With how the second minion wave played out in Top, EnduringPhoenix managed to prove that he was somewhat capable. At the very least, he wasn't one of these skillless plebs that Ronald could steamroll with his eyes closed.

As such, Ronald had to tone down his aggressiveness a little and look for a proper opportunity to strike. Alas, time went on and he still couldn’t find any…

Wave after wave, Ronald sought an attractive opening to strike, only to find none.

Maybe this time? Ronald squinted his eyes as he examined the situation.

Technically, he was doing great. He totally won the lane exchange as always.

Actually, no, he didn’t just win. Ronald OWNED that shit. He annihilated all the enemy minions but all his bowmen remained alive. It was a big stonks situation!

Therefore, this was a great opportunity to push, right!? Eh, not really. Unfortunately, this was nothing new.

Ronald has been winning lane exchanges pretty much the entire game. This Dragonborn vs. Vanguard matchup was easy for him, and honestly, Phoenix didn't pose much of a challenge. That guy was a defense fanatic through and through. He and Cato would probably be good friends.

Admittedly, the guy's defense was airtight, which was about the only good thing to say about his performance. Phoenix hasn’t achieved anything notable thus far, but he did a good job denying all juicy opportunities for Ronald.

Aaaaand he's already back at the tower. Ronald sighed. For such a big guy, he sure moves fast.

This was the usual scenario. Ronald always won the lane exchange and had a great opportunity to push, except he couldn't. Why? Because the dang Vanguard always retreated all the way back to his tower at that point.

He really doesn't care about losing on some farm, huh. Ronald shook his head. In a way, he's playing like a total amateur. But, at the same time, he does kill all my chances to attack. This is so boring...

This obnoxious defensive playstyle resembled Sonya's shenanigans. That girl was always willing to sacrifice her farm in exchange for a more stable laning phase. That shit never made sense.

Any laner’s goal should be to establish lane control and all that. You can't just stay holed up at your tower all day long.

Nonetheless, Phoenix insisted to do just that. Every damn time, he ran away from the scene at lightning speed. By the time Ronald started thinking about opening an attack - it was already too late.

Against almost any other class, Ronald might have considered pushing forward regardless. However, against Vanguard, getting anywhere near the tower was suicidal.

I'm not planning to get taunted into the tower, no thank you. That was the main consideration that made Ronald pause every time he had an opportunity to push further. There was just nothing he could do once his opponent retreated all the way to the tower.

Damn, this guy’s defense is a real pain in the ass. Ronald thought. Even bro can't find any good opportunities to gank here.

Bro was always on the lookout for scoring kills, so he tried to arrange a few ganks in Top. But, it came to nothing. Every time William got even remotely close to the lane, Phoenix was already halfway back to his tower. This guy must have had eyes everywhere.

And, he's not taking any risks. Ever. There’s just no cracking this bruh.

After three failed gank attempts, it seemed like Bro had completely given up on the idea of getting any kills here. He labeled Phoenix a "hyper-defensive player” and perished any thoughts about attacking Top for now.

With that said, these failed gank attempts weren't entirely wasted. After all, Bro was a big brain, so he figured out a few things from these exchanges that could be used for the team’s advantage.

Oh, here he comes. Ronald snickered as a new minion wave began. The ghost is coming to do some spooking.

William traveled from Mid to Top Jungle and then continued onward toward Top. To anybody who followed his movements on the map, it must’ve looked as if Bro was rotating to gank Top. It was a pretty cool ghost trick.

Bro made sure to pass through areas that any self-respecting team would ward for sure, so the enemy almost always caught wind of these movements. This trick did a great job of alerting the enemy about a potential gank.

So, how did Phoenix usually respond to the information he was fed? Naturally, by backpedaling as if his life depended on it! The guy was the very definition of a scaredy-cat.

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This made the laning phase that much easier for Ronald. With the Vanguard already far in the back, there was now no need to hold back.

Here it comes! Ronald charged forth with Draconic Rush. He rammed into the enemy swordsmen and pushed them all the way to the bowmen. Then, he sliced through the entire pack with a fire sword. Easy farming.

Thanks for the free farm, bruh. Ronald sent his regards as he watched his healthy squad of minions marching forth along the lane. These little bruhs were about to do some nice damage to the enemy tower, no doubt.

But, what about William’s supposed rotation toward Top? Well, that was never actually going to happen. Bro just pretended like was going to gank the lane. His sole goal here was to spook the enemy.

The moment Phoenix started retreating, Bro already shifted gears and headed toward the nearby Wolf Camp. He had no interest in actually trying to get the jump on Phoenix.

And I get it, I really do. Ronald nodded. This Phoenix bruh isn't going to let us get any easy kills. So fun...

They were already close to the mid-game at this point, yet Ronald's kill count was still a big fat zero. And, he obviously hadn’t scored any assists, either. It was so lame.

Dang, I really wanna rotate somewhere and get some action going. Ronald pouted. But, bro said to stay put for now, so I guess I better listen. Bleh.

Honestly, this routine was sucking out all the fun from the game. Phoenix wasn't even a strong player, yet he refused to let Ronald have any fun. Like, seriously, there was no challenge or action to be had anywhere here. It was a truly depressing situation.

To make things worse, there's that... um, what’s her name, again? Ronald couldn’t even be bothered to remember. I seriously keep forgetting that their Jungler even exists, to be honest. But, everybody is sure making a big deal about her for some reason.

"Their Jungler entered Top Jungle," Sonya reported.

"Ronald, fall back a little," Cato ordered.

"Yeah, yeah..." Ronald obeyed like a good boy. At this point, he was tired of arguing with Cato on the matter. Not to mention, Bro actually sided with Cato on this particular topic for some reason.

I don't get what's the fuss, though. Ronald shrugged. It's not like that Ninja ever accomplished anything today, so why is everybody so cautious around her? It reminds me of how Bro is spooking Phoenix without actually doing much, but at least Bro is a legit strong player.

Ronald felt like a clown every time he retreated like this for no reason. Why did he have to care so much about some puny forgettable Jungler?

Like, seriously, whenever Sonya delivered a report about the Ninja's movements, Ronald felt like he was always forced to respond in some way. If the news said that the Jungler was near Top, then Ronald had to fall back immediately. And, if the news said that the Ninja was MIA for a while, then that was also apparently a legit reason to tell Ronald to retreat. Whyyyyyy?

At this point, the enemy Jungler merely had to sneeze in order to force Ronald to retreat, that's how absurd it was. Cato's extreme countermeasures for that Ninja made no sense whatsoever.

As far as Ronald was concerned, that Ninja was no threat at all. She didn’t have a single achievement to her name, so she was like one of the most forgettable Junglers ever.

I mean, I remember that we discussed how this girl’s whole thing is that it’s easy to forget about her. Ronald thought. But, like, no shit, Sherlock. It’s because she doesn’t ever do anything worthwhile, so why would I bother sparing her any thought?

It seemed like the others treated this phenomenon as some sort of “mystery”, but it was legit simple. Basically, it was hard to pay attention to Vanishing because there was practically no need to do so. That girl couldn’t play for shit. She was probably just a filler slot for Stratus.

Like, I even forgot we played against her earlier today, that’s how forgettable she is. I swear everybody is overreacting.

If Bro didn’t insist that it was important to pay attention to Vanishing, then Ronald would’ve ignored the girl altogether. Seriously, this entire topic was total lunacy.

Nonetheless, Sonya continued to treat it with utmost importance, which made Ronald’s life very difficult…

“Their Jungler is entering Bot Jungle.” Then, about a minute later: “I haven’t seen their Jungler for a while. She was last spotted in Bot Jungle.” And, after that: “Their Jungler is entering Top Jungle.”

Sonya delivered periodic reports like that without fail. The poor girl had to consistently keep watch over the entire map and make a report about every single step that Vanishing took. Honestly, this job sounded like hell. Ronald would never agree to do work like this, not even for a salary.

Besides, it’s not like we don’t have eyes. Ronald thought. Like, we can see Vanishing too, you know? Though, admittedly, half the time I don’t even register her existence, haha.

Most likely, if it wasn't for Sonya's consistent alerts, then Ronald wouldn't have paid any attention to Vanishing's movements at all. Some people would’ve surely accused him of having "bad map awareness" or whatever, but who cared?

Like, that Jungler hasn't done ANYTHING since the game started. Ronald thought. Even without Sonya's reports, there’s really just no reason to care. Actually, I dunno why I'm even wasting so much time thinking about this.

It was a waste of time, all of it. The only reason he spared any thought to this at all was because of Cato's annoying retreat orders. Vanishing’s presence was basically like a thorn in Ronald’s side.

I gotta say, I really feel bad for Sonya here. Ronald thought. It gotta be a pain in the ass to make these reports 24/7 while laning. She got her own stuff to worry about, but of course, Cato wouldn't care about that. What a dang tyrant.

If Ronald was tasked with doing something like this, then he would’ve protested with all his strength. This was no way to live.

Though, if somebody absolutely has to do this shitty job, then there’s no doubt that Sonya is the best one for the job. Ronald thought. That girl is a machine. Like, she can analyze anything about everything like a dang computer without ever losing focus, word.

At least, that was just Ronald's impression of the girl. But, unbeknownst to him, the routine of delivering reports was slowly getting rather taxing for Sonya…