Preparation

Now he was training with the coordination ladder, going through various types of drills just to enhance his agility ever so slightly. This was part of the plan that had been designed for him.

Striker. That was always his position. He was good at this. Being a defender wasn't something, he could do. He had tried once and hadn't found it very pleasing.

With this feeling of relief, he increased his pace. His muscles were being pushed beyond their capacity. They were on fire, the burning sensation spreading through each fiber of his muscles.

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[Practice]

Coordination ladder drills (6 drills/second)

Duration: [20] minutes.

Score accuracy (3 goals/minute)

Duration: [10] minutes.

Sprinting (50 metres/5 seconds)

Duration: [15] minutes.

[Perception training]

Review the skills of your teammates for better strategic knowledge.

Duration: [20] minutes.

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Without much thoughts he had simply followed this plan. It was easier this way and exactly what he needed. He wanted to be warmed up for the matches that would follow.

Nevan glanced back at the display. Just as promised by the system, there was a task for his perception. Review the skills? He would do that after finishing his other tasks.

It had probably been barely two days since he came here. He was starting to lose track of time. There was no window or any other source of sunlight. Not an opening which made it easier to determine whether it was day or night.

It was almost like a prison. Nevan knew, there was no way out now. He wanted to be back in the Ayers family and above that, and it even surprised him, he wanted to become a professional at this. Therefore, losing wasn't an option. If he messed up here, he won't be contracted. Never. That were Mr. Tachibana's words.

Nevan found himself getting a bit more confident in his abilities, the more he followed this routine. By the end, he had sat down at the edge to take a look at the skills of his teammates. He would not think that some of them had no abilities. They were just unpolished. He hadn't played alongside them or against them to determine that.

An expression of deep thinking appeared on his face as he looked at the display. He needed to see them play first before he could determine who could be useful in which moment.

His fingers stroked his chin, feeling the tiny stumbles of his beard. Normally, he would keep his face clean as he didn't look very good with a beard but he had been neglecting himself lately. After this match, maybe.

His eyes darted towards the entrance of this hall when he heard footsteps.

"Ah. Here you are." The familiar voice sounded. It was Noé who was walking towards him now.

Nevan moved to get on his feet, the weight of his body feeling slightly weird now. "Am I late?"

A chuckle sounded. "Nah. Let's just go. We wanted to gather before it was time, you know. Before someone is missing and we can't find them."

He let out a sigh while following Noé. "This is inconvenient. Are we some kind of ancient?" He complained. "They could provide us with some kind of navigation device."

"Right. This takes up so much of our time." Noé admitted. Ever since Nevan had come here, he had thought that this was too much of a time consumption.

They walked next to each other down the hallway. It almost felt like the air in the whole facility, or at least in the facility of their group was filled with a hint of nervosity and anticipation. The first selection was starting. Who knew, what the criteria were?

"I have to make it." Noé spoke, indirectly bringing Nevan's thoughts into this world.

"Hm?" His eyes followed the tanned person next to him. Noé's eyes showed determination.

"You can't even comprehend the pressure I am facing." Oh, he could. Better than anyone might think. "I promised Dad that I would become a soccer player just like him. While completely overestimating my skills."

"So now you are starting to doubt yourself?" These words left his mouth before he could contemplate on them. He should know better. Noé wasn't like Keisuke or Dax to him.

Noé seemed to be taken aback. He chuckled slightly as if trying to cover his surprise. "I guess, you are right. We are the team with the lowest ranks. Team 10 is the lowest in this group. And this group is lowest in the whole facility. Who can blame me?"

They took a sharp turn to the left. They were almost there. "This troubles me too." There was no point in lying. "But we can do this. It seems like Mr. Tachibana is trying to clear up the mess here. It is also possible that we were not ranked by our skills until now－"

"－as we are the newest arrivals and could be ranked by that. This is called the first selection for a reason." Noé finished Nevan's sentence.

He grinned. "And those in the higher groups and teams have probably been longer on this project. The selection for the World Cup does have some time left so he is just taking his time?"

"Agreed."

They entered the hall where Team 10 was already waiting. They were the last ones to join them. It seemed like their teammates were already discussing some things.

Hadn't they discussed before? Though, it had seemed so lacking, even to Nevan. His eyes fell on the pink-haired Shouji who seemed to just listen into the conversation with an uninterested expression.

Akimitsu paused in what he was saying as soon as he saw Nevan and Noé walk in.

"Here are our #1 and #2." He spoke. From anyone else, it would have sounded mocking but Akimitsu showed no such intentions.

Everyone turned their attention to them but none of them made any sound. They were tense. From the way they held themselves as well as their serious facial expression it was easy to tell. At least for him.

"Are you guys ready?" Noé asked while approaching them. Of course, Nevan followed. 

A nervous chuckle. Kazuo. Nevan's eyes flickered towards the display. Kazuo Hiromi, rank 396. And currently the lowest rank in this facility. "I mean, do we seem ready?"

Nevan wasn't one to comfort when it was not asked of him but he did speak up now. Only if his team players were in their best shape, it would be beneficial for him. Only then, he would be able to shine through it all. This was the reason why he decided to speak up. "You trained, didn't you?"

Kento's shiny face appeared in his view. The same cheerful smile plastered at his face as he confirmed. "For the past hours, yeah."

"Then all we can do is to see how we do. We did our best for now. Since we have no experience with each other, there is no way, we will succeed in the first try."

Akimitsu continued his sentence. "Nevan's right. We are the lowest-ranked but this doesn't determine the outcome of each game we play. We will grow. If not fast, then steadily. All we can do is to play side by side and get along with each other."

The silence continued. No one dared to speak as they were intensely thinking about the words that had just been said. Shoei grumbled something but that was it. Even though none of them could make sense of his words, they didn't ask what he had meant to say.

The monitor display which hovered at the end of the hall, like in every other room lit up. It was the mastermind, Mr. Tachibana who could be seen. His expression seemed as cold and aloof as always. "Seems like all of you are ready." A pause, as if he was inspecting something closely. His eyes narrowed. "Or not. We will see."

Nevan's eyes wandered to Noé and then to Akimitsu without him even thinking of much. He got a smile from the one who stood behind Aki. Ichiro was rather awkward, wasn't he? Not that Nevan was any better in his situation.

"The time has come, so ready or not, you have to play and show what you have in store. This will determine whether you get to stay in Golden Hive or not. In a few moments, you will be told to go to the halls where you will be playing. I wish you good luck and as much fun as you can have in a situation like this."

He was not one to play around with the words, was he? Nevan turned to look at the others again. His eyes caught the list on one of the displays fixed into the walls. He looked at his team mates. "Let's go, shall we?"

Team 10 against Team 9 in Hall 4. That was the information he retrieved from the list. They were in Hall 10. Each team had a Hall where they could train but it seemed like the teams were randomly distributed around the facility of their group.

"Yeah, no need to wait any longer. This is a long way as Team 4 and their hall is on the other side of the cafeteria." Noé informed as he started to walk.

Nothing really happened on the way there. The team was silent as if going after their own thoughts. They only came across a few other teams who had to wander towards their side of the facility.

They walked past such a team. Someone caught Nevan's attention. A man. This wasn't a surprise, since he doubted there was any other woman in this facility than Mr. Tachibana's secretary. But it was the same one from the other time. The one who reminded him of a snake.

Who was he? And in which team? He didn't even look back at Nevan as if he did not care about his surroundings.