A day has passed since Yuel and Kai had their little feud. Yuel had more than enough time to reflect on his words. After learning a little about Kai's past from Vincent, it was clear where Yuel went wrong.

Question is, did I use that specific phrase on purpose? Yuel smiled awkwardly. He couldn't say for sure what was his thought process at the time.

Most likely, he had a rough idea that Kai will hate being called a “spoiled princess” so he chose jab at her with that. Kai was acting extremely stubborn and selfish at the time so he wanted to pay her back for all the trouble she was giving him. Therefore, of all things to say, he naturally picked the one he felt would hit her at least a little. He didn’t even actively think about it. It came naturally.

Is that what Vincent calls the Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception? Yuel sighed. Apparently, he was a natural at rubbing people the wrong way. That was probably why he never managed to get on good terms with Julia. Sigh.

Either way, he should just apologize to Kai and get this over with. Intentional or not, Yuel said something he shouldn’t have and learned his lesson.

It was best to sort things out before club activity. Therefore, Yuel called Kai for a talk during lunch break.

“Alright,” Kai left her chair without any objections and without asking anything. It almost felt like she was prepared for this.

Is this a good sign or a bad one? Yuel knotted his brows.

Kai showed him to an isolated area in the school’s backyard. It was a good place to hold that kind of conversation without any prying eyes.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Yuel said. “I didn’t mean to imply anything special by what I called you yesterday. It was just me expressing my dissatisfaction with some aspects of your playstyle. Aside from these few specific things, I do think you’re a solid player overall.”

“It’s alright,” Kai glanced away. “I figured later you probably didn’t mean to say I’m bad because I’m a girl.”

“Players can be good or bad regardless of gender,” Yuel stated. “All that matters is how they perform.”

“Fair enough.”

“Then, we’re good?”

“Sure,” Kai said. “But, you’re still going to insist that Lars is better than me and should be the Carry, right?”

“.........” Yuel frowned. It felt like he was about to step on a mine. “... yes, I still hold that opinion. Not because he’s a boy or anything. I just believe he’s better suited for being a Carry. On the other hand, you fit Mid like a glove.”

“But, I’m going to continue playing Carry,” Kai stated matter-of-factly.

For now. Yuel retorted in his mind. Once the team faces strong opponents and hits a wall, Kai will surely agree that Lars should be the one to carry the team.

“Do you want to play Support for me?” Kai asked.

“Eh?” Yuel blinked for a moment. “Come again?”

“Are you deaf or something?” Kai awkwardly shifted her eyes away. “I asked if you want to play Support with me as the Carry. I’ll be honest, I don’t care for your bossy attitude. But, you’re good at what you’re doing.”

At first, Kai thought Vincent was clowning as usual when he was raving about Yuel and Lars. However, after playing with Yuel as a duo, it became clear where Vincent was coming from.

Yuel had a level of dedication to his craft the likes of which Kai has never seen before. Not to insult or anything, but Vincent couldn’t play Support on such a high level. In fact, none of the other Supports she ever played with even came close to the level at Yuel organized plays. It’s like he saw the game as a chessboard and aligned the pieces just right to gain the upper hand.

On top of that, Yuel had a firm and selfless belief in his role as the Support. He valued the Carry above everything and thought of himself as a resource the Carry should rely on during the early-game. It was an odd way to think about your own role but Kai grew to appreciate it over time.

There was something pure about the way Yuel handled the Support role. It’s like he was willing to become a cog in the system for the sake of victory. He wasn’t thinking much about scoring kills himself or looking good. For him, the fun was when everything went according to plan and he won.

It was a mindset befitting a professional player. With a Support like him, Kai will surely be able to perform well as a Carry. It’ll take some work to improve their teamwork but, after that, they’d be ready to take on any Bot duo from the region.

That’s why Kai absolutely wanted Yuel to become her Support. However...

“I don’t think that’s a good idea” Yuel answered. “If you continue playing Carry, then it’s probably better for me to be the Top Laner.”

“So, you really think I’m that bad, huh.” Kai’s grimaced.

“Uh, no. I mean...” Why do I have a feeling I said something unnecessary? Yuel gulped. Was he going to cause new drama between them? He came here to apologize, yet here he was adding new more fuel to the fire. GG, me. 10/10.

“I meant that, as far as tournament matches are concerned, it’s better for me to be in Top than to support you. Our teamwork is far from ideal, so I believe I’ll be able to get more mileage out of Top Lane But, I can play Support for you during practice from time to time if you wish. Who knows, maybe we’ll eventually be able to establish solid teamwork that’ll let us become competitive pair.” Yuel spoke nonstop. Was any of this convincing enough? Did he dodge the bullet? His tongue danced madly as if trying to run away from disaster.

“Is that so,” Kai nodded lightly. “You’re always thinking about the competitive scene, aren’t you?”

“That’s where we’ll be tested. The rest is just preparation for that stage.”

“Right,” Kai agreed. “So, you’re saying nothing is set in stone. If we learn how to bear with each other in lane, you’ll play Support competitively with me?”

“Possibly,” Yuel chuckled. “Bear with each other”, huh. It seems she understands how difficult it’s going to be for us to cooperate on a competitive level.

“Very well,” Kai concluded. “I’ll try adjusting my playstyle to your satisfaction, you slave driver.”

“I’m not a villain you have to appease. You don’t have to change anything. As I said, your self-sufficient playstyle suits Mid like a glove.”

“But, I’ll keep playing Carry.”

“Is there a reason you’re so hellbent on that role?”

“I...” Kai chewed her lips and glanced away. “That’s just the role I want to play the most. What, is that a problem?” Girls can’t play Carry or something?

“Nah, that’s silly talk. Gender got nothing to do with actual skill. You’re either good or you’re not,” Yuel said. Though, her answer didn’t sound sincere. I better ask Vincent if there’s a deeper reason behind her unbending insistence to play Carry. I just can’t see it as her forte.

“So yeah, I’ll keep playing Carry,” Kai stated again. “And, I’ll become a Carry that passes your impossible exam.”

For Kai, this was a rare opportunity to improve. Yuel was a Challenger level player in both rank and skill. He wasn’t just one of those lifeless fellows who get their high rank by grinding 50 hours a day. He actually had the skill to back up his rank. His game knowledge, decision-making, and execution were all flawless as far as Kai could tell.

Therefore, by playing alongside such a strong player, Kai will surely improve as well. Everything Yuel criticized about her self-sufficiency was harsh but also true. She had a habit of only trusting her own skill and doubting everybody else’s.

After all, it was hard to trust others to do their job without messing shit up. She got burned from that so many times before. There were just so many terrible players online that it gave her a headache. After playing with so many idiots, it was hard to fully trust her teammates even when they were club members.

Vincent used to call her out on this in the past. But, one day, she got salty from losing a match and lashed at him for nagging. Ever since, Vincent piped down and never brought it up again.

But, Yuel didn’t back down. He kept nagging and nagging and nagging like it was a fun pastime for him. He wasn’t afraid of criticizing her even after getting into so many arguments with her. When it came to Classmancers, Yuel was the serious competitive type who wouldn’t compromise on anything.

Therefore, playing alongside a nagging player like that should help Kai develop as a player. Vincent was an alright Support, but he won’t call her out on her selfish plays anymore. But, Yuel will. He’ll criticize her, maybe even borderline insult her, until she fixes her flaws. That’s the kind of hash military regime she needed.

Look at me being selfish like this. Kai smiled wryly. In order to overcome her self-centered playstyle, she was acting selfishly and asking Yuel to play Support for her. The irony.

With that, their small quarrel has officially resolved. They both understood that they'll most likely bump heads ahead a few times in the future, but they were now clearly aware of that and should be able to resolve their problems on their own. There will no longer be any need for a middleman like Vincent. Hopefully.

The school day ended and it was another day of club activity. This was the fifth day in a row that they gathered together to play. It made the club seem even more serious than StormBlitz's training regime, but in truth, it's just that the club hasn't decided on its schedule yet. Even though Yuel would have liked the club to practice five days, even six days, a week, he had to respect the capacity of the other club members. So, a full week of club activity was unlikely.

In fact, already today, two club members were amiss.

"Luke said he's not coming today," Vincent notified. "He said he had plans with his pals today."

"What about Ben?" Yuel asked.

"He... also had plans with his friends, it seems," Vincent averted his eyes. "He messaged me that he might miss today's meeting but we'll see."

So, it was only Yuel, Lars, Kai, and Vincent here today. They didn't even have enough members to form a full team. That's how small this club was. With just two members amiss, they couldn't even do real team practice. This was a joke.

I don't know how the school expects this team to win anything in tournaments with such a small number of members. Yuel shook his head.

To make things worse, the school cut down the member limit by two this year. The club was only allowed to have up to seven members, so they were only allowed to recruit one more freshman this year. It was terrible.

Thinking of it, they haven't yet decided how they were going to handle the recruitment. Since they didn't have enough members to practice with a full team anyway, they might as well sort this out.

"Say, Kai," Yuel started. "Club recruitments start next week, so I was wondering how we're going to do it."

"It's gonna be pretty straightforward," Kai pulled out some papers. "We'll pass these application forms and then pick the highest rank players among them. You two actually gotta fill them too, for the protocol."

"Oh, man," Lars held his head. "Why do I gotta fill in stuff? I bet I'm gonna get a failing mark."

"It's not an exam, you know," Kai pointed out.

"You underestimate my power!"

"You really do," Yuel nodded. "This specimen over here hasn't gotten a single passing mark in his entire life." That'll start changing this year, though. I'll make sure to work him to the bone in preparation to Ivy Hugh's entrance exam.

"So, Yuel," Lars shoved the paper in Yuel's face. "You fill it for me!"

"I'm sure it's easy enough even you can fill it," Yuel took the paper to check it out. As expected, the form was very basic. It required the student’s name, gender, rank, player ID and had some space to write why they wanted to join. There was also a multiple-choice question about how long they've been playing.

All in all, basic and straightforward. That was both a good thing and a bad thing. It made the selection process easier for everybody but it didn't give the examiners much data to work with. It was a far cry from the StormBlitz's over-the-top entrance exam, but that one was silly in its own right.

"So," Yuel started. "We're just going to pick the highest-ranked player based on what they filled in?"

"That's the plan," Vincent said. "Of course, we're also going to verify they really got the ranks they claim to have."

"So, that's what the player ID is for."

"Yeah, exactly. As expected from Chessmaster! With your mystic eyes, you accessed the records Akasha and unveiled the hidden truth behind the player ID field!"

I literally just put one and one together. Yuel ignored the clown and went over the form again. It was simple but also a tad lazy.

For example, it failed to explain how to acquire the player ID. It sounded trivial but Yuel knew at least one goof who had no idea where to find the player ID back when they were applying to StormBlitz. However, StormBlitz’s registration form had a short explanation so even Lars could figure it out on his own.

"Can we still edit this flier?" Yuel asked.

"Yeah, we gotta submit it for approval on Monday," Vincent said. "I was planning to spice it up a little before then. I mean, it looks kinda basic, right? We should make it flashy and cool! Check out this design!" He brought up his tablet to show some... peculiar things.

There was a dark blue background with a shining red eye in the center. It looked like a recruitment poster for a cult. It was only missing a headline like "Come worship Satan!".

"So, what do you think?" Vincent shoved the tablet into Yuel's face. "Neat, right? I worked on it for hours in Photoshop."

"That's a lot of hours wasted," Yuel said.

"Oh, c'mon. It's awesome! The coolest stuff you've ever seen in your entire life!" Vincent insisted and turned the tablet to the others. "You all agree, right? It's the best design ever! Can also be used for a poster, too."

"Um," Kai shifted her eyes away. "I don't know about that."

"Nah, it sucks, dude," Lars grabbed the tablet. "It's missing guns in it! Ya gotta draw it like this!"

Lars scribbled some stuff on the screen with his finger.

"Here ya go," Lars showed off his masterpiece. "Now it looks sick!"

Now, in addition to the big red eye in the center, there were also stickman arms coming out of the background. Each hand had a different type of gun. From what little Yuel could understand about this Picasso style drawing, there was a handgun, a shotgun, and a bazooka.

"This is...." Vincent lowered his head and trembled as he examined the image. He must have felt like his masterpiece was violated.

"This is... great!" Vincent exploded. "I like it! A bunch of mysterious arms coming out of the shadows holding guns! It's like some cross-dimensional monster is invading our world and he comes equipped with guns!"

"Yeah, exactly!" Lars tuned in. "This Big Eye Dude is coming and we gotta 1v1 him to save Earth!"

What does any of that have to do with Classmancers? Yuel rubbed his temples. This duo of goof and clown will be the end of him.

"We don't need that kind of silly stuff," Yuel argued. "It's just a registration form. It should be easy on the eyes and straight to the point. Where did you even plan to place the text with that background?"

"Oh, right," Vincent rotated the tablet from side to side. "Hm, yeah. I didn't really think about that, haha."

"GG,” Yuel rolled his eyes. “You only didn't think about the most important aspect of what an application form should be. 10/10."

"Oopsie," Vincent scratched his head. "But, it's okay. I'll figure something out by Monday."

"How about you just pick a basic background and call it a day?" Yuel glanced at Kai. She was the captain so she had the final say.

"Yeah, I agree," Kai got the message. "I didn't think this idiot was serious at first. This whole thing is hella dumb, to be honest."

"Nani!?" Vincent jumped. "You thought I spent so much sweat and blood in Photoshop just to create something I wasn't planning to use!?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Wha..." Vincent's jaw dropped and forgot how to rise up.

"I mean, you always get excited over stupid stuff and drop them after you had your share of fun. Nothing new."

"Definitely looks like the type to me," Yuel nodded.

"Wait, you two are double-teaming me!?" Vincent staggered backward as if an invisible blow hit him. "When did you two become so buddy-buddy?"

“Never.” “We didn’t.”

“Look, you’re even synchronized and everything!” Vincent made noise. “It’s hard to believe you had a fight just the other day.”

“We didn’t have a fight,” Kai objected. “But, I guess this is all thanks to a certain busybody who stuck his nose in our business.”

“Exactly,” Yuel followed up. “Now, you got two people with common sense teaming against your atrocious art. How does it feel?”

“Feels like I dug my own grave,” Vincent chuckled. “Alright, alright. Let’s just pick something simple and boring because that’s more practical and formal and everything. Damn party poppers.”

“Honestly,” Yuel said. “The design is the last thing I care about. There are more important things this form is missing.”

Yuel smiled wryly as he looked at basic flier again. It was a world apart from the intense preparation required for StormBlitz’s entrance exam. It was almost laughable.

But, for such a small club, selecting new members by rank was as valid of an approach as any. All Yuel could do to improve the procedure was to iron out this registration form. He already had some upgrades in mind since he discussed some topics with Howard before.

So, even though Yuel abandoned his responsibilities in StormBlitz and wasn’t going to take a part in the entrance exam prepared for, he’ll at least use that experience to upgrade Stratus’s selection procedure.