Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Tryouts III
At this point, the parents who came along had all been given seats under a canopy and were waiting for the first trial to begin.
Kaiser stood looking at the screen in front of him. The quest needed him to finish overall first and he would get great rewards.
For starters, the improvement of his overall rating from an F to an E would seriously boost his playing ability. But one thing he wasn't sure about was the athlete points.
This was the first time he had seen this, he wanted to ask the system what it meant but he was surrounded by other kids.
He would look like a psycho if he started asking questions to thin air. He took another glance at the quest and he saw the penalty if he failed the quest.
[Failure/Quest refusal: Host will be unable to use the Ultimate system for 168 Hours]
That was more or less a week if he didn't pass. There was no use in having second thoughts. He muttered under his breath "Accept Quest".
The familiar "Ding!" Sound rang out in his head. The boy beside him whose name he hadn't picked up looked at him and asked "What do you mean by accept quest?" With a puzzled look on his face.
"Oh, I'm just saying nonsense to myself, don't mind me." Kaiser said with a straight face.
Before the boy could say anything else, Coach Eze's voice cut through the air. "Alright everyone, get into positions. We're about to start."
Kaiser and the rest of the participants in his group got into positions and were awaiting the whistle.
"Remember, if you run the 10 KM in less than 1 hour or you are among the last 5 you will be disqualified." Coach Eze reminded them for the final time.
"On your marks, get set, GO!" He said with a roar.
Immediately the boys took off. Each with their own strategies. For the first few laps, some boys decided to put as much distance between themselves and the rest of the participants so if they got tired later on they would still be ahead of them.
Others decided to maintain a slow and steady pace, conserving their energy until they got to the last few laps. After the first 5 laps, Joshua, Solomon, Malik and Kaiser were firmly packed together in the middle.
There was a group of 4 boys running ahead of them, but Kaiser could easily tell they were already running out of stamina and were exhausted.
By the 10th lap, Kaiser was still maintaining his pace in the middle of the runners, while Joshua and Malik were trying to get ahead of the boys in front of them.
If he maintained this pace, he would easily qualify for the second round of the trials, but he didn't want that. He wanted to finish first.
At this point, some boys had lost all energy and stamina and were being overtaken by the more fit runners. Most of the boys who were falling behind were around Kaiser's age.
Either fourteen or fifteen. Which was why it was such a shock to everyone that he was still going strong, showing no hints of fatigue whatsoever.
He had been constantly going on 10km runs since the quest he completed and the deal he made with his mother.
This much was nothing to him. He could easily finish the race while leading the group, but that would be a hassle. He should at least make it look like he had a hard time finishing first.
About forty minutes had passed and the race was taking its toll on the boys. The majority of the kids that were Kaiser's age had either given up or literally couldn't continue.
A few of them simply gave up and ran out of the circle while some even collapsed. Some of the boys wanted to stop since the mandatory number of five that were supposed to be eliminated had been removed already.
However, they were in for a rude awakening. "For those of you that are still running. You are not allowed to stop till you complete the run!" Coach Eze's voice boomed.
"Those who have given up are not included. So if you finish in the last 5 or take more than sixty minutes to complete the race you will be removed!" He said once again with an air of finality.
By this time, Kaiser was running the twenty-third lap. Joshua and Malik were still battling it out for first, but he could tell they were tired. Solomon was barely keeping up with him, but now was the time.
In a flash, Kaiser began taking longer strides. He began covering more ground, closing the distance between himself and the boys in front of him.
By the twenty-fourth lap, he was running alongside Malik and Joshua who took note of him and began sprinting with every ounce of energy they had left.
They were taller than him so they had a slight advantage. Coach Eze took note of the three boys galloping down the track, approaching the finish line.
"This will be close." He muttered out loud.
By this point, the parents were beginning to cheer for their children to give their all as the race was very close to its end.
"You can make it Osho!" Kaiser heard his mother's voice cut through all the others. With the 50 meters left of the race, Kaiser ran faster than he ever had before.
He crossed the finish line first, beating Malik who came second and Joshua third.
"Kaiser Oshomanoya, Malik Abdul Kareem, Joshua Arase. You all came first, second and third. Finishing in 51 minutes and 45 seconds." Coach Eze said as he read their names off their list.
"Chinaza Ase, Victor Ola, Tolu Solomon, Kosi Abraham, Christopher Eze, you all are eliminated. Thank you for attending the trials, we hope you can try again next year." Coach Eze said solemnly.
The boys trudged back to the canopy where the parents were sittin. Some with tears in their eyes, others with slumped shoulders and defeated expressions on their faces.
He and the other participants who had passed received warm applause from their parents sitting under the canopy and were directed to sit under a tree to watch the second group run while they were handed refreshments.
The race between the group B participants ended about how Kaiser would have expected, except there was an exceptional performance by one of the boys.
The tall and lanky boy from earlier ended up finishing first, ahead of Bill and Gift. He didn't have any memories of a player like him.
'Maybe he was just someone that never made it pro in my last life' he thought to himself. Whatever the case, he would keep an eye on him.
He could tell that he wasn't the only one interested in the boy though as he could see coach Idris and Eze looking at the boy and speaking between themselves while gesturing towards his direction.
After the race, the coach called out the names of the boys who completed the race in order. Peter Omonobi, Gift Orban, Bill Aina, you all finished with the best times…"
Kaiser's mind began to ponder when he heard that first name. 'Peter Omonobi… where have I heard that name before?' He thought to himself, then suddenly it hit him.
That was the name of an aspiring footballer who died in an accident while traveling to Lagos for football tryouts!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Leviathan442
Leviathan442 Hello everyone! I made a few tweaks to the story in order for it to be more understandable!
Please enjoy the new chapter, and remember to comment and add to your library ^_^
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone