Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Ronald PoV

“Whew, that was a close one! Can’t believe we still ain't out of the quals yet, how lucky!” our captain Ben celebrated after a close fight.

"No, it’s not just luck, we outplayed them with our initial strategy, we would have lost if we did not have the 3v4 advantage early on,” our mage Ethan disagreed.

“Yeah, good thing we have Ron on our team or we likely would not have made it this far,” our tank Oliver chimed in.

“Yeah, that’s our ace for ya!”

“I agree, you did pretty well there Ronald.”

“T-thanks guys...” I timidly responded.

I was never good with praise. To be fair, it was a team effort so I don’t think they have to be that grateful for me, I only analyzed the enemy’s gameplays and created countermeasures and counterstrategies against them, the whole team’s effort made it possible to apply those strategies and if not for them playing their part perfectly, the entire strategy falls apart.

We are currently receiving our 10-minute break after our last match, I heard from the GM that our opponents for the next match were already waiting for us for a while. The team I dread to fight, Elizabeth’s team, Paradigm. It is not only because they’re really good, but because I genuinely want them to also get past the qualifiers. Although fate seems unforgiving by making us fight when we are both close to our goals. Life truly is unfair.

"But we have another problem, don’t we?” our captain voiced out while comfortably resting in one of the lobby chairs.

“I agree, this is what you would call, out of the frying pan, and into the fire.” Ethan nodded.

Our team’s morale suddenly plummeted when they also realized what team we were up against next.

“Don’t worry guys, Ron has a contingency plan for them, right?” Oliver asked worriedly.

“Really? I think Ron will throw the match though. He has a huge crush on the enemy captain after all."

“Captain!”

“Oh, come on, we all know about it, you always talk about her and her streams, ya lovestruck dolt.”

“What! Th-that’s not!” I panicked.

I glanced at both my members to confirm if they knew. Ethan was nodding sympathetically while Oliver was glancing away evident that he too knows. Since when? Have I been that obvious? I hope they do not go spreading this. Someone like me has no chance with her: she’s ten out of ten, very sociable, and famous in our school, especially among the guys due to her friendly behavior and charisma. This is also one of the main reasons why I do not want to fight her team.

“So, I guess this is where our journey ends, been a nice ride with ya guys, I have no regrets and I’m glad we made it this far.”

“There you go again with your negativity. Who made you the captain anyway, all you do is say we will lose even before the fight begins,” Ethan criticized.

“Hey, I’m just being realistic here. Ya guys think we have a chance against two rankers, then ya guys are way in over your heads. I’m just telling ya to not expect too much. Losing is part of life so it's fine if we lose here. There are still many opportunities waiting for ya, so play your best and don’t mind the outcome too much.”

We all fell silent for a second, our captain rarely comes out this reassuring. He must have felt the palpable tension due to our insurmountable foes this time and felt the need to reassure us. He comes off as aloof and insensible sometimes but I've known him for long enough to know that it's not true. Deep down, he really is a considerate and mature upperclassman and a good friend. This won’t do. I know our captain is trying to dampen the blow if we do happen to lose, but that doesn’t do anything for our morale, I have to step up if we even want to have a glimmer of hope of winning this next match.NewW novels updates at novelhall.com

“We have a high chance of winning this match,” I told a white lie.

My team looked at me like I had grown another head, although it’s not entirely a lie, we do have a good shot at this. In response to their questioning looks, I proceeded to explain our advantages. I glanced at the time, 6 minutes before the match, we can be a bit late, up to 10 minutes so we have plenty of time to prepare.

“Have any of you guys watched their games?” I asked.

“Ya, they’re in our school, after all, gotta cheer for them sometimes.”

“I have.”

“Uh only 3 of their matches, I think?”

“I see, that’s good, then have you spotted any patterns in their play?”

Ethan pondered for a while before replying. “You mean their 1-2-1 formation?”

“Yes, precisely. Their team is strong, incredibly so, but they lack adaptability and strategy. They stick to what works for them because they are never challenged by their enemies at all so they never need to change. They lack proper variation in teamplay unlike us.”

“So, what do ya want to do?”

“Simple, due to their unchanging pattern in teamplay, we have the advantage of choosing where we can strike. Think of them like a building, strong and sturdy but ever unchanging. Although, if we destroy the pillars, we can crumble them from within quite easily.”

“Do you propose we strike at their weakness? Then we should focus on their support, right?” Oliver inquired.

“Yes and no. While their support is a weak link, we cannot touch her due to their ace and captain always being within her reach, they always act as a pair so going after her is a no-go. But instead... we go after Renz, their top orb contester. If we could eliminate him, we could get the top orb easily and have a huge advantage early on.”

“That sounds good, but what would you do about the other orbs? If we put too many resources into getting the top orb, wouldn't the middle and bottom orb fall into their hands?” Ethan inquired.

As perceptive and knowledgeable as always. I’m glad to have him on the team to help me with the strategy.

“I do have a countermeasure for it. This is where Oliver and I come in. We both will stall the middle and bottom orb.”

“M-me?” Oliver gulped. “I don’t think I can win against two of them.”

“No, I will stall their middle orb while you stall their ace duelist, senior Chu. You don’t have to damage him even once, just stall him to prevent him from backing the enemy up or taking the orb, I know you can do it, you are the best defender I know after all,” I encouraged him.

Oliver looked at me, determination palpable in his eyes. “Leave it to me!” he declared.

“What about you? You have the hardest role in all of this. Can you really stall two of their members?” Ethan worriedly asked.

“If there is someone who knows Miss Elizabeth’s attack pattern more than anyone here, then that person is me, her number one stream fan,” I joked to lighten the tension.

Now is the hard part, survive while waiting for backup, hopefully, Ben and Ethan can escape and regroup. I cannot distract them right now nor can I afford to be distracted so I turned off the voice chat.

I leaped out of the tree I was hiding to run away from him as my position was already revealed, but he still went after me. He likely knows I have no backup yet from the information network in their team. This is not completely unsalvageable though.

I fired a couple of arrows to dissuade him from chasing, a micro tactic to control him and create some space between us by doing ranged attacks while running away. He took it head-on while avoiding taking hits to vital spots to lessen the damage and continued his sprint. A play that I can’t help but be impressed with. His experience in fights makes up for his lack of skills.

Renz

HP: 81%

Shit, he’s also a bit tanky, the damage did not dissuade him from chasing, and to make matters worse, he was gaining distance on me even as I weaved in and out of the trees by grabbing branches and leaping through rocks to distance myself further away from him. He is also doing the same all the while possessing a spear, how good is this guy at chasing his foes?!

“Are you just going to run, or are you going to fight me like a man?!”

I ignored his taunt, I’m not so stupid as to fall for provocations and continued to run. But at this rate, he would eventually catch me and it would be the end for me. No choice, I have to risk it.

Finding a semi-open space area without anything in the way to hinder my arrows, I grabbed one of the sturdy vines and then propelled myself away from him, I did so while charging my weapon skill while in the air. This weapon skill has a 3-second casting time but has the negative effect of me not being able to move while channeling. I used the momentum of my movement while swinging using the vine to continue moving in the air before I landed while initiating the channeling, making it more efficient in creating a distance between us while I could not move while my weapon skill was active. Hopefully this hits, as my weapon skill creates a knockback effect, letting me regain distance from him along with high damage that can hopefully chip a huge amount of his health.

It is impossible for him to catch up to me judging by the distance and his sprint speed. He’s fast but he has to be inhumanely fast to be able to cover this much distance in just 3 seconds.

As I was celebrating my outplay, he shouted.

“Sovereign’s Charge!”

He became clad in white flame and his speed drastically improved.

What! This was not in my database! Since when did he acquire such a weapon skill?

“Charged Sho-!”

As I landed on the ground from my earlier leap ready to fire the charged arrow, he was in front of me, his flaming body glowing, casting a serene and sacred aura. Its flickering dance holds a mesmerizing rhythm, radiant and pure, emanating a comforting warmth that reaches deep within. Then, came a loud bang.

*BOOOM

Falcon

HP: 0%

I surveyed the surroundings, the trail he used to get to me was blazing with white flames, and the surrounding trees were burning while some trees near us got knocked over due to the impact. That was all I saw before I vanished into blue motes of light.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Liz PoV

We are back in the GM’s lobby after a sound victory against our school’s e-sports team. I shouted in celebration of our victory.

“Yeah! We won! Let’s go Paradigm!”

“You guys should’ve seen me! I chased their archer like there was no tomorrow and defeated him in one blow!”

“Hmph, they were just weak, this is no cause for celebration.”

“Chu, please don’t be like that, they are also good. We just outplayed them tactically so it seemed easy. Come to think of it, your predictions were on point Kat! Are you secretly a mind reader or something?” I said as I kept repeating in my head that she was cute.

If she could really read minds, she would be blushing a bit at that compliment as she always does when I tease her for it.

“Are you stupid? Of course not, that would be unrealistic,” she replied, unamused.

Sadly, she seems to be, in fact, not a mind reader. As I was fantasizing about how good it would be for the team if she actually was a mind reader, the enemy captain approached us.

“That was a good game! Ya guys are really skilled. We didn’t even put up a fight against ya all!” he greeted us carefreely as if not affected in the slightest by their loss.

“You guys are good too! We just had favorable matchups so we won handily. However, you don’t seem to mind the loss?”

“Hahaha, I guess I already expected it. Disappointment only comes if what ya are expecting to happen didn’t happen, right?”

“Hmm...” I pondered his words for a bit before halfheartedly agreeing. “I guess that’s true?”

He smiled for a second before speaking again.

“Although, can I ask a favor? Ron has just been blaming himself for the loss since ya guys dismantled his strategy so easily. Could you cheer him up for me?” their captain requested after shaking my hand for sportsmanship’s sake.

I glanced at Ron, we met at the e-sports club so I remembered him. He does look so downtrodden, so much so that it pains my heart that we were the cause of it, although it cannot be helped, as I cannot let my team lose either.

“Sure! Leave it to me.”

As Ron came close for the handshake, I pulled his hand and gave him a quick hug while patting his head.

“Wha-wha- asdfkasaf!” he voiced something inaudible.

I ignored it and continued to encourage him.

“It's fine, you guys did good, it was a team match so it was not your fault that your team lost. Please don’t beat yourself over it, okay?” I softly said to him.

A quick hug always does the trick, my mother does it for me whenever I feel sad or have a bad day, therefore I’m sure it would also help him mentally and emotionally.

The entire enemy team cheered. Probably because their member seems out of his depressive state now. It is just as I thought, a good hug never fails to lift someone’s spirits up!

After separating, his captain approached him with a grin.

“At least, even if we lost, ya got something worthwhile out of this tournament,” their captain whispered to him in a voice I barely heard.