Chapter 201: Sub Position (1)
Storm Ninja was an assassin champion. Assassin champions had a special speed attribute. Flashy Blade gained speed using the blade with the flash ability. In contrast, the rope assassin hooked and pulled on his rope to instantly move around. Every assassin champion had their own methods to increase their speed. What about Storm Ninja?
Storm Ninja had a passive skill.
[Ninja's Instinct: When an enemy champion is at a lethal HP, Haruki shows a path. If the path is taken and a kill is successful, the summoner's chakra becomes stronger.]
Storm Ninja had another passive. The passive above was useful for close combat, but their speed came from the passive below.
[Chakra Storm: Increases physical attributes significantly. The summoner can concentrate their chakra on their hands or feet and release or absorb them.]
It was a complicated mechanic, but the hands and feet could simply be utilized like a magnet with some concentration. If the summoner put their hands on a wall and released their chakra, they would bounce off. The same went for their feet as well to give them momentum.
Releasing the chakra significantly and instantly boosted their speed. Absorbing the chakra allowed the summoner to stick onto surfaces. They could climb walls and experienced summoners could even climb 90-degree walls or trees.
To activate these skills, an activation gesture needed to be done. Because the summoner needed to complete multiple actions quickly, the actions were simple like bending or raising a finger.
'... I think it's going to take some time to get used to it.'
Once the actions were perfectly learned, the summoner could make plays like ninjas. However, on the contrary, every little mistake could be fatal to the user. He wasn't a popular champion because of how delicate he was, especially as a teammate.
— Your team is done for.
— The tornado is going to destroy your team.
— You're first timing him?!
Storm Ninja was commonly called a troll pick because most players who tried playing him often failed to do well. However, Almond didn't care about that.
'Alright, let me figure out the actions first...'
He needed to quickly learn the champion that was difficult to master.
[It must be your first time playing as the Storm Ninja, boy.]
Haruki started talking to him.
[If you can't wield it well, the chakra will overtake you. Well, that doesn't sound too bad either... keke...]
In contrast with Raina, Haruki wasn't helpful at all. Almond ignored him, read the skills, and practiced the motions.
'So do the hand like this...'
He crossed both thumbs with each other.
Keeng!
A clashing noise was followed by blue energy.
[Chakra Release Mode]
He changed to the chakra release mode. Then he clapped his feet...
Kwaaang!
His body jumped forward.
"Huh!?"
The air pressure suddenly pushed against him. Instead of flying forward, it felt like he was being bounced forward.
"Wow!"
Almond was impressed by how quickly he flew as he cut through the wind.
'It's this fast?'
Most ADCs weren't all that fast. Raina was on the quicker side because she had assassin-like attributes.
'I didn't think it would be this fast.'
It was the first time he experienced speed like this. Flashy Blade was mobile because of his ability to instantly teleport in short proximities, but the champion itself felt hefty. Flying on a plane felt vastly different from the body flying all on its own. The feeling Storm Ninja gave him was flying all on his own.
— LOL so cute
— Storm Ninja is addictive as hell.
— He's bouncing everywhere, haha.
Almond jumped around, feeling like he was in a sports car, but it seemed like this was how all Storm Ninja players reacted on their first playthrough.
Almond scratched his head, feeling like a child.
"Ahem. Now, I'll try absorbing the chakra."
He quickly moved on and started to narrate. The activation motion for absorbing was to interlock all his fingers and lift them at a 45-degree angle. It was simple to do.
The motions were made this way because the champion's design was to fight quickly. The motions could be changed in the settings for the user, but Almond had no time for that.
Keeing...!
After he made the hand gestures, he heard the same noise and saw the blue energy again.
[Chakra Absorb Mode]
Almond had to release both of his feet to get out of the absorbing mode. Not only did his feet start to stick, but so did his hands.
'That's interesting.'
Almond was impressed at the algorithms seemingly reading his mind. He tried walking up the tree that was behind his turret.
"Wow...!"
— This guy's playing tutorials all by himself.
— Hey, minions are coming out soon.
— Wow, man.
— Never seen him so intrigued.
— Oh, man…
Tak.
He didn't need to release any mode specifically to get off the tree and just fell when he needed to. It seemed like the delicate parts used different mechanics.
'I need to learn how to attack.'
All he did until now was learn how to move. He needed to learn how to attack while moving around.
[Minions have spawned!]
Minions from both sides of the map were already coming. It seemed like he had no choice but to jump into the action immediately.
***
Almond's enemy was the Silver ranked streamer, ChocoShroom. Her hair was shaped like a mushroom, so she was easy to remember. She played her main champion, Explosion Madness - Terry, because no one banned her out.
She was waddling over to the middle lane with bombs the size of heads in both of her arms.
"What?"
She saw a strange chat.
"Almond is currently practicing to run with Storm Ninja right now?"
Despite being in Silver, ChocoShroom had over a thousand games and had played countless champions. Among those champions, one of the representative troll champions for the Bronze, Silver, and Gold ranks was Storm Ninja. Every mid-lane player had tried out Storm Ninja once or twice for the flashy moves.
"He just bought it from the shop and is playing it?!"
She discovered that the enemy player was playing that champion for the first time.
"Wait, then why did he come to mid? He's not ready for anything?!"
— Because you're the practice dummy.
— You're Silver.
— Do you really not know? He ran away because BlackTea picked her main.
— Didn't he go mid because everything's banned?
ChocoShroom curled up a fist.
"Urgh. That's so rude. They're underestimating me too much. They're underestimating the Silver explosion artist, ChocoShroom."
— Explosion artist?
— Hahahaha
— What a strange character.
— Her hair is like a bomb too.
"My hair is not a bomb. It's a mushroom, okay? Alright, let's see. Let's see if he's really practicing."
ChocoShrrom passed the turret protecting her and walked over just enough to see the enemy. She could see Almond's silhouette in the distance. He was running back and forth, walking up the tree and down the turret.
'... Wait, he's really practicing.'
ChocoShroom could tell he was playing that champion for the first time because she did the same when she played that ninja for the first time. Almond really picked a champion he had never played before against ChocoShroom.
"Wow. That guy is insane."
— LOL
— He first timed Frost Archer and did well too. But you're Silver, LOL
— Wow, he's actually practicing.
— That's so embarrassing…
[ChocoClub has donated 10,000 won!]
[Shroom! Let's teach him a lesson!]
"Thank you ChocoClub! Of course, I need to teach him a lesson. I'll show him the power of a Silver explosion artist."
The minions came to the middle lane right after and collided with their swords and shields. ChocoShroom nervously approached the enemy and checked her range. Her character's main attack was throwing bombs from a long distance, so it was important for her to maintain the distance. The enemy seemed focused on killing the minions at the moment.
'I have way more advantage at Level 1.'
Explosion Terry was a ranged champion while Storm Ninja was a melee champion. At Level 1, Storm Ninja had no skills other than the chakra, so chucking bombs and annoying him was easy.
"Alright, no more minions for you."
The main objective of this laning phase was to annoy the enemy so they couldn't kill the minions and gain gold. ChocoShroom was confident she could pull it off. She was confident since she faced off against many assassin champions in silver.
Swoosh!
The bomb she threw headed for Almond. Before it even touched the ground, it exploded in mid-air.
Boom!
"!"
Almond couldn't react to the bomb exploding in mid-air and received some damage. He stared at ChocoShroom with an interesting look.
— Wow.
— Wow~ Bomb control~
— ChocoShroom actually knows how to play!
— A nifty trick.
There was some strategy behind her bomb. She calculated the timing for when it exploded, making it difficult for the enemy to dodge.
"Hey! Hey! Look! What do you think? I'm an explosion artist, right—"
As she was talking to her chat…
Kwang!
A loud noise echoed. She glanced at Almond in surprise. However, she couldn't see Almond, except for some footprints in the dirt.
"Ah, so this is how it works."
After she heard that…
Chak!
A flashing blade slashed her neck.
[Critical Hit!]
[HP 77%]
A chunk of her HP disappeared.
"W-What the!? When did you come!? D-Damn it!"
ChocoShroom quickly looked back.
'?'
But Almond wasn't there either.
"You're behind me again!?"
She looked back and shouted, but only saw a shadow brush by. Nothing else.
"!?"
Just then, she saw another shadow. ChocoShroom slowly looked up.
Slam!
Two feet pressed on her shoulder.
Thwack!
She felt a shock on her forehead. A dagger had pierced her.
[Critical Hit!]
[HP 49%]
"Arrrgh!"
ChocoShroom tried to get Almond off her, but he made a motion and changed his chakra mode.
[Chakra Absorb Mode]
His feet were now stuck on her shoulders. Almond continued to slash his dagger in the same position.
Chak! Chak!
[HP 31%]
"Argh!"
ChocoShroom threw all of her bombs up.
'Huh?'
Boom! Boom!
The bombs exploded one by one.
[HP 73%]
Almond started to quickly lose HP as well. However, Almond's hands were quicker.
[Chakra Release Mode]
Slam!
Almond jumped off from ChocoShroom and flew to the side. The rest of the bombs blew up in mid-air like fireworks.
'I used all the bombs.'
ChocoShroom had no way to fight back now. Almond changed his chakra mode in mid-air using his hands.
[Chakra Absorb Mode]
Chiiik!
His feet stuck to the ground.
Bzzzt!
His world also became black and white as he saw a red path before him.
[It's time to execute the prey, summoner.]
It was the ninja passive, Ninja's Instinct. Almond saw the red path beneath him.
'Do I follow this?'
If he followed the path and killed the enemy, he would receive a bonus and grow stronger.
'I can't let this go.'
[Chakra Release Mode]
The floor dug in, and Almond's body leaned forward. His figure was following the red path beneath him.
Swoooosh—
He caught up to her quickly and even went ahead of her. The path took him to a tree.
'I have to bounce off the tree.'
Almond instantly understood the path and moved his body.
Tak!
Both of his feet landed on the tree.
Creak...
The tree slightly bent due to Almond's weight and speed.
Kwang!
Almond released the chakra again and bounced off. The grey scenery bent as he gained tremendous speed from the chakra. Meanwhile, all he could see was the crimson path.
Right between the neck and chin, he saw the vital point glowing red. He had to use the momentum to strike. Considering LIL also took into account one’s speed in calculating damage...
'It'll be an instant kill.'
Sling.
A sharp blade shone beside Almond's waist.
Chaaak!
[First Blood!]
[Ninja's Instinct Achieved!]
[Chakra level increased!]
Creak… Slam!
The tree Almond bounced off of finally fell.