Divine Celebrity 56 (Patreon)

Even in victory, returning to the bench wasn’t a pleasant feeling after three attempts were not pleasant, stopping just as our blood started to boil. 

Yet, with the incredible flood of Intent I was receiving, I couldn’t say that I was too unhappy. Especially the last move, sending the opposing running back away, tumbling. I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation of channeling the intent. 

Though, not as much as the writing that appeared in front of me as I enjoyed the incredible flood.

[Strength III]

[Leadership II]

[Taunt III]

The biggest change was the Strength. I could feel my muscles twitching with the sudden influx of new power. I had no doubt that I could lift at least eighty pounds more at the bench, which would elevate me from being a decent college player to an actual draft candidate for the professional league. 

Pity I couldn’t just display that level of improvement during the training measurements without making people suspicious. 

Luckily, the game gave us much more leeway to tap into my limits. 

Then, Coach Bill arrived next to me. There were no words of encouragement, not even a slight smile. Instead, he just pushed a small pile of papers in front of me, filled with complicated new lines. 

I grabbed a pen and started studying them before he could even turn back and leave.

After all, just because I had received a few more Traits didn’t mean I was hungry for more. 

During the next possession, our offense managed to stay on the field for almost six minutes, which, shockingly, ended up in a long field goal, giving us the lead. 

Three points were hardly the greatest lead a team could enjoy, but it was certainly beat being behind. 

Unfortunately, during the next possession, our opponent-adjusted their play aggressively. They preferred to run aggressively, and moreover, they did their best to play the opposite side of where I chose to play, attacking from the sides. 

Apparently, their coach caught the intimidating effect I had on their quarterback. 

To their misfortune, it would have worked before I had received the Leadership Trait, one that allowed me to read and channel the mood of the team, allowing me to deploy the benefits of my strategic acumen even more effectively. 

This time, their attack lasted for eleven plays rather than three, but it ultimately ended up the same way, forcing them to punt helplessly. 

Yet, this time, as I pulled back from the field once more, I could hear the people chanting a familiar name. 

Assassin! 

“Hey, you’re already famous,” Thad said as he slapped my back while we sat down. Carter nodded toward me with a soft smile as well. 

Though, I had a feeling he would have been much more unhappy with the adoration I was receiving if it didn’t give him another two tackles for loss, and another blitz that would have given him his second sack if the quarterback flinging away the ball fearfully. 

I sat down once more, once more doing my best to channel the intent to the system before triggering it, more than happy with the results.  

[Agility III]

[Speed II]

[Perception II]

[Intimidation V]

All the efforts I put into the game were certainly not a waste, improving me greatly even when my guide devoured a significant portion aggressively. And even for that, I could see that it was not without its value, as for the first time, I could see visible signs of recovery, the glow around her connection getting stronger. 

We continued watching the game, waiting to go to the field again, hoping that our offense could at least give another field goal. Unfortunately, our offense stepped on the field much more aggressively, throwing long, contested passes confidently, which racked a lot of yards, giving the receivers a lot of playing statistics. 

They surprised me by giving a touchdown instead. Too bad it came from an interception, one that had been converted to an unfortunate pick-six, which was followed by a successful extra point attempt, putting us four points behind. 

I couldn’t help but echo the grunts of our team. All of our efforts had been just ruined by their pointlessly aggressive play of our offense. 

And I couldn’t even blame the quarterback for that, because the scheme itself was horrible in the first place. My gaze turned to Coach Spencer, who was shouting at the offense like the tactics he had developed had nothing to do with the spectacular failure. 

The offensive players didn’t seem to mind, just nodding and gesturing casually like that was just a normal situation they were facing. 

I couldn’t blame them, as they knew Coach Spencer would forget it soon after.  

The worst thing about pick-six from my perspective, was that it meant that it was the turn of our offense to play again.

Stealing precious time I needed to play. 

Even worse, Coach Spencer seemed to show his ineptness as a coach once more, this time by completely reversing his strategy, and attacking repeatedly through the run game — one that wasted much more time compared to the passing game. 

There were too reasons for that. One, the run game, on average, had much fewer gains compared to the passing game, averaging between three to five yards depending on the game. On the contrary, a successful pass — especially aggressive ones our team liked to play — could easily average over ten. 

Two, after an unsuccessful pass, the game clock stopped, but after a tackle, the clock continued to run, no matter how meager the gain. 

Our offense attacked, again and again, only to give us another three-point. And, that came at the cost of not only finishing all the remaining time in the first quarter, but half of the second quarter as well. 

Wasting the great opportunities I could use to gain even more Intent. 

I looked at Coach Spencer at the rest of the offensive team, unable to contain my anger. Of course, I wasn’t the only defensive player that was looking at them angrily, as every defensive player was fuming red without an exception. 

Though, most of my teammates were angrier about pick-six, while my hatred was targeting their sudden change of strategy. 

Before shifting to that, they were just annoyances. But, by doing their best to waste time, they were doing their best to elevate themselves to the enemy. 

Luckily, not all was bad. 

As I walked onto the field, I could hear the people chanting my nickname, Assassin, again and again, their focus coming with a crazed invasion of Intent. 

I touched the system again, though, and the content of my benefits surprised me that time. 

[Taunt V]

[Speed III]

[Concealment II]

In particular, the last one, which was completely unrelated to the others. Maybe it was just an impression due to my nickname, I realized. Assassins were famous for their ability to hide, after all, and with the number of people chanting that, clearly pushed toward it. 

Yet, as we lined up against the enemies, I started shouting and gesturing to the team, far more excessively than necessary, bringing every player to a different spot aggressively, making the opposing player look at me in confusion. 

If it wasn’t for my Leadership Trait helping me to time those orders perfectly, I had no doubt that my teammates would share that confusion. Yet, yet with the assistance of that trait, I was able to arrange the team without accidentally shattering them. 

Yet, confusing the opposing quarterback was just a bonus. I was playing in the stands. It was the reason I delivered by adjustments with exaggerated gestures, just to make sure the fans knew that I was the leader. 

Since I was getting limited playing time, I wanted to squeeze every little benefit I could. 

They snapped the ball, but before the quarterback could even process our strategy, a complicated blitz started. The normal strategies required the assault of four linemen, and every extra addition meant the defenses would weaken further. 

Yet, I organized an attack with seven defenders, bringing three extra attackers, weakening the integrity of the defense. 

Which might have created a disaster if my Intimidation didn’t work wonders to startle the quarterback. I attacked from the center, my enhanced presence enough to steal his attention for a moment as he took a fearful step back. 

And it was a precious second, one that the quarterback needed to search through his viable receivers to find an easy way to get rid of the ball. But, he was slower, which meant it gave enough time for Thad to burst through the line like a runaway truck. 

He might be an entertaining friend outside the field, but on the field, Thad was a true monster, the kind that was only stopped because from the beginning of the game, he had been being defended by two players. 

Yet, Blitz meant that the support suddenly had his own surprise assignment, leaving Thad alone with a left tackle. 

It was unfair competition. Thad didn’t even slow down before bursting forward. 

To his credit, Quarterback noticed the imminent disaster, and drifted to the right to avoid him. Too bad it made him miss Carter, who slipped around the line and was approaching from the other end. 

I winced as the quarterback was squeezed between Carter and Thad, being hit simultaneously. I noticed flags flying, along with the calls of roughing the passer, which meant that the hit was not a valid one, instead it cost us fifteen yards in penalties. 

Yet, seeing the fearful figure of the quarterback, struggling to stand up as he glanced toward us like as he had just seen a ghost, I wasn’t entirely unhappy. 

Especially when it came with its own reward of Intent. The play might have resulted in a penalty, but that didn’t prevent the audience from being even more impressed — to the point of shouting to the top of their voices, blaming the referees for being weak. 

And as an added bonus, their defense looked furious. 

Furious enough to make our offense pay in pain for our aggression. 

What a pity.