With Nia awake, it was now possible to kick the memer off the team. That already solved one of the team’s biggest issues.

But, that won't magically solve all our problems. Yuel thought.

There was no question that Luke's memeing dragged the team down a lot in the last game, but that wasn't Stratus’ only problem. Regardless of Luke, the team failed to get any offense rolling on any lane.

Yuel and Lars failed to bust through the iron wall of Rook and Merlin, whereas Kai failed to achieve anything notable against TheTheorist. Though, there was one big difference between these two cases.

"Kai, correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't really try to go on the offensive that much in the last game, did you?"

"Hmm, I guess I didn't," Kai replied plainly. "There weren't any good opportunities as far as I could tell."

"Is that so." Yuel didn't have enough evidence to refute that claim.

Normally, Kai was the kind of player who could be left to her own devices so long she was in a stable mood. As such, Yuel usually paid less attention to her lane situation when there were more pressing issues at hand. And, in that particular game, he was more preoccupied with the airtight enemy defense in Bot, as well as the overwhelming enemy offense in Top.

So, did Kai really not have any good opportunities to start pushes in Mid? Frankly, Yuel couldn't answer that off-hand. He'd have to watch the replay later in order to confirm that claim. Regardless, this was a pressing issue right now.

I could check the replay now, but there’s not enough time for that. Yuel thought. This isn’t the only issue I want to discuss, so I can’t waste too much time on it. I better get to the point.

"Was Theorist's defense really that good?" Yuel asked. "I had the impression she plays it too safe, so you should’ve been able to exploit her passiveness at least a little."

"Yeaaaah, she sure turtled, alright.” Kai sighed deeply. “But, that doesn't mean it's easy to find opportunities to pressure her. I mean, she plays for the Leopards, so she's no pushover. I'm not gonna find any free opportunities just lying around, you know?"

"Interesting, because Vincent sure found a few good opportunities when he played against Theorist in Top,” Yuel pointed out. “And, considering your playstyle, I was sure you’ll be able to push Theorist around even better than Vincent did.”

"His circumstances were totally different, though," Kai argued. "He was playing a counter-pick, so, of course, he found opportunities. On the other hand, I was on even ground with Theorist as far as our classes were concerned."

Sorcerer and Sage were both best known for their long-ranged options, so they were like two picks that effectively canceled each other out. As a result, the 1v1 in Mid turned into a duel between snipers. So, it wasn't hard to imagine why Kai struggled to find any good opportunities to push.

Still, I was sure that Kai will be able to get at least SOMETHING started. Yuel knotted his brows. I had a feeling their Bot duo will stump us because their defense is on par with Howard and Ellen's. So, I was hoping that at least Kai will build some momentum for the team.

Alas, Kai did nothing of the sort. Though, perhaps part of the blame lay with Yuel for making Kai play Sorcerer. She might’ve needed a more aggressive class to get things rolling.

With all that said, Vincent had a different explanation for the whole thing.

"If I may have a word," Vincent started. "I suspect that a big part of this particular issue lies with Beat's ‘Softhearted Amazon’ trait. I believe I've informed you of it before."

"Oh, that thing..." Yuel made a face. "Yes, you mentioned that Kai might be laxer against female opponents."

"That's BS," Kai denied immediately. "We already went through that, and I’m pretty sure I made it clear: I'm not gonna go easy on anybody. Male, female, trans, whatever. If they’re my opponent, then I gonna mop the floor with them all the same!”

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"Indeed, I'm certain that this is what you genuinely believe in your heart." Vincent nodded. "Nonetheless, I suspect that reality doesn't quite align with that belief you claim to have. After all, I've seen much evidence that supports the existence of your Softhearted Amazon trait."

"You’ve seen what, exactly? Me going easy against girls? That never actually happened."

"Did you not say that sometimes you go easy on female opponents during PE lessons?"

"Well, yeah, because it's usually that easy." Kai admitted. “Most of the girls there barely know how to play, so if I tryhard, then I’ll just stomp everybody.”

Really, the competitive level in girls’ PE lessons was a joke. It felt like half the girls there didn’t even care about competing at all.

And, even among the girls that did compete, Kai often felt like she was head and shoulders above the others. It was unclear whether she was naturally gifted or whether it was her competitiveness with boys that pushed her skill that high up. Either way, playing any ball game against girls during PE lessons was too much of a no-brainer for her.

As such, Kai only had two options in these situations. First option: go all-out and dominate the game. This usually made the girls complain about how much of a “tryhard” Kai was.

Second option: play in “chill mode” without trying too hard to destroy her opponents. Of course, she still made sure to perform well and lead her team to victory, but at least nobody complained anymore.

Most of the time, Kai picked the latter option, as uncharacteristic as it might’ve seemed.

"But, that's only in PE," Kai insisted. "In Mancers, I don't ever hold back."

"Is that so." Vincent clearly wasn't convinced. As the Arbiter of Talents, he was certain that he knew anything and everything about his teammates’ special traits.

"In that case,” Vincent said. “Allow me to pose you the following question. On a scale of 1 to 10, how salty do you consider yourself after failing to make any substantial pushes in Middle Lane?"

"Eh, like 5/10, I guess?” Kai shrugged. "I mean, I just didn't find any good opportunities to push in this particular game, but I'll definitely find some in the next one."

"There, I rest my case."

"Huh?" Kai cocked her head. "You proved what, exactly?"

"I shall let Chessmaster draw his own conclusions from this exchange."

"Hmm." Yuel thought long and hard about Kai’s answer. Indeed, it wasn't too hard to spot the contradiction here. Basically, for some reason, Kai didn't sound nearly as competitive as she usually was.

Normally, Kai would rant to no end about failing to defeat her lane opponent. But, for some reason, that wasn’t the case against Theorist. Kai simply waved off the whole thing by saying she “didn’t get any good opportunities”. This was rather uncanny.

I didn’t take Vincent that seriously on this point until now, but I’m starting to see what he meant. Yuel thought. It’s not as if Kai “goes easy” on girls per se. It’s more that she’s less competitive against them.

Perhaps, somewhere at the back of her mind, Kai didn’t register female opponents as a real threat. It would be ironic, considering how much the girl herself hated it when others underestimate her based on her gender.

Or, maybe I’m reading this whole thing backward. Yuel thought. Maybe it’s just that losing to boys automatically triggers her and pushes her to be more competitive, whereas losing to girls just fails to recreate the same effect.

In other words, it was a double-edged sword. Against males, the salt of losing pushed Kai to the edge. Sometimes it allowed her to outperform herself, but other times it also made her lose sight of herself.

Meanwhile, against females, none of that happened. Kai didn’t get tilted from losing, but neither did she feel salty enough to push herself to the limit.

Now I also understand why Vincent was able to bring this up in the first place. Yuel thought. He’s usually all about finding players’ strengths while completely missing all their weaknesses. So, I’ve always thought it’s weird that he, of all people, would come up with this “Softhearted Amazon” trait, which sounded like a weakness.

However, it turned out that this trait was a two-in-one deal. It had its fair share of negatives, but it also had some positives.

So, where does that leave us? Yuel knotted his brows.

Based on Vincent’s evaluation, Kai will continue being chill in Mid so long as her opponent was Theorist. This meant Kai’s performance will be stable and she won’t ever go off the rails, but it also suggested she won’t try too hard to bust through Theorist’s turtling.

So, I can’t rely on her to build any momentum. In other words, it’s up to Lars and me to get something going in Bot.

Hopefully, with Nia back in commission, Stratus will be able to pick up the pace and create some good opportunities to attack. However, the way things stood right now, there was one more issue the team had to wrestle with.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that Mid will probably remain at a standstill, but there’s also Top to consider. Yuel thought. Over there, we were pretty much under the enemy’s thumb, so we have to change that somehow. There IS one thing we can try, but...

That’ll be a big, experimental change. Perhaps, it was too big for Stratus to afford at this stage in the match...