The way to the top
"Bahahahaha! You just worry too much Jude" Alex tapped my shoulder after we sat down together with Nathan. Even though I'm the one who got chosen he was the one comforting me.
"You guys are clearly good enough..." I couldn't help but feel frustrated, after hearing what the coach said, I understood that ever since the very beginning he didn't have any plan to accept any goalkeeper or midfielder but I can't accept that.
"Listen, you managed to carve your way towards the A team, that doesn't mean that me and Nathan's path is over. This is annoying and frustrating for sure but I already know where I'm going to go in the future and what I'm going to do from now on, and I hope Nathan will also follow me." Alex said with a smile while looking at Nathan.
"What are you talking about? Aren't we just going to stay in the B team like before?" Nathan looked at him with a confused face.
Alex then stood up on a chair and dramatically opened his arms before starting his speech. "Well, well, well... As both of you guys already know, this genius goalkeeper got an invitation from the Barcelona A team. And since they urgently lack a goalkeeper after the injury of their past one I'm sure they would listen to my request of adding a talented midfielder to their team hehe."
Both I and Nathan couldn't help but keep our mouths wide open after hearing what he just said, that was the first time that this always happy fool said something smart.
"That's a very good idea actually." both of us couldn't help but agree that this was the best thing to do for their career.
"You should do it." It was sad that I would no longer get to train and play alongside them but I knew that if we were destined to meet again then in the future we will for sure find each other again.
"I don't know if it's alright to do it... Isn't this a betrayal? And what about you Jude? I don't want to leave you!" Nathan said while holding back his tears. I couldn't tell whether those tears were here because he didn't get accepted into the A team or because he didn't want to leave.
"Don't be stupid Nathan! Betrayal? They're the ones who betrayed you guys if anything. And if you want to play with me in the future then you better start working hard to make it to the top. If you do then I'm sure we'll meet again." I lightly tapped his back and said with a small smile on my face.
If they both end up joining the Barcelona U15 then there's a possibility that they'll get promoted into the youth team. If that happens then I know where we'll meet again.
"Alright then. Let's all agree to meet up in the future once we all reach the top bahahahaha." Alex said with a huge smile plastered on his face before holding out his hand in front of him.
"I'll do my best to fulfill your expectations!" Nathan said while tearing up and placing his hand on top of Alex's.
"Then I'll be waiting for you guys at the top." I said with a small smile and finally placed my hand on top of Nathan's.
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Once I got back home I immediately collapsed down on my bed. I went through too many emotions at once today and even if my dad said that he was going to prepare a surprise party to congratulate me on getting into the A team I couldn't help but feel pretty annoyed at what happened today.
If I'm not strong enough then my opinion won't matter, but maybe that's for the best, if they both are able to unleash their true potential at Barcelona then it'll be way better for them.
I was secretly tempted to join them, but I knew that to succeed as a striker I had to follow my own path.
Now that I'm finally back home I can finally take a good look at the system notification I've been ignoring since earlier.
[Congratulations on completing the quest "Joining a team!"]
[Congratulations on obtaining 50 random stat points!]
[Congratulations on obtaining the random D rank special weapon " free kick specialist".]
'so that's my new special weapon?' I couldn't help but get excited seeing the rewards of this quest. It's my first time getting a special weapon through the system.
I didn't waste any more time and immediately clicked on it to see its description.
[Free kick specialist:
Rank: D
The player personally gains a +5 in his free kick stat and when shooting a free kick gains additional stats.
The additional stats when taking a free kick: +2 Long shot/ +1 shooting power/+1 shooting accuracy/ +2 curve/ +1 weak foot.]
I couldn't help but be pleased while looking at the description, when I looked at the D rank special weapon some other players had I noticed that many of them would be close to useless to me but this one might be extremely useful.
Thanks to this special weapon I gained 5 base stats and can get an additional +7 stats when taking a free kick. Now all I had to do was do my best to earn my place as the free-kick taker during this month.
After thinking about it I also realized that maybe I would be better of use the random stats right now. I was planning on waiting because the higher a stat is the harder it is to raise it but now I didn't have any time to waste.
If I wanted to earn myself a place in the titular players for the summer tournament I had to use all the resources I have at hand.
[Do you want to use your 50 random stat points?]
[Yes] [no]
After thinking about it for a bit more I finally concluded that It was a necessary sacrifice and clicked on yes, after all, If I completed the new summer tournament quest I would probably get many new great rewards. Just by participating in a few matches I might trigger a quest and gain back those points.
As soon as I clicked on yes I immediately got many new notifications showing me all the stats that have improved.
[Kicking power: 42->43
Shooting accuracy: 46->48
Short pass: 36->37
Long pass: 32->33
Volley: 53->54
Long shot: 40->44
Free kick: 44->45 (+5 from special weapon)
Centering: 20->25
Penalty kick: 40->41
Weak foot: 24->29]
I was happy to see that my shooting and weak foot increased so much but having +5 in centering was for sure the result of my bad luck. 2 of my very weak stats that could've easily been trained ended up getting a +5.
Luckily my physique also improved a lot and I even improved my strongest stat, if not for the system I'm sure that raising my stamina to 92 would've taken me more than 2 months.
[Stamina: 90->92
Acceleration: 50->52
Jump: 52->54
Agility: 53->54
Reaction speed: 53->54]
Even my mental stats have improved a little, the one I was the proudest of was my assertiveness which gained 3 stats.
[Composure: 50->51
Assertiveness: 52->55
Attack awareness: 45->46
Defense awareness: 34->35
Tactical coordination: 36->37]
The last thing I took a look at as well as the one which had the most improvement was none other than my technical stats.
[Trapping: 52->54
Heading: 42->43
Dribbling: 48->49
Tackling: 35->36
Sliding tackle: 29->30
Direct play: 31->33
Positioning: 36-> 38
Feint: 38-> 41]
With that, I was now convinced that with some time I would even be able to become a star of the team alongside Ricardo. Not only do I have amazing stats overall but now I also have a new special weapon.
Now that I've reached such a level I'm sure that no one will be able to stop my ascension to the top.