“Damn it,” Kai cursed while healing up at the base. After the Sorcerer’s ult reduced her to 15% HP in one fell swoop, she had no choice but to return to base and surrender the lane entirely. This sucked. This entire matchup was ass.

“How did you like playing on the frontline against a Sorcerer?” Yuel asked.

Bitch, you mocking me!? Kai clenched a fist. “Oh, it was FUN. Some DEADLY fun.”

“About what I expected,” Yuel nodded.

“You knew that’s how it gonna turn out, huh? That’s why you egged me on to try that. Fucker.”

“I didn’t tell you to go for it. I just mention you had the option of using Blinding Light to speed up your farming. The decision was entirely yours alone. Though, I admit it did yield some insightful data.”

“Oh, I’m so happy I could be your guinea pig! So, where’s the salary for my hard work?”

“Look, you can blame me all you want but you had to take this risk eventually,” Yuel explained. “Or, you’re saying you were comfortable with the lane situation and didn’t want to change anything about it?”

“I sure as hell didn’t want to change it from ‘losing lane control’ to ‘freaking dead’.”

“You simply tested one of your options and it failed. Now, you know you have to look elsewhere. It’s all part of figuring out how to beat your opponent. Nothing unusual.”

“You know,” Kai shot him a glare. “I really hate how you make all of that sound like it’s not your problem. You’re the one who forced me into this stupid matchup!”

“Again, please explain to me how amazing your Pyromancer would have been in that situation. Lumimancer at least got a blink to escape. With Pyromancer, you’d be already dead.”

“Tch,” Kai clicked her tongue but didn’t say anything.

"C'mon, my dudes," Lars intervened. "Give it a rest. We're supposed to fight these guys, not each other."

"Yeah, you're right," Kai nodded.

"I wasn't fighting anybody," Yuel shrugged. "But yes, enough with this bickering. We got a match to win. Look, Kai. I'll keep thinking about a solution for your lane situation, so just hang in there."

"Got it,” Kai sighed and gave it a rest, for now. With that, the quarrel died out.

Okay, now I can focus on my fight again. Lars nodded to himself. His lane situation was far from ideal either, so he had his plate full with enough negative crap. Listening to his teammates’ complaints on top of that made everything a thousand times more irritating.

We're all having a bad time it seems. Dang it. Lars twisted his lips. He thought he was doing his job probably, he was playing like a role model Elf. He stayed in the back and sniped minions from afar through Elven Sight. It wasn't exactly the most fun thing in the world but it was an efficient way to win the lane.

Alas, Trever countered this game plan in the boldest way possible. Instead of shooting minions from afar like any lawful Carry would do, this pirate scum brandished a cutlass and slashed the minions from up close

Yeah, that's right. Dude legit took out a sword and fought the minions at close range, knowing that Lars could snipe him at any moment. Zero respect whatsoever.

Dat daredevil. Lars grinned. Duels with Trever often turned crazy like this when Lars picked Elf, which was a big reason it wasn’t such a great class for 1v1.

Sure, it was great to enter a first-person view and snipe people from across half the lane. But, Elf was too passive of a class. It had super long shots, but they were kinda wack. During the early-game, Elf’s attack speed was too slow to instill fear in the opponent. That's why Trever was doing whatever the heck he wanted. This part of playing Elf always felt awful.

That's how you play against an Elf, kid. Trever grinned as he cut down one minion after another. Normally, it'd be considered suicide to clear minions at melee range with an enemy Carry on the lane. However, against an Elf, it was best to go all in. It was impossible to contest the Elf's range, but it wasn’t hard to beat its early-game clearing speed.

The fastest way to farm with Pirate was by cutting minions down with the cutlass, so that's how Trever went about it. He was disrespecting the heck outta his opponent by placing himself on the frontline like this, but it didn’t matter.

Try it. Shoot me. I dare you. Trever grinned. Most Elf players wouldn’t dare. It’d cause too much chaos and Elf wasn’t good with chaotic scenarios.

Crap, he wins the exchange every time like this. Lars grumped. With the increased attack speed and power of the cutlass, Trever always cleared the lane faster than Lars. So, it was always Lars who had to retreat to his Turret and continue farming from there.

I feel like such a wuss. Lars made a face. It’s like he was scared of Trever and ran away for his life every time. The truth was, he didn't actually lose any lane advantage from this routine, for he always shot the minions down they reached his tower area. But, every retreat felt like a defeat, as if he lost a fight against Trever. Dang it!

Is that all you ever gonna do? Trever scoffed. Boring. The Lars I know would've gone on the offensive a long time ago. Where's yo fire, kid?

I so wanna shoot this dude! Lars's finger itched. It'd be so easy to just switch his aim from the minions onto Treve. In fact, the only reason Lars hasn't landed a single shot on Trever this far was thanks to his careful aim. Like, that dude was right in the middle of the crowd, wreaking havoc left and right. It was so easy to hit him by accident. Therefore, Lars carefully adjusted that each and every beam he fired to not even graze Trever.

That was nice shooting practice in its own right, but It stopped being fun whenever Lars thought on why he had to play like this: minions. The only thing stopping him from snipping the heck outta Trever was the danger of aggroing the enemy minions.

Even though Lars was like a kilometer away from the minions while sniping them, these little dudes WILL find him and WILL chase him if he dares to lay a finger on their boss. It was like mafia. Lars didn’t want to sleep with the fishes.

So, the best way around this was to clear the minions first and then snipe Trever. But, that was impossible. Elf didn't have the necessary clearing speed for that during the early-game. Especially, not against a wild Pirate who brought a sword to a gunfight. Dang it.

That's all you got? Trever shook his head in disappointment. If that's how you gonna do it, I'mma take matters into my hands. Get ready to be wrecked. kid!

As a new minion wave was arriving, Trever was ready to greet it with his cutlass. As soon as the two forces clashed with each other, he jumped into the fray to do some killing. Or, at least that's what Lars should be thinking! Instead, Trever bolted toward the frontline to bodyblock the next shot!

"Wha-!?" Lars jumped. Just as he was about to fire his gun, a wild Trever appeared! Dude legit came in between Lars and his next target. Crap! Gotta change targets!

In the last split-second, Lars re-adjusted his aim and sniped a different minion. Phew, bullet dodged. That was a close one.

Did I guess wrong? Trever wondered. He was a pretty damn sure he stepped right to where Lars was about to shoot. Yet, Lars's shot somehow traveled aside and hit a completely different minion. Wait, can it be? Did he run away from the challenge and changed his target at the last moment? If it’s this brat, it’s possible.

It was as impressive as it was disappointing. Trever even went to the frontline and made himself such an easy target, yet Lars sidestepped the challenge. The brat ran away from the fight.

The Lars I knew would've landed the shot for sure. Even if he didn’t want to fight, he would have jumped the gun. But, here he was cautious. Super cautious, ready for anything. Well, if that's how it gonna be, I'll just force you to come at me! Let's see how long you can keep this shit up.

Is this dude for real? Lars's grin twitched. This time, Trever wasn’t just paying a visit to the frontline. Nah, dude was legit jogging toward Lars like there was nothing to fear. Ya gotta be kidding me!

This was insane. Did Trever really think Lars won’t shot? Dude was pushing it.

I can totally wreck ya. Lars fired toward Trever. But, the shot passed by Trever's head and hit an enemy minion behind him. Warning shot, yo.

Did he just miss? From this range? Trever wondered. No, not this brat. He avoided me on purpose. Again. Well, if you think you can keep playing like this, I got some bad news for ya!

Once Trever got close enough, he turned his back to Lars and unleashed Backfire Cannon. He gonna fire straight at that weakling and smack some sense into him!

BAM. The impact sent Trever flying backward, right toward Lars!

"Crap-!" Lars didn't see it coming. Such aggression! Trever was totally wilding here! I'd shoot you super damn hard, but I know I ain’t gonna win like this.

As much as Lars wanted to stay and give Trever a good fight, he knew the odds were stacked against him at close range. As the Carry, Lars absolutely couldn't die here. Not only that'd hand the lane to Trever on a silver platter, but it'd also destroy the team’s chances of winning.

The team needed a Carry in order to push forth for the win. Without one, they'll not be able to seal the deal. If only Lars didn't die during the selection match, they could've won and stood at the top of StormBlitz.

But they ended up here, at the very bottom of the food chain. And, Lars got a chance to carry the team again. This time, he'll do it right and won't let the opponent taunt him. If the safest way to handle this situation was via retreating, that's what he outta do. His life didn't belong just to him here.

I'll just get you later. Look forward to it, yo! Lars replied to Trever's aggressive Backfire with an evasive Dodge Roll. He turned around and rolled toward his tower area.

WHISH! A blade cut through air. Trever delivered an immediate slash upon arriving at his destination. but his blade didn't slice through anything.

Quick on your feet, as always. Trever sneered. But, you just gonna run away? Seriously? Alright then, I'mma make your life hell then!

"RELEASE THE-"

"Gah!?" Lars heard the loud ult cue behind him. The big squid dude was coming! It was bad!

Dang it, what do I do!? He hasn’t even reached his tower area yet. If he the squid dude catches him all the way out here, it'll be all over! He absolutely had to dodge that thing! He couldn't let himself get killed right now!

Gotta burn all my escape tools, yooooo! Lars turned around and booted Elven Leap. His Elf performed an elegant backflip, flying high through the air. Okay, pretty sure I reacted fast enough. That squid ain't gonna be touching mah spaghet. Or, he ain't even gonna show up...

The giant Kraken should have erupted from the ground to smack Lars, but there was no sign of anything happening. It was a feint!

"Gah!" Lars jumped on his chair so hard he almost fell off. Of course Trever would use a feint the first chance he gets! Why did I leap right away!? Nuuuuuuuuu!

"Pft, lame," Trever canceled his ult and rolled after the backflipping Lars. What are you doing falling for an easy feint like this? You're supposed to be better than that.

As soon as Trever recovered from the roll, he unleashed the Kraken. The giant squid emerged on the scene and slammed down its tentacles.

"Crap!" Lars did his best to run but it was to no avail. His Dodge Roll was still on cooldown so there was no escape from the big squid dude!!! He was so dead...