Tuesday evening. March 11th, 2025.

Hold on, y'all n***as playing with me, man

♪ I am the omega, pgLang, Rollie gang, SIE

Don't you address me unless it's with four letters

B***h, I thought you'd known better

I been ducking the pandemic, I been ducking the social gimmicks

I been ducking the overnight activists, yeah

I'm not a trending topic

I'm a prophet, I answer to Metatron and Gabriel... ⁠♪

The familiar LTC gym space had music bumping through its walls walls while Lukas did reps and sets of several lower body exercises.

Barbell back squats, snatch-grip deadlifts, box jumps, the whole nine.

By the 25th hour, he was done with his task for the day as he lay down on the gym floor — his legs had completely given up on him.

"TT, one day you're gonna give me a training regimen that will leave me injured. I can feel it."

[*Oh please. I have told you before, you won't get injured from training in here. Pain? Yes. Fatigue? Definitely. But injury? Never. So I will continue pushing you as far as your body can go.*]

"Well if you say so. What do you think of my performances so far?"

[*I think you're doing great. However, I think you could still do better. Even with your output, there are a lot of chances you've missed. That's why your recent training has been working on both your leg strength and your balance.*]

Lukas listened to TT's assessment attentively. The system had a point. Several chances had been missed because Lukas was nudged off balance before striking the ball.

Sure he had significant strength for his age due to the amount of time he had spent on building himself in the LTC, but he was still 16, and there isn't much one can do to trick nature when it comes to age and growth.

His training and strict diet had given him a lot of lean muscle which always surprised defenders whenever they try to nudge him off the ball, but it also wasn't an impossible task to disrupt his balance on the times the defenders were able to get to him.

During matches, when defenders really applied pressure on him, especially when he's in the air, he found it difficult to pick out a pass or really control the ball when put off balance.

"So what do you suggest?" Lukas asked after contemplating TT's words.

[*If you can't stop yourself from being knock off balance because of your age and strength restrictions, then the next best thing is to train your ability to play the ball even while off balance.*]

"Yeah?" Lukas asked as his face lighted up. "And how do you suggest we go about that? New training session?"

[*Not really. The ability to find the post or your teammates while off balance is a skill very few people have.*]

"Oh... Skill training. I can already think of someone to summon."

[*Who?*]

"First, open Player Profile."

[ PROFILE – LUKAS BRANDT – FOOTBALLER

DATE OF BIRTH: 30/12/2008 (16)

HEIGHT: 178 cm

WEIGHT: 62.4 kg

CAREER STATUS: EINTRACHT FRANKFURT FIRST TEAM

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER

CURRENT LIMIT: 85

RATING: 83 (↑1)

PLAYER STATS

ATTACK:

Off. Awareness: 83 (↑1)

Ball Control: 83 (↑2)

Dribbling: 83 (↑2)

Tight Possession: 80

Low Pass: 83 (↑1)

Lofted Pass: 82 (↑1)

Finishing: 81 (↑1)

Header: 80

Set-Piece: 81

Curl: 83 (↑2)

DEFENCE:

Def. Awareness: 76

Tackling: 74

Aggression: 73 (↑2)

Def. Engagement: 70

STRENGTH:

Speed: 85

Acceleration: 84

Kicking Power: 84 (↑1)

Jump: 81 (↑1)

Physical Contact: 81 (↑1)

Balance: 81 (↑1)

Stamina: 85 ]

Lukas looked at his stats and nodded in satisfaction.

Even after the Special Training, Lukas never missed a single day of training in the LTC. He was there either first thing in the morning or right after school before he goes for training with his teammates. Sometimes he even enters the LTC during his lunch break at school. He would sit with his head on his desk like he was taking a nap while he's completing grueling tasks handed by the system.

And the results were astonishing to see — both on the pitch and on the system window.

"Nice... Now for the training... Summon—" Lukas said as he thought about who he was about to summon. The Taekwondo black-belt holder, 6'5" center forward, who could twist his body in ways that looked impossible for someone of his frame and was able to find the goal from almost any angle or position on the pitch.

"Summon Ego... Zlatan Ibrahimovic."

[ Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Owned Skills:

Lion's Aura. Level 5/5

Aerial Supremacy. Level 5/5

Acrobatic Finishing. Level 5/5

Unshakable Confidence. Level 5/5

Hold-Up Mastery. Level 5/5

Volcanic Strike. Level 5/5

Commanding Presence. Level 5/5

Unorthodox Creativity. Level 5/5

Please select a skill to train. ]

"Wow... That is a lot of skills. Acrobatic Finishing and Unorthodox Creativity... I guess those are the skills relating to his balance, so let's go with that."

[*Loading Ego...*]

"By the way, what kinda skill is Lion's Aura? Sounds like a skill someone like Escanor would have... Wait a minute... Did you just rip off Seven Deadly Sins?"

"The Lion does not concern himself with matters as insignificant as plagiarism," a hoarse-sounding voice replied to Lukas from behind, catching him off guard as he turned swiftly to see who it was.

"Oh... wow..."

Those were the only words that could escape Lukas's mouth as he stared at the towering figure.

It was only a recreation from the LTC's database but it felt like Ibrahimovic was really there in person.

Of course Lukas wouldn't know that because he hadn't ever met Ibrahimovic in person, but if there was an imagination of what his presence would feel like, that imagination was smashed out the window right then and there.

It was way worse.

"I guess there's a reason he has a skill called Lion's Aura..." Lukas thought as looked at Zlatan.

"When you're ready to learn, let me know," Zlatan's voice cut through his thought as Lukas got himself back together.

"Oh yes... My bad... Let's begin. What do I have to do?"

"First, I have to find out what you can do. How flexible are you?"

"Flexible? I'm quite flexible," Lukas responded as he threw his right leg upwards and met his knees with his elbows.

"Cute," Zlatan replied as he watched Lukas with a smile while a ball appeared right beside him and the part of the gym they were standing on transformed into a grassy pitch.

"Can you do this?" he asked, his tone calm but edged with challenge.

He tossed the ball lightly, juggling it once, twice — each touch impossibly smooth, almost lazy. Then, with a deft flick of his foot, he sent it arcing high into the air. As it descended, he leaned back — further, and further still — until his body curved like a bow drawn to its limit.

This was a 1.95 metre giant who just arched himself almost enough for his back to touch the grass. All that pressure being borne mainly by his knees.

The ball struck his chest and stayed there, perfectly still, as though gravity itself had chosen to obey him. For a heartbeat, he looked carved out of motion — a statue balanced on one leg, the other bent in midair.

".... Looks easy enough," Lukas replied as he tried to hide his awe.

"Go right ahead, then," Ibra replied as he stood right up in one swift motion.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.