Chapter 48

The kickoff, as he’d been able to see with his basic skill, was pretty typical. The forward in the center sent the ball backwards towards another of their players, while the other forwards rushed towards Dan’s side of the field. He didn’t care, and even if he had mentally, his body was moving on its own. The Auto-Battle Feature, after all, had been enabled.

With blinding speed, he dashed past his team’s players, and the JV players, ignoring all logical plans of action. He flew towards the JV player who currently had the ball, and while Dan was just sitting back in his own mind, watching the action, he still had access to the Skill Assist tools. He could see the player was watching him and preparing to pass. To his credit, the JV player wasn’t making it too obvious where he planning to send the ball. At least, not with his eyes. The invisible prediction lines Dan could see told him all he needed to know. But then again…that was if he’d been in full control.

What happened next took him completely by surprise. It happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, that he’d thought for a moment he was dreaming. After all, that was the only way he could think to describe it. The playstyle, the action, was something he never would have thought to attempt. Especially not now.

Mentally, he saw where the player was going to pass the ball thanks to his skill, and he, had he been in charge, would have pulled off the moment the pass happened, and cut over to the other player, attempting to put pressure on him and likely steal the ball one on one from him. It would be ballsy, but keeping the pressure on, especially after having committed so hard, so early, was the right play.

However, auto-battle Dan had a different plan. His body’s muscles tensed as he picked up speed, and just as the player kicked the ball, Dan’s body moved on its own accord. His cleats dug into the ground for a moment, before he was propelled with speed and force he’d never known himself capable of, towards the trajectory of the ball.

As if perfectly calculated, the system controlling his body moved him, rotating him mid flight so that to his surprise, and the surprise of everyone watching, he managed to catch the ball just right with his chest. The ball impacted hard, then bounced away from him to an unoccupied area of the field a few feet away. He landed almost instantly after that, and the force controlling him wasted no time in reacting. Dan’s mind couldn’t keep up with the motion, the speed, at which the auto-battle feature was working, and he had to admit, it terrified him.

With cold, calculated precision, his remote-controlled body moved, gaining full control of the ball, and then with practiced, impossible ease, cutting past the defenders. Dan would have held his breath, if he’d been in control of it, as the Auto-Battle feature had him approaching the Sweeper. The one player between himself and the goalie. The only two players on the field who had stats close to his.

Physically, and skill wise, they may have been his equal, but he was on autopilot. He had something processing and acting faster than either could, and without any hesitation, he dribbled the ball forward, directly towards the sweeper.

The sweeper eyed him warily, only glancing away for a brief instant to check on the status of the players behind Dan, likely searching for any possible help Dan would get. He shouldn’t have bothered, as Dan was well aware none of the freshman would have predicted his actions. Hell, he hadn’t predicted them either.

With the Skill assist up, he could see the path the player in front of him was intending to make, and could see the appropriate way to pass him. It would have been hard, and there was only a small space, a small fraction of time and positioning, that would have given him the ability to juke past the defender.

At least, human Dan thought that. Auto-Battle Dan said to hell with that. Just as the sweeper moved to engage, putting his foot in the path of the ball, using his body to cut off Dan’s other escape, and positioning himself like a formidable, agile wall, Dan’s feet moved in response.

The ball at his feet was quickly trapped, and then with a flick of a heel, and a deft kick backwards, the ball was up and over both Dan’s head, and the sweepers. It was a move called a Rainbow, and Dan had never attempted it before in his life. And yet, here it was, executed perfectly, sending the ball past the defender, even as he moved deftly to the side, cut forward, and regained control of the ball.

From there, it was game over for the poor goalie. That action, everything Dan had just done, it was too much. The sudden burst of athleticism and skill completely took the goalie by surprise, and the shot Dan delivered, a powerful shot that blasted into the upper nineties, that is, the upper right hand corner of the goal, was flawless.

It was only after that shot, as Dan turned off the Auto-battle feature, completely taken aback by what had had happened, that he realized something else. His stamina was down by almost 30 points, in the span of what, thirty seconds? As he walked back towards his team’s side, noticing all of the surprised, confused looks, including the mouth agape look of pure wonderment from both Sam, and the JV coach, Dan heard a chuckle in his mind.

You should probably set your auto-battle parameters, before you do something that flashy again. Syn was chuckling. Should have warned you earlier, but you were being, well, you. Any ways, default Auto-Battle will burn through your mental and physical traits in order to work at an inhuman, peak, levels. It’s like an adrenaline rush on crack, and puts you at say, at least 150% of your normal self. You need to adjust it, if you plan to use it long term. Or, ya know, you can kick it up a notch, and go out full force. Watching humans hit that 500% or more mark for all of 10 seconds before they completely collapse is always awesome.

Dan heard the telltale signs of others in the background watching his events with Syn. He also could barely make out what sounded like betting. As if they were placing bets on how he would do during the scrimmage.

“And just how am I supposed to do that?” Dan grumbled. Now Syn told him…after he’d blown through a good chunk of precious Stamina. He couldn’t help but wonder, what else had the voice not told him?