It was time to put Nia’s “Vanishing Phantom” to the test. By dragging the game out with a safe offense, the enemy gave Yuel plenty of time to think and analyze them. By now, he could narrow down their possible moves to just a couple of options. Their flowchart became crystal clear.

Right now, three enemies were pushing Mid and two were pushing Top. According to the flowchart, there were only three "legal moves" the enemy could make from this position:

1, From Mid, send one attacker to Top.

From Mid, send three attackers to Bot. From Mid, send two attackers to Bot and one to Top.

No matter what, their next move had to come from Mid. The enemy vehemently refused to push any lane with a full group of five and they never left a teammate alone on a lane. Following these two golden rules, the only legal move they had was to move somebody from Mid to another lane.

No matter which of these moves the enemy goes for, it was guaranteed only one opponent will travel from Mid to Top at most. Of course, there was still the chance all three of them will travel from Mid to Bot. However, if anybody was going to Top, it’d be one only one person. That was the target Nia had to gank.

"Nia, here's your isolated target," Yuel drew a path on the mini-map leading from Mid to Top through the jungle. "One of them will most likely rotate along this path soon. If you start heading there now, you'll be able to gank them."

"How do you know?" Nia peered at him with her suspicious little eyes from behind her long bangs. "Are you an oracle?"

"Something like that."

"ESPer."

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, they'll pass through here," Yuel drew the path again just to make sure. "Can you gank them?"

"Who is it going to be?" Nia asked.

"Hmm, that's a tough one. I can't tell for sure."

"I thought you saw the future."

"Sure, I can. It's just a little blurry at the moment so I can't make out the details."

"Suspicious," Nia kept staring at him as if he was trying to pull her leg. Was Yuel really that untrustworthy in her eyes? Sigh.

"If I had to guess, it'll probably be the Aeromancer." It might be the Orc if the enemy wants to rush Top Golem but I feel like I shouldn't mention that.

"Hrmmm," Nia titled from side to side on her chair. "Sounds bogus."

"Just play along with it," Vincent said. "You see, just like your ability to vanish, Chessmaster here got a special power too."

"A special power?"

"Indeed!"

Here we go again. Yuel sighed. The circus was in town.

"The same way you got the Vanishing Phantom, Chessmaster got the Mystic Eyes of Weaknesses Perception! He must've already downloaded the enemy's entire game plan and dissected it like a mad scientist! He knows every weakness there is and he can tell exactly where to strike!"

"Really?" Nia blinked.

"Something like that." Yuel averted his eyes. If this kind of nonsense can convince Nia better than Yuel's reasonable explanation, then so be it.

"Just give it a try," Vincent said. "Don't worry. If his prediction is off and you misplay because of that, we'll blame it on him, not you."

"Sounds good," Nia nodded. "Ok, I'll try."

"Marvelous!" Vincent made noise. "A combo between Vanishing Phantom and Mystic Eyes! This play will go down in history!"

Nia followed the plan and rotated toward the jungle area between Top and Mid.

Meanwhile, the situation in Mid was getting desperate. The Aeromancer and Orc were wreaking havoc with their attacks while the Cryomancer was zoning the defenders with the fact he could freeze anybody who approached. Getting hit by his Ice Coffin guaranteed death in this situation so the defenders couldn't advance to the frontline. As such, Yuel’s team had to get another defender over to Mid in order to deflect the enemy's siege.

But, that's exactly what the enemy was waiting for. They waited for three defenders to gather in Mid so they could shift their attack to a lane with weaker defense. Even though Yuel knew this, he had no choice but to rotate to Mid. It was like negotiating with terrorists. If he doesn’t comply, the enemy will simply break through Mid.

The moment Yuel approached Mid, the enemy made their move. As he predicted, one of the attackers backed away and rotated from Mid. However, it wasn’t the Aeromancer. It was the Orc! Oh lord...

"You said it'll be Aero," Nia pouted.

"I said there's a good chance it'll be Aero," Yuel corrected. "Anyway, that doesn't change the prediction. You got yourself an isolated target to gank."

"But, it's the Orc."

"And?"

"It's risky. He gonna kill me."

"You're still on about that?" Yuel sighed. "It's already the mid-game. Orc isn't nearly as dangerous at this point. Also, he invested most of his build into offense so he's barely a bruiser anymore. He's more like an assassin with a thin layer of tankiness."

"Really?" Nia started at Yuel with her little suspicious eyes.

"That's something Tipmancer doesn't tell you, does it? Don't get me wrong, I think Tipmancer is a great tool for beginners. In fact, I’m glad you're taking the game seriously enough to use a guide. But, you have to be able to think past what Tipmancer tells you. This app won't spell out everything for you. There are things you can only learn by playing a lot and thinking for yourself."

"Is that so," Nia clenched her phone. The Tipmancer app was still displaying the warning against ganking Orc.

As Yuel said, that advice hasn't changed from the beginning fo the game. But, that’s only a given. After all, Tipmancer didn't know the current state of the game. It couldn't advise Nia whether it was safe to gank Orc now.

Is that how you betray me? I thought we were friends. Nia grumped. All this time, she has been relying on Tipmancer for most things in this mode. It had lots of wisdom so Nia blindly trusted everything it fed her. She thought of it as a mentor and a good friend.

But, in the end, it was just an app. It couldn't compete with the knowledge of people who knew every aspect of the game. So, maybe Yuel was right. Maybe it was really safe to gank the Orc now.

But, should she trust that bully? This guy has been firing complaints at her the entire game. But, maybe he had a point. Maybe Nia relied on Tipmancer a bit too much.

"O-Okay," Nia gulped. "I'll gank him. But, not my fault if I die."

"You'll be fine," Yuel said. "Just make sure you hit him with a basic attack before Izuna to proc Imperial Spear."

"Eh? But, that's..." Nia clammed up. Just earlier today, she tried doing this exact set up against Lars. It was the classic Ninja setup she has been using since forever: a slash in the back that proc’d the damage boost of Imperial Spear, which made the follow-up Izuna Drop that much deadlier.

However, Lars dodged that setup. He reacted right away to the basic attack and rolled outside the range of her Izuna Drop. That's when Nia learned the appalling truth: this setup was fake as heck. It wasn't guaranteed at all. All this time, she has been landing it only thanks to her opponent's slow reaction.

"It doesn't work..." Nia mumbled.

"Yes, I saw that exchange you had with Lars earlier," Yuel said. "But, don't worry. Lars is a special kind of superhuman. Most players can't react to that. I haven't seen anything about this Orc to suggest he could do so."

"Really?" Nia was taken aback. It’s like Yuel just read her mind. How did that guy notice such a small detail while watching Nia play? Totally a stalker.

Still, it was amazing how much attention Yuel was paying to the finer details. Tipmancer would never be able to notice such small things and give Nia the appropriate advice. If not for Yuel's words just now, she would have completely given up on the whole Imperial Spear + Izuna Drop combo.

"Ok, I'll try." Nia went into stealth after summoning a clone and ran to intercept the Orc. She'll put Tipmancer aside for now and trust Yuel's judgment on this one.

Let's see if the enemy counters this. Yuel glued himself to the screen.

In truth, this was a rather risky gank. If the enemy team was properly paying attention to their backs, they'd catch Nia red-handed and counter her before even she gets to the scene.

Nevertheless, if anybody had a chance to execute such a gank right now - it was Nia. She was an assassin and everybody else was busy defending. So, she had to be the one to try it.

Everything was riding on her ability to sneak up to the target unnoticed. If she truly had the "Vanishing Phantom" talent Vincent was raving about, she should be able to pull this off. The entire play was riding on that hope.

Ok, he hasn't noticed. Nia nodded to herself. The Orc continued along the path to Top without suspecting a thing. Nia's existence has completely vanished from his mind by now. She was like a phantom.

The Imperial Spear setup is safe on this guy. It's safe. No problem. Lars was an exception to the rule. I can do it here. She repeated over and over in her head like a mantra. Her palms became sweaty. Her heart hammered. She was about to attack that super mega dangerous Orc and she was about to use a non-guaranteed setup. Le gulp of the gulps.

But, she'll trust Yuel's judgment on this one. Worst case, if things go south, she'll just blame Yuel for this. No problem.

Here goes nothing! Nia ran her dagger across the Orc's back. It forced her out of stealth but it also activated the passive of Imperial Spear, which made her next ability x1.5 stronger for a brief time.

Next, Izuna Drop! Nia wrapped her arms around the enemy and gave him the hug of death! She launched toward the sky with her new friend and spun like a hurricane. Then, they both crashed into the ground and the Orc received heavy damage. Over 70% of his HP was gone in an instant!

A-Amazing. Nia was surprised by her own damage. As Yuel said, this Orc wasn’t tanky at all.

But, it wasn't over yet. The Orc still had a little bit of HP left. Nia had to deliver a few more hits to seal the deal. And, to do so, she had to get close to the Orc.

This is mid-game. Orc is only scary during the early-game. Nothing to be scared of. Nia hammered these thoughts into her brain as she slowly approached the Orc

I-I did it! She landed a hit before the Orc got a chance strike back! She had this in the bag! Just a little more and it'll be over- ah! The Orc vanished! Her next attack sliced through empty air!

Darn Blink! Nia cursed as she turned around. The Orc teleported a fair distance away and began running. He was retreating. In other words, he was scared of Nia right now.

I'm stupid. Nia smiled wryly. All this time, she thought the Orc was the scariest monster in the world because of Tipmancer’s advice. She didn't realize how easy it was to turn the odds against the Orc with one well-executed gank like this. What the heck was she even doing the entire game until now?

Just look at him. He's shook. Nia smirked. She terrorized that poor Orc. The guy was fleeing from her as if she was the reaper.

But, he won't get away. Nia should’ve scored this kill on the Orc at least ten minutes ago. It has been delayed long enough. So, she'll definitely score it now!

Nia activated Shuriken Flip and threw a shuriken at the Orc's back while backflipping. As soon as the shuriken got stuck in the Orc's back, Shuriken flip was temporarily replaced with Substitution Jutsu on her skill list. It let her instantly switch places with her shuriken. So, a moment later, she appeared right behind the Orc!

She delivered one guaranteed slash to his back after the substitution and then chased him down from there. It was so easy. Seriously, what was Nia so scared of until now?

This Orc was a slowpoke. His natural running speed was lower than Ninja's and he didn't have any mobility skills. Even if Nia couldn't kill him with ganks during the early-game, she would’ve easily slipped away from him after ganking.

In this mode, Orc was nothing like the OP broken class he was in Duel. And, he wasn’t nearly as scary as Tipmancer made him out to be. Yuel was right about it all along.

『You have killed an enemy!』

"I-I did it." Nia clenched her controller. She really did it! She took down that "scary monster". If only she listened to Yuel from the beginning, she would've shut down this Orc a long time ago.

"Sorry," Nia mumbled. "I should've done this earlier."

"Good thing you finally realized that," Yuel said and he really meant it. There were far too many players out there who refused to admit their faults no matter what. So, even though it took her an entire match, it was great she finally learned the lesson. That alone already made her a better competitive player than at least 90% of the playerbase.

"What a beautiful combination!" Vincent made noise. "The Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception discovered the enemy's path and the Vanishing Phantom struck from the shadows! No team can possibly defend against this magnificent combo!!"

I admit, it turned out nicely. Yuel nodded in agreement, but he rather die than admit that to Vincent's face. Also, even though Yuel and Nia were the ones who organized and executed this gank, it was actually Vincent who suggested the idea.

Yuel couldn't think of a good way to gank the enemy team until Vincent suggested to use the "Vanishing Phantom". That sparked the idea of using Nia for a difficult gank.

In truth, Yuel expected the enemy to shoot Nia down. He came up with the best gank he could and minimized the risk as much as possible, but it still didn't feel like a smooth plan. The enemy team has been putting on a formidable defense the entire game while pushing forward, so they should've had some Stealth Wards scattered around to shut down Nia’s ganks.

But, apparently, there were none. The Orc had no idea Nia was coming after him. Somehow, she broke through the enemy's calculated defense without doing anything special at all. It was truly as if she had a special power like "Vanishing Phantom", even though that was silly talk.

Still, if Nia truly had a talent like that, it could be huge. It was nothing but wishful thinking at the moment, but perhaps this “Vanishing Phantom” will be effective at shaking up Howard's unbreakable defense. With Yuel's Mystic Eyes and Nia's Phantom, they might be able to break through Aegis!

Ugh. I feel like Vincent's clownery is becoming contagious...

Unfortunately, in the end, Nia woke up too late. The team failed to turn the game around and the match ended in defeat. Much of the fault laid with Nia’s passiveness but nobody held it against her after her solid performance during the late game. Even Yuel gave her a pass. For the most part.

Overall, Nia committed a huge mistake during the early-game but she ultimately realized that, admitted to it and learned from it. That was enough to prove she was serious about the game. Nia definitely had what it took to play competitively. At least, she probably did...

"Tired..." Nia's head dropped and she fell silent.

"Did this chick just fall asleep?" Luke laughed. "How can you even sleep like that? Man, she got talent! Haha."

"Let her rest," Kai said. "She did well. You all agree with her joining the club, right?" She looked at every club member in order. Everybody gave her a nod until it came to Yuel's turn.

"She's still rough around the corners," Yuel said. "We lost this match because she refused to cooperate during the early-game. But, she's willing to learn and her mechanical skill seems decent. I say she passes."

"Good," Kai loosened her fists. "For a moment there, I thought I'll have to smack some sense into you."

On this note, it was decided: Nia became the last member of Stratus. It was still unclear whether she'll make it onto the main team for tournament but, either way, she'll surely become an important asset for the club. Her "Vanishing Phantom" might even break through Aegis!

Yeah, right. Yuel smiled wryly. But, we'll see once we get there. He had every intention to help Nia develop her jungling skills. If her ability to sneak under the enemy’s nose becomes a serious threat, she might become the ace Yuel needed for beating Howard.