The scrimmage between the Valkyries and StormBlitz has begun. The captains of both teams went to the middle of the stage for the handshake.

  For the Valkyries, the representative was Fiona. And, Andria apanied her as the “vice-captain” even though it wasn’t much of a real role in their club.

  In any normal team, Andria would’ve been the captain because she was the senior. However, sidering this club ractically formed by Fiona, this arra made far more sense.

  Besides, Her Majesty already has the whole team under her thumb. So, she fits the role like a glove. Andria smiled to herself as she watched the formal greeting from the sideline.

  The representative from the eeam was a senior boy, the ohey knew as Aegis. Supposedly, he was the master strategist who made it so difficult to find any ots in StormBlitz’s formation.

  Fiona shook the boy’s hand. “Thank you again freeing to this arra on such short notice.”

  “The pleasure is mine.” Aegis smiled meaningfully and bowed a little. Even though his team was the top dog here, he still felt pelled to aally in front of the “La Princess”. There was just something about Fiona’s aura that pelled people to brush up their a her presence.

  With that said, he definitely wasn’t overwhelmed by the queen’s majestic presence as he tinued. “We lost against the Leopards, so we’d gdly farm any points that e our way right now. It all ts for the seeding, right? Haha.”

  The underlying message was crystal clear: Aegis didn't sider the Valkyries a threat in the slightest. Today's scrim was like a free win as far as he was ed.

  This mentality was further echoed by the boy apanying Aegis, most likely StormBlitz’s vice-captain. "Kek." The bht down his thumb with an amused snicker on his face. Holy, he looked like a five-year-old who had just learned how to taunt.

  Andria simply ighe taunt whereas Fiona didn't eveer it. She was focused on the bold captain in front of her as she respoo him in kind.

  "I have to apologize in advance," Fiona said. "I am afraid your team will have to work even harder to improve its seeding after today's match."

  "Oh?" Aegis maintained a fident smile but his eyes glinted dangerously. Needless to say, he did not appreciate this remark.

  Nie, Your Majesty! Andria ented from the sidelihough, I suspect this bold remark will only further fuel their motivation to stomp us. This match is going to be an all-out war, I already tell.

  Aegis looked like a man who valued his pride, so he surely wouldn't let a ent like that slide. If he ever eaihe idea of going easy on the Valkyries, then Fiona just killed any ces of that ever happening.

  Well then, I only pray this game won't turn into a one-sided sughter. Andria shrugged. I really don't want us to have a rerun of THAT experience...

  The Leopards beat them to a pulp in the previous scrim, so much so that Andria could still feel the scars. And, StormBlitz was just as strong of a team, so there was a ce there would be a rerun of that despair.

  I'm not vinced I'm mentally prepared to perform such a tragedy on stage a sed time in a row. Andria sighed. But, the queen is fident we hahis, so all we do is follow her lead.

  As the greeting ceremony came to an end, the representatives returo their teams. Fiona strode fidently across the stage as she always did, unfazed by the fact she was about to do battle with the 2nd stroeam in the region. Likewise, her oppos weren’t fazed at all, either.

  "Kek, you sure showed her who's the boss." Gregory snickered.

  "But, it didn't make her falter in the slightest," Hoointed out. "I've had this impression from the first time we’ve met; it's like her fidenows no bounds."

  Back when the "La Princess" came to Riverstock Junih te this scrim, every word she spoke was filled with unyieldiainty. It's like she came to make a demand, not a request.

  "Yep, that tall chick sure looked fident alright." Gregory nodded. "Just so you know, if you ever get bored pying against these fake eat-sports bitches, then me and Tai are always ready to deploy~"

  He said that with a vile snicker on his face. Clearly, Gregory saw the Valkyries as easy prey which he'd have a bst bullying. And, holy, Howard's opinion of that team wasn't that much better. "If it turns out to be that b, then sure, I might sub in you and Taison."

  "You're the best, cap!"

  In truth, Howard was only thinking about what was best for the first-string when he said that. He didn't care in the slightest about giving Gregory and Taison a ce to gain experien the petitive stage.

  As far as Howard was ed, everybody outside the first-string didn't matter. The only reason he even sidered handing over the stage tory and Taison was to ceal information from other teams. The less public game footage there was of StormBlitz, the better.

  All the eyes here today will be on us. Howard thought as he g the audiehat gathered for this scrim. Some of the people here might’ve been curious about Fiona’s performance, but the majority were likely here to extract additional information on StormBlitz.

  They lost very vingly against the Leopards, so I doubt they have any fans right now. Howard reasohey're pretty muobodies. Their presence isn't going to shake the petition in any meaningful way.

  And, that was good. The st thing Howard needed was more petition for this year. He already had his hands full with Leo’s Korean prodigy. And, there was also Yuel’s dark horse team to sider.

  That’s more than enough challenges for one year, right? Howard thought. I have a dida the line here.

  His ces of getting into Utopia, the stro high school team in the try, were at stake here. Howard absolutely had to crush this year's regionals, or else he'd be stuck with this region's ckluster level of petition.

  Venom is det and all, but it’s at best a runner-up iionals. Utopia is the real top dog, that's where I have to py.

  It was the shortest path to the pro se, as pro teams often scouted Utopia pyers right away. This was the optimized route Howard was determio follow.

  I'll catch up to you real soon, sis. Just you watch. With this determination in his heart, he returo his team’s side. He inteo thhly utilize ead every one of these pyers to realize his dream.

  "Julia, think of this as aest," Howard said. "You underperformed against Leo, but this time we're pying against a weaker team. So, I'm expeg you to run all over them."

  "Hmph, easily!" Julia lifted her . "I'll crush these scrubs!"

  "I sure how so, or else you’ll make me lose what little trust I still had you in."

  “Nah,” Julia replied boldly. “After this scrim, you’ll be beggio py in all future matches.”

  “That’d sure be impressive.” Howard nodded in satisfa at this fident response, as it proved Julia was in peak dition. She was ready to wreak havoc, which was exactly what Howard wanted her to do in matches when he subbed her in.

  It wasn’t always the case that Julia was this gung-ho to do battle, which was why Howard went out of his way to firm her dition. Fortunately, unlike in previous scrims, everything was fihis time around. It seemed like the girl was getting used to the pressure of the petitive stage. That’s good.

  Now, it was just a question of how she’d actually perform. After all, the memories of her mess-ups against the Leopards were probably still fresh in her mind, for better and worse.

  Her overall performan that scrim was wildly insistent. Though it was on for her tle with switg from defeo offense and vice versa, in that scrim, it articurly bad.

  The girl started off on the defensive, as she usually did against new oppos. She alreferred to tread safely at first to study her oppos, which was good.

  However, she soon realized what it meant to py defense against an oppo who made defeo their lifestyle. In short, she couldn’t get anything going. Zero opportuo show off her skills. Nada.

  And, sidering Julia’s uain status as Gilbert’s backup, she must’ve felt antsy about that. It probably didn’t help that Hoiled some extra pressure on her before the game, telling her something along the lines of “I expect your offeo be useful against their defensive pystyle.”

  At the time, Howard thought it was crucial to establish this fa advance. He wao make it clear that the reason Julia was sidered for the first-string in the first pce was because of her potential to pressure defensive oppos like the Leopards.

  In hindsight, that wasn’t the best time to test the girl’s mental fortitude. It was an important scrim that gave StormBlitz an idea of what to expe the finals, so it was critical for everybody oeam to py their best.

  As, Howard’s little “motivational speech” clearly put Julia on the edge throughout the scrim. She forced herself to switch to offense more frequently just so she could “live up to the expectations”. Needless to say, that resulted in many overextensions that got punished.

  However, there were also a few moments of brilliance where Julia’s explosive offense overwhelmed Theorist’s wall of defense. So, the potential was defihere. Julia just had to brush up on her act before the regionals.

  But, in the end, it didn’t take long filbert to take the stage agaiing a tig bomb like Julia run wild in su important game was a no-go.

  Still, though the circumstances weren’t perfect, Howard learned an important lesson that day. Namely, that the passable stability Julia showed in Ranked was a world apart from how all over the pce she was in actual petitive games.

  So, Howard made sure to pile pressure on her agaioday. After all, practice makes perfect, right? Haha.

  This time, it was a low-stake scrim so it won’t be an issue even if Julia implodes. There was no way in hell StormBlitz would ever lose to a greenhorn team, even with that kind of handicap.

  Still, I hope she doesn’t drag dowire team with her si won’t look good. Howard sighed. This girl is sure difficult to handle. But, once she finally stabilizes, she'll be a great asset to the team.

  Julia's explosive aggression was something the current StormBlitz severely cked. The seost aggressive pyer oeam was Roi, but even he was more of a banced pyer than anything. Case in point, he was best known for his impressive parrying ability which was a defensive py.

  So, the team beed greatly from having a berserker like Julia as an option. At least, so long as the girl didn’t get carried away. Really, she was such a headache sometimes. Sigh.

  "Waaaardy~" Ellen poked his cheek. "Stop staring at irls and look at me instead~"

  "I wasn't staring at anybody."

  "Lies. You're always cheg July out."

  "Because she always makes me ask myself whether she's worth the trouble," Howard said in a low voice. "She's the very definition of an unstable pyer."

  "True, true. July do be like that~" Ellen nodded. "But, she still occupies your mind a lot, doesn't she? That's a tiny bitty bit dangerous, you know?"

  "Dangerous how, exactly?"

  "Well, at first you only think about her as a pyer,” Ellen said. “But, then you keep thinking and thinking about her. Before you realize it, your head is totally filled with her! Then, it turns into an obsession!"

  "What...?"

  “And then!” Ellen dramatically covered her eyes. “You realize you bckmail her through your position as the captain! You start f yourself on her in exge fiving her a role on the first string!”

  “... you should seriously cut down on the soap operas you watch,” Howard said. “Real life isn’t that melodramatic.”

  “For some, it isn’t, but for others it is!” Ellen insisted. “Like, take the Valkyries’ captain for example.”

  “What about her?”

  “As a man, what’s your opinion of her? Be ho now.”

  “Hmm.” Hoohe arbitrary question. “She’s pretty, no question about it.”

  “Ah!” Ellen gasped. “T-The darn witch! She dares to mesmerize even my dear Wardy…!?”

  “You asked for my ho opinion, so there you have it,” Howard said. “She looks good and she’s tall, so she has this imposing noble aura about her. For a moment there, I felt like I was really in the presence of royalty.”

  “And, she’s rich, too.” Ellen hissed. “Seriously, rivals like her are always such a cheat! They just waltz in, show off their looks and money in front of the protagonist, and the puy just ’t help but fall into their clutches!”

  “I don’t know what kind of wild fantasies you’re having right now, but for me, she’s just an oppo.”

  “Sometimes, that kind of setup is even worse!” Ellen excimed. “You start off as mortal enemies, only for an ued love to blossom during the fights…!”

  “Arkham called. They want their patient back.”

  “Hmph. Rude.” Ellen pouted. “But, you have a point. I mean, you’re not a ova like that, right, Wardy? You won’t be swayed by looks and money.” She crept on her lover with a creepy smile on her face. “I’m the only one you care about, right~?”

  Howard made a face. "Yeah, sure. Let's roll with that if it’s what's going to kill this topic already."

  "Yay~" Ellen rubbed her face against Howard's shoulder like a kitten. Somehow, she wasn't embarrassed in the slightest to show such affe in publi front of an audieno less.

  I know we're at the far end of the stage, but still. Howard thought. People see us, you know? Sigh. Whatever.

  From experiehe best way to phase out Ellen’s nonsense was to adifferent. So, Howard did just that.

  Alright, so after putting all that nonsense aside. He shifted his focus back to the game at hand. What's more important right now is the team’s motivation. I hope nobody is pnning to take it too easy. He checked out every member in order.

  Ellen was he type to take her oppos lightly. Her entire pystyle revolved around assuming the role of the "underdog", so she will py with that mentality even against inferior oppos like the Valkyries.

  Simirly, Julia was bursting with motivation to perform well in this game, especially after Howard made it clear this was a critical test. So, that only left Roi and Dan, the two main troublemakers here.

  "Dang, did you see that tall blonde girl?" Dan asked. "How is that even a middle schooler?"

  "Yeah, lol." Roi chuckled. "For a moment, I thought they brought in a high school schooler because they didn't have enough pyers, lol."

  "Yeah, haha.” Dan ughed. “She's even taller than you, I think?"

  "Yeah, pretty sure. She looks about Lars's height?"

  "What a woman." Dan was deeply impressed.

  "Bruh,” Roi said. “Are you into taller girls or something?"

  "Well, now I think I am, haha."

  "Gonna be a weird couple, lol.” Roi shook his head. “I don't think I could go out with a girl who’s taller tha'd feel weird."

  “Yet, you don’t mind if the girl is older than you, huh.”

  Roi squinted. “I feel like you’re implying something there.”

  “Who knows~”

  The goofs were having a nont, borderline inappropriate, versation. Instead of thinking about the uping game, they were busy ogling the La Princess.

  "Focus on the game, you two," Howard scolded. "I know you're feeling x because our oppos aren't supposed to be strong, but they might surprise you."

  "Huh? This team of chicks? an." Dan shook his head. "They, like, formed this year, right? Ain’t no way they know any advaech about the game. This is gonna be GG EZ in like five minutes."

  "Totes, man," Roi agreed. "This is just a chill scrim, right?"

  "You two are just asking to get beaten with that mentality," Howard said. "Don't uimate your oppos before you even had the ce to py them."

  "But, we already saw them py against the Leopards," Dan reminded. "They tanked real hard there, haha."

  "That tells us nothing," Howard said. "The Leopards make almost every team in the region look bad."

  "But, even after everybody from Leo got subbed out, these girls couldn't do shit, right?"

  "True, but it's because they've already self-destructed at that point," Howard expined. "I said as much during the review meeting: take everything from that game with a grain of salt. They’re a eam, probably filled with newbies. So, it wasn’t strao see them fall apart during their first game. Things happen."

  "Yep, debut games are the real shit," Roi said. "I remember there was that ocher dude in our baseball club, a real beast during practiobody could hit his shit, even I struggled as fuck.”

  “Oh!” Dan excimed. “Yeah, yeah. I think I know who you mean.”

  “Right?” Roi nodded. “Remember what happened when dude had to py oage for the first time? He bombed real hard. Doubles and triples all day long, and I think there was even one home run? Anyway, it was a real shitshow."

  “That’s a very relevant story,” Howard said. “You should go off the assumption that something simir happeo the Valkyries against Leo. So, we likely haven’t seerue skill yet."

  "Okay, okay." Dan shrugged.

  "No problem, cap." Roi nodded. "No matter what their actual skill level is, we gonna run all over them real ez!"

  Clearly, they still weren’t taking the match all too seriously even now. But, hopefully, Howard's warning put them on the right track.

  I 't have them go around uimating their oppos, not even the Valkyries. Howard asserted. The moment they let their guard down they irouble. This isn't the type of match we're allowed to lose any games in.

  Howard's reputation was at stake here. Even after he wins the regionals, Utopia might still reject him if he allows his team to get beaten up by newbies.

  On paper, the Valkyries should be easy prey. But, there was no saying for sure until he actually pyed against them. As such, the team had to remain vigint. There will not be any careless uimation allowed under Howard's watbsp;

  And so, the preparations for the first game were plete. Despite the occasional goofing and banter, everybody took the warm-up seriously, just as Howard instructed.

  Shortly, the banning phase began...

  DarkestCymore