Draining MP

Kai has already placed two Magia Orbs on the scene. They were a fair distance away from each other: one on the left and one in the center.

In response to this placement, Apprentece positioned himself closer to the right side of the lane to stay away from both orbs. It won't be easy to trap him between three orbs for Resonance Ignition, that's for sure.

[But he's still here, so I have time to set things up.] Kai thought.

The cooldown of her Magia Orb was about to end soon. Once the skill comes online again, she'll unleash her Resonance Ignition right away! The guy won't see it coming!

But unbeknown to her, the enemy was very much prepared for such a development. In fact, he had been for. However, not everybody in the Leopards agreed with this line of play.

"My, aren't you pushing a little too far?" Cato asked. "I believe you should've retreated a while ago." 

"It's fine," Jin said only that as he stepped closer to the tower area. This mad lad was absolutely planning to push the tower all the way, or so it seemed.

"Their Jungler might be on standby," Sonya warned. "I haven't seen her move anywhere for a while now."

"Yes, makes sense." Jin nodded. "But, she can't do much. If she comes, I kill her. Simple."

There wasn't a single dent in his confidence. Despite how deeply he was overextending into enemy territory, he acted as if he was in total control of the situation.

[And in his case, it's not exactly "cockiness".] Cato thought. [The Emperor just trusts his own game analysis that much and it's usually on point, too. Sigh.]

Jin was like a problematic chess piece that was bound to be unruly. On this board, his skill level transcended even the power of a queen piece, allowing him to do whatever he wanted.

As such, the most Cato could do was drop pieces of advice here and there, to make sure that Jin's overconfidence won't be the end of him.

"What's the plan, anyway?" Cato asked. "Any reason why you're overextending so much?" 

"If I already wasting time here, then at least I want to do something meaningful."

"Such as?" 

"Lowering enemy MP." 

"Oh, I see. So, this is what's it all about."

This explained the extreme cockiness that Jin had been exhibiting ever since he arrived in Mid. He had been acting all high and mighty in order to bait Beat, and it worked.

Initially, Beat had enough MP to last for three more waves after this one. However, in her attempts to retaliate against Jin, she used Repelling Force which cost some fine MP. On top of that, she had been placing Magia Orbs left and right, most likely to set up her ult.

If Beat unleashes Resonance Ignition as well, then she'll burn through all her remaining MP. At that point, she'll have no choice but to recall to base after the exchange. Jin had been overextending in order to make that happen.

[A nasty ploy. I like it.] Cato smirked. [It'll actually be huge if he kicks Beat out of the lane by the time Sonya returns.]

Both Matthew and Sonya were defensive Mid Laners, therefore the Leoaprds had been on the defensive in Mid throughout the entire day. As such, it was always hard to establish lane advantage over there. Hopefully, Jin's scheme will help with that.

[The one who controls Mid controls the game, it's just like in chess.] Cato nodded. [Well, I still think his overextension is very risky, but I'm sure the Emperor knows what he's doing.]

And so, Cato refrained from interfering with the Empeor's plans. Despite how dangerous the play was, Jin was convinced he'd be able to get away with this bold overextension, and he probably would.

And so, Jin carried on with the plan. Contrary to how reckless or cocky his plays might've seemed, he was paying close attention to Kai's options.

[Her orb should come out of cooldown now.] Jin analyzed. [It's time to wrap this up.]

He stepped toward the middle of the lane, which placed him closer to the Magia Orb that Beat placed there. It was a risky move at first glance, but not for somebody who knew how to judge distances.

[This is as much as I can get away with.] Jin paused. [This distance should be tempting enough for her.]

And indeed, Beat immediately responded to Jin's movements. The moment he stopped moving, Beat unleashed her attack! She summoned a third Maiga Orb and blew all her orbs at once with Resonance Ignition!

Beat's execution was smooth. She canceled the animation of Magia Orb straight into Resonance Ignition. If Jin hadn't prepared for it ahead of time, then he would've been hit hard.

However, he was more than prepared. In fact, he was eagerly waiting for this very moment. So, he swiftly rolled away in the nick of time.

BAM! The three orbs exploded in unison! However, two of them weren't even a concern for Jin.

One orb was placed on the far right, so it couldn't reach Jin's current position even in a million years. On the other hand, the orb in the center was a bit threatening but Jin knew that, so he carefully gauged the distance and stayed right outside the orb's perimeter.

However, the third orb was difficult to outplay. Beat happened to place it well, so Jin was caught up in the orb's explosion as he rolled. It was unfortunate, but the damage was a negligible 7%.

In theory, the damage could've been 9 times greater if Jin was caught up in the resonance of all three orbs. However, he made sure that not even the two nearest orbs him with resonance, therefore the damage he suffered was minimal.

[Hmph. Not terrible execution.] Jin admitted. [It's good to see that there are at least some players outside the Leopards who know some of the basics. Then again, this entire exchange was completely in my favor from start to end and she failed to realize that. Pathetic.]

Really, Beat was such a simpleton. Jin merely provoked her a little, and she went ballistic on him with her entire kit. Such an amateur mistake.

Seriously, how were players of this caliber even allowed onto this stage? In Korea, they probably wouldn't have even made it into any of the serious clubs, let alone be allowed to play competitive games.

[Whatever. This is enough.] Jin retreated to the allied side of the lane. "I'm done."

"Good, good." Cato nodded. "You've drained her MP quite splendidly~" 

"Was too easy. She wasted it all for no reason." 

"Yes, that's how it looks to you," Cato said. "But from her perspective, she was seriously trying to contest you, and maybe even kill you."

"Nonsense. She had no chance."

"Yes, she didn't," Cato agreed. "But sometimes, it's human nature to pursue the impossible, you know?" 

"It stupid, nothing more than that."

Beat's wastefulness was nothing short of a crime. By now, it had surely dawned on her as well.

"Tch, he got away," Kai reported. "I almost had him with the Resonance, damn it!"

"I suspect the entire thing was bait from start to end," Yuel explained. "It felt like he aggressed as much as he did in order to make you waste your MP on him." 

"Yeah, I'm getting the same impression now. Bastard sure played me for a fiddle" Kai made a face. "He seemed so cocky that I was sure he was just looking down on me and aggressing without any caution. But, it turns out he was prepared for everything."

From start to end, Kai couldn't properly land any notable damage on that bastard. Her only meager achievement was landing a single instance of damage with Resonance Ignition. It was just sad. That didn't compensate at all for all the MP she had to burn in the process.

Before any of this started, Kai had enough MP to farm three more waves. But, now? She had nothing and had to recall.

[Well, at least his minions are aggroed on me now.] Kai thought. [Since I'm going to recall either way, I might as well let them waste some shots on me.]

She retreated deeper into the tower area but made sure to stay within the minions' field of view. Eating all their attacks was going to result in some substantial damage, but it was far better than letting these minions freely push the tower.

And so, to compensate at least a little for all the misplays that happened, Kai dragged the minions across the tower area and shot them from afar. And, the tower helped her with that by firing giant bolts at the minions.

[Alright, done.] Kai eliminated the last bowman. With this, she neutralized the threat. This maneuver cost 20% of her HP, but that wasn't a problem in this case.

"I'm recalling," Kai informed. "Nia, can you defend a little until I return?"

"Sure." Nia entered the lane from the back. She had been loitering around the entire time, looking for a good opportunity to assault Apprentece. But, no such opportunity had ever presented itself.

[Like I thought, he was cautious.] Nia nodded to herself. Her instincts as a professional assassin had been whispering to her the entire time that Apprentece won't be caught off guard this time around.

[I need an even better opportunity.] Nia thought. [It has to be a really good one. Something he won't be able to beat in a million years. Yeah.]

But, will such an opportunity ever present itself today? As they were entering the mid-game, all the good opportunities might be already gone by now. Soon players will start grouping up all over the place, making it even more impossible to gank this difficult target...