Chapter 638 - 634: This Bit of Ability Is Still a Lifetime of Effort for You

"Leave?" Brendan Harris looked utterly confused, clearly unaware of Cecilia Sterling’s arrangements. "Where are we going?"

"To Lorcain," Yvonne Sterling explained, taking the opportunity. "I haven’t had a chance to tell you yet. Cecilia wants to take me to Lorcain for treatment. I figured since the shop is closed and you’ve been through so much with everything lately, I could use this free time. My illness isn’t hard to treat, so I’ll go to Lorcain to see my sister. It’ll be a nice change of pace."

Brendan Harris nodded upon hearing this, not objecting in the slightest. "That’s a good idea. We only got this money back thanks to Cecilia’s help, so it’s like we recovered what was lost. We’ll get your illness treated at the best hospital in Lorcain, and we can use some of the money to have a proper vacation."

Yvonne Sterling smiled, and Cecilia Sterling smiled as well. But there was something more hidden in Cecilia’s smile, though she didn’t say anything just yet.

"Shall we go out to eat, then?" Yvonne Sterling asked, looking at them both. "I didn’t make lunch. I figured we’d eat out today, regardless of how things turned out. Cecilia, give Emeric Grant a call."

"No need, Auntie. Emeric Grant has a friend from school in Veridia, and he went to meet up with him. It’ll just be us."

Emeric Grant had already given her a heads-up. It was a male friend from school, who was also a doctor at a hospital in Veridia.

*

This year’s Collegiate League Autumn Split was far more exciting than in previous years. However, since the Collegiate League isn’t a professional circuit, it received much less attention than major professional tournaments.

Nevertheless, Ethan Sterling’s spectacular plays during the matches still sparked a great deal of discussion online.

Under Ethan Sterling’s leadership, the Lorcain University Team had fought its way into the final eight. Furthermore, Ethan secured the MVP title in every single match he played. This was the Lorcain University Team’s best performance in recent years.

After the final match of the semifinals, the Lorcain University Team left the stage amidst the cheers of the crowd. Everyone was ecstatic to have made it into the top eight—everyone except Ethan Sterling, whose spirits were not high.

"Ethan, you didn’t get as many kills today," a teammate said with a smile, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "You weren’t playing as aggressively as in the last few matches, but your plays were still sick."

After the past few days of matches, the attitudes of his other teammates toward him had softened considerably.

Another teammate chimed in, "Ethan still got MVP today. Lorcain U finally has something to be proud of in this Autumn Split. If we keep playing steady and follow Ethan’s lead, we might actually place."

Gideon Kent noticed Ethan’s expression and, after a moment of hesitation, asked, "Ethan, what’s wrong?"

Ethan took a deep breath and looked at them seriously. "Do you guys think we can go any further?"

"What do you mean by that?" Gideon Kent’s brow furrowed.

A teammate, catching on, asked in alarm, "Ethan, you’re not thinking of quitting, are you?"

Ethan shook his head. "That’s not what I mean. You all noticed that my stats this match were way worse than in the earlier rounds and that I played more conservatively. The truth is, it’s not a problem with my own performance. It’s because our opponents are getting stronger and stronger."

"None of the teams in the top eight got here by accident. I already felt like winning the semifinals was a struggle, and we only pulled that off because we were all on the same page, followed the shot-calls, and played flawlessly."

Ethan’s words instantly extinguished the team’s joyful mood.

"I don’t want to pour cold water on our celebration, but this is the reality we’re facing. This is a team game, and ultimately, there’s only so much I can do alone."

The teammates exchanged glances. Once you get a taste of victory, you become intoxicated by it.

They didn’t want to lose.

At the very least, they didn’t want to be the first team eliminated from the finals.

"You want to run a 4-protect-1 strategy, don’t you?"

Just then, Owen Lawson appeared before them. He had clearly overheard Ethan’s words and couldn’t help but sneer, "Haven’t you had enough of the spotlight? You’ve already got an online fan club, and you’re still not satisfied?"

Ethan looked at Owen, responding to his provocation with nothing more than a cold laugh.

"Owen, don’t talk like that," a teammate interjected. "Ethan has a point."

"He really did carry us to get this far into the finals."

A teammate couldn’t resist speaking up for Ethan, which was the one thing Owen couldn’t stand.

"Oh, so winning a few matches is all it takes to win you all over?" Owen said with a sneer. "Don’t you forget, he’s putting together another school team. You all treat him like a teammate, but he’s just using this tournament to make a name for himself."

He turned to Ethan, goading him. "Ethan, that whole pessimistic speech just now... wasn’t it just so you could get everyone to run a 4-protect-1 for you in the upcoming matches? To make you shine? Four people revolving around you, protecting you, feeding you all the gold, so you can be the star of the show again. Are you going to deny that’s what you want? Huh? You dare?"

"Fucking idiot," Ethan muttered, unable to hold back the curse. He turned to leave.

But Owen heard him and roared in fury, "What are you running from? Is your silence an admission of guilt?"

Ethan stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around. His gaze swept over the other teammates, and he found that they were all watching him as well.

He shook his head, exasperated, then looked at Owen and scoffed. "Do you really think the other top-eight teams are a bunch of idiots? With our team’s current composition, a 4-protect-1 is the only viable winning strategy for us in the finals. You think you’re the only one who fucking figured that out? That nobody else knows?"

"Then again, you’ve never even made it to the finals, so you wouldn’t know. You have no idea that a strong team has a hundred ways to counter you. Just with the five ban slots, they could ban half the viable heroes for a 4-protect-1 comp. How are you supposed to play then?"

These words struck a deep nerve with Owen. His eyes widened in fury, and he clenched his fists, roaring with impotent rage, "So this is all you’ve got?"

"This ’little bit’ I’ve got is more than you could achieve in a lifetime," Ethan shot back, no longer holding back his scorn. "Instead of wasting time here giving me a headache, why don’t you go practice your mechanics."

With that said, he turned to his other teammates, his tone softening. "Next match, let’s just give it our all. No regrets."

After saying this, Ethan turned and left the prep room without a backward glance.

Inside the room, the other players snapped out of it. One of them rebuked Owen, his voice laced with displeasure, "Owen, you were way out of line just now."

"Yeah, even if you’ve got a problem with him, you shouldn’t have said that to his face."

"Besides, it was the captain’s decision to sub Ethan in. After that, it was the sponsors who insisted he keep playing. You can’t pin any of that on him."

Ganged up on by the very guys who were once his good friends and teammates, Owen became so furious he laughed. "Don’t you all get so smug. Are you really that proud of yourselves? Without Ethan, you’re nothing!"

"Owen!" Gideon Kent’s face darkened as he snapped, "I know you’re holding a grudge, but stop acting like a mad dog, lashing out at everyone. We don’t owe you a thing!"

"You’re the captain, so whatever you say goes, right?" Owen seemed to have given up caring, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I’m done playing this game with you all. I quit!"