A new team

The library was in complete silence. Pandora had been staring at the blank sheet of paper for over an hour, but she couldn't write anything. She had to hand in that assignment by next week. She read three articles from different sources, researched various authors, blogs, and even asked her classmates about how they were doing the assignment. But the moment she started writing, the information vanished completely, and it was as if she hadn't read anything.

— I hate these assignments. — She tried to focus on the book again. — I'm going to go crazy by the end of the day.

Pandora rubbed her face hard. The words seemed to scramble. She wrote drafts, but none seemed to be good enough.

A hand appeared on top of the laptop, closing it slowly. She looked to the side, seeing Diana staring at her with her big blue eyes and her hands behind her back.

— Whatever it is, the answer is no. — She knew that smile, she knew very well that nothing good would come from it.

— No, not even to see the first game of the qualifiers? — Diana pulled a pair of tickets from behind her back. — Are you still going to say no?

Pandora stood up from her chair, taking the tickets in disbelief. She had tried to get tickets for any day, but they sold out in seconds. Later, she tried getting tickets through the fan club, and again, they were sold out.

— How? The tickets are sold out. — The qualifiers were four days of non-stop games, and all teams played in the first two days. — You got them for all four days? Diana, have you been talking to the wrong people? — Pandora stared at the tickets, unable to believe that this was real.

— Consider it your early birthday present. You always said you wanted to go watch the games, but they are always sold out. A friend of mine works at the arena, so... — Pandora hugged the blonde tightly, the smile not leaving her lips for a single second. It was like a dream come true.

The qualifier took the three best teams from the secondary league and the two "worst" from the main league. The two teams with the best results would advance to the playoffs, and the two that won would go to the regular phase of the main league. ROM finished in second-to-last place, so they would have to face the qualifiers. Even though it wasn't the main league games, Pandora was happy to be able to watch.

If ROM lost the qualifier, they would have to play in the secondary league until the next phase of the regular season. Of course, that left all the fans anxious, even if the possibility was minimal.

None of the players appeared in public events or streamed until the start of the qualifiers.

The week passed quickly, and the first day of the qualifiers arrived. Pandora woke up early for ROM's first game. The arena was packed. It was the first time a top team had dropped into the relegation zone. ROM fans were the majority, wearing the uniforms and carrying banners of support for the players.

— You have a scared look on your face. — Diana said, waving her hand in front of Pandora.

— I'm just impressed. — She pointed to the players' banners and the whole organization of the event. — I didn't know they paid this much attention to the qualifiers.

— They don't, but ROM's presence made them change a bit. And they also say that a team paid a lot of money for a spot in the qualifiers. — Pandora furrowed her eyebrows. — Only two teams from the secondary league are going to participate. There's a clause in the rules that if a new team doesn't want to participate in the secondary league, they can buy a spot in the qualifiers. They are called Invictus Rise. Apparently, it was already settled since last year, and the team that would have had their spot also agreed.

— Isn't that a bit unfair? The teams played the entire regular season to try to move up to the main league the following year, and then someone comes along and buys a spot.

— Sometimes it's better than letting them go to the secondary league. If they are too good, they can unbalance the league. — Diana opened a bag of chips, offering some to Pandora. — Let's go inside. The first game is against Fox, and then we only play the last game.

The two entered the arena, taking their seats. Pandora identified a different uniform in the middle of the crowd. Some people were holding up posters with the face of a player she didn't know much about.

— Isn't he that player everyone was talking about? He was going to debut this year, wasn't he? They said Fear offered him a contract. He turned it down to go to a team he's not even sure will make it to the regular phase? — The logo on the uniforms was unfamiliar, so Pandora suspected it was from the new team.

— They must have offered more money. — The lights began to flash, announcing the start of the games.

The lights on the stage began to flash, announcing the entrance of the players. Lugus was in the middle, and the entire audience began to scream and applaud.

— They don't look happy to be here.

— They are playing the qualifier after winning the world championship, nobody would be happy. — Pandora agreed and looked back at the stage.

It was an easy and fast game. Fox Year was already a well-known team in the main league. Fox finished in last place in the initial games.

All the game resources went into the hands of ROM's damage dealer, Floxy, securing an easy victory for Royal.

A total of five games would take place that day. ROM would only play again in the last game.

— Come on, I want to get something to eat. — Diana called her friend, but Pandora shook her head.

— Aren't you curious to see how they play? If they are a concern for the secondary league, they should win these two games without any problems. I'm just curious to know their style. — Diana looked at the stage where the players were starting to enter. The expression on her face showed she had absolutely no intention of staying there to watch.

— You can stay, I'll go buy something to eat. Do you want anything?

— Just popcorn and a soda.

Diana agreed, leaving just as the champion selection began. Only one player was known, the midlaner. He is known as Kaneís. People thought the nick was strange, and he also never explained the reason for the choice. When people saw that name for the first time, they started to laugh, but then he began to climb the ladder until rumors about a team hiring him started.

— Kaneís made a bold choice. Gaia received a nerf in the last patch, and she hasn't appeared in the scene for several months. It's not the best choice for the team's debut game, especially in decisive matches like this one.

Gaia was a strong champion with a lot of damage, until she received nerfs in three consecutive patches and stopped appearing. Even without being significant, she received another nerf last week. Choosing her in a game like that was, to say the least, concerning.

The game began, and Pandora looked at the screen with curiosity.

Despite the early disadvantage, Kaneís kept attacking and maintaining an aggressive lane, always playing on the edge and almost dying. To say that Invictus won the game was almost an understatement, they completely dominated the game. The poor team that finished in second place in the secondary league didn't even stand a chance to defend themselves.

In 23 minutes, their base was on the ground.

— Wow... — The fans cheered excitedly, while the rest stared at the statistics completely in shock.

A team with no familiar faces, only rookie players. The commentators took advantage of the break to draw their conclusions about the game.

"It was a secondary team, in the main league it's different. They might even win against FOX, but ROM will show them how the main league works."

— Already? I thought I'd catch the end of the game. — Diana handed the popcorn to Pandora.

— They destroyed the game.

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