Nia became unusually determined after the Leopards scrimmage. Unlike before, she no longer tried to dodge things that seemed too challenging or "scary".
For example, the 1v1s against Kai. Nia always made a face but she nonetheless played seriously every time. She even managed to win the majority of the games, maintaining a 6-4 lead.
Wait, could it be I'm secretly a better player than Kai!? Nia snickered to herself. Really, I scare myself sometimes with how good I am. Huehue.
Her performance shot up during online matches, too. She delivered her ganks confidently and decisively without being scared of her opponents.
Hmph. These guys are nothing compared to Apprentece. Nia scoffed. Honestly, I think that guy spooked me for life, for better and for worse. Regular stuff just doesn't scare me anymore. Though I guess that's scary in its own way.
The clashes she had with Apprentece were out of this world. That guy pulled insane stunts that made Nia question whether he was even human.
Maybe he's some sort of super soldier. A secret project created by the Korean government! Of course, Nia knew it was nonsense. Probably.
But really, how could a middle schooler reach such an insane level of play? Were all Korean players monsters!?
But I can take him down. I know I can. Probably. Nia clenched a small but determined fist. I almost got him once, so I should be able to do it again.
However, the enemy won't give her many chances. So, she had to nail the next opportunity for sure. To that end, she had to become sharper and stealthier.
Apprentece was somehow able to see through Nia's invisibility, probably by employing some Korean voodoo magic. Even the one time when it felt like Nia successfully snuck up to the guy, she ended up misplaying just a little, and that made all the difference.
Next time, I'll get him. Nia asserted. So, I have to become better. It's tiresome to duel Kai in addition to playing so many online games every day, but I have to do these things to get better. Yes, they'll.... make me... better... Zzz...
"Aaaaaand she's out." Luke shook his head. "Heh, right on the clock. I feel like this always happens at around the same time, right?"
"Indeed," Vincent said. "This is a canon event that seems to occur within roughly the same hours every day."
"Well, too bad for her." Luke grinned. "Now, the team gets to practice with a pro Jungler, haha!"
"Oh, such a bold statement!" Vincent exclaimed. "Well, you're correct. With the Vanishing Phantom out of commission, it is time for the Meme Jedi to take the stage!"
"Damn, I'm still a 'jedi'? When do I become a master, man?"
"You're part of the first-string, but we do not grant you the rank of a master."
"This is outrageous! It's unfair!"
"So anyway," Lars interjected. "Is it time for some DK action!?"
"Actually, I wanna try Orc today," Luke said. "I've been working on it for quite some time now, so I wanna try it out in real matches and see what works best."
Yuel made a face. "Do you want to know what 'works best'? A proper meta class."
"Lalala I can't hear you, man!"
"Then maybe you should go get your hearing checked."
"Haha, savage!" Luke laughed. "Anyway, let's queue up, guys!"
In the end, there was no changing Luke's mind. Even though he returned to the club as a regular member, he insisted on playing nothing but memes. Yuel could only sigh about that.
I was hoping Vincent and Lars would be able to change his mind, but clearly, I was too optimistic. This means we'll ultimately have to rely on Nia, but... He sighed again as he glanced at the dormant critter.
The boost to Nia's determination was great. The girl was working much harder than before. Alas, none of that will matter at the regionals if she falls asleep halfway through.
She's at least finally willing to consider a workout routine to help with that, but she keeps delaying it. At this rate, she'll never get started on it…
Thus far, the troublemaker has been systematically dodging Yuel when it came to this topic. She always claims she's "too tired," which is followed by "let's do it tomorrow." But then she's "too tired" again the next day, too.
It's like I'm stuck in an infinite loop. Yuel shook his head. Then again, it is true she's been training harder recently, so I can understand why she says she's more tired than usual. Not to mention, Kai's been dragging her into duels almost every day.
This was the classic catch-22 when it came to working out. The person felt too tired to exercise, but the reason they were tired in the first place was that they were lacking exercise.
I was in a similar boat in the past. Yuel recalled. But once I started, everything fell into place. So, I just have to convince Nia to get to the starting line. Everything should work out from there.
With that conviction, he continued pestering the girl every day. Alas, things weren't progressing smoothly. Frankly, he was lost..
"Welp, why not just give her a breal then?" Lars suggested. "I mean, if she says she's too tired to exercise after club practice, then just remove club practice from the equation for a few days, no?"
"That's… a good idea, actually." Yuel couldn't believe he didn't think of something this simple himself. Well, I did suggest she start exercising on a day off, but that doesn't have the same impact, does it? Basically, I had the right idea, but it was a little off the mark.
"Alright, let's try this," Yuel said. "As much as I don't like people skipping practice, it might be a necessary evil in this case."
A similar approach worked for resolving Luke's problem, so it might help with Nia's case as well. And so, Yuel set the plan in motion.
"Hm?" Nia tilted her head. "No practice tomorrow? Why?"
"Because you have more important things to work on."
"Such as?"
"Your stamina."
"G-Gufu…" Nia made a face. She had a bad feeling about where this was going…
"Get ready to jog after school tomorrow," Yuel said.
"Um, can I postpone it?"
"No."
"Gufu…" Nia's head dropped. "Tyrant!"
"You've been dodging it for too long now," Yuel said matter-of-factly. "Until now, I've been letting it slide because you used club practice as an excuse. And, I understand. You've been training harder recently."
"Yeah, thanks to Kai…" Nia rolled her eyes. She shuddered as she imagined Kai dragging her away to another endless session of duels…
"So, that's why I'm letting you skip practice tomorrow," Yuel said. "This way, you won't have any more excuses. You should be able to fully dedicate yourself to exercising."
"Eh, but, like…" Nia shifted her eyes from side to side, as if searching for a good argument somewhere on the floor. But there was none.
"Trust me, I know the beginning is the hardest part," Yuel said. "I've been through the same thing. But, once you get into it, there are only benefits."
"And muscle pain. And sweat. And heatstroke. Scary."
"Don't worry," Yuel reassured. "So long as you ease yourself into the routine, your body will gradually adjust. And, in the first place, the human body was designed for moving around. You'll quickly realize it all feels very natural."
"Ok, fine…" Nia couldn't find any good arguments lying around, so she had no choice but to go along with Yuel's tyranny. She could already imagine her entire body aching like crazy and breaking apart tomorrow. Scary.