Looking for a direction

He decided that it would be better for his teammates if he played with players of his own level, as they were always matched with whales, making it very difficult to achieve good results. In the previous match, he randomly ended up on a team that didn’t say a word to him, and with enemies that were far too strong for him. Vangark now looked for a team within his own alliance to face the next Arena of Honor match.

As soon as he saw an announcement looking for a member, he applied. There were strong people, Hadze and Vito mainly, both cavs. And both of them, along with most of the other members, had belonged to NFI, so he didn’t know much about them. He thought this would be a good opportunity to interact and form new bonds.

They deployed and he would defend House Targaryen. Seeing that there were teammates much stronger than him, he felt it was better to support them, so he was ready for any instructions they might give.

They noticed that their direct enemy would be the Starks, with YTU IN and a faction from WxC, and their northern neighbors would be the Greyjoys, mainly composed of members from BaN and GCM.

Initially, he reinforced each stronghold with all of his troops. The decision to go for the Trading Post was mainly because the mentioned House had focused on spear camps. Vito told everyone to focus only on the altars with a coin symbol and to almost ignore the others. Vangark was somewhat familiar with this, but it was new to him to completely disregard the other altars—it was the first time he'd heard of this strategy.

Beyond that, he was struck by the fact that no one went for the first altar when it was up for capture. He thought, if the strongest members of his alliance didn’t want to capture it, it must be for a reason. So, he started scouting the altars of other Houses, and each scout that returned reported large and strong infantry armies. His spears would die instantly if he decided to attack. Meanwhile, he supported his teammates whenever they called for reinforcements, but he kept looking for something he could attack. When he had the chance, he didn’t hesitate to strike and achieved victory, but he hadn’t called for reinforcements. It wasn’t an altar with coins, and he was soon defeated.

He tried again on other occasions with the same result—victory, then immediate defeat. He quickly realized that on his own, he couldn’t capture anything. So, the focus of his actions shifted to constantly reinforcing his teammates as they captured the buildings they were targeting.

“The House!” he shouted, but no one seemed to hear him. The Greyjoys had taken it, and before raising his voice again, he decided to retake it on his own and then inform his team.

He couldn’t believe what had happened. They were strong, but there was complacency in their actions, especially from the one in charge of guarding the main building of their faction.

Dragon Pit was hard to secure due to constant attacks from the Greyjoys. Vito, being cav, was constantly attacked by enemy spears. Without reinforcements, he wouldn't have been able to maintain its protection.

Glory City opened, and YTU IN was the first to position themselves there. They immediately organized two rallies to go for it. Some of his teammates firmly believed they could take it. Vangark, having battled that warrior more than once, knew Vito was strong but not as strong as the enemy, especially if reinforced. Still, he said nothing—he could be wrong. So, he sent his two best dragons to each rally and filled them with troops. Despite the two synchronized rallies, the attack was a failure. YTU IN was too much for them. After carefully reviewing the reports, they gave up on going for the central building again.

Once again, the House was taken by the Greyjoys. Vangark retook it, and this time, it caught his teammates' attention, but still, there was no response. He didn’t understand how the building was lost so easily and even less why no one noticed. They were in fifth place; losing it would bury them in last place in the rankings, losing twenty points. To him, it was a catastrophe, as he was just a few points away from ranking up.

From then on, he stuck to his teammates’ strategy, always reinforcing where they asked for help. They secured three mines, which allowed them to gain many points, and eventually, they reached second place. The king of K276 looked at that position with astonishment, as he didn’t think it was possible. In many instances, not everyone reinforced the strongest players, and the House continued to falter with few reinforcements, so Vangark constantly had to remind them to send troops to hold it.

A few minutes before the end, many assumed second place was secure, but he didn’t see it that way. There was still enough time for the main altars to be captured, and they only seemed to be watching their own. So, he kept attacking to prevent the Greyjoys from gaining more buildings. He noticed they had lost some altars, and as time ran out, they dropped to third place.

“How could this happen?” was the first thing he heard, and the word “complacency” echoed in his mind.

It wasn’t a bad position, but there was bitterness in having dropped from second place in the final moments of the battle after assuming no one would take it from them. He managed to rank up, but even so, he decided he would continue seeking his path, whether in a group or alone.