In Top Lane, Gregory was doing a fine job playing defense, just like Howard ordered. However, he was a little too provocative...

Kek, eat shit. Gregory snickered as he flung a stone at Roi. Then, another one. And another one. Man, sniping melee scrubs from afar is fun. It's like playing darts.

Druid was a rare hybrid between tank and mage, so it had both high defense and ranged basic attacks. The class was perfect for poking that Dark Knight mofo from afar while maintaining distance. It sucked that the pesky minions turned on Gregory whenever he landed a shot on Roi, but poking was just so much fun he couldn’t stop. Maybe he was getting a little addicted, kek.

Tch, Roi grimaced as another stone smacked him. What an asshole. Just lemme farm in peace.

These ranged basic attacks were real cancer. Gregory wasn't a particularly competent shooter, so it's not like the shots were that difficult to deal with. However, the shots constantly split Roi's attention between farming minions and dealing with incoming shots.

Okay, another pitch coming. Roi noticed that Gregory advanced. The guy was like a walking telegraph, so it was a no-brainer to predict his attacks. Roi will easily parry this pitch and return to business... shit.

The pitch passed slightly above Roi's bat and hit his arm. Strike! How!? Dang it. These pitches were so easy, so how come Roi failed to parry half of them? It's not like they were particularly fast or thrown from a nasty angle or anything.

To Gregory’s credit, the pitches did have a somewhat annoying timing because they always came when Roi was busy handling minions. But, that shouldn't be an issue when the pitches were so telegraphed. Roi saw these pitches from a mile away, but he failed to make contact. His bat just didn't behave as he wanted.

And, if that shit wasn't triggering enough, Gregory repeatedly jumped into the middle of his minion wave to get hit by Roi's Dark Blast. The damage from Dark Blast was soaked up by Gaia's Protection, so Gregory could eat Dark Blasts in the face for days. This only got worse with time because the shield from Gaia's Protection scaled better with level than Dark Blast’s damage.

Gregory's stunt was a pain for two reasons. First, because hitting Gregory with anything aggro'd his minions on Roi. As a result, Roi had to run away like a pussy every time until the minions lose interest in him. But, that alone wasn't a huge deal.

The second annoying factor was that Dark Blast's traveling distance became a little shorter after every time it passed through an enemy. It was tiny modifier which wasn't even motioned in the skill's description, so it was niche knowledge. However, anybody who played Top Lane seriously had to know this tidbit to bully Dark Knight. And, Gregory was using it to great effect right now.

Kek, this shit actually works. Gregory smirked as he body-blocked another Dark Blast. That's a nice tip Howard gave him. Gregory had no idea Dark Blast was actually affected by how many enemies it hit. That shit wasn’t written anywhere in the description or anything, so he had to double-check after Howard told him.

Sure, there were a few rare occasions when Gregory played Dark Knight and his Dark Blast randomly decided to rebel. Even though he was sure Dark Blast should be able to travel a certain distance, it just went NOPE and didn’t travel all the way. Gregory always assumed it was either some sort of bug or that he misgauged the distance. But, turned out it was a legit aspect of Dark Blast's design and it was hella fun to exploit, kek.

Every time Roi fired his Dark Blast in hope to damage the entire minion wave, Gregory jumped in its way. At first, he wasn't keen on the idea of repeatedly eating damage in the face like that, but then he realized he barely received any damage thanks to Gaia's Protection. So, rather than getting punched in the face to save his minions, it's more like Gregory pulled a pro-level block.

Thanks to this little trick Roi couldn't gain much lane advantage. So much for Dark Knight's early game power, it had no power here. That mofo couldn't do shit against a pro like Gregory, kek.

Best of all, Roi gradually exhausted his own HP. Aside from poking here and there, Gregory didn't need to lift a finger. Casting Dark Blast cost HP and Gregory’s body-blocking aggro’d his minions on Roi’s ass, so the game's mechanics bound together to help Gregory win!

As a result, Roi was already running out of steam at 30% HP. He probably gonna retreat soon without accomplishing shit. Man, this battle was a piece of cake. At this rate, Gregory legit gonna get a starter spot on the first string. He gonna become DaBestSolo, kek.

This is a great opportunity. Gregory smirked. To put the final nail in Roi's coffin, Gregory better get a kill here before Roi retreats like a pussy. That’ll prove once and for all who was the true best player here! Gregory will finally step out of Taison’s shadow and will be feared as the powerhouse he really was!

“Don't rush it,” Howard said.

“Huh?”

“Don't assume that Roi gonna be an easy target just because he's at low health. Sitting at 70% HP sounds safe, but Roi is playing Dark Knight and I’m pretty sure you can't make another shield with that MP. Don’t be careless.”

“I didn't even say anything...” Gregory knotted his brows. What’s the deal with Howard? I swear dude is an esper or some shit. He better appear on variety shows instead of playing Mancers. I bet he'd become filthy rich, kek.

“Just thought I’d give you some friendly advice,” Howard denied the whole ESP theory, but Gregory was totally onto that mofo. “It's very tempting to go on the offensive after you've been defending for so long, I know the feeling. But, don't let it sway you. Remember, your job is to freeze the lane and make sure Roi doesn't get ahead in the early game.”

“Huh, you make it sound like I got no chance kicking his ass. The guy is already out of steam. I can totally wreck him.”

“I didn't say you can't kill him, but...” Howard paused for a moment. “Alright, let's do it like this. Tai, go for the Wolf Camp near Top Lane. Keep tabs on the situation on lane and give a hand if needed, but don’t go out of your way to gank for no reason.”

“Gotcha, boss.”

“Greg, you're free to take a shot at Roi once Tai gets there. Sounds good?”

“Hm, sure,” Gregory replied half-heartedly. What's with this babysitting? Gregory would totally win this 1v1, he didn’t need any safety nets1. I swear, Howard is such a worrywart. Zero trust, huh.

Okay, fine. Gregory sighed after contemplating for a moment. He'll wait for Taison to get closer, then he'll rush that scrubby Dark Knight. It gonna be the easiest win of the century.

The best strat was obviously to pull Roi deeper into Gregory’s territory, that'll guarantee Roi ain't gonna get away. Gregory had just the tool for the job: Nature's Grasp. But, landing that shit from afar on an unpredictable target was hella hard. That skill-shot had the width of an ant, so one had to be a trained pro sniper to land it consistently on enemies.

The good news, there was one scene in which Roi always became hella predictable and easy to grab: while he was casting Dark Blast. That's the moment Gregory gonna shoot for!

Damn. Roi tapped his foot. This laning phase was going nowhere. He just finished clearing a minion wave, but a new one was already here. This pace was unacceptable for a Dark Knight. This early-game powerhouse had to maintain an early-game lead and bully the lane opponent, or else it'll become useless.

What an annoying restriction. It's really not fun when your performance in the early-game gonna single-handedly decide whether you gonna be worth anything later down the road. That's why Roi preferred classes with a more balanced power curve.

Well, it is what it is. Roi shrugged and shook his head. Yuel insisted on Dark Knight, so Dark Knight he got. I gotta do what I can.

With that said, there wasn’t much to do with just 30% HP, especially when his lane opponent had a defensive ranged class. If Roi can get closer to Gregory, maybe he'll be able to turn the situation around. That's the kind of play Yuel was expecting, he even told Roi to buy Potion of Strength to increase the chances of scoring an early kill.

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But, it was no good. The lane was totally frozen. At this rate, Roi won’t only lose his chance to stay relevant for later parts of the game, but his investment into Potion of Strength will also end up being a complete waste. The potion gave a flat power bonus, so it became less and less impactful as the game went on, pretty much like the Dark Knight himself.

Therefore, despite being at 30% HP, Roi couldn't possibly retreat yet, not before he puts Potion of Strength to good use and scores at least one kill here. Retreating would be as good as surrendering. Gregory was already down to 70% HP, he didn't have enough MP for another shield of Gaia’s Protection and he hasn't built much defense yet.

So, this situation was still salvageable and Roi had at least one more shot. He had to make his move now. Once this next minion wave arrives, he gonna settle this!

Roi advanced as usual to fire Dark Blast. Of course, Gregory was already in the middle of his minion wave, ready to soak up the damage. Even though Gregory didn't have a shield this time, he was still gonna eat a Dark Blast to the face for the sake of his minions. Admirable, but this gonna be his end!

Roi chugged down the Potion of Strength and raised his blade to shoot Dark Blast- wha!? Branches wrapped his body and pulled him toward the enemy wave! Nature's Grasp!? Really? In this situation?

The branches dragged Roi all the way to Gregory's face. Lol, Roi couldn't ask for a better arrangement! It was awesome! He gonna put his Potion of Strength to great use and get himself a sweet early kill, two birds with one stone! Alright, now you gonna pay for all the crap you've been giving me with your pokes and body-blocks. Payback time, baby!

Roi booted Nightmare, which covered his body in dark miasma. He was ready to rock n’ roll! To start off, a powerful Dark Blast right into Gregory’s face!

“Wha!?” Gregory jumped. A Dark Blast smacked him right as he finished pulling. That’s 25% HP gone in an instant! Damn, wasn’t Druid supposed to be a tanky class? What was this trashy defense!?

But, that wasn’t even the most surprising part. For some reason, the Dark Knight was enveloped in a dark aura. Why use Nightmare? Wait, could it be Roi was actually planning to give a fight? Even though he only had 25% HP and was gonna lose even more due to NIghtmare? Heh, that loser ain’t got any chance!

Fine! If you think you can win, let’s see ya try! Gregory accepted the challenge head-on and replied in kind. Roi slashed him, so he fired right back at that mofo!

There was no way Roi could win in this situation. Not only he was running low on HP, but he was also in the middle of Gregory’s minion wave. The aggro’d swordsmen and bowmen gonna pincer Roi from both sides and kick his ass!

Except, nobody fired arrows for some reason. The swordsmen turned around to hit Roi, but the bowmen were sleeping. That’s some weird shit right there. A bug or something? Man, this game was sure... oh. Shit! This ain’t good...

The only bug here was the absolutely broken damage of Dark Blast. The attack which erased 25% of Gregory’s HP didn’t just stop there, it flew all the way to the backline and wiped out all his bowmen too. Shit, shit, shit! The bowmen were supposed to be the biggest source of damage, but they were busy chilling in hell right now!

But, no matter. Gregory still had the-

“Retreat. Now.” Howard gave an order.

“But, I can-”

“Now.”

“Tch,” Gregory shook his head. Why!? This situation was the perfect chance to get back at Roi for last game! Gregory had to- Wait, when the hell did his HP drop down to 20%!? Even worse, Roi was still at around 15% himself!

I’m outta here! Gregory turned around and sprinted like the wind. Or rather, like a big bulky tree guy. This damn Druid was slow as hell!

This development was insane. Like, hello? Tanking pls? Druid was supposed to be a tough guy, but Roi shredded him apart with every slash. And what’s worse, Nightmare reflected half the damage Gregory dealt to Roi. Goddammit! Gregory might actually die at this rate...!

Strike! Roi drove his black blade into Gregory’s fleeing back. One more strike and you’re out! It’s over! ...oh, damn. Roi stopped in his tracks, he couldn’t move a single step. Druid’s passive rooted him in place because he spammed too many basic attacks in a row! Crap, Roi done goofed.

The root effect lasted less than two seconds, but it felt ten times longer when Roi had to watch the Druid get farther and farther away. And, if letting Gregory slip away wasn’t bad enough, the enemy minions also caught up with their immobile target and slashed away at Roi. At this rate, he’ll be done in by a bunch of small dudes! Minions? More like Killions!

Nope! Ain’t having any of it! Roi turned around and ran like his life depended on it, because it kinda literally did. There was no choice but to give up on the kill because dying right now would set Roi back too much. Thankfully, the minions were a bunch of slowpokes, so it wasn’t hard to get away from there. But...

“HERE COMES TAISON!” Taison invaded the lane! “Coming to the rescue, yo!”

“I don’t need any rescuing,” Gregory retorted. “You better rescue that DK from himself. Put him out of his misery, kek.”

“On it!” Taison activated Hungering Horde, which sent a pack of bats at Roi.

Damn! Roi continued running, but he already knew it was futile. The horde of bats slowed him down and gradually sucked away his HP. Taison caught up in no time and sealed the deal with a couple of basic attacks.

『You have been killed!』

“Dammit!” Roi kicked. That’s it, game over. A Dark Knight who dies in the early game gonna suck for the rest of the match. Roi might still get a few chances to execute people, but that’s about it. His ability to contribute to this match was reduced to almost nothing.

“That was a little reckless,” Yuel said. “You should’ve taken into account that Taison was likely rotating to Top.”

“Yeah, I...” Roi sighed. Actually, he wasn’t even sure whether he saw that. At the very least, it wasn’t on his mind when he decided to kill Gregory. And, he also forgot to play around Druid’s passive root effect...

It was lame. First, he had trouble parrying easy shots, and now he carelessly overextended in enemy territory like some Bronze player. This ain’t like him at all.

But, this wasn’t the first time. Roi knew this feeling very well and his palm trembled as he clenched the mouse. This annoying phenomenon was nothing new or strange, he experienced it many times before in baseball. When the spirit wavers, so does the player’s performance. The bat stops listening to its own and fails to make contact. It’s a basic sports thing that can happen to anybody. Trever was especially bad at dealing with it.

With Roi’s years of experience playing sports, he was fairly resilient to this thing. It wasn’t like he developed immunity to this phenomena, he just learned how to conquer it whenever it popped up. During such dark times, all he had to do was think about the importance of the match, about what he was fighting for and about why he had to win at any cost.

Unfortunately, in this match, these very questions were the core of the problem to begin with. Roi’s doubts about the direction of the match and its consequences were the root of his uneasiness. Was he even fighting for the right cause? He couldn’t tell, yet he had to keep fighting anyway.

“You need at least one kill before mid-game,” Yuel droned. “Otherwise, you won’t be able to come back in time.”

“Yeah, I know...” Roi sighed. Why do I even have to play DK? Climbing from behind is such a pain with this class... No, focus. Roi slapped his cheeks. He had to get his groove back before he drags the team down to oblivion.

Meanwhile, in the other camp, the players celebrated this development.

“Good job getting out of there alive,” Howard said.

“Yeah, right,” Gregory averted his eyes. “Good job” my ass. I almost fucked myself over by pulling Roi. If not for Druid’s passive, I'd be dead meat right now. And, I didn't even get the kill in the end. It was all Taison.

“It was really a risky play,” Howard lectured. “Especially, after I told you to play defensively so many times.”

Jeez, thanks for rubbing it in. Gregory made a face.

“But, it's alright.”

“... excuse me?” Gregory couldn't help but make a dumb face.

“You did well, all things considered. When you turtle for too long, you start wanting to kick some ass for a change, right? Just imagine how quickly somebody like Taison would break while turtling.”

“Me? Turtle?” Taison's face twisted like he just heard the most disgusting word ever. “I ain't doing that lame shit, it's for pussies.”

“You see?” Howard turned back to Gregory. “Just fighting that temptation as long as you did is already amazing. It's thanks to your patience that Roi became restless and slipped at the end there.”

Heh, Gregory sneered. He's sure trying to make it sound like I pulled off some cool shit. Gregory shook his head, but he couldn't deny he felt a little better after hearing these words. Even though Gregory knew that Howard was probably just talking outta his ass to keep morale high, a little bit of praise never hurt.

“You probably think it sucks because you couldn't get the kill,” Howard continued. “But, it doesn't matter that Taison dealt the final blow. It's your persistence against Roi that drove him into a corner and created this opportunity. So, it's really your kill, even though you only got an assist for it.”

“My kill...” Gregory mumbled. That's a hella messed up way to think about it. So, even though it was Taison who wrapped things up, it was actually all thanks to Gregory turtling like a pussy? That was... actually kinda true.

Gregory messed with Roi the whole time and hit the guy where it hurt most. Gregory denied full wave clears by body-blocking Dark Blast and poked from afar with basic attacks. He did lots of shit to tilt Roi and it paid off in the end. The triggered boi lost his head and went on the offensive, even though he was almost dead. That cost the guy everything.

Heh, everything was actually part of the master plan! Of course Gregory knew he'd easily get away if Roi decides to attack, so that's why he went for that risky pull. 100% calculated! That kill was all Gregory!

Alright. Howard nodded to himself after seeing Gregory’s snicker. Even though Howard's speech was just consolation which ensured that Gregory won’t lose his head and will continue turtling, there was a grain of truth to it.

Thanks to Gregory holding the fort for so long, Roi became uncertain of his plans and became restless. Roi must have been mulling over whether to retreat or attack, and then Gregory's pull made the decision for him. With the target right within reach, Roi naturally chose fight instead of retreating.

And, he miscalculated. Howard smiled meaningfully. Forgetting about the rooting effect of Terra’s Warth was a huge blunder, that's not like Roi. He must have been pressured and distracted by Dark Knight’s requirement to get ahead in the early game.

And, Roi was probably wavering for another reason as well because even his parries didn't connect well. It seemed like the consequences of the first game were slowly injecting their poison into the enemy team, right under Yuel's nose.

With a kill on Roi, the advantage in Top Lane went to Howard's team and Roi will have a hard time climbing back from that as a Dark Knight. Alas, the enemy team held a slight advantage in Bot Lane after Lars killed Ellen.

Therefore, whoever gains the upper hand in Mid will dominate the early game. If the enemy's aggressive comp loses initiative during the early game, this match would be as good as settled.