On the fourth day of school, Yuel and Lars went to the clubroom again after school. So far, the club has been gathering like this every day, which was something Yuel really appreciated. The more the team gets to practice the stronger it’ll become.

Unfortunately, this routine will probably only last until Kai makes a proper schedule. But, for now, the team had a frequent and fairly fruitful training regime.

The one thing that constantly annoyed about the club was the clubroom. Unlike proper clubs, their clubroom was tucked away in the basement. So, every time, Yuel and Lars had to venture into the school’s basement to reach their clubroom. That is, if one could even call that place a “clubroom”. It was just a storage room, really.

“Heya,” Lars greeted everybody as he entered.

“Oh,” Vincent turned around and saluted. “Welcome to the Den of Undiscovered Potential!”

Again with that nonsense. Yuel shook his head.

Kai and Vincent were already here, which wasn't surprising since the seniors studied on the first floor of the school. Meanwhile, Luke wasn’t here yet even though he had to travel the same distance as Yuel and Lars. Judging by his laid-back attitude, he was probably in no hurry. No surprises there.

However, there was one surprise in the room: an unfamiliar face. There was a chubby boy Yuel hasn’t seen before. This must be Ben, the elusive last member of Stratus who skipped every meeting so far.

“Oh, hi,” Ben raised his hand timidly. “I heard we got two transfer students. That’s you?”

“Yep, that’s us,” Lars pointed at himself. “The name’s Lars.”

“Yuel,” Yuel stated briefly. It sure took a long time to finally meet Ben even though he was supposed to be a part of the same club. What was Ben’s deal?

“Um, I’m Ben,” Ben shifted his eyes away to avoid Yuel’s gaze. “Nice to meet you...”

He’s not quite how I imagined. Yuel frowned.

Considered Ben skipped the last two days of practice and hasn’t provided a good reason for that, Yuel expected a delinquent who didn’t take the club seriously. Yet, this timid guy couldn’t be farther away from that image. Yuel even felt bad a little for judging the guy like that.

“May I ask why you missed every club activity so far?” Yuel had to make this straight.

“Ah, well...” Ben flinched and his eyes moved from side to side. “I, um, had some stuff I had to do take of...”

“Like what?”

“Er, well...” Ben stumbled over his words. “Some friends asked me to help them out at the basketball club, so I...”

“You’ve been helping them out for three days?”

“A-Ah, yeah, um, you see...” Ben was at a loss. This was awkward. It almost felt like bullying.

Should I keep pressing? Yuel wondered. He still hasn’t gotten any answers. What did Ben mean by “helping the basketball club”? What did Ben have to do with it? He was supposed to be a member of the Classmancers club. Or, maybe this school allowed students to register to multiple clubs?

“I don’t get it,” Yuel said. “How are you connected to the basketball club?”

“Well, I got a few friends there and...”

“... and?”

“And, um...” Ben was visibly fidgeting. What was he hiding?

“He just had important stuff to do,” Vincent butted into the conversation. “Let's leave it at that, shall we?”

“And, you're okay with it?” Yuel asked Vincent and Kai.

“It's fine,” Kai said. “He had things he had to do, so it can't be helped.” Her words felt forced. It's like she was pushing herself to let this slide.

“But,” Yuel insisted. “He missed days of practice. It'd be one thing if he gave a legit reason but I haven't heard any yet. The club is already small as it is and you’re going to let a member go rogue like that? If that's your attitude, this club will never get anywhere.”

“I-I...!” Ben desperately tried to say something. “I'll make up for it! I'll stay extra hours if I have to. And, I practice at home too, so I won't fall behind. I promise.”

“Really,” Yuel frowned. What could he even say to that? This image of a timid and earnest boy clashed with the delinquency of Ben's actions.

No matter how Yuel looked at it, Ben didn't come across like a troublemaker who'd skip club activity on purpose. Yet, he did so anyway. Why? What did the basketball club have to do with any of this? Yuel couldn't comprehend.

Regardless, Ben promised to work hard and even claimed he practiced at home to make up for the lost hours. If he was truly this motivated to improve and play well, maybe he was alright.

“May I ask what’s your rank?” Yuel asked.

“It’s Platinum IV.”

“I see,” Yuel nodded. This was acceptable. It was quite a lot more promising than Luke’s Gold I.

Yuel wanted to know some more about Ben’s circumstances but it felt like Vincent and Kai wanted to kill the topic, so he couldn't do anything but sigh and let it slide. He'll have to gauge Ben in action today to form a proper opinion.

“Okay,” Yuel said. “Let's just move on to today's training. What roles do you play?”

“I can play Top,” Ben said. “I can do Jungler too, but not so well. And, um, Support, I guess.”

Doesn't sound like you're too pumped for Support. Yuel noted to himself. It felt like a personal attack against Yuel's favorite role but it wasn't unusual. Even among players who could play Support well, many didn't enjoy the role as much as others. After all, it could easily be the most unrewarding role ever when the rest of the team isn’t coordinated enough. On top of that, being blamed for everything was common and far from fun. Yuel went through all these struggles before so he perfectly understood.

“So, you prefer Top?” Yuel asked.

“Yes, if possible,” Ben nodded.

I'm the Top Laner at the moment, though. Yuel frowned. It wasn't like he yearned to be the team's Top but that was his role for now. So, he had to practice it in case he ends up playing it in official scrimmages.

“I also play Top,” Yuel said. “So, how do you want to do it? Do we take turns?”

“I'm fine with turns,” Ben nodded.

“You can take turns with me too,” Vincent told Yuel. “I'm fine with sitting the first game out.”

“I see.” The timing of this offer was a tad too convenient. It was as if Vincent could tell how much Yuel wanted to play Support. Did Yuel's thoughts surface on his face? Either way, this was good. Getting practice as both Top and Support was ideal.

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“Are you also going to take turns?” Yuel asked Kai. “It's good to switch with Lars from time to time so you can both gain experience as Mid and Carry.”

“Maybe,” Kai shrugged. “But, today I'm only playing Carry.”

“I see,” Yuel didn't let the disappointment to show on his face. This was the club's fourth day of activity, yet Kai hasn't played anything but Carry this entire time. That was the main reason Yuel didn't bother taking turns with Vincent until now.

What he really wanted was to play Bot together with Lars so they could get experience with their main roles while playing as a team. Also, it'd be a great opportunity to show off how strong they were as a duo, which should convince Kai to give up on the Carry role.

Unfortunately, none of that was achievable at the moment. Kai insisted to hold onto the Carry role like it was her baby so it might take a while before Kai agrees to part with it. Therefore, for now, Yuel will play with the hand he was dealt and play Support for Kai. It should be an interesting experience in its own right.

Luke arrived in the clubroom five minutes later and so lineup for the first match was decided.

Top: Ben

Jungler: Luke

Mid: Lars

Support: Yuel

Carry: Kai

“Good luck with your supporting,” Vincent whispered as he passed by Yuel. “Kai can be a bit of a handful but try your best.”

“That goes without saying,” Yuel nodded. No matter who his lane partner was, he had every intention to do everything in his power to secure victory.

Nevertheless, this warning made him cautious. Was Kai a difficult Carry to handle? Based on her aloof and rather selfish attitude, there was no doubt it won't be easy to handle her.

Then again, when was a Carry player ever easy to handle? Lars and Taison were rascals who had to be babysat or else they'd mess everything up. The only Carry Yuel ever played with that made his life easy was Ellen, who was competent enough to make good decisions for herself but still made sure to cooperate and plan ahead with Yuel.

Though, with that pairing, Yuel often felt like he wasn’t too relevant because Ellen could handle most things by herself just fine. Both Yuel and Ellen were good at analyzing opponents, so Yuel’s analysis only added a little bit to what Ellen already figured on her own.

Where did Kai fall on the Carry scale? Was she a needy Carry who required a lot of attention? Or, was she a competent Carry who mostly acted independently?

Either way, Yuel will do his utmost to support her. For that, they absolutely had to have good communication.

“What are you doing?” Kai asked.

“Making sure we can properly communicate,” Yuel brought over a chair and a table.

“Seems excessive to me but whatever floats your boat,” Kai shrugged.

The team queued into Ranked and soon found a match.

“Let's pick Top first,” Yuel advised. His team was going first, so classic theory advised to pick a versatile high tier Top Laner or Support which had no obvious counters.

“So, I’m first?” Ben asked. “Um, is Vanguard alright?”

“Sure,” Yuel couldn’t decide whether he liked the fact Ben asked for everybody's input or disliked how unsure Ben sounded. It almost felt like Ben didn't know what he was doing and just picked something because he was put on the spot.

But, that couldn't possibly be the case. After all, Vanguard wasn't the kind of class anybody would pick on a whim. It was a rather unpopular defensive pick for Top Laners because of its slowness and self-sacrificial nature, so Ben definitely knew what he was going for. The uncertainty in his voice was probably just a part of his timid nature.

The enemy team also followed standard theory and picked classes for Top and Support: Knight and Lumimancer. That didn't give Yuel any ideas for effective counter picks. Thus, for now, they’ll just go ahead and pick something solid.

“What's today's meme?” Yuel asked.

“Let's see, let's see,” Luke scrolled through his custom filter of “Jungle Memes”. “Jungle Druid sounds like fun. Yeah, I'm feeling it!”

“I see,” Yuel sighed in defeat. After playing with Luke for the past few days, Yuel came to terms with Luke’s “meme of the day” routine. At least, for now.

Rogue, Cryomancer, Archer and now Druid. There was no end to Luke’s arsenal of meme Junglers. Though, surprisingly, Luke played all these classes far better than Yuel expected. Luke countered Stealth Wards as Rogue, he found the right moments to set up ganks with Cryomancer and he went for a heavy crit-oriented build with Archer to burst down enemies. So, considering this impressive performance, Yuel began accepting that impractical playstyle.

So, for now, Yuel will let Luke meme and see where that goes. But, for competitive matches, Luke will eventually have to pick up meta classes. There was no doubt about that.

And so, Luke picked Druid for jungling, of all things. Druid already had a niche secondary pick as a Top Laner, but a Jungler pick was even rarer than that. The only justifications Druid had for being a Jungler were the CC from Nature’s Grasp and the split-pushing potential of Awaken the Ents. Same as with most memes, it had a chance to be viable and sometimes even strong, but the chances of that happening were too slim on the highest levels of play.

“I feel like working on my Electro next,” Lars said.

“Sounds good,” Yuel approved. The past few days, Lars has been getting into shape as a Mid Laner by playing some of the lower difficulty mages. Today, he should be ready to tackle a class that demanded a higher execution like Electromancer.

The enemy team next picked Vampire and Pirate, which were possibly supposed to be counter-picks to Druid’s Nature Grasp. Vampire could use Coffin Slumber to negate any damage after being pulled in, which would buy enough time to assess the situation and decide on the best line of play.

Pirate had even better ways to counter Nature’s Grasp. For one, it could quickly dodge the branches of Nature’s Grasp with Backfire Cannon. Alternatively, it could unleash Kraken in the enemy’s face after being pulled.

There was no telling for sure regarding the Vampire, but the enemy definitely picked Pirate to counter Druid. After all, from their point of view, the Druid seemed like the most likely candidate for being the Support.

Yuel’s team already had Vanguard and Druid, so either of those would normally be assumed to be the Support. The Pirate pick was decent against Vanguard as well, so it covered both bases.

But, too bad for them. Neither of those was going to be the Support. Yuel left his pick for last, hoping he could counter-pick the enemy’s Bot duo.

“Who do you want to play?” Yuel asked Kai.

“Impaler,” Kai locked her pick before Yuel even got a chance to comment.

Wow, an insta-locker. Yuel made a face.

It wasn’t like Impaler was a bad pick here. In fact, the Impaler’s Iron Maiden could serve as a counter to Pirate’s Backfire Cannon when applied smartly, so this was a solid choice. Nevertheless...

“You didn’t give me a chance to comment on your pick.”

“Hm?” Kai tilted her head. “What did you want to say?”

“Well...” Yuel frowned. In truth, he didn’t have anything to say about this particular pick. “Nothing, I guess.”

“Huh. Okay.”

I didn’t get the point across, did I? Yuel sighed. Well, that’s alright. He wasn’t particularly silver-tongued and Kai wasn’t exactly the easiest person to socialize with, so it was only inevitable to run into such issues. Yuel will just have to work on this one step at a time.

So, I have to work with an Impaler. Yuel went over the list of Support options. He wanted a class that’ll either counter the enemy’s composition or will supplement Kai’s Impaler. Or, optimally, a class that’ll do both at once.

Impaler’s main gimmick was its Impale skill, which launched a big spear that knocked back enemy players. When Impale pushed an enemy into a wall, it dealt extra damage and stunned the player. The rest of the Impaler’s kit was designed to combo off from this initial play.

Therefore, a good way to support an Impaler was by helping them execute this setup. In other words, help them push an opponent into a wall. Which Support could help with that? Naturally, Cryomancer came to mind.

Ice Wall was treated like a wall, so pushing an enemy into it with Impale gave all the same benefits. On top of that, Cryomancer’s Ice Coffin added another optional layer to the Impaler’s combo.

“I’ll take Cryo,” Yuel said. “Tell me when you need an ice wall for pushing somebody.”

“Sure,” Kai didn’t show much reaction.

I’m picking Cryo for you, you know. Yuel made a face.

Well, not receiving proper gratitude was common for a Support. By the end of the day, he didn’t really pick Cryomancer specifically for Kai. He made this pick to increase the team’s overall chances of victory. So, it was fine. A little irking, but fine.

The enemy team wrapped up the drafting phase with a Sorcerer pick for Mid. It didn’t come across as a counter to anything in particular, so it was probably just a preference of that Mid player.

With that, the match began. How was Ben going to perform? How well with Yuel be able to cooperate with Kai as his partner? These were the main topics Yuel wanted to explore in the upcoming match.

Yuel’s team:

Top: Ben (Vanguard)

Jungler: Luke (Druid Meme)

Mid: Lars (Electromancer)

Carry: Kai (Impaler)

Support: Yuel (Cryomancer)

Enemy team:

Top: Knight

Jungler: Vampire

Mid: Sorcerer

Carry: Pirate

Support: Lumimancer