61 Everybody Help to Grind (2/2)
The games became fiercer than ever. Enemy teams had airtight defenses and even when Yuel found a way to break through - they weren't rattled at all and immediately adapted. These enemies also never missed a chance to punish Lars's extensions and risky plays, making his dominating snowballs much rarer.
So, Yuel and Lars not only had to grind more points than before to rank up, but they couldn't even grind as quickly as before. Even if given a year, was it even possible to reach Challenger IV at this pace...?
One day, Aron dropped by the club along with Trever. Howard mentioned how Aron used to bring members to the clubroom over the summer, so it wasn't THAT surprising. Still, Yuel couldn't believe somebody as strict and by-the-book as Aron would sneak into school without permission, especially now that he graduated. He technically wasn't even a student here anymore.
”I had my conflicts about it at first,” Aron explained his side of the story. ”When I became the captain, Trever and Howard nagged me about how we should use the clubroom instead of meeting at others' houses.”
”You used to arrange group meetings over the summer?” Yuel asked.
”Oh yeah,” Trever laughed. ”The good ol' days. We picked a victim every time and raided their place, haha.”
”A 'victim' is a bit extreme.” Aron frowned. ”But yes, we gathered a group of five every time and practiced at somebody's place. It wasn't optimal, I admit. But, I couldn't possibly let them slack off for two months. We played online too with voice chat, but it wasn't quite the same.”
”Yeah,” Trever nodded. ”Because you couldn't lecture us for hours after every game. Everybody just muted you without telling, haha!”
”Reviewing games is as important as playing them.”
”Yeah, yeah. Anyway, that's when The Great Trever came up with a brilliant idea: Let's use the clubroom!”
[Reminds me of a certain goof.] Yuel smiled wryly.
”I had my concerns,” Aron admitted. ”But, he kept begging and got Howard and others on his side, so I gave it a shot. Turns out nobody cares about us using the room, so I just went along with it. The first couple of days I was still on the fence, but after a week it became a routine.”
”I know the feeling,” Yuel nodded. On the first day, he and his accomplices infiltrated the school as if it was mission impossible. A few days forward and it became as natural as going to school every day. The few teachers at school were occupied with other matters, so nobody was interested in policing students who illegally visited their clubs without a supervisor. Clubrooms were locked, so it's not like unauthorized individuals could easily get in. Besides, they didn't come here to cause trouble so it's not a big deal.
”I heard you're stuck at Challenger V?” Aron said.
”Well,” Yuel crossed his arms. ”Not stuck, but it's sure tough. We overall move forward in points, but it feels like we're crawling.”
”I know that feeling,” Aron nodded as a proud Challenger IV who overcame this great obstacle before. ”The surefire method is to play with the same coordinated team and with a game plan in mind.”
”So, like a competitive team.”
”Yes, like the way Howard is training with the first string right now.”
”Huh...?” Yuel's brain short-circuited for a moment. ”Like the way Howard is doing what?”
”He takes the first string online and makes sure to practice with the same lineup all the time. Why the surprise? That's the most logical thing to do.”
”Well, sure...” [Except, I heard nothing about it!] Yuel clenched his fists. Neither Howard nor Ellen paid a single visit to the club so far, so Yuel thought they were lazing around because it's a vacation. But, they were actually practicing hard too? And with the whole first string!? No wonder Gilbert, Roi and Dan only showed their faces at the club on rare occasions. And, their visits became rarer and rarer as time went by.
Why Yuel hadn't heard any of this? Was it supposed to be some sort of secret training? A ploy by Howard to rise to Master rank before Yuel could catch up to him!? Yuel had to know the details. He had to know everything!
The next time first string members came to the clubroom, Yuel interrogated them.
”Yeah,” Dan said. ”We've been meeting at Howard's place to practice every now and then,” he admitted without the slightest hesitation.
”How comes nobody ever mentioned it?”
”Hmm, I guess because Howard asked to not talk about it too much.”
”Wha...” So, there was something fishy after all! Howard told Yuel to chase his rank, then proceeded to abuse his position as captain to grind rank points faster than Yuel with the strongest lineup! Ugh!
”So,” Yuel said, holding back his irritation. ”You grind online a lot?”
”We grind, but I wouldn't say 'a lot'.”
”Really? Then what [do] you do?”
”Howard comes up with the menu, so we just go along. Practicing stuff, reviewing matches and... Well, you get the idea.”
”I see,” Sounded like standard first string training. Maybe there's nothing to worry about after all? He thought there was some huge secret, but it sounded very normal.
Still, as the vice-captain, Yuel would have liked to be informed about the club's activities. But, Howard probably didn't deem it necessary. After all, Yuel was just a second string player. Howard made his stance clear when Yuel became the vice-captain: [”I can't babysit everybody. My job as the captain is to bring the team to nationals.”]
That's fine, for now. Yuel was in no position to overthrow Howard, not yet. But by the end of this summer, Yuel and Lars should have enough experience to do so. They'll seize their spots on the first string and get to play in tournaments, no matter what.
But first, they had to actually get said experience and grinding ranks was the most straightforward way to go about it. With Aron joining the summer camp, their win ratio fired upwards. He was StormBlitz's former Jungler and one of best Junglers in the entire region, second only to the Leopards' Fenrir. Aron's consistency, knowledge and decision-making were top-notch.
On top of that, his late game was brutal. He deconstructed enemies to the tiniest bits throughout the match, gathering even more data than Yuel. Then, in the late game, he unleashed all that knowledge and decimated every opponent on his path. He became a killing machine, without a single flawless move.
His effectiveness was further enhanced with Trever on the team. When Trever picked a Carry like Ranger with good jungle clear, the two of them played a ”Two Junglers” formation. Trever strolled throughout Bot Jungle, whereas Aron focused on Top Jungle. That way, they greatly optimized jungle farm.
In addition, they used coordinated pincer attacks. They ganked their prey from two opposite directions, leaving no chance to escape. When the target through they escaped Aron's gank, they ended up running into Trever instead. An elegant and powerful tactic.
If Yuel and Lars get into Ivy High as planned, they might get a chance to face Aron and Trever in the high school regionals. Shivers danced on his skin from the mere thought. How would Yuel counter Aron's unstoppable late game? How will Lars's skill compare against Trever's by then? Sadly, there were still two more years ahead of them before any of that can be answered.
Before long, the summer break was approaching its end. They made huge progress with everybody's help, but... Yuel and Lars didn't make it. They were still stuck at Challenger V. Trever didn't joke when he said it took him a year to get to Challenger IV. The grind was REAL.
Did Yuel and Lars get any closer to overthrowing Howard and Ellen? It's hard to tell. They needed some sort of opportunity to test their mettle against Aegis and Athena. The chance will surely come once the school year begins. Worst case, Yuel will have to create one himself.
A week and a half before school resumes, these were everybody's standings:
Challenger III - Aron
Challenger IV - Howard, Ellen, Trever
Challenger V - Yuel, Lars, Roi
Diamond I - Julia, Gilbert
Diamond II - Dan
Diamond III - Taison, Gregory