Divine Celebrity 31 (Patreon)

Unlike the endurance test, the following strength test held no surprise. I wasn’t horrible and managed to put some decent numbers, but ultimately, they were suboptimal even by the backup standards of Sunset college. 

“After that exhausting workout, do you mind giving a little boost to my scores, coach?” I said with a playful wink, tapping into the assistance of Seduction Trait, which helped me to deliver it much smoother than I could have managed it otherwise. Without the assistance, it would have come across as too abrupt, destroying the goodwill I was able to generate with obvious flirting. 

The Seduction Trait allowed me to deliver it playfully, with just an undertone of flirting, too light to be mentioned. 

“We’ll see,” she murmured, a slight dusting on her cheeks as the unexpected delivery worked wonders. Though, the punishment wasn’t too far away. “Give me another forty reps first.”  

“As you wish, coach,” I said, once again returning to my calm tone, letting her think that she had imagined my flirting. I bit my lips as I benched the weighted bar, loaded to one hundred and eighty pounds. It wasn’t high enough for a college football player, but considering I was pushing that after an exhausting training, it was still impressive.

Just the thing I needed to finish my performance-driven charm offensive to my conditioning coach. 

Unfortunately, even with supernatural endurance, I barely finished the assigned forty. “No, t-that’s all I can manage,” I gasped as I carefully placed the bar back in place, feeling my stamina drained even with the combination of Recovery and Stamina. After that many repeats, no bar was light, no matter how little it weighed. 

I left the bench. “I didn’t allow you to stop,” she said, trying to look angry, but still smiled. I just shrugged even as I tried to breathe. I pushed myself too hard, and a rest was a must. 

“Too bad, coach, that’s my limit,” I said with a shrug, even as I leaned against the wall. “That's literally all I can manage at the moment. Any more, and I faint. Feel free to kick me out of the team if you feel my endurance is not enough.” 

The acceptance of her power worked well to soften her attitude even more. “I’ll let it slide for today, since it’s your first day. But from tomorrow, I want complete obedience to my program,” she said even as she passed a bottle to me, and I took a deep sip, quenching my burning thirst. 

“As long as you give me a program that I can survive, I promise.” 

“You don’t have the luxury of bargaining,” she said even as her pen danced over the paper, recording the details of my last attempt. “Get some fluid. And you can go for an ice bath after we finish discussing your program.” 

“Yes, coach,” I said as I took another small sip, trying to suppress my wince. There were good things and bad things about competitive sport, and submersing myself in an icy tube while exhausted was hardly a pleasant sensation. 

While I regulated my breath, she was writing furiously, then she passed the list to me. “What do you think? Can you handle it?” 

As I checked the list, my eyes widened. It was an understatement to say that the training schedule was hard. Hellish was a better description, especially considering I wasn’t a full-time football player but a chess player as well. Even with the assistance of the Traits, it wasn’t exactly trivial to prepare for the tournaments. 

Maybe it wasn’t just about her gender that she had free time to take over a new player’s schedule. If it was her usual habits, I could easily imagine players doing their best to switch to a different coordinator. 

“This program has to be illegal,” I said between sips, not bothering to hide my smirk. “It can kill a weaker man.”

“A man would have no problem,” she said. “A boy, on the other hand…” 

Smart, I thought, unable to suppress my smirk even as I forced a scandalized expression to my face. The blush that followed suggested that she realized just how easily that could be construed as flirting as well. I didn’t comment, letting it slide without additional comment. 

“Don’t worry, coach. I can do it,” I said, letting it slide. 

“Good,” she said, nodding in approval as she passed the program to me. 

Of course, I didn’t have the luxury of rejecting it in the first place without making a lot of noise, not with my shaky position in the team in the first place. My physical abilities were barely up to par, I had already angered the Head Coach and all of the offense, and annoying my trainer on top of it was hardly a convenient strategy. 

Though, as I examined the program more attentively, I saw it as workable. Horribly heavy, but still workable. 

It wasn’t hard to guess her aim. She was clearly trying to lean on my recovery abilities and stamina to maximize my development as much as possible. “What’s the end goal of this challenging program?” 

And it was challenging, one that would strain me completely even with the Traits supporting me. 

“If your body responds well enough, I think we can get you to playing shape before the season ends,” she suggested. 

“Really?” I said, surprised. 

“Yes, that depends on your performance in actual training of course, especially your memorization abilities. There’s a limit to how much your physical abilities can help you, especially with Coach Bill. Someone else might allow you to play just because you’re fast and strong enough, but he’s an old-school coach. No one that doesn’t memorize the playbook could take a step on the court.” 

“No worries about that aspect,” I said confidently. Her smile was dismissive, probably assuming it was another trick I pulled to look better in front of her. 

She was wrong, of course.  If there was one thing I wasn’t afraid of even before the Heroic Traits, it was the study aspects of the game, and the tactical tricks made it only better. 

“You’re lucky I’m good enough not to quit after your torture,” I teased her as I tried to catch my breath. “Do you push every player like that?” 

“No, but I saw that you’re not the type to quit just because I was testing your limits. You’re not one of the soft, annoying rich kids.” 

She was right, of course, but I doubted she truly meant what she was saying. It was just a complement to galvanize my pride.  

I let it slide, and not just because of her authority over me. With the occasional strands of hair stuck on her face, and a slight sheen of sweat glistening on her face, she was even more beautiful after joining me in a few exercises. And in my book, a beautiful woman always had more leeway. 

And she was a perfect mixture of sexy and beautiful, enough to flare my hormones. Especially since it had been a while since I got laid — the amazing strain I had during the party back at the Den, cut short due to the annoying little trick Megan had pulled, hardly helped. 

“Really?” I asked, fishing for compliments, curious how much she would push. 

But I only received a sharp gaze, suggesting that I had pushed her a touch too much. She was clearly at the limits of her tolerance, warning me not to push too much. 

Pity, I thought. There would have been some fun possibilities if she had been more desperate to convince me. Maybe something that was really interesting. I changed the subject. “What about the nutrition plan? I don’t think I can survive by the things I can cook myself.” 

Her answer was another list. “This is your food plan. And you don’t have to cook yourself. The school has a delivery program. Each set is delivered in the morning, cooked and packaged. You just need to microwave them to heat up. Six meals, as well as the supplements you have to take.” 

“Excellent,” I said. Not paying for my meals would help my budget immensely. 

“Let’s go over the exercises,” she said, before giving a detailed run of every single exercise, far more detailed than necessary, though it was helpful. And I had a feeling that it wasn’t just about her love for the job. 

My success would reflect well on her performance. 

Sports were complicated, but most people mistakenly assumed that team was a monolithic unit, competing with other teams, while the remaining assumed that it might extend to players competing for a starting spot, but with a limited degree. 

However, it affected the coaching staff as well, maybe even more intensely. At least, for us players, the performance was easier to measure, running faster, throwing more accurately, or, especially in defense, hitting harder. 

Coaching was always more nebulous to assess, tactics and player development were harder to measure, too dependent on the conditions and players. And I guessed being a woman in a male-dominated sport, especially with a body that wouldn’t be amiss as a cheerleader, made it even harder to sell her success. 

My success could easily be a promotion case for her success. 

Of course, that wasn’t always good news for the target athlete. An excessively heavy training program helped me to be ready faster, it also significantly increased the risk of a dangerous injury, especially during the season.

There was a reason most players bulked up in the off-season.  

So much that, if it wasn’t for the supernatural benefit of the Traits, I would have rejected it and forced her to give me a lighter program. “Don’t worry coach, I can handle it,” I said. 

“I hope you can, I don’t appreciate laziness,” she said, not bothering to hide her threat. 

“As you wish, coach,” I said. She left, and I went to the locker room, throwing myself into the ice bath, which was as close to torture as one could reach after a long exercise. 

“I didn’t miss this part,” I murmured as I squeezed my teeth, trying to suppress the torture I was feeling.