So, it's just Dan this time. Ignis shrugged. Her ne oppo for the round was her than the enemy Jungler, defending the ne all alone.

  I nning to bst that ese brat to pieces, but he had to stand me up like this. Damn, who am I supposed to vent this anger on!?

  And so, Ignis unleashed her fury on the enemy minions. She pushed the swordsmen to the bae with Fearless Charge, then exploded oire enemy squad with the shield from War Cry. This was a different farming routine, less optimized but mgressive.

  With this method, the bowmen didn't get a taste of her Fearless Charge, so they survived the shield explosion with moderate HP. That slowed down the farming overall speed, but it opened doors to ypes of pys.

  By pushing the entire enemy wave to the bae and clearing out the frontlihe bowmen were now wide open to be assaulted by Ignis's entire army. In other words, with this aggressive approach, Ignis peed the enemy's defenses and was about to destroy them from point-bnk!

  That should do it. Ignis cut dow swordsman. Now, only the enemy bowmen remained. I don't care about these scrubs. Time to get to the main dish.

  Ignis turned her ba the enemy bowmen and spri Dan. The kid was still in the middle of attag Ignis's advang minions, so it took him a moment to notice her iions.

  "Oh snap!" Dan jumped. "She's ing at me!"

  "Run," Howard advised immediately. "She must be out for blood. You won't st long against her whes like this."

  "Haha, as if I'd st long against her any other day. Your sis is a beast." Dan chuckled nervously. He braced for impad began his retreat.

  That was rather a speedy shot-call. Jin ented. As I thought, the captain here is a league above the rest. He’s always quick to issue defensive orders to everybody, although he pys a little too safe on occasions. There are many simirities with Cato’s shot-calling too, but at least it’s not as turtly. Is this the west’s meta?

  Out of all the pyers on this team, the captain was the only one who seemed somewhat reliable. pared to him, the Jungler defending Jin’s ne right now was a sad excuse of a . Jin had to pray for this guy to not screw everything up...

  “Please make sure you don’t die,” Jin implored.

  “Haha, are you worried about little ol’ me?” Dan smiled. “I’m so moved, man. It’s a shame you gonna be our oppoer down the line. You seem like a cool dude.”

  “Hrm.” Jin didn’t respond to that praise, for it was pletely off the mark.

  Normally, he couldn’t care less about what happens to a yer like Average. However, the guy was tasked with defending Jin’s ne right now, so his aight have sequences for Jin as well.

  I ’t have him die. Jin thought. It’ll give Ignis an edge.

  That woman was already a difficult oppoo deal with. So, if she gets ahead in exp and gold, it’ll bee nigh impossible for Jin to catch up.

  Maybe I made mistake. Jin thought. I shouldn’t have asked this to defend the ne. As absurd as it sounds, it might have beeer to just let Ignis push one wave for free. I would have lost a lot of tower HP, but it’s still better than feeding Ignis.

  That’s how little faith Jin had in Average. It was a sad mentality that often came hand in hand with pying alongside inferior pyers. It was hard getting used to it.

  Rather, I don’t WANT to get used to it. Jin thought. I want to py with teammates who get the job done. Is that too much to ask for?

  That's why Jin absolutely had to ace this exam and join the pro se ASAP. As, that useless Jungler was about to get in the way of this grand pn...

  "Dang, she caught up!" Dan excimed. "And, she went straight for her ult!"

  Ignis rolled after him, then celed the roll into Swordwhirl. She started spinning with her giant bde, right in Dan’s face!

  B-But, no problem! Dan tried to vince himself. The jungle is right over there. I just gotta roll toward it.

  He jumped forth and rolled on the ground. Thearted running... slowly. Very slowly.

  His Lancer didn't look serious at all about esg from the se. Dude was moving in slow motion.

  That was the result of gettiedly hit by Swordwhirl. That nasty ult applied not only damage but also lowered Movement Speed and protes.

  Daire body was sluggish and heavy. He was fleeing from the se as quickly as a turtle would.

  By the time he got close to the jurance - Ignis has already caught up amidst her spinning. And so, she tinued hitting him with her Beybde attacks.

  There was no escape. Dan was like a fly caught in a spider's web.

  I really need my leap right now. Dan nervously g the cooldown on his Lunge skill. , do something!

  For now, his only option was to tinue running forward while enduring the abuse from the spinning monster. So, that’s what he did.

  In the process, his HP plummeted at the speed of light. He didn't buy any protes this early into the game, but his pursuer sure jacked herself up with power. And, the result spoke for itself.

  Crap, I'm actually about to die here...! Dan gulped.

  Back when he arrived in the ne, he was already at 70% HP. And now, after repeated abuse from Ignis, his HP fell all the way down to 20%. Basically, he was moments away from dying!

  The eime, his eyes darted bad forth between the road in front of him and the timer on Luhis gotta be the lo cooldown in the history of cooldowns, word.

  It wasn’t lo. Soon enough, Lunge will bee avaible and Dan just might be able to escape the se in the nick of time.

  But, will his strong oppo allow such a thing? Of course not.

  You're dead, kid! Ignis finished spinning but her relentless assault tinued. Her prey was still slowed down, so she had no problem sshing the kid from behind while giving chase.

  The defenseless Lancer was already below 10% HP. One more hit and Ignis will squash the kid like a bug.

  Should I do it? Ignis stayed her hand at the st moment. Her rush of adrenaline quieted down after her destructive urges were satisfied. Suddenly, a wave of crity washed over her.

  Nah, let's let him live. Ignis decided. Dan did an alright job responding to my attack, so we leave it at that. If his pursuer was just a little slower thahen he probably would’ve gotten away. He cut it close, really.

  As she predicted, the Lancer’s escape tool ehe picture a moment ter. Dan kicked off the ground and jumped over the wall in front of him.

  And so, Ignis lost her means of pursuing the dying prey. By granting the kid just ora sed, he successfully made his escape. Not too shabby.

  This is fine. Ignis vinced herself. A part of her itched to get a kill, but her reason trumped over such thoughts.

  "Man, you were so close," Hawk ented. "'t believe that kid slipped away from you."

  "I let him slip away," Ignis corrected. "I don't need an unfair advao beat some ese brat."

  "Oh, I see." Hawk nodded. "Then, you don’t mind if I finish the meal for yht?”

  "Hmph. Do whatever you want."

  While the two of them were casually discussing the fate of their prey, the Lancer made his way through the jungle, fleeing like a hapless rabbit.

  Is she gone? Am I safe!? Dan gulped. He didn't even have the luxury of cheg behind him because doing so would slow him down.

  Okay, I’ll go all the way to the back of the juhen I'll recall. Dan o himself. He exercised maximum cautiohough he was already ba allied territory.

  The jungle was a merciless pce. Even though this area was teically on allied territory, there were no allied minions or any other automated defense meisms to save the Jungler from threats.

  Dan was ba his kingdom, but this kingdom had no guards or any defeo speak of. He was all alone in the wild. The threat of death still loomed rge.

  "Dan, head downwards toward Mid," Howard advised. "I don't think sis tinued chasing you after you jumped over the wall, so the only one you have to look out for is-"

  An ally has been killed!

  It was good advice, but it came a little too te. Just as Howard started direg Dan away from the one and only threat - that very threat sunk its teeth into Dan.

  "Dang!" Dan excimed. "Where did this dude even e from!?"

  "You always expect him to be at the right pce at the right time, that’s how he pys."

  The one who finished off Ignis's prey was Hawk. The Vampire turned into a giant bat and rammed straight into Dan. The crash alo enough damage to strike Dan down.

  It was unclear how exactly Hawk made it all the way there despite leaving Top a while ago, but it wasn’t surprisiher. That’s the kind of pys Hawk was best known for.

  He was always there, at the right pce, at the right time, and usually making the right py. Hawk didn't stand out too much as a pro in any other particur area, yet he possessed the one godlike skill that every Jungler would like to have. Or, so people teo think...

  Man, talk about lucky timing. Hawk chuckled. I just iheir side to ter-jungle for a little. Didn’t expect to see that brat running half-dead over here, haha. Good thing I kept tabs on Top just in case something iing happens.

  Hawk just happeo be ierritory when the dying Lancer assing by. It ure luck… or was it, really? Either way, for everybody else, this py probably looked like another one of Hawk’s “impressive pys”. But for him, it was just a “lucky situation”.

  Anyway, this should redeem me in front of the owner. Hawk g Ro, earing his ever-present pstic smile. It was impossible to tell what that sly fox was thinking, but at least he didn’t look disappointed with the match so far.

  But, he doesn’t look too ied either. Hawk shrugged. He only has an eye for the Korean boy, doesn’t he? Oh well.

  For the better or the worse, Ro will be able to enjoy the part of his favorite py soon enough. After all, while all this exg a with Dan was taking pce, the star of the show was already on his way back to Top.

  So, I didn’t make it… Jin frowned. He was hoping to arrive on the ne before disaster struck, but he was far too te. The situation in Top developed way too fast for anybody to respond in a timely manner.

  Ignis sure get dangerous when she goes wild on the offense. Jin reminded himself of that important fact.

  For the average pyer, going all-in with extreme offense was often a recipe for disaster. Most of the time, extreme aggression clouded their judgment and made them overextend, leading them to their doom.

  However, that rule didn’t apply to Ignis. In her case, going wild usually empowered her.

  She was like a Berserker who activated the Berserk ult, receiving a sizable stat boost. However, uhe Berserker, Ignis retained enough of her reason to utilize her kit effitly. That made her an A+ tier threat.

  Only those who were meically superior to Ignis could take advantage of her wildness and strike her down while her defense was down. However, against most oppos, a wild Ignis was effitly a powered-up version of the usual Ignis.

  And, I’ll probably have to deal with this from now on. Jin o himself. I khis was bound to happen sooner or ter. ht until now was like a warm-up. This is where things will bee difficult for real. And, I suppose I should be grateful she stayed her hand and didn’t take the kill.

  Yes, Ignis permitted that kill to slip through her fingers. She had the kill in the bag and she probably po go all the way at first. However, at the st moment, Ignis stayed her hand for just a moment.

  Few would’ve noticed the brief dey, but Jin closely watched the unfoldis with the x-ray vision. Therefore, he knew for sure: Ignis refrained from nding the killing blow.

  I’m sure she still got the assist for it, but that only evens out our positions. Jin reasoned. She was a little behind before recalling, so now we’re on equal footing.

  Ignis deliberately avoided taking the kill to not get an unfair advantage against Jin. At least, that’s how it seemed.

  For a prideful pyer like Ignis, it made perfect sense. She saw Jin as nothing more than a cocky brat challenging adults. Therefore, she wao put him in his pce by crushing him without any unfair advantages.

  I knew she’d be the best ne oppo for this match. Jin o himself. As long as she holds onto her pride, she’ll refrain from getting ahead. So, I’ll have many ces to fight her on even ground. That’s the best arra for showing off my skills to the audience.

  And so, Jiuro Top Lane once more. It was time for Round 2 of the Apprentence vs. Ignis match. Who will emerge victorious in the csh!?

  DarkestCymore