32 The 2nd String

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*huff* *huff*

"Hey, you think they started already?"

"Nn, What? the rookies?" Greg turned to Derrick's question as the both of them sat on a bench for their 10-minute break from the training.

Their bodies' perspiration was clear evidence to the level of activities they were in the middle of until moments ago.

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It was a breezy afternoon for the whole of Zeta City.

Derrick Wallace and Greg Clayton were both sitting down on the bench of a different training field from the new recruits. Around them, the area was filled with two different kinds of people;

The Arena team, consisting of the 2nd string players and a group of coaches on the field.

And the audiences sitting on the small hills to the side of it.

With the dates getting closer and closer to the start of a new semester. The campus ground was also becoming much more livelier than how it'd been during the long holidays.

Currently, most of the watchers were either older students who'd arrived earlier on campus and had nothing better to do, or couples taking a break together with their dates.

Either way, the atmosphere around the Ravenville University's Arena training fields were filled to the brim with youthful energy at the moment.

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"...They should be starting soon, I think? Who cares?"

"Well, It just brings back so much memories of our freshmen year, doesn't it?" Derrick showed a fond nostalgic expression on his face for a split second after answering Greg's sharp comment.

"Hmm, you're right about that..." Hearing this, Greg was also prompted to look up at the sky in remembrance.

"Ah, the horrible memories."

"The horror..."

Little by little, both of their expressions started to contort as they reminisced deeper and deeper into their orientation period last year.

The '10-day Losing Streak'.

This was the infamous tradition that the Ravenville Illusions enforced on new recruits every year.

2 weeks of brutal weekdays training that ended with a match between the new freshmen and most of the regular 3rd year members of the Arena team.

It was a no-holds-barred 'friendly' sparring match that the school used to instill the level difference between college and high school to the new members.

Through this, the new people would learn to understand in the harshest of ways possible what the required skill levels expected of them were to become real assets on the team.

Needless to say, the rate of newcomers winning against their seniors ever since the tradition first established was:

0%

It was not at all a friendly match.

The 3rd year players would utilize their all, be it in terms of Abilities or physiques, to dominate the rookies in any ways they could.

Just remembering the confidence-breaking period of their time, even Derrick and Greg could still feel the leftover shivers from under their skins.

With the very combative nature of Battle Arena, no-holds-barred held a very different meaning than in any other sports.

Bruises would be the least of their concerns when the new recruits were going up against the 3rd years with their non-modified Stage-1 Human bodies.

Thankfully, restoration pods were something that existed in the team's facility building as well.

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"They should consider themselves lucky they're not going up against the Captain's generation of players..." Greg mumbled,

"I dunno, I think every batch of new students would have the same misgivings against each of their 3rd years counterparts right?"

"That might be true too. You think we'll be like them come next year?"

"That's... Only if we manage to fill the 1st string's blank spots created by the graduating seniors right?" Derrick's smile slowly turned wry at this point in the topic,

"The former Captain and the rest of them, they really left a huge hole to fill..."

*SLAP*

"Ugh...!"

"Oh come on, chin up man! That chance is now, with this first training camp of the season!"

Just like usual, Greg's back slap left not only a loud sound echoing through the surrounding, but also probably a red palm mark on Derrick's back.

Just like the new recruits had their 10-day Losing Streak, the sophomores were also not idling by during these 2 weeks before the new semester started.

With most of the previous 4th year seniors either graduating normally or even getting drafted into the OPL, each year during this time, every college Arena team in Olympus was left with a huge dent in their formations.

But as part of the normal cycle for any college sports, this period of time also brought with it opportunities for the other students to rise up and become the new pillars of their teams.

The reshuffling of 1st strings and regulars!

For the sophomores and the older 2nd string players, this first training camp served as the vital part of the selection process for the new Illusions!

Being one of the top performing players of their year, both Greg and Derrick were naturally gunning for that same spots within the 1st string.

And since both their positions were different from each other, they had only camaraderie and not rivalries between the two of them.

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*FWEEEET*

As Derrick and Greg were about to finish their breaks and continue with the training, one of the coaches suddenly blew a whistle for all the players on the field to gather up.

"Uwah, what now?"

"Beats me."

Following the cue, the two of them stood up from the bench and walked towards the source of the whistle at the center of the field with curiosities.

"Gather 'round now people!" The same coach who blew the whistle gestured with his hand for the rest to not waste anymore time.

*step* *step*

Without waiting for too long, most of the 2nd string players on the field successfully gathered around him within half a minute of his call.

The coach nodded with approval before announcing what he's about to say right there and then,

"Alright, listen up!"

"Head Coach Lark has given words that he'll be sending one person from this year's list of new recruits our way for us to take care of!" He sternly shouted.

""What?""

"Why would..." "Who...?"

*murmurs* *murmurs*

Unsurprisingly, the topic easily caught the attention of most sophomores and even some juniors on the team.

*psst*

"A new recruit here? They don't mean--" On the back, Greg tried to speak quietly with Derrick to his side.

"Could only be him, right?" But Derrick simply answered him with a shrug.

.

"Okay now, QUIET!" The coach didn't tolerate the disruptions of his announcement for too long and intercepted early the possibility of any prolonged discussions,

"His name's Irvine Lang! Some of you who took the license last April might have heard of him, one of the two Starseeds coming out of Zeta City during that time." He continued.

"Starseed...!"

*whispers* *whispers*

Once again the crowd reacted to the news.

"It's him alright. You're getting a new rival for the Fielder position man." Greg turned towards his friend to see his reaction.

He hadn't been paying enough attention to Irvine's performance during the exam to know his capability well.

For Greg, Irvine had only entered his line of sight when he was announced as a Starseed and Derrick commented on him.

"..." Derrick himself didn't bother replying to Greg's words and simply watched on expressionlessly.

"...What do you all think? Have enough pressure yet?" The coach stopped for a while to provoke the rest of the 2nd string team,

"You should be, the Head Coach seems to have quite a high expectation on him from what I hear. Hell, even I have some expectations."

"..."

"Think you'll get your chance now that many people have graduated do you? Well think again,"

"One way or another, us coaches will get our best possible team to attack the Warrior and Silver Crown this season. Don't underestimate Ravenville!"

The coach's words were not only aimed at the Juniors who're still in the 2nd string but also the new sophomores who had just gotten their license and Abilities earlier in the year.

One of the players encircling the coach raised his hand for a question the moment he'd paused for a bit,

"How's he allowed here though? Surely he's not experienced enough in college-level tournaments with Abilities?"

"Heh, and you do? From just participating in some Uncrowned Tournaments?" The coach retorted sharply to the one asking the question,

"What do I care about experience, competition's about results! And the result is that he's gotten his Gene Mod around the same time as some of you here."

"..."

"Want to prove me or the Head Coach wrong? Simple, outperform him in every way you can think of, and he won't get into the 1st string anytime soon."

"In the meantime though, he'll be here. Competing in the same ground and for the same spots as you."

Personally, the coach himself also believed that it would be hard for Irvine to get himself a spot in the 1st string even if he was sent here.

What he'd done just now was purely to rile up the players here so that they'd put their best foot forward for the next 2 weeks without getting too comfortable with their chances just because their seniors had graduated.

Of course, he also meant what he'd said about only getting the best to be chosen in the end.

"As for his position, he will be..."

At this time, the coach opened his tablet once more and looked on weirdly at the data written.

He had actually been briefed beforehand by the Head Coach as evidenced by Irvine's file being displayed on his tablet, but he just had to recheck it one last time out of the sheer peculiarity of it.

'Ah, I don't know anymore. We'll just see I guess.'

"Solver! He'll arrive to our training field shortly after this and follow our schedule for the rest of the training camp starting then. Dismissed!"

"Huh!?"

The tense look on Derrick's face that he'd been maintaining ever since the start of the news was suddenly changed into one of confusion.

"Wait! Um, coach?"

"Wallace, what is it?"

"That is, don't you mean Fielder? His position." He asked trying to confirm.

The coach thought that the confusion on his face was quite understandable.

Derrick had also been one of the participants from Ravenville during Irvine's exam. And at that time, the man had achieved a more than stellar score in the Fielders category for a high schooler.

And now, the announcement had told him that the same person would be coming into their 2nd string team as a Solver instead!

"...No, Head Coach Lark himself had told me that he'd be coming in as a Solver."

"A-- Then his Gene Mod is..?"

"...[Blast]."

"Oh, the same as mine! Good taste!" Greg who had been following behind Derrick the whole time cut into the conversation with his own comment.

""...""

Both the coach and Derrick turned speechless at this.

Gene Mod and their Abilities was not simply about one's preference for Arena players! Some Abilities were more suited for certain positions than others.

As a prime example of this, the impact and knock-back effect on [Blast] made it one of the most popular abilities for Guards whose jobs consisted mostly of pushing enemies away from the towers or their bounded allies like between Fielder and Solver.

In Irvine's case, the [Overload] Ability that Medea had chosen for her Gene Mod was probably a more appropriate choice for him than [Blast] if he really intended to become a Solver.

The increased focus and image processing speed of [Overload] was a good addition for a Solver with fast hand speed but lacked the memory and concentration needed to dismantle towers under chaotic situations.

But Irvine had chosen [Blast] as his Ability instead.

For Arena players, choosing one's Ability was probably more important than choosing a wife.

The decision must stay with them for life, there was no undoing for it.

"So he passed the License Exam as a Fielder, chose a Gene Mod preferred by Guards, and is now playing as a Solver? ...What the hell?" Derrick became more confused the more he inquired.

*SIGH*

The coach himself could only sigh at his question.

"Truth be told, I don't really get it either. But one thing is for sure..."

"What's that?"

"Head Coach's tone when he told me about him was the same scary tone he uses when he's planning something wicked."

The image of Lark's devil-like cunning smile quickly popped up inside the mind of both Derrick and Greg.

"..."

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After briefing the 3rd year players a bit more on how they should handle the new recruits training, Lark had returned back to his office to view some data.

As the Head Coach of a powerhouse team, his schedule was filled both with his own team's training menu and progress, and also with the administrative scheduling for both the 1st string and 2nd string's future matches.

And that hadn't even included the time he'd need to spend on researching rivals and enemies' teams during the tournaments period.

But currently, the usually strict and incomprehensible Head Coach of Ravenville was smiling by himself as if he'd just received some good news.

"Heheheh..."

"Hahah! Oh... John really fished me something good this time!" Lark let out an unrestrained laugh the moment he seated himself on his leather chair in his office.

He remembered his talk with Irvine right after his speech some time ago.

(I can directly train together with the 2nd strings and aim for a regular spot?) Irvine had asked in a pleasant surprise the moment he'd heard Lark's suggestion.

(Of course, you passed the License Exam at the same time as some of our 2nd strings. Though your overall records left much to be desired compared to them, it was still remarkable considering you're just a late Stage-1 then.)

(Thank you very much.)

(I'd imagine you've not just been sitting around on your ass after getting your license right?)

(Hardly.) Irvine's smile was full of confidence when he answered.

(Then there's nothing more for me to say. Keep in mind though, our Fielder position is desired as much as the Guards if not more. The one in your exam, Derrick Wallace, is just one example out of many.)

(...)

(Regarding that sir, I'm not planning on playing as a Fielder. Not normally at least...)

(Hm? Then what's your desired position?)

(A Solver.)

(...)

(To be more precise, a second Support Solver.)

(That's... Very specific. Elaborate.)

(Well, if you see in the current OPL...)

Then, Irvine had started explaining in details his own analysis as to what he wanted to become to the Head Coach.

His explanations had included not only his future development but the current trend of Battle Arena that might slowly shift following the increasingly rapid development of players performance and strategies.

Things like tactics that would become obsolete in the near future or the different fighting styles that would be born following certain changes.

Everything that he could sell to convince Lark the benefits of having his type of playing style in a team.

Irvine himself was not an especially gifted tactician in terms of combat. His playstyle as an aggresive second Support Solver was just one of the things that would be invented later in the far future by a certain pro player during the time he was close to retiring.

He was simply choosing it as an option now after considering what weapons and strong points he had to offer as a player.

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Seated on his chair, Lark was looking at the thumb drive he'd received from Irvine after their talk together.

(I never thought I could speak with the Head Coach my first day here but... This drive contains a compiled footage of my playing style during the time I play at my Gym as a Solver. It has no usage of Abilities, but I hope it could serve as a visual reference to what I'm talking about.)

"..."

Of course, Lark would still want to check the videos first, however.

Being the strategist that he was, he could already pretty much grasp what Irvine was talking about during their conversation together, especially when Irvine had made it into such clear cut descriptions.

"Smart kid... The role he was describing, in a match it would be very risky and irregular..."

*pfft*

"...I swear, it's like he's made for Ravenville and my kind of team." The Head coach smirked and quickly input the drive given by Irvine into his computer rather impatiently.