The pregame lobby was silent as Team 8 loaded up for game two. Val zipped through his setup, going with the same options as before. There was no need to make any adjustments, as they hadn’t even had to chance to see their opponents. With the exception of Sydney, of course. But it didn’t seem like anyone was going to ask her.

Moments later, the team loaded onto the map of Avalon. As his vision adjusted to the in-game colors, Val blinked several times to clear his vision. After a bit, he realized that it wasn’t his vision – it was the dense fog of the Lake. Without a word, Blaze zipped off in a blur, disappearing from their view in an instant.

“What’s the plan?” DJ asked, glancing at Val.

Val opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself. They were down a game in the match, meaning that he might very well split the team to cover as much ground as possible. The Lake was in the southeast, meaning that moving northwards would be a good initial step.

You think you can win by yourself!

Val clenched his jaw. Is this not the part missing from my game? The part preventing me from going further?

“Val?” DJ prompted.

“We wait for the scout’s information,” said Val, more out of instinct than decisiveness. But after the words came out, he bit back his desire to amend his statement.

“Your scout is glad to hear his king talking a little sense,” said Blaze.

Glad that a bit of the tension had settled down, Val glanced up at the top left of the screen. They were about a minute into the game. Most scouts could cover one quadrant in about two minutes’ time, meaning that –

“The sword is in the forest!” said Blaze. “Just head straight west from where you are now!”

“Let’s go!” said Val, pressing turning on the movement pad and pressing down with his foot, sending Lancaster the Knight into a sprint.

“If the sword is west from us, that means other team should be coming from the north,” said Val. “Blaze, I want you to try to find the other team!”

“Already on it,” said Blaze.

As they ran, Val glanced over his shoulder. DJ and Willow were keeping right with his pace, while Sydney was hanging a little bit further behind. Moving at this pace required quick footwork on the movement pad, as the map was covered with trees and bumps that could send a character tumbling. A beginner player like Sydney wouldn’t have the necessary footwork to dodge all of the obstacles along the path they took. The map was covered with dirt paths that players could take, but these paths were often long and twisty, making cutting through the wilderness a much more efficient option for players who could handle the quick sidesteps and hops needed for navigation.

“I just ran into their scout!” shouted Blaze. “He’s playing Chippy!”

Chippy was an oversized chipmunk who excelled at climbing. While his mobility was top-notch, he wasn’t useful for anything else besides identifying the location of places and running away.

“You know where the rest of their team is?” Val asked.

“I have a hunch they’re coming from the Mountains,” said Blaze. “I chased Chippy for a while and that’s the direction they were heading.”

“DJ, Willow, I want you guys to meet up with Blaze and slow them down,” said Val. “We’re already ahead in this race. If you can buy me a few extra seconds, this game should be in the bag.”

“Got it,” said DJ. He and Willow halted their characters and began heading northwards towards Blaze’s direction.

“What about me?” Sydney asked, wheezing for breath. “You guys are going too fast!”

“Keep up if you can,” said Val.

Without waiting for a response, Val pressed down on his movement pad and headed for Excalibur.