57 Probing
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"So,"
Jade's voice carried hints of suspicions and cautiousness as she walked alongside Sylphie towards Ravenville's vehicle in the distance.
"Why are we walking this way again?" She carefully asked.
"Huh?" Seemingly caught off-guard by the question, Sylphie returned a look that was filled with confusion towards her friend, showing no signs of the ferocity she'd displayed during the match previously,
"I'm going to make new friends. You?" She answered with a face that seemed to say 'Isn't it obvious?'.
"...You really have no sense of tension at all, do you?" Jade was dumbfounded.
Even though it was a friendly spar, in a sport filled with this much violence, usually it would be quite hard for 2 opposing teams to suddenly disregard the experience they'd received during the match and get all chummy with each other almost immediately after.
This was especially true for Battle Arena since there're virtually no rules against fighting as hard and dirty as one could in the game.
The exosuits might be able to prevent most fatal injuries but the impact from the blows received would not be entirely dispersed.
In an intense match, the fierce and brutal mentality of a player fighter would be heightened to the limit. And in most cases, this wouldn't immediately dissipate until after some more time had passed.
In this aspect, the Solver, Jade, felt that her Captain had always had a great mentality, capable of switching on and off between her serious battle mode and her casual weird mode anytime she wanted.
Even she, who hadn't played in the second half after the substitutions, could still feel a certain level of intensity and heightened aggressiveness within her that had yet to fully subside even now.
"Jade, your face is scary." Seeing the slight frown and scrunched up eyebrows on her friend's face, Sylphie made an innocent comment that made the latter felt even more speechless in that moment.
"..."
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"Hello~!! Are you guys busy?"
"Wai--!"
Before Jade was mentally ready, the two girls already reached their supposed destination where Sylphie immediately opened up the conversation with a rather spirited greeting.
In front of the two were Irvine, Derrick, and Greg who had just finished loading some of their equipment up for this round of trip.
"Ooh! Good day ladies!" The first one to eventually respond to the greeting was Greg, who replied with a matching enthusiasm in his voice.
Currently in his mind, the only thought that were floating around was the opportunity to exchange contacts with Magnolia's female students!
Unfortunately for him, his somehow overexaggerated posing gesture had caused Jade who's still standing beside Sylphie to frown even more at the scene.
"...Hello."
"Miss Hunter."
Following Greg, both Irvine and Derrick also respectively returned Sylphie's greeting in a more reserved manner with an acknowledging nod at the end.
"The players from the second half! I know all of you, actually..." Not minding anything around her, Sylphie started pointing at each of the three in front as she put the names to faces together from right to left,
"Guard Gregory Clayton. Fielder Derrick Wallace. And... The Starseed Solver, Irvine Lang. Nice to meet you all!" She put more emphasis on Irvine's name.
"...Nice meeting you as well, Miss Hunter." Derrick replied, he spoke with a friendly and polite tone in his voice,
"Your reputations precedes you too, what with your achievement in the last Silver Crown."
"Thanks!" Sylphie gave a wide smile at the indirect compliment,
"Really though, Ravenville's new regulars this year are so good! I'd imagine with your speed and your coverage, you guys'll have even more variations of plays than last year." Her last sentence was pointed specifically at Derrick and Greg respectively.
To the side, Irvine was rather surprised at Sylphie's observational skill,
'She's managed to precisely pinpoint Wallace and Clayton's main strengths within what's left of that second half...?'
In that match, Derrick hadn't shown much of his maximum long-running speed on the account of his formation with Irvine and Naomi.
And Greg had even less chance on displaying the unusually wide range of defense that came together with his large build and long limbs with Baron taking point by his side,
Even though it could be said that neither of the two had optimally showcased each of their primary weapons in that second half, Sylphie had seemingly shown that she could see through them to an extent with her comment.
"Haha... We still got a long way to go, I'm afraid. Especially with all the old seniors on our backs."
"Oh? But I can already see it though. You guys becoming two of the team's main pillars in the near future. Your development paths look pretty clear and promising!"
"..."
"--But not you!"
Just as Derrick had almost run out of response for her, Sylphie had suddenly turned her attention and fingers towards the last of the group of three, which was the idly standing Irvine.
"?"
Noticing the expression on her face that seemed to have changed slightly with that single motion, Irvine also looked back at her with curiosity himself, 'Hm?'
"Hey, tell me! How did you train to become like this? I mean, even today you don't look like you have any physical talents that make you stand a cut above the rest like the others!"
'...!'
"It's like you make up for it purely through your sharpened skills and match experience! That's right! But I just couldn't think how it's possible for a player to be so polished at those aspects solely from doing high school level Arena no matter how much--"
"Captain. Slow down please."
Sylphie was just about to ramble on further when she was notified by Jade that she's dragging her speech.
"--Ah! Sorry about that! By the way, I'm a true fan! It's nice to officially meet you Mister, er-- Ah, Sir Lang?"
"..."
Contrary to Sylphie's more flushed expression, Irvine was now looking at her very differently from before,
'Oh she's VERY good! She can even pinpoint my peculiarity... I really thought that only people at the level of the Head Coach could notice it...!'
Ever since the time he'd first returned to the past until now, Sylphie was only the second person who had ever confronted him directly regarding this.
It's true that Irvine considered himself to have a higher spatial awareness than others which he considered his innate talent on the field. But he also knew that at his current level, he hadn't integrated this particular sense enough for his playing style to be dependent on it.
Right now, he only ever used it for self-positioning and timing his attacks, both of which were not something that's too apparent through the eyes of others.
From Lark's and Sylphie's viewpoints, what had caught their attentions more regarding Irvine was not this trait of his but instead his quick decision-making and responses to the development of a match that prompted him to do all his positionings in the first place.
And these types of skills were not something that normal people could just be born with.
It could only be gained through the accumulation of experience. Which was why the two of them had felt that Irvine was a strange player.
'But it's weird, if Sylphie Hunter had this level of intuition and anylitical power, why was there no mention of it in the future...?' Irvine was looking back on the career of the player in front of him.
In his future, although Sylphie Hunter had been a world-renowned player famous for her fast and powerful charges, there had been no instances of this analytical or observational skills of her ever being mentioned by the media.
'Actually, even in the match just now, it doesn't look like she was the tactical figurehead of the team or even had any part in it... It's weird.'
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As Irvine continued to contemplate many things in his mind, Sylphie who was still looking at him in front was already slightly panicking at the moment,
"Uwah, a, are you weirded out by me right now...?" She carefully asked.
*sigh*
Seeing her Captain acting like this, Jade beside her was also forced to let out a heavy sigh while looking down and shaking her head.
"--Hm? Ah no, nothing like that. I just thought that Miss Hunter's truly a very observant person. I think that Magnolia will have nothing to fear in terms of strategy for the coming tournament." Irvine smiled.
"--Right!? At least someone appreciate me around here! Huhu." Sylphie laughed smugly while glancing at her friend.
"..."
"So anyway, you--"
"Captain!!"
Sylphie was just about to continue her probing of Irvine when suddenly a shout was heard from a man running towards them in the back.
The man waved his hand and continued calling at both Sylphie and Jade until he was close enough.
"The Head Coach is calling for you two!"
"Whaat~ Now??"
"Well, what'd you expect. There's still more for us to discuss from today's match..." Jade retorted.
"Aww... Well, alright then..." In the end, Sylphie was just about to walk back dejectedly when she suddenly overheard Greg's similarly dejected voice from behind,
*pst* 'So we're really not going to exchange numbers here?'
'You...' Greg was whispering his words towards Derrick who's about to retort, but Sylphie already overheard them nonetheless.
"--That's a good idea!!"
""Huh?"" The confused voices of both Derrick and Jade overlap each other following her shout.
"You three! Give me your contacts right now! C'mon c'mon~ Our coach's already calling us!"
"Captain!"
"Oh come on! What did I do now?? Don't tell me we can't even get to know our rival players?" She pouted at the frowning Jade.
"Well... Nothing's really wrong with this... I suppose..."
"Perfect! Come everyone, huddle up! Take out your phones!"
...
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3:00 PM, afternoon.
Back at Ravenville's Main Campus.
Wilson and Ella were standing to the side of the rows of flat stretch of land that was the school's training fields.
Because it was yet to be announced whether the two had passed their try-out or not, right now, they could only watch silently as the school team's 2nd and 3rd strings' members trained together on the different fields.
The two's expressions were a mixture of both anxiety and restlessness.
They would very much like to move their bodies somehow but they were not yet authorized to use the team's fields.
"Damn, Monday never felt so far away..." Wilson commented.
"We should be fine. There were many participants who're worse than us... I think." Even though Ella had said that several times since the tests, the longer the time had passed on it, the more unsure she was of her own judgement.
"I agree... I think we should just head back. It'd be more productive for us to use the public field and play a game rather than simply standing here and watching the team train without doing anything ourselves."
"...Right."
But just as the two were about to leave the fields, a familiar figure of Coach Thompson appear from one of the sidelines to approach the two of them.
Coach Thompson was one of the assistant Head Coach who hadn't followed the group of regulars to Delta City because he was tasked to manage the rest of the 2nd and 3rd strings' players.
Wilson and Ella actually already had some impressions on this coach because he was also the main person in charge of the try-out back then.
When the two saw the familiar figure continuing to approach, they could feel their own bodies getting tensed up while their minds went on several different trips.
'Why is the coach approaching us now? Don't tell me the fields are not open for public?'
'Did he remember us from back then? Or is he about to tell us to leave?'
The gears within the two's minds kept turning as the figure of the coach kept getting closer and closer towards them.
"You two."
Eventually, the distance became close enough for them to be within arms' length of one another and Coach Thompson too began to speak.
"You're the participants from the try-out the day before yesterday, right?"
"Y, yes sir! Erm... Are we not allowed to watch the training? If so--"
"Hm? Oho, no no, nothing like that. Any open field trainings are open for public." Noticing the two's nervousnes, Thompson quickly eased their mind with a smile.
He of all people knew how stressing these few days before the try-out's announcement could be for some people, and it's not in his nature to add unnecessary burden to them.
"Oh, thank god... I thought we're gonna be in trouble."
*phew*
With that statement, Wilson was finally able to relax his tension enough to not stutter.
Even though Ella didn't say anything, her exhaled breath too was loud enough to enter his ears, signifying her previous nervousness.
"Anyway, you two are here to watch the training?"
""Yes, sir.""
"Mm, it's good to be diligent, at least it's better than others who're just sitting on their asses waiting for the results..." Thompson gave an agreeing nod to the two's dedication,
"Well if you're already here, you could stay around a little longer you know."
"Hm?"
"Our regulars are coming back from their first spar against Magnolia in a bit, you might be able to catch them do one round of training before the day ends."
"!" Wilson's eyes widened at the revelation, "Wow... We can watch the regulars train?"
"Against Magnolia... Are we winning?" Ella asked full of curiosity, causing coach thompson to grin happily. She was more curious about the school's match.
"I just got the call myself. We won 4-1!"
""4-1!""
It was a rather overwhelming lead for any matches, and it was against another city's top school no less.
The reason Thompson was in a happy enough mood to approach the two of them was precisely because he himself had just gotten the news on their win.
"Amazing..." Wilson muttered under his breath.
"Like I said, our 1st strings are on a whole other level, since you guys're enthusiastic enough to come here already, if you wait a while, you might be able to see them in action. No guarantee if they're too tired though."
'Ravenville's regulars...'
Unlike Wilson who's still in a daze, Ella already nodded decisively at the offer, "We'll wait!"
