Divine Celebrity 125 (Patreon)

The first thing I felt as I stepped into the stadium was … disappointment. The stadium was already full, but that wasn’t enough. Not when I could sense the listless nature of the crowd. There was almost no intent flaring even as we stepped into the field … and, with my growing sensitivity, I could sense that our rivals were generating significantly more Intent despite their people being barely a tenth. 

Our fans were here because we didn’t allow them to return the tickets — a small thing I had insisted to Coach Juana and she listened, a benefit of our growing, well, cooperation. I wanted them here, because if they were not in the stadium, I couldn’t excite them. 

[Repair - Phase One - Progress - 61%]

And, if I couldn’t excite them, I couldn’t gather the necessary Intent to repair the System. Simple math. 

However, not everything was bad. I had been afraid of the challenge of gathering the necessary Intent as the coach, but a little experiment showed that, as long as I concentrated, I could pull a significant portion of the Intent targeting our team. Curiously, the same didn’t work for the Intent generated by our opponent. 

Fascinating. The only problem, I couldn’t use the System for any other outward purpose, including the traits, while that was going on. Luckily, their passive effect on me still worked. 

Even more, reason to make sure the team could win without my intervention. 

“Are you ready, team!” I growled, putting the full force of the System behind my words to motivate the team in the absence of the cheer. “We’re starting with a kickoff. Let’s give them a nasty surprise.” 

“What do you mean, coach?” one of them asked. 

“We’re going to start with an onside kick,,” I said, and they gasped in shock. I had a feeling that, without some Intent to reinforce that statement, their reaction would have been significantly worse. And they would have been justified. 

Onside kick meant that, rather than kicking the ball as far as possible to make the other team start from deep into their side of the field, a short kick to our side of the field, and contesting to catch it. The other team had the much better advantage to grab the ball, and if they did, they had a much shorter field position to cover before a touchdown… Moreover, successfully pulling an onside kick required a lot of coordination, something our last-minute team lacked significantly. 

But I was not above cheating.  

“Yes, coach,” they accepted as I quickly went through the tactic, and our kickoff team took the field, excited for the opportunity. I watched them with a smirk, even if the cheers were muted. 

As our kicker pulled back, I gathered my intent, ready to intervene in a simple manner. A telekinetic push. I couldn’t pull that many times, not without arousing suspicion, but adding a weird bounce to the ball was the edge I might need. 

We kicked the ball, and something nice happened. Our opponents started pulling back even before registering the ball was flying much slower, not registering even a possibility of an onside kick. A little telekinetic push later, the ball was with us. 

The cheers only exploded a moment of delay as the audience processed what had happened, then broke into a thunderous applause … one that was accompanied by a strong wave of intent that left my insides tingling. 

“Not a bad start,” I said with a laugh as I looked at Arthur. “Go ahead and show how good are you as the starting Quarterback,” I called him. 

“Don’t worry, coach,” he answered, smug. “I’ll make you proud.”  I didn’t blame him. After all, I could feel some of the Intent gathering on the runes he had drawn before, reinforcing his abilities. 

[Repair +1.2 %]

“Good, make sure to check my signs,” I said, then, as my team took the field, I caught the gaze of the opposing coach, from the other side of the field. I waited until I made eye contact with him,, then made a chicken gesture. 

He started cursing even as he suddenly reached for his playbook, and after a furious recalculation, he shouted to some of his players, and adjusted his play. I just gave Arthur a signal, asking him to be ready for a six-man rush. 

Their coach was angry, and wanted to make me play. Too bad that in his anger, he had chosen to use one of the plays that were easiest to read. Though, even with a perfect read, we almost failed. The offensive line collapsed in an instant, forcing Arthur to retreat fast, before he throw to one of the players that were currently not guarded. 

A nice fifteen-yard gain, bringing us to their side of the field. I waved at their coach from a distance, making a show of laughing. A behavior that was extremely unsportsmanlike, but under the circumstances, I was willing to let that slide. 

[Repair +0.4%]

The benefits were good enough to make that acceptable. 

The next play, I called a run play, one that resulted in barely a yard of gain as our offensive line failed to create a decent corridor for our newbie running back. Not exactly the gain I was searching for for the first down.  For the second down, I decided to trust Arthur’s abilities instead. 

After examining their defensive layout, I signaled to Arthur, calling for a quick double-slant play, one that had Marcus as the first target. After giving that order, however, I started to make a few big motions, trying to sell the idea that I was going to push for a long pass. 

Their coach bit the bait, and set a deep two-cover scheme that made sure nothing could go in the depths, but he did while still rushing with five, leaving the middle empty. The ball reached the hands of Marcus, who managed to juke two players before finally being caught by a third one, delivering a very painful hit… 

But, he held the ball, and to the twelve-yard gain he accomplished. Another run play layer, I called for a deep pass, once again ordering Marcus to push forward, feeling the intent to turn into a wave as the ball flew true. The safety tried to cut off Marcus, but the attempt failed. Marcus grabbed the ball … and run for a touchdown… 

An excellent pass, and, since it was barely two minutes since the game started, enough to turn the earlier disinterest of the crowd into something spectacular, giving me the biggest improvement I had expected. 

[Repair +5.6%]

Unfortunately, not all news was good. I turned my gaze toward the celebrating team, only to see Arthur’s face already contorted and sweating. Whatever the runes were doing to him, it wasn’t something nice. I observed the way he took some of the Intent resulting from the play … only to receive a stronger-than-predicted side effect. 

Feeling merciful after that, I kept my focus on him, taking the excess intent. 

“Make sure they pay for every yard with pain, boys,” I shouted, and it earned great cheer from the defensive team. Their enthusiasm was high after the quick score. While they took their position, I stretched a tendril of Intent on Arthur, triggering his recovery more than the small healing item I had created, and his expression slowly turned normal. 

Still, he needed a bit to recover. 

Our kickoff team lined up for another kickoff. I was tempted to pull another onside kick, but this time, they would be prepared for it. Not to mention, two successful onside kicks would be suspicious enough without putting them back to back. 

While the team prepared to launch, I turned my attention to Marcus, our old cornerback, and the new star receiver. “Marcus, I need you to play safety,” I suddenly called, cutting off his celebration. 

He looked at me, surprised as he took a step forward. “Why, coach?” he asked. I appreciated him for having enough presence of mind to keep it to a whisper yet sticking him to the title. Leadership helped me to maintain control over the team, but every bit helped. 

“A little change of plans,” I said, which was true. I wanted to keep Arthur away from the field, especially until I could make sure the runes wouldn’t just kill him. But, it was not something I could just come out and explain to Marcus. “Slight change of plans about our defensive strategy. The touchdown came too quick, and their offensive team wants to pay back.” 

“And you don’t want them to succeed,” Marcus answered. 

“Whether they succeed is immaterial. What I want them to pay every yard with pain and bruises….” 

“And, to do that, you need to make sure they can’t just take the top off with a long pass.” 

“Exactly. That’s where you come in. You’re going to play the single safety,” I said, patting his shoulder even as I flooded his body with healing energy, making sure he stayed fresh. “Do you think you can handle it?” 

He nodded, and I smirked. It was going to be painful…