40 The New Regulars
For the student athletes of a Tier-1 school, it was inevitable that some of the mandatory class subjects they had would have a clashing schedule against their daily practice time.
Fortunately enough, in such cases, the students were allowed to apply for a long-term leave in those few subjects.
If one were so inclined, they could even apply for supplementary lessons for the class when the dates of the finals were close at hand.
Either way, after a bit of sorting out, all the students needed to do for the rest of the semester was just to hand-in their homeworks punctually.
Of course, this long-term leave privilege would only work for classes that actually intruded on their regular practice time.
.
After Irvine had settled his applications on said leave for his relevant clashing subjects, he quickly went on his way towards the Arena team's training field right after.
It was already the afternoon of the first day when Irvine had finally finished all the necessary procedures.
He was walking across the usual route he always took to go to the fields when he suddenly noticed a familiar presence waving his hand at him in the distance.
There were two different figures with one person waving his hand and the other unmovingly folding his arms.
'That's... Wallace and Clayton?'
Irvine waved back after identifying the two people and noticing their greetings towards him.
The three of them naturally gathered up with each other and started walking toward the same direction afterwards.
"Is your dorm building close to here?" Irvine asked the question to Greg who was walking together with him.
"No, we're going straight from our classroom."
"Oh... You guys go to class?"
"What's with that look you ill-mannered junior. Do you think we just laze around all day when there's no practice?" Greg squinted his eyes at Irvine with veins popping out his forehead.
"...Yes, actually."
From what Irvine could recall, the only reason that athlete students took Liberal Arts was because the classes and teachers were lax enough to skip.
"You're not wrong." Derrick interjected from the front,
"But because of high number of athletes in our major, some of the teachers already caught on to our practice schedules and are holding attendance in class. We just had no other choice really."
"Ah, now that makes sense." Irvine nodded.
"Oy!"
.
.
With their journey filled with small talks like that, it didn't take long before the three to close in on the perimeter of the training fields.
In front of them, a relatively big announcement board was visible in the distance with a flock of silhouettes surrounding it.
"The new rosters..."
"...Nervous?" Derrick asked Irvine with a grimace.
"A little, how many freshmen and sophomores usually made it into the 1st string?"
"Last year, including Clint Silver and the other current regulars, 4 sophomores got in. But if you're asking about freshmen..." His words trailed off a little.
"Probably almost never. In the first place, why would school like Ravenville put in non-licensed players as regulars."
"I see."
Of course, Irvine himself knew that this kind of reasoning didn't apply to him who already had his license and Gene Mod for months.
"Good god you two really worry too much!" Greg become annoyed at the tension building-up around him.
"All of us are the high-performing players during the training camp in the last 2 weeks! How can we not get in?"
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. But in the first place, there are other 3rd years 2nd string who're also high-performing players last week too you know?"
'That's true.' Irvine agreed with Derrick's statement in his mind.
During last week's marathon matches and performance reviews, even Derrick and Greg couldn't be said to be the absolute best.
At most they were on par with the other 3rd year 2nd strings but had a slight edge going for them due to the one aspect of skills that they're great at.
'Like Derrick Wallace's speed and leg power...' He murmured.
In the case of himself, although physique-wise Irvine was barely above average amongst the others. His combat performance had highly outstripped most of them.
Irvine had managed to display almost a veteran level of combat ability and proficiency in each of his matches.
Right now, all that's left is up to the higher-ups and seniors' attitudes regarding his self-appointed position as a Solver.
In the end, although he could feel that he was being observed quite closely, none of the team's staffs had shown their standings regarding his playing style in front of him.
'If they could see the merits in my playstyle and position, there shouldn't be any problem in me getting in.' Irvine thought.
He had done all that he could up to this point.
Including giving a small presentation and the recordings of his gym match to the Head Coach on the first day of training.
.
.
Irvine, Derrick, and Greg calmly walked forward approaching the crowd in front.
As they got closer, they could see that the announcement board had 3 different columns on it.
The words [1st string Roster], [2nd string Roster], and [3rd string Roster] were all written neat and center on the title section of each column.
*inhale*
A sharp inhaling of air resounded through the surrounding from multiple directions.
Irvine could see that on the list, each player's name was followed by his/her year and position.
Right now, the column with the smallest amount of people was the 3rd string Roster consisting purely of new freshman-year recruits.
It was natural because the team had yet to welcome any walk-in players for this semester.
Even though it had seemed a bit lackluster, all those 1st years on the 3rd string were all students with great achievements and bright futures, having already gotten a scholarship invitation from Ravenville right after high school.
Of course, in the end they were still a bit lacking compared to the few out of a dozen new recruits who had been directly promoted to the bottom list of 2nd string after training camp.
[...]
[Brock Langley ::: 1st year ::: Fielder]
[Iona Hadley ::: 1st year ::: Guard]
[XXX ::: 1st year...]
[...]
'Ah those names... They're also future pro players like Wallace and Clayton.'
Irvine could remember a few familiar names out of the new 1st years on the 2nd string Roster.
Directly ascending to 2nd string in a Tier-1 school like this meant that you had proven yourselves as some of the top players in your generation. The elites.
Such was the case with Derrick and Greg.
However,
Even within the elites, there were still another sky that could be viewed from below.
As Irvine's eyes slowly moved away from the 2nd string Roster, he eventually arrived at the top of the 1st string.
[1st string Roster:]
[Renee Morgan ::: 4th year (Captain) ::: Solver]
[Baron ::: 4th year (Vice-captain) ::: Guard]
[Clint Silver ::: 3rd year ::: Ranger]
[Dan Young ::: 3rd year ::: Fielder]
[Dennis Young ::: 3rd year ::: Fielder]
[XXX ::: 4th year...]
[...]
Just the top few names had already been filled with people that were some of the closest players to becoming pros.
'Vice-captain Baron, future Second Guard for the Beta Stronghold. Clint Silver, future Omega Clockworks' Ranger. Dan Young...' The list went on and on in Irvine's mind.
As he shifted his eyesight further down, more familiar names began to spring up one after the other
[...]
[Derrick Wallace ::: 2nd year ::: Fielder]
[Gregory Clayton ::: 2nd year ::: Guard]
[...]
*PHEW*
As if reading his name at the same time as Irvine, a huge sigh of relief echoed from behind him.
*SLAP*
Once again, a strong 'pat-on-the-back' found its way to Derrick's spine.
"Haha! See that!" Greg appeared to be showing his usual playful smile, but the drop of sweat on his chin betrayed his self-assured confidence.
'They made it... Well, obviously.'
Irvine hadn't the time to congratulate nor react to his two friends as his eyes went further down the list.
[...]
[Medea Dormer ::: 1st year ::: Ranger]
[Irvine Lang ::: 1st year ::: Solver]
'!'
'Alright!' Irvine subconsciously tightened his fist on the names written below!
'I got in as a Solver!'
"WAH!"
As he was feeling ecstatic inside, there was suddenly someone exclaiming with an even bigger reaction to his side.
"Oh, hi."
At some point in time, it seemed that Medea had already stood beside him looking at the same list.
Currently, the genius Ranger was covering her mouth with both hands after noticing the loud shout that she'd let out.
"...We got in." Irvine smiled at her with a fist stretched out.
"...Yeah!" Medea returned the hanging fist with her own, bumping them against each other. It was one of those rare moments where she showed a genuinely happy smile on her face.
"Great work guys, take good care of me too this season."
A few paces away from them, Derrick who had just finished his celebratory ritual with Greg also congratulated the 2 Starseeds beside him with a smile after seeing their names on the list.
"Let's work hard this coming year Wallace." Irvine replied to him with the same smile.
*phew*
After exhaling all his nervousness together under one breath, Irvine started looking more curiously at the whole line up and took note of the composition in his mind.
'So, in total there are:
2 Rangers which were Medea and Clint Silver respectively,
5 Fielders including Derrick and Dan Young,
5 Guards including Greg Clayton and Baron,
...And 3 Solvers.'
Irvine looked at one of the lines on the list.
.
[Naomi Fletcher ::: 2nd year ::: Solver]
The name was posted alongside 14 other names on the 1st string Roster.
Irvine remembered her to be the timid girl that had gone together with him to the Arena Facility during the first day's unplanned outings.
'She was very fast during tower solves, though a bit on the clumsy side at dodging... So she got in, huh.'
Though he hadn't paid too much attention towards her, he vaguely remembered that the girl had had some sort of specific solving technique that he couldn't really identify.
'Either way, for her to get picked alongside Wallace and Clayton of the same generation, she should have something special to offer.'
And with that, everything regarding the placement training camp was finally concluded.
In the end, the 1st string consisted of:
2 Freshmen, 3 Sophomores, 5 juniors, and 5 seniors.
Among them, all the 1st and 2nd year students were newly promoted, alongside two other 3rd year students who're also from the 2nd string.
=======================
T/N: So pretty much like this.
-3 Solvers : Irvine, Renee, Naomi
-2 Rangers : Clint, Medea
-5 Fielders : Derrick, Dan, Dennis, 3rd year(1), 4th year(1)
-5 Guards : Greg, Baron, 3rd year(1), 4th year(2)
*all 4th years were old regulars.
=======================
Aside from the 7 newly promoted 1st strings, the rest of the flock of people could be seen sighing rather dejectedly.
The 3rd year students from the 2nd string had gotten even more of a shock than others looking at the list posted before them.
Some started walking away in despair, while others could be seen hurling insults under their breaths.
It was not known whether the insults were directed towards others or themselves.
Most of the players in Ravenville were of high standards that could easily become regulars even in other less known Tier-1 schools.
But with high standards, followed high competitions.
And the coaches and staffs of Ravenville Illusions wouldn't compromise themselves in creating the best hand that they could from the batch.
.
.
On the training field.
Before all the players could even settle their feelings regarding the new Rosters, a group of coaches had already made their way to the side of the fields where the announcement were posted.
*clears throat*
"ATTENTION!" Assistant Head Coach Thompson shouted.
The crowd immediately began to quieten down afterwards.
"..."
"I assume you've all seen the lists?" He calmly asked.
A few people could be seen nodding their heads but no one answered.
"...Good. New recruits!"
Thompson's eyes swiped over a few fresh faces that he recognized,
"Those in the 3rd string," He continued,
"All of you will be leading the new walk-in players alongside one of the coaches so straighten yourselves up!"
"There'll be monthly evaluations for you guys where you can either get promoted to the 2nd string, or stay there until you lose your scholarships by the end of the semester."
"I hope you'll try your best for this, otherwise it would be very shameful if somehow one of the walk-ins fly past you and got there first..." Thompson grinned at the end.
"As for the ones already in the 2nd string now, great job! You guys have reached the best possible outcome for your first year here. Learn well in the Uncrowned competitions ahead until you got your license."
.
.
Coach Thompson continued to sternly give out his thought next to the board and the players.
"Now,"
"For the older students still in the 2nd string..."
Once again, coach Thompson's eyes glanced past the crowd.
Several despairing and dejected faces of some 3rd year students flashed by his sight immediately.
"Anytime your value as a player rise past any of the current 1st strings, I'll pull you right up there myself."
He didn't bother saying too much for them. Those words should already be encouragement enough if they were to have any chances in making it as regulars.
"..."
"And finally, the new 1st string. All 7 of you."
*stare*
No matter if it was Irvine, Derrick, or any of the other newly promoted, all of them perked up their ears for what's to come next from Thompson's words.
"Come with me. We're meeting with the older regulars and Head Coach."
After saying that, Thompson simply turned back and left the rest of the people from the coaching team to do their stuff for the new 2nd and 3rd strings.
Derrick, Greg, Irvine, and Medea who're all standing in close proximity with each other looked at one another in the eyes for a while before following Thompson towards the Arena Facility.
