Soccer System: All the Skills, One Player!

When all the boys had gathered in the center of the pitch and were quiet, Eddie said:

"Guys, I confess we were struggling to find friendlies for the team before the season started. I even thought of asking Coach Jimenez for a training session against A-Team. But, I got a call today. This is to remind you that..."

All the boys' expressions were full of excitement even as old Eddie gave yet another speech about hard work.

The first friendly was against Liverpool, and that got them excited about who would play next. Admittedly, they were up against Liverpool's U18s, who weren't playing in the same leagues as Brighton's B Team, but they were still a big opponent.

"Who will be next? Real Madrid maybe?" Luiz Fernando whispered. "Don't be silly. Real Madrid is from Spain. It's impossible for us to train match against them," Felix replied.

Eddie was still giving his speech when he realized the boys were once again not listening to him, not completely, at least. He sighed and announced:

"On Saturday, we'll play Chelsea. It'll be against their U20 team, the senior youth team.""

Immediately, the anxious expressions on each of the boys' faces turned into smiles of excitement in all different forms.

Chelsea FC was one of England's biggest soccer clubs. It was also highly respected worldwide. It was a club with a magnificent structure, history, talented players and a passionate fan base. For boys like them, it was impossible not to be happy just to have the chance to play against a club like that.

Also, Lucas knew Chelsea was on a path to glory. Some players present at the club's base would become essential to some of the club's national and international achievements in a few years' time.

As he looked down at his right hand, Lucas closed it into a fist. 'That's it...'

-:-

Later that afternoon, Lucas practiced his passes with Raphael and the others. They were excited, so they gave it their all.

And so Lucas completed his mission.

[Congratulations! You have completed the mission 'Quality Passes'!] [You have earned the following rewards: + 1 Legendary Loot Box and + Assimilation Functionality].

He waited until he got home to check his rewards. He didn't even wait for the door to close before asking: "Gee, what does this 'Assimilation Feature' reward do?"

[Features are extra resources that can be got in random missions and which, when obtained, are added to the Champion System]. [The assimilation feature is one of the ten additional features you can receive and its primary function is to integrate skills into you].

"Integrate skills into me...?" Lucas asked as he dropped his backpack beside the bed and took off his shirt.

[Basically, making skills copied or obtained through cards completely yours.]

Hearing these words, Lucas stopped moving. He had his arms raised and was in the middle of taking off his shirt, so no one could see what expression he was wearing. However, if anyone could see, they would see that he was slack-jawed and his eyes were shining.

After a few moments, Lucas threw his shirt as far as he could and, out of happiness, his body spasmed and he couldn't hold it in. "WHAT?!!!" He slammed his back against the cupboard. "Jeez, that I could..."

[Yes, having an assimilated skill means that using it won't affect your physical development. This is what it meant to be completely your own skill.]

"But this is so amazing! I want to do it right now! How do I assimilate a skill?"

[Opening Assimilation Menu...]

Suddenly, a window appeared in front of Lucas and quickly expanded into a large square. Inside this window, his skills were separated into Mystical Skills and Soccer Skills.

[Mystical Skills: <Feet>; <Sharp Intuition>; <Attribute Progression>; <Supernatural Resistance>; <Champion System>; <Replicator Genius>; <Titanic Weight>].

[Soccer Skills: <Advanced First Kick>; <Stellar Impulse>; <Short Dribble>; <Mirage Feint>; <More Than Fast Reflexes>; <Risk Analysis>; <Advanced Concentration>; <Extended Physical Stamina>].

Below these two categories, there were two other categories.

[Assimilation Skills: Empty].

[Assimilated Skills: Empty.]

Lucas analyzed the information and muttered to himself: "I see, so there is a process of assimilation. And considering that there's a category just for skills that are in the process of assimilation, I can assume it takes some time."

[Yes, the Assimilation time depends on the rarity of the Skill. A legendary skill will take much longer to be assimilated by your body than an ordinary skill].

He frowned and sat down on the bed, taking it a little more seriously now. "Okay, how long does a legendary skill take to assimilate?"

[60 days. What's more, the skill will be locked during this time. You won't be able to use it under any circumstances.]

Lucas opened his eyes wide, so surprised that if he hadn't already been sitting up in bed, he might have fallen over backwards. Sixty days was a long time, especially considering that he wouldn't be able to use the skill. However, he had never obtained a legendary skill from anyone either, not as far as he knew. Still, he asked to clear up this doubt.

"Heavens, do I have any Legendary rarity skills?"

[Yes. They are: <Supernatural Resistance> and <Champion System>].

The answer didn't come as a complete surprise to him. They really were ultra-powerful skills. One of them gave him the chance not to die, while the other gave him everything he had so far, including his many other skills.

Despite this, the absence of another skill, which he thought was as strong as these two, caught his attention. "Isn't the skill <Replicating Genius> at Legendary rarity?"

[No. This skill is one rarity higher].

"What? A rank above? Isn't Legendary the limit?"

[No. As far as I know, there are two other ranks above Legendary].

"And what are these two ranks called?" Lucas asked with a mixture of anxiety, anger, and nervousness.

He didn't understand how there could be two ranks above Legendary without being told about it.

[The rarest skill ranks are Sovereign and Great Sovereign. These are ultra-rare and powerful skills that, like Legendary skills, can also fit into the Unique rank].

By this time, Lucas' mind was spinning. It was a lot of new information to process so quickly. He got up and went to get some water to calm down, but Céos seemed excited about the subject.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

[If you're interested, I can reveal which of the two maximum classifications the skill <Replicating Genius> is in].

Lucas rested his glass on the bench where the water fountain was and sighed. "Tell me, what is the rank?"

[Sovereign.]

To think that a single skill would cause him so much thought was unexpected. After a few more minutes of talk with Céos, Lucas learned it would take ninety days to assimilate a skill of Sovereign rank. It would take one hundred and eighty days for a skill of Great Sovereign rank. That was almost half a year.

It sounded tempting, but he still didn't understand why he would try to assimilate something like that. It was much more disadvantageous than helpful.

For example, if he assimilated the skill <Replicating Genius>, he would be left for three entire months without being able to copy a player's skill and try to turn a game with his opponent's own weapon. However, using <Replicating Genius> didn't affect his training at all, so it didn't make sense for him to want to assimilate a skill like that.

It made more sense to assimilate skills like <Risk Analysis>, <More Than Fast Reflexes>, and <Short Dribble>. They were very useful in the field.

"Come on... What should be the first skill I assimilate?"

Lucas thought about this during the last few hours of the day. While he showered, while he ate dinner, and even while he watched national team matches on television. The more he thought about it, the more difficult it became to decide.

Putting a skill through an assimilation process meant giving up using it for several days. The season would start soon, so it was neither the best nor the worst time to do this.

"Okay, I think I've decided which skill I'm going to assimilate." He said as he lay down to sleep and stared at the ceiling.

[And what would that be?]

"Extended Physical Resistance."

[Skill: Extended Physical Resistance.

Description: This skill temporarily increases your endurance capacity and reduces the negative effects of fatigue.

Rating: Uncommon

Time to Assimilate: Seven days].

[Are you sure you want to put this skill up for assimilation?]

"Yes, I'm sure. Seven days will fly by."

Strategically, it made sense to have a skill like this available to use in the future with no harm, because he could use it when he was tired at the end of a game. It was these kinds of skills that he should focus on assimilating now at the beginning, skills that were only Uncommon and Rare, in other words, that alone made little an impact, but which, when used, at the same time, could turn him into a combat tank.

[Skill "Extended Physical Resistance" is now occupying 1 Assimilation Slot and will finish this process soon.]

[0 Assimilation Slots available at the moment.]