Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.17 Ch.6: Nervous Warding

On the other hand, how was Ben supposed to defend himself against an assassin? And not the sneaky type of assassin, but an assassin who had no problem brawling with the target in order to thoroughly decimate them. Players like that were both smart and strong, they had it all!

"Don't worry," Yuel said. "Just place the ward as you intended."

"B-But, that means..." Ben gulped.

In order to place the ward as he originally intended to, Ben will have to step a little forward, as it was impossible to reach the important crossroad from his current position.

But, walking forward meant getting closer to the dangerous killing machine. W-What if Winner attacks all of a sudden!?

"You're close to the center of the jungle but you're still our territory," Yuel explained. "He won't dare to invade right in front of you, especially not alone."

"Alone? Oh, right." Upon further inspection, there was no sign of AbsoluteChallenger anywhere in the vicinity. It meant Winner was isolated at the moment.

"Also, keep in mind that they have no data on you whatsoever," Yuel said. "So, I'm sure Winner wouldn't risk attacking you so openly."

"R-Right, he's a smart attacker." Ben nodded. "I also don't think he'll take a risk like this."

Somehow, the fact that the enemy was "smart" actually played in Ben's favor this time. By logically thinking about the pros and cons of the current situation, it was sometimes possible to figure out what Winner will, or will not, do.

"B-But, he's still here, though..." Ben tensed up under the enemy's piercing gaze.

From the moment they acknowledged each other's presence, neither of them moved an inch. It almost felt like these tense staredowns in cowboy movies. It almost wouldn't be strange for one of them to pull out a gun and shoot the other. Any moment now.

"S-Seriously, why is he still here?" Ben felt sweat forming on his forehead. "If he doesn't plan to attack, then he should've left by now, right?"

"He's gathering information," Yuel explained. "I'm sure this meeting was unexpected for him as well, so he wants to see what you'll do next."

"Is that so..." Hard as he tired, Ben couldn't calm down his shaky nerves. He felt like a lab rat. Winner's intense gaze was dissecting him alive!

Seriously, the man watched Ben's every move. It's as if he was trying to find the tiniest hint of weakness in Ben's actions. It was thoroughly unsettling.

"W-Well, I can place the ward," Ben said. "But, he'll see it."

"Yes, that's probably the thing he's looking toward to. But, I say just do it."

"R-Really? But, then they'll know we got a ward here."

"Yes, they will," Yuel said. "But, knowing that the ward is there won't change the fact that this ward is tricky to play around. And, they surely won't buy a Sentry Ward to remove it."

"Oh. Yes, that's true." Ben nodded.

With newfound confidence, he stepped forward and placed the ward at the crossroad as intended. It was an important intersection that connected four jungle paths. In other words, this one innocent ward sealed off multiple roads that the Leopards could've used to invade Stratus' territory undetected.

Even if they know the ward is there, they probably can't do anything about it. Ben reasoned. If anything, knowing about this ward might just discourage them from trying anything funny. This sounds good.

On that note, Ben turned around and headed to the Wraith Camp, where Nia was already waiting.

As soon as Ben departed, so did Winner. What conclusions did the enemy draw about this whole exchange?

"They have a ward here." William placed a pin on the map for everybody to see.

"Dang, for real?" Ronald made a face. "How are we gonna invade them now? Like, we gotta circle around the entire jungle if we wanna keep a low profile."

"I don't remember when we agreed to invade."

"Wait, we not gonna do it? But bro, it worked out so well last time!"

"Yes, it did. And now they're cautious, as they should be."

"Dang, so we're not getting another opportunity any time soon, are we?"

"Not this round, that's for sure," William stated matter-of-factly. "But, the fact we made them place that extra ward out of paranoia is already good enough. After all, they had to spend extra gold on it."

"Bro, what 'extra gold'?" Ronald cocked his head. "It literally only costs 50."

"Yes, it's a 50 gold advantage for us right off the gate, isn't that nice? Besides, who knows how many other wards they bought to protect themselves against us."

"Yeah, I reckon they might've bought a bunch of extra wards." Ronald nodded. "But, that just gonna make it that much harder for us to gank early on."

"You're not looking at the whole picture," William said. "For one, buying an extra ward means that their Top had to give up on potions. Vanguard doesn't have any recovery, so without potions, it'll be much easier to harass him into recalling."

"Oh, you're right!" Ronald checked out EnduringPhoenix's build, which was now known to the entire team thanks to William spotting the lad. Indeed, the guy didn't buy any HP Potions.

"EnduringPhoenix, huh." Ronald smirked. "It looks like somebody isn't going to endure for that long in lane, hehe."

"Riiiight." William rolled his eyes. "Anyway, make sure you take advantage of this. If necessary, I can lend a hand."

"No problem, bro!" Ronald promised. "I'll bully the guy out of lane, easy."

With that decided, the duo grouped up at the Wraith Camp and took down the monsters. After that, they proceeded to clear the Wolf Camp near Top.

Once all of that was done with, the brothers went separate ways. Ronald continued onward to Top, whereas Willaim retreated deeper into the jungle.

The game was starting for real now. Will Ronald be able to put the enemy's lack of positions to good use? He sure had every intention of doing so!

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