Chapter 23: A battle for the ages
GOAL!!!
{Category 1 Status:}
{Player Enigma: 1 Shot; 1 Goal}
{Player Legion: 0 Shots; 0 Goal}
{Player Ultron: 0 Shots; 0 Goal}
{Player Turtle909: 1 Successful Block; 0 Shots; 0 Goal}
{Player Apeman: 0 Shots; 0 Goal}
{Player Drip-Lord: 1 Shot; 0 Goal}
{Player Endrickdinho: 0 Shot; 0 Goal}
{Player Robertson22: 0 Saves}
Coach Luiz Vicente rubbed his chin as he focused on the game proceedings.
The 5 coaches beside him also had thoughtful expressions on their faces.
One of them finally spoke up. "Luiz, why this setup?"
"You know that every single player here has the potential to make it to the 3rd phase of the trials, right? Why pit them against each other?"
"Will that not just unfairly decrease their chances of qualifying?"
The Bogeyman smirked on hearing that. "If you've been paying attention, you would have known that at the beginning, I emphasized that making it to the 3rd phase of the trials does not guarantee recruitment".
"That also means being eliminated early does not guarantee not being recruited, everything depends on their individual performances".
"Also…" He paused and looked at the football pitch. "I put them together for a reason…, I want to challenge their limits".
"Have you checked up Enigma's background?"
The expressions of the other 5 coaches changed.
The Bogeyman chuckled. "That look tells me that you've checked him up".
"His parents are part of the ruling circle representing Brazil in the galactic community. He's a born genius, never known for lacking at any task".
"His combat skills are top tier since a very young age".
"At the young age of 9, he became a killer".
"He far exceeded the high expectations that his parents set for him but his main problem is that he easily loses interest. He's so good that after breaking the difficulty of a certain occupation, he loses interest in it".
"Despite the wishes of his parents, he's already lost interest in being a galactic warrior". The Bogeyman's eyes glowed with ambition. "A player of his talents is exactly what we need to put football on the rise again".
"My goal is to make football a hard occupation for him".
"Till now, he's yet to really put effort into becoming good at football. He's simply relying on his incredible body control, combat instincts, and marksmanship to blaze through the elite team trials, I changed the format because of him".
"I need to challenge him".
"You saw his first game, he already started breaking football and I can't allow that. I must give him a competition that's enough to break his bubble".
"That's why I personally organized Category 1".
"I hope they can give him a challenge".
"Even better, I hope they can teach him a lesson". His eyes gleamed. "A lesson to never underestimate the difficulty and intricacies of football".
…
GOAL!!!
The impact of Enigma's goal still reverberated across the Estadio do Arruna.
All the players were stunned, Endrick was shocked.
'You will die!' The thought floated to Endrick's mind again.
At that very moment, he had the chance to block Enigma's shot but just a look into the player's eyes struck fear in his heart. One look at Enigma and the thought that he was about to die flooded his being.
The feeling of fear of death left him completely petrified.
Endrick was shocked. 'Such killing intent!'
'I felt that if I blocked that ball, I would have died'.
He finally remembered Legion's words. 'He's a killer'.
Again, Endrick was flabbergasted by the football and footballers of this era, everything was so out of the norm that he felt a bit like a newbie again.
Before negative thoughts could fill his mind though, something lit up.
~_______________~
~Strongest System~
DING!
[Daily System Reminder!]
[Penalty for Mission Failure: You lose the Strongest System!]
~___________~
Bzzz!
Instantly, a switch turned on in Endrick's head.
'What if he is a killer?!' He almost said it out loud, he was instantly psyched after seeing the notification of his system
'Who cares? I am a baller!"
Like was his hobby, he went for a famous quote again to curb his inaction. 'You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face'.
His eyes gleamed. 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'.
'Hehe…, I was actually about to admit defeat without even trying. How the mighty have fallen, hehe, but I'm rising again, now, today!'
Endrick no longer just focused on what he felt from Enigma, he also focused on the rivals. At this moment, he didn't just have a single rival, he had 7 other rivals who were aiming to qualify ahead of him to the 3rd phase of the trials.
He entered analysis mood.
'Apeman is extremely strong, it's better to evade him with feints'.
'Ultron is aggressive and quick, I'll need to predict his movements to move past him'.
'Drip-Lord is extremely athletic, I'll need to be tricky against him'.
'Legion's killer instinct is deadly, I'll need to curb it'.
'As for Turtle909, all I need is to know his Special Skill first after which I can create a plan to counter it and score'.
'As for Enigma, he's a maverick, what I need to beat him is to be an even more freakish maverick'.
'Hehe…' He grinned. 'I'm up for the challenge'.
Endrick clenched his fists; he felt his blood burn hot.
~_______________~
~Strongest System~
DING!
[You have entered a state of Adrenaline!]
[Learn to control it and channel it's power appropriately!]
~___________~
"I don't need your reminder". Endrick's grin widened.
FWEEEE!
Endrick was not the only player to come to a conviction after the first play of the ball. Instantly after the referee's whistle blew, all the players became aggressive as they charged after the ball after Robertson22 kicked it out.
This time, Ultron was able to get to the ball first.
He was only able to take the first touch of the ball though when he felt broad shoulders like a Gorilla collide against him, Apeman was already berserk.
"Get the f*ck out of my way!" This player roared, determined to score.
As soon as Apeman got the ball, he remembered the rules as he did not let it fall down. Juggling it slightly, he exploded forward with speed.
Instantly after he sprinted, he felt a tall silhouette follow him. Drip-Lord was tightly on his mark as he shoved him strategically, subtly trying to win the ball off his legs but Apeman was having none of it as he dug forward like a Bull.
"Get off pest!" This player roared as he pushed to the right.
Drip-Lord could not withstand the ridiculous power behind the sudden push of the shoulder, Apeman's incredible strength took him off his feet.
"Such a non-drip football style, so barbaric". He lamented angrily as he flew away from the shoulder push, Apeman continued towards goal.
Before facing the goalkeeper though, a certain player blocked him.
"You go nowhere!" Turtle909 had a fearsome look on his face.
"Pest!" Apeman growled at him as he continued his solo run.
The most incredible fact about all this was that despite running since while shoulder pushing, Apeman never let the ball touch ground once, his ball control was that amazing already despite his fearsome strength.
Kicking the ball upwards to the front, Apeman aggressively charged forward, his intent clearly to outpace Turtle909 to the ball and directly shoot at goal.
This was when it happened.
"Special Skill: Turtle Defense- 1 Leg!"
Instantly after this player activated his Special Skill, a silhouette of a green turtle appeared behind him as one of the turtle's legs poked out.
This leg was able to elongate.
It stretched up all the way to the top where the ball levitated, then the turtle leg stopped the ball in mid-air, kicking it straight down at Turtle909.
This was his Special Skill that made him a top tier defender, and paired with his great anticipation, it made him a prince of blocks and interceptions.
Bam!
As soon as the ball hit the pitch, it bounced up and this was when Turtle909 swung his leg to unleash a shot with unreal power at goal.
A millisecond before his leg hit the ball, another leg softly pushed the ball.
'Enigma!' Turtle909's eyes widened.
Despite stealing the ball at the last moment, Enigma had no direct shot path at goal, this was because all the other players had been marking him.
As soon as he touched the ball, Legion and Endrickdinho double-teamed him. Enigma's first instincts was to try dribbling with the ball but he remembered the one-touch rule of the game, it would attract a yellow card.
While he hesitated, the other players rapidly closed the distance.
'How do I do this?'
For the first time in a long time, this genius was briefly stomped.
Whoosh!
In his moment of hesitation, a player slid in for the tackle. Instantly, Enigma's killer instincts kicked in as he looked down at the player.
"…" Endrick shuddered from the gaze.
'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. He chanted in his mind.
He slid in fast, before Enigma could react, he was able to win the ball.
'Done!'
Adrenaline flooded Endrick's being as soon as his leg touched the ball.
Enigma's instincts after losing the ball were to press and get it back immediately, Endrick guessed this and was what prompted his next action.
"Special Skill: Electricity Shot!"
BAM!
The attack was exactly at point blank range, Enigma could not dodge or so they thought.
Despite the extremely close range, this player was able to show his incredible instincts as he bent his body to an impossible angle, narrowly dodging the shot.
{+22 Damage!}
{+8 Additional Electricity damage!}
The ball didn't hit Enigma but there was a certain player tracking behind him, the ball hit Ultron directly on the face as it bounced back while he fell down.
The ball bounced back towards the midfield; Endrick charged after it.
Since the ball already touched Ultron, he could touch it again.
He got to the ball first but Drip-Lord was on him.
It was at this moment that Endrick let his instincts lead him again and of course, his previous analysis played a deep role.
One delicate tap of the ball and Endrick performed a sombrero flick, Drip-Lord froze as the ball floated above his head even as Endrick already escaped.
He was amazed. "Whoa…, such drip play!"
Instantly after escaping Drip-Lord, Endrick met Apeman, this aggressive and powerful player was charging towards him like a bull.
He did not panic; he remembered his analysis in his head.
'Apeman is extremely strong, it's better to evade him with feints'.
Tap! Tap!
It felt like Endrick suddenly started tap dancing.
A heavy step to the left and Apeman was fooled, while he charged in for a full body tackle, Endrick kicked the ball while it was still in the air to the right as he leaped the next moment, escaping Apeman's sliding tackle unscathed.
Legion came before Endrick the next moment.
"You're not scoring!"
"Take this!" Endrick roared as he swung his leg back for a shot attack.
Legion's combat instincts kicked in, he rolled to dodge then he froze. This was when he knew, it was a fake shot.
At this moment, Endrick was dribbling with the ball for a few seconds already while the ball had never touched the ground, it was incredible.
In the end, Enigma was his last opponent.
Seeing this maverick and his intimidating eyes, Endrick took a deep breath, he remembered his analysis.
'Enigma is a maverick, what I need to beat him is to become an even more freakish maverick'. Endrick's eyes shone in comprehension.
"Look dog!"
"Witness what you have never seen before!"
"WITNESS ME!" He roared.
While still floating mid-air, Endrick kicked the ball to the right again.
Enigma reacted instantly, charging after the ball. The only problem this time was that Endrick didn't pursue the ball, instead he jumped as his body became placed horizontally in the air.
"Witness Endrick's Scissor Kick!"
Endrick performed a Scissor Kick at the 8th minute of the game.
BAM!
Enigma could only watch, the ball soared past him.
Robertson22 could only dive in a despairing manner, he stood no chance, the ball homed into the top right corner of the goalpost.
GOAL!!!
At the 8th minute of the game, Endrick scored with a Scissor Kick.
*****
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