"The Orc is in Mid," Kai reported, just in case somebody missed this super important development. "If he challenges me then I plan to take him down. I hope nobody has any objects."

"Just be careful," Yuel said only that. "He's a strong opponent, probably stronger than anybody you've ever faced."

"Wait, you saying dude is even stronger than me!?" Lars jumped. "Hell naw! Lemme at 'em and I'mma show you what's what!"

"It’ll definitely be interesting to see which of you is stronger in a fight," Yuel said. "But to be on the safe side, it's better to assume that Apprentece is stronger for now."

"Dang, dude! Where's yo faith in my skill, yo!?"

"I have faith in it, but I also know that Apprentece went toe-to-toe with a B Leaguer. Can you claim that you’ve ever done the same?"

"Hah, ez! I can even take on Maker any day, word!"

"Yes, I'm sure you can." Yuel rolled his eyes. "Anyway, that's my advice. You can do whatever you want with it."

"Don't worry, Lars," Kai reassured. "I'll prove that you're better than this clown by beating him myself."

"Heck yeah, that's what I like hearing! Go get him, yo!"

"Will do." And next, I'll defeat you too. Kai had plenty of experience dueling Lars during practice. So as frustrating as it was to admit, she had no choice but to accept that the guy was stronger than her, at least for now.

However, she had no intention of taking any of this lying down. Slowly but surely, she’ll catch up to that mechanical monster. She had been working hard on improving her mechanical skill, expanding her game knowledge, and polishing her unique rhythm-based skills.

One day, I’ll be an opponent you’ll fear, just you watch. Kai promised. But first, I have to take out this Korean pro-wannabe.

Kai didn’t need another target to chase right now. She had already had her hands full with catching up to Lars, so Apprentece was really an unnecessary existence as far as Kai was concerned. So c’mon, let’s wrap this up here and now.

The next minion wave arrived. Fortunately, Apprentece remained in Mid in order to greet the incoming minions. He had every intention of filling in for Theorist in this round.

Good. Kai nodded. Let’s have a good one. I’ll tear you apart, you cocky bastard!

As expected, Apprentece didn’t come here empty-handed. He brought over his cockiness too. Even though the guy was facing an opponent with far superior reach, he had no qualms about approaching the minion wave with full intent to farm at melee range.

There’s no doubt the guy was planning to unleash his Sledgehammer and strike the minions from point-blank. Yes, this mad lad was going to farm at melee range against Sorcerer, a class boasting one of the best attack ranges in the game.

Wow, this is something else. Kai was deeply impressed but for all the wrong reasons. Alright then. You asked for it.

Naturally, she had no intention of letting the Orc unleash his deadly hammer on the minions without getting punished for it. She summoned a Magia Orb right in the center of all the action: between the enemy swordsmen, the enemy bowmen, and the approaching Apprentece.

Next, she instantly animation-canceled into Dimensional Collapse. The Magia Orb exploded, generating a black hole that sucked in all the enemies around it! Swordsmen, bowmen, and even the Orc - everybody!

Once all of them collide at the center, the damage will be amplified based on the number of objects that crash into each other. So, the more the merrier!

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This is what you get for overextending. Kai executed the play perfectly. The quick cancel from Magia Orb into Dimensional Collapse was fast enough to catch anybody off-guard. Even Lars would have struggled to respond to it in a timely fashion.

And yet, Apprentece did just that. He rolled aside right as the black orb exploded, getting just barely outside the range of the skill’s pull.

Did he roll ahead of time? Kai wondered. I mean, there’s no way he could’ve rolled that fast AFTER seeing my skill cancel. There wasn’t enough time for it.

Not even Lars would've been able to dodge this play so perfectly. In fact, it might've been outright impossible for any human.

So, he must’ve guessed I'll do this ahead of time. Kai deduced. He was probably waiting for the first sign of me casting the orb. Tch.

It was such a simple counterplay, yet it managed to irritate Kai.

Everything about Apprentece's actions radiated overflowing confidence and cockiness, so at first, it looked as if the guy wasn't paying attention to Kai at all. But no, the guy was paying attention to everything the entire time. While acting bold and cocky, he was nonetheless waiting for the right moment to roll out of Kai's inevitable attack.

Oh, I see that I also messed up a little. Kai realized. I tried too hard to hit that bastard along the way so my placement wasn’t perfect. Tch.

She placed her orb perfectly at the center between the swordsmen, the bowmen, and Apprentece's earlier location. Unfortunately, from that position, the orb couldn’t suck in all the enemy minions. The rightmost swordsman and bowman ignored the pull and remained in place.

This had two implications for Kai. First, these minions weren’t going to receive any damage. Second, the overall damage from Dimensional Collapse will be lower than expected because fewer colliding objects meant less damage.

Well, no matter. Kai thought. This is just a little setback. This doesn’t change the fact I made the first move and dealt far more damage to the minions than he did, which is a flat zero. I'll win this exchange no problem.

As if objecting to Kai’s assessment, Apprentece advanced toward the minion wave once again, expressing as much confidence as before if not more. This time there was no threat of Dimensional Collapse, so Apprentece was surely going to attack at full force.

Are you seriously coming all the way over here? Kai twitched. It's my territory, you know?

Alas, Apprentece showed no signs of slowing down. He went past the frontline and invaded deeper, approaching Kai's bowmen.

Did your mama not teach you to respect personal space? Kai hissed at the enemy, but that’s all she could do.

"Kai, stay away from him," Yuel warned.

"Yeah, I know, I know." Kai grumped as she stepped away from the incoming threat. Her original plan was to stay near her bowmen and shoot basic attacks at the enemy swordsmen, but the Orc's advances forced her to retreat.

Kai could only grump about this turn of events. "He totally deserves to have his ass ganked for something like this, just saying."

"Yes, this is an overextension for sure," Yuel agreed. "Nia, you should stick around Mid and look for... oh."

Before he even issued the order, Nia had already reached the Griffin Camp near Mid. She was farming a camp near Bot just a few seconds ago, but it seemed like she rushed to Mid shortly after Apprentece's arrival.

"You're fast," Yuel said. "Do you want to gank him so badly?"

"Not really." Nia shrugged. "I just felt like this is a good opportunity to take the Griffins. And well, maybe gank too. But only maybe, okay?"

"I see."

This was unexpected, to say the least. In the past, Nia always threw a tantrum whenever she had to gank a "scary" opponent, especially one who had already killed her before in the same game.

I still remember how hard I had to work in order to convince her to gank a DK back when we were just starting out. Yuel sighed with a wry smile. She's high maintenance player, that's for sure. But, she's getting better, slowly but surely.

A few months ago, it would've been unthinkable for Nia to challenge a "scary" opponent of her own accord like this. Classes like Dark Knight and Orc terrified her to the core.

But now there she was, getting in position to gank an Orc before Yuel even issued the order. It almost brought a tear to his eye.

Now, let’s see if he gives her an opportunity to strike. All of Yuel's attention was glued to the situation in Mid. Even though he had his hands full fighting the duo of Rook and Merlin in Bot, he couldn't take his eyes off the unfolding events in Mid. The next few plays over there might prove critical for the future of this entire game.

If they can kill Apprentece, then we’ll get a chance to mount a comeback. Yuel thought.

Not all hope was lost yet. There was still the possibility of a turnabout here, as faint as it was.

But, will Apprentece give them such an opportunity...?