! I'm so terribly sorry, ma'am!" Philip sat down but continued making a lot of noise.

[This guy...] Julia sighed. Why did she have to babysit this kid? She only came here to watch Lars playing on his new team. Yet, that damn Howard had to make Philip tag along and help with the scouting. What a pain. [Well, at least I can dump most of the menial work on him. I'll just kick back and enjoy the match.]

"You got the scouting forms from Howard, right?" Julia asked.

"Yes, ma'am! I got it right here!" Philip presented the paper in question. It had many fields to fill up about the teams. Most of it was dry information like listing the roles and classes of each team. However, some fields were more subjective and asked the scout to rate individual players by different categories. Namely, Decision-Making, Mechanical Skill, and Teamwork.

"I understand the spots where you fill in classes and such," Philip said. "But, how am I to rate somebody's Decision-Making? I request aerial support, ma'am!"

"Just use your head," Julia shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. It's all subjective. I just think of 5/10 as the 'average' level for middle schoolers."

"Whoa, amazing! You have so much experience that you can tell who is the average and who is above!?"

"... sure." [I just kinda wing it. I'm sure Lars will get high scores. And, Yuel will be 1/10 in everything. I'm the one scoring, so my rules. Hmph.]

"But, ma'am," Philip said. "I don't know how good a 5/10 player would be."

"Hmm, take GG as your baseline. I'd say that guy is a flat 5/10 in everything. Don't tell him I said that, though."

"Whoa, really? General Gregory is just a 5/10!? But, he's such a strong player!"

[Yeah, he's 'strong' when he's showing off against freshmen like you.] Julia shook her head. "Anyway, it's something like that. If you need a reference for somebody who is 10/10, no need to look far than at yours truly."

"Eeeeh?" Philip gave her a dubious look. "You sure about that, ma'am?"

"Huuuuh? You doubt me, boy?"

"N-Not at all, ma'am!"

"So, write it down. I'm a 10/10. GG is 5/10, Now, you got yourself a useful scale."

"Y-Yes, ma'am! I understand, ma'am! I'll do my best, ma'am!"

"You like spamming the word 'ma'am', don't you."

"Definitely, ma'am!"

[This brat...] Julia sighed. Well, at least she could dump all the boring work on him and concentrate on the match. [Who knew that having underclassmen is so convenient?] Last year, Julia and the other freshmen had to do all sorts of menial work. However, this year, she was in charge! It felt great!

[Okay, now let's see how far they'll get with this team.] Julia returned her attention to the stage. [Howard said Taurus isn't a big fish. So, if Lars's new team is any good, this game should be a wrap. If they lose, it'll be the funniest and saddest thing ever. So, you better win this one, you hear? I want to be the one to crush you.]

Both teams assembled on the stage. Stratus only had six representatives in total, whereas Taurus came at them with a brigade of 16 people. Only five were going to play from each side, but the sheer difference in numbers was overwhelming. It's like an entire army was about to wage war against a puny squad.

"We're an entire platoon and you're barely a squad." That's the message they conveyed by bringing all these people on stage. They asserted dominance via numbers. The more players the club housed, the more likely it was to found talented players among their ranks. So, just by being a big club, they had an overwhelming advantage over a club that barely had enough players to form a team.

[But, in the end, it'll be our best players vs. their best.] Yuel reasoned. [I'm sure Lars and I are better than most of their players. And, maybe Kai is too. If so, we can definitely win. ]

"Captains, please step forward," the referee instructed.

[Alright, here goes.] Kai took a deep breath and stepped forth.

From the other side of the stage, the Hulk was walking toward her. No, seriously. It was the Hulk! In the flesh! The guy was huge. He was like a golem wearing human skin.

"Let's have a good one," the giant stretched his big palm with a friendly smile. Contrary to his intimidating structure, he seemed like a nice guy.

"Yeah, good luck," Kai regained her composure and shook the giant's hand. [Phew, this went smoother than expected. These guys seem friendly.]

But, as soon as she thought that, her ears caught a mocking cackle coming from the side of the stage. A boy from Taurus was laughing along with his pals and pointing fingers in Kai's direction.

"Check this out, haha," the boy laughed. "They got a chick for a captain! What a joke!"

"Pft, haha," another dumbass burst out in laughter. "I heard this team is rock bottom, but that's a whole new level of lame!"

[These bastards.] Kai shot them a glare.

"Ohhh, so scawy~! Help me, mommy!" the target of her glare pretended to shake, then continued to laugh even harder than before.

"Hey!" Kai called out. "You fuck-"

"Cut it out," the golem captain ordered his men. His smile vanished without a trace. It was replaced with pursed lips and a sharp glare.

"Haha, but doncha think it's hilarious, cap?" the hooligan continued spouting bullcrap. "It's the joke of the year, haha! Hey, Jaiden, you agree, right?" He randomly addressed one of the younger-looking boys in the group, probably a junior.

"Yeah, it's definitely sad," the junior, Jaiden, replied. However, unlike the other cackling idiots, there was no humor in his tone. Nevertheless, his eyes remained locked on Kai and his glare was pregnant with obvious malice.

[What's with this one? He gives me the yikers.] Kai shuddered for a moment. Unlike the other idiots over there, this guy was more way more hostile despite being much quieter. What's up with that?

"Stratus is a joke team confirmed," Jaiden went on. "There's no need for our seniors to waste time here. Let me and my pals take care of this."

"Phaha!" the main hooligan smacked Jaiden on the shoulder. "Nice try, fam! But, no dice. We gonna be the ones playing this one. Try again next year, kid. Haha!"

"Got it," Jaiden nodded but his gaze still lingered on Kai for a few long moments. His conviction didn't waver in the slightest. He was dead set on crossing swords with Kai.

"What you staring at?" Kai addressed the pack of idiots. "Never seen a girl play video games? C'mon, I'll take you all on, fuckers!"

"Woohoo, scawy!" the hooligan didn't give a shit. "Catch me in Bot, girlie. I'mma whoop yo ass real good."

"Bruce, enough," the giant captain ordered.

"H-Haha, I'm just kidding, just kidding," Bruce retreated a little. The rest of the pack also quieted down and dropped the subject, save for one guy.

"You gonna 'take us on''? Try me," Jaiden stood his ground despite the captain's threat. "I'll mop the floor with you in five seconds."

"Oh, you sure sound confident," Kai's face twitched. "1v1 me. I'm Challenger in Duel."

"Duel rank means nothing," Jaiden stated matter-of-factly. "Come at me in a real match and I'll end your whole career, girl."

"Jaiden, I said enough," the golem captain warned again, his tone sterner than before.

"Tch, whatever," Jaiden shook his head and jumped off the stage. "Well, if I'm not playing, may as well take a stroll or something. This game gonna be a snoozefest confirmed."

"Yeah, because it gonna be EZPZ," Kai retorted. "We gonna mop the floor with Taurus the entire day."

"Yeah, right," Jaiden shrugged and continued toward the exit. He stopped for a moment to examine the rest of Stratus's lineup. Apparently, something caught his attention, but the interest was short-lived and he soon left.

"Hey, Jai! Wait up!" Two boys chased after Jaiden and vanished from the hall as well.

"Who the hell hired all these clowns?" Kai sneered. "Is this the circus or something?"

"Please, enough," the golem captain turned to Kai now. "I apologize for these guys. They're just a bit nervous because it's their first official match."

"Tch, whatever," Kai shrugged and turned away. The giant captain didn't do anything wrong, so she didn't feel like taking it out on him. She'll just have to teach these all bastards a real lesson.

[That fucker said he's playing in Bot, right? Perfect.] Kai nodded to herself. Rather than throwing baseless words at these scumbags, she'll prove her worth in battle. She'll end their pitiful lives!

"Are both sides done with their trash-talking?" the referee asked with an amused smile. "Okay, both teams are warned. If you guys keep this up, I'll disqualify you. You might even get banned from the regionals if you act like this, so watch your words."

"I'm sorry," the golem captain apologized again. "I'll keep my team in check. It won't happen again."

"My bad," Kai glanced aside. "I think the nerves are getting to me."

"Let's just have a nice and clean scrimmage, shall we?" the referee continued. "Alright, both teams can take their seats now."

With that, the tension on stage dispersed. Yet, Kai could still hear that bastard, Bruce, laughing behind her back.

[I'll make this fucker regret he was born.] Kai promised.

And so, after the "friendly" greet, the first game was about to begin!