26 - Skill Characteristic

[Wushia High School 1-0 Itou High School.]

Cheers echoed through the stands as Lucas and his teammates hugged each other in celebration of Nishida's goal.

On the other side of the field, however, Ishikuno stood watching the scene with an unusual expression on his face. His mischievous smile had not disappeared; in fact, it seemed to have grown more intense.

When Lucas' eyes met Ishikuno's, he noticed something different. It wasn't just the usual competitiveness of a soccer player. There was a brightness, an intensity you don't see every day. Ishikuno wasn't discouraged by the goal; he was excited, almost as if this was the opportunity he had been waiting for to show off his soccer skills, almost as if he was more excited to face us with the score against us than before.

Hidefumi, who was closest to Ishikuno, felt a chill run down his spine. It was a strange feeling, a mixture of admiration and fear.

'No one should look so excited after scoring a goal.' Hidefumi thought, frowning. He knew that Ishikuno was talented, but there was something else, something almost monstrous in the way he thought.

When the game started again, Ishikuno's position changed immediately. He moved between defense, midfield, and offense, as if floating on the field, creating offensive opportunities. Every time he touched the ball, he seemed to be one step ahead of the Wushia defenders.

Hidefumi tried to remain confident, but it was hard not to be overwhelmed by Ishikuno's imposing presence.

"Shit, stop him!" shouted Lucas, trying to run after Ishikuno after a dribble that left him on the ground.

Ishikuno advanced down the left flank, masterfully dribbling past the Wushia players. He made a quick pass to one of his teammates, who quickly returned the ball after Ishikuno passed behind Kenji.

Ishikuno was getting dangerously close to the area, and Lucas knew he had to act quickly. He stood up and ran toward Ishikuno, determined to stop him even if it meant fouling him, but the Itou High School prodigy was already far away.

With an agile movement, Ishikuno executed a perfect spin as Hidefumi tried to stop him, dribbling past him. He then cut in from the left, pulling the ball close to his body to shake off a tackle from Kuwabara and found himself face-to-face with the Wushia School goalkeeper.

Ishikuno smiled, a smile that Lucas began to understand meant trouble. He kicked the ball, aiming for what the South Americans called the 'drawer'.

Toshinori, Wushia's goalkeeper, stretched as far as he could, but the ball flew past him and into the goal with a deafening noise.

The stadium exploded again, this time even louder. Ishikuno raised his arms and ran to hug his teammates.

At that moment, Lucas felt as if Ishikuno had put the entire weight of the stadium on his back.

The game had been tied, and despite everything, it didn't mean that Wushia High School had lost. However, the crowd was mostly in favor of Itou High School.

"Come on, guys! We're still in the game!" shouted Tsukada, clapping his hands and trying to pump up his team. "We need to keep attacking from the wings. It's our best chance! They're all good players, but we already knew that, didn't we?"

Kuwabara vigorously agreed. "That's it! Let's show them why we train so hard."

For his part, Nishida was already in the middle of the field, waiting for the Itou High School players to return so that the game could be restarted. Nishidahad an irritated look on his face and probably a bruised ego. He was used to being the star of every game, the top scorer, so his irritation was more about ambition than anything else.

Lucas went up to him with the intention of asking him to repeat the play from earlier in the game, when Nishida had shredded their defense from the start. But Nishida spoke to him first.

"Lucas, you need to play better." He wasn't looking at Lucas, but at the Itou High School boys, who were returning to their seats at the referee's command. "Our team needs everyone to think about playing soccer."

From the start of the game, Lucas' attention was almost exclusively on Ishikuno, as if he had become a shadow of the Itou High School prodigy. This was not only a tactical problem but also a lack of confidence. Lucas had proven himself to be a necessary player for his team, no wonder he had become a starter, but this second match of his was far from the quality he had shown in the first.

Lucas took a deep breath and nodded, even though Nishida wasn't looking at him.

The referee blew his whistle, signaling that the match could resume. With a grim expression on his face, Nishida kicked the ball to Kenji, who quickly passed it to Tsukada, and the game was back on.

Wushia High School needed to regain their rhythm, and Lucas knew that this depended not only on good strategy, but also on good execution.

At midfield, Lucas' eyes scanned the field, looking for an opening. He looked at Ishikuno, who was also scanning the field.

'So. that's how he does it, he knows where he's going even as he's acting. Up close it looks like pure improvisation, but from a distance you can see he's thinking.'

Lucas could copy one skill per day with <Replicating Genius>, but the use of this skill was limited by three characteristics.

The first and second limitations were that this skill only worked once a day and in real life, so he couldn't try to copy a skill he had seen on video. The third was something Lucas didn't fully understand, but so far he hadn't been able to copy two skills from one person.

In conclusion, as much as Lucas wanted to copy Nishida's finishing skill so that he could finish as well as the top scorer at Wushia High School, Lucas couldn't because he had already copied his thrust.

'Today, the obvious choice to be my target is Shinto Ishikuno. The only problem is, just like when I copied Nishida, I'm not sure which skill to copy. It seems to be a spur of the moment thing. In other words, I have to let him demonstrate the skill I want to copy in order to activate the <Replicating Genius> at that moment.' Lucas analyzed.

[Your conclusion is correct. The <Replicating Genius> skill copies the skill that the target is currently using. For example, when you copied Tsuyoshi Nishida, he was jumping, so you copied the skill <Stellar Impulse>].

'Yes, but this skill characteristic doesn't make it as easy as it sounds, especially when the targets are players who have such a large arsenal of skills like Ishikuno. If I try to copy him, I'm sure I won't be copying a general dribbling skill, but a specific one.'

[If you want to learn to dribble like Ishikuno, your only chance is to become his teammate and copy his skills on a daily basis, because it's impossible for you to copy his entire arsenal of dribbling skills in one go].

'This complicates things, but it gives me an idea…'