Chapter 39

Samantha Jones

Age – 24

Relation – Coach

Occupation – Coach

Personal Traits

Sexual Orientation (current)- Straight

Happiness- Average

Self Esteem- Great

Ambition- Great

Compassion- Average

Charisma- Great

Physical Traits

Health- Excellent

Stamina- Great

Strength- Average

Dexterity- Excellent

Constitution- Great

Mental Traits

Mental Health- Average

Intelligence- Great

Wisdom- Average

Aptitude- Average

Mental Fortitude- Average

Special Traits

Soccer

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Dan should have seen that coming. Looking at the coach’s stats, who was apparently named Samantha, he’d realized one flaw in his plan. Because he hadn’t utilized his soccer skills yet, none of the traits had unlocked. Until he actually did something soccer related…and not just running around the field a bunch of times, he couldn’t see the skills the coach had.

Still, seeing her regular stat ranges was at least a little helpful. At the very least, they seemed to confirm she was athletic, granted he’d figured that from her appearance. Sure, she seemed a little out of place, but she had the look of someone who played sports. And considering her Excellent dexterity rating, as well as the great for stamina and constitution, she at least for sure had the stats of a soccer player. Granted, thinking about it, he found it funny the coach was still under Peter’s levels. Or maybe funny wasn’t the right word. It just drove home how much Peter trained himself. And to be fair, given the ranges of each classification, they could actually be closer than Dan realized. He wouldn’t know until he unlocked the next, more detailed version of his powers.

All in all though, as he finished his tenth lap, having managed to lap most of the players at least once, and a few twice, Dan was feeling rather good about himself. This pace was nothing, he hadn’t begun to break a sweat, and he wasn’t even breathing hard. This was nothing compared to what he’d been pushing himself to do.

“Alright, now then,” Samantha was standing near one of the goals, where he was figuring they were to gather around while they waited on the other players, “hold a plank until the others finish.”

Dan stared at her in disbelief as he slowed. What? What was that?

“I didn’t stutter.” Her voice firmed, and he realized his face must have been showing his reaction. “Just because you’re faster, doesn’t make you superior. I expect my players to constantly work on improving themselves, so they can in turn, better aid their teammates and improve the team overall.” She pointed towards the ground, and two players who had been trailing behind Dan had already caught up, and put themselves into a plank position. “So while the others finish, you will work on conditioning your core.”

“This is bullshit.” Dan muttered under his breath as he got down into a plank position. Sure, this probably wasn’t going to be the end of the world. But he didn’t like this concept of essentially punishing him for being faster than the others. As he watched the other players finishing up their laps, he couldn’t help but notice a few smirking. They were definitely sandbagging it, in order to avoid having to do the planks.

A whistle blow caused those smirks to disappear, even as Dan flinched in his plank. “Last three to finish will be getting a check on the list.” Immediately the players sped up, and Dan looked up at her, questioningly, from his plank position.

“I work on a checkmark system.” She said simply, flipping open her notebook to show a list of player names. “Five checkmarks, and you have to spend an extra 30 minutes with me after practice.”

From his side, Dan heard one of the players mutter something about it being 30 minutes of hell.

“Just like I want those who are excelling to keep growing, I will also push those who either improve slower, or who I feel could use a little extra…encouragement.” Dan wasn’t sure what it was about her…but he decided he didn’t want to see what happened when someone got five checkmarks.

“Now then,” she said, watching as the players finished up their laps. The last few were practically sprinting against each other, unwilling to be the last ones to finish. “we can move onto the next stage of conditioning. Suicides.” The number of groans from all of the players told Dan what he’d already started to figure out. Samantha looked kind, and a bit out of place on the soccer field. But it was quickly becoming evident she had the personality, and hardcore drive of any soccer coach out there. Dan also had a feeling, the past month for the players on the freshman team had been physical hell.

Still, Dan was confident in his conditioning, and his magically buffed stats. He had an unfair advantage, and he wasn’t going to complain about it now. That being said, he did make a mental note to hold himself back, just a little. Not enough to be noticed, but enough to make sure he wasn’t stuck doing additional workouts just because the others couldn’t finish at his level. Screw that…

“That’s another checkmark for you.” Samantha said with a slight shake of her head as they finished their third round of suicides. Dan had already gotten two, during the last two rounds of suicides. They’d been at it for probably thirty minutes, and all the players were gasping and covered in sweat. Even Dan had begun to sweat a little.

“For what?” Dan asked, outraged at it. Sure, he knew he’d been slowing himself down. But he was still finishing in the top three every time. It wasn’t like he wasn’t doing what was asked. Hell, the first time he’d finished in the top 5, and she’d given him a check. The second time, top 3, and he got a check. This time, he’d finished second, and another checkmark? That’s not okay.

“It’s clear you’re not going all out.” She said simply. “I get it, I do. You don’t want to push yourself too much, because then you’ll have to work out more.” She tapped her pen on the notebook. “But what that tells me, is you’re not willing to put in the extra effort to help yourself, and your team.” She shook her head. “I don’t want players on my team who aren’t willing to give all they’ve got, no matter what.” She pointed around at the players. There were roughly 25 of them. “Eleven players on the field at a time. I’ve got plenty to choose from, and I’m still culling, and cultivating them. If you think you can walk up here and sandbag it, just because you’re already in good shape,” she held her pen up dangerously, “then I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

Dan’s excitement over playing soccer was quickly fading. This was not turning out how it was supposed to. He didn’t come here just to run a bunch of laps and do full field suicides. Granted, it was great for his Dexterity trait, there was no doubt about that. But he was here for soccer. He was here to play, and unlock his skills. Running, he already did on his own time.

He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself. Because he’d traveled a lot, he’d played with a variety of coaches as well. Some, were definitely more intense than others. However, Samantah was at the top of his list now for worst coaches. He glared at her, but didn’t say anything. All he did, was tell himself that it would be worth it. All of this, was so that he could finally unlock his soccer traits, and draw closer to unlocking Rank 3. A little extra running, wasn’t going to get in his way.

“Fine,” he replied. “I’ll push myself.” He looked her squarely in the eyes, “but not for them.” He didn’t care about them. And they didn’t care about him. “I’ll do it, just so I can actually play some soccer. Because that’s why I’m here. To play soccer.”

“Good.” She smiled, and drew another checkmark in her book. “You get another checkmark for not caring about your teammates. But hey, at least I know you’re passionate about the sport.” The grin she gave him caused his blood to boil, and Dan made a silent vow to do his best to make her regret those words. He was going to show her. He was going to show all of them. And with that, Dan stopped holding himself back, and went all out. If she wanted him to push himself, then he was going to see what he was truly capable of. Something he quickly realized, he hadn’t been doing.