31- A Brewing Storm

What is a talent without effort?

The answer is Talent becomes nothing.

Then how about Effort without talent?

The answer is it will become hard work.

And there was a saying, your efforts will never betray you, and what you are about to see now is but the result, not the challenge or how much effort he puts into to reach this level.

A shadow stood in a vast universe overlooking the whole universe, "Yo, what are you doing here?" a shadow came beside him and asked.

"I'm just looking around" the shadow replied.

"Ha, how about we play?" the shadow asked.

"Naa, I'm going to pass, for now, also it has been a while since that kid left right?" The shadow said as he turned his head towards a certain direction.

"Haha, yep, he was one hell of a kid, but I'm sure he will be alright, everyone here knows" the shadow chuckled.

"Haha, that is true, after all, he is the kid that was acknowledged by all of us," The shadow said.

"The former basketball Legends in their prime taught a kid how to play basketball, do you think what kind of storm that will make, it really makes you excited," the shadow said.

"It will cause a big storm, a very big one, he had already surpassed us long ago" the shadow spoke then stood up, "I suddenly felt the urge to play and improve myself. let's go!" the shadow said and ran towards the court they had in the universe.

"That's the spirit lets go! I'm excited to see what legend will that kid make!" the shadow immediately ran towards the court..

[Yes, this is a legendary myth in a making]

*Swoosh!

Tanaka dashed towards his defenders and easily got pass by them, he stopped in the three-point line and dribbled behind the back two times in a fast motion that his defender got confused and slipped to the ground.

Tanaka didn't stop there and shot the ball with the quick release, Tanaka then turned around and didn't look as the ball went in the net.

...

Tanaka stole the ball from the point guard's hands and dribbled the ball forward, there he was met by the center of the Kamizaki who was under the rim, Tanaka didn't stop his charge and jumped.

The center also jumped for the block but as they met in the middle, Tanaka turned his body mid-air avoiding the block attempt of the center then a reverse for the hoop.

...

Akagi rebounded the ball as the Kamizaki missed a three-point shot and passed the ball towards Tanaka who caught the ball, his speed did not change even though he entered the zone but an indescribable pressure was weighing down the members of Kamizaki.

Tanaka came earlier and told them that he would get serious and this may cause them to lose their passion for their basketball but he hoped that they will learn from this game and continue to improve and one day, they will reach his level.

Those sincere words are where Tanaka got their respect, and so even when the score was 50 points or even a hundred points behind, they will play this game, because they have never felt this excited before.

They wanted to stop him from scoring, they wanted to score against him, they felt like they were playing on top of their game, it just feels... thrilling, they felt they were being influenced by Tanaka, his charisma was just overwhelming.

*Swooosh!

Tanaka flew towards the rim and dunked it hard!

*Boom!

The crowds couldn't stop cheering, the announcer was too hyped, every time Tanaka moves his fans and haters will cheer.

Standing on the stands the coach of Teiko, Kōzō Shirogane has his eyes fixated on Tanaka, he... he had never seen such a perfect player before, 'He is humble but not timid, strong but not rude, he is proud but not arrogant, he is a player who is worthy of respect' he thought and smiled.

'Things are getting interesting'

*Bzzz!

A trail of electric currents was trailing behind Tanaka as he moved around the court, he never did over fancy plays nor a show of overwhelming talent, he was showing them true skills and fundamentals of basketball.

Mark shot scores with no difficulty, he defended as if he could see their movement, he dribbled like the ball was but a phantom, Tanaka caught the ball from the three-point line and made a shooting position, but as the defender jumped for the block,

Tanaka sidestepped and shot the ball.

*Swoosh!

The ball went in only touching the net, Tanaka looked around the court and his eyes landed on Sora, he almost forgot what he was going to do since this was the first time that Tanaka used 50% of his skills in this world.

'Well then, time to wake up beauty, its beast time' Tanaka thought then like a snake his hand extended forward and stole the ball away from the Point guard, Tanaka rushed forward and caught the ball, he dribbled forward, and just as he was a few feet away from the 3 point line, he pulled the ball up and shot it.

*Bang!

The ball hit the back end of the rim and bounced down giving a satisfying sound, the ball bounced to the ground sharply.

...

Tanaka went for the rebound and bested Akagi and the center from the rebound, he dashed the ball forward. he was met with Kotaro but Tanaka avoided him with a fast crossover spin move getting past, Tanaka then just crossed the half-line when he pulled up the ball and released it.

*Bang!

The rim gave a satisfying sound once again, giving the Ousai another 3 points, Tanaka closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the electric current from his eyes disappeared, he willingly ended the zone.

He then turned towards Sora, "It's you're turn bud" Tanaka said with a smile,

Sora who had his eyes closed slowly opened his eyes, earlier only sparks were coming out from his eyes but now, electric currents started flashing by.

"Yes!" Sora replied and continued the game.

The final score was 220 - 79, with Sora scoring 89 points, and Tanaka having 45 points.

Tanaka shake hands with the Kamizaki players also giving them motivation for the game, with that, the match ended.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Was it anticlimactic? I don't really know since I'm writing this after writing about 4 chapters of my original novel, my brain cells are tired, but I hope you guys enjoyed it, I tried my best to deliver the scenes I had in mind.

Quotes

A common mistake for beginners -Goblin Slayer