It was an amazing feeling to walk on the field under the cheers of the crowd, and it would have been so even if every moment of their cries didn't mean more Intent for me.

Of course, the Traits that were related to their current mood and perception had long been completed, but that didn't mean the Intent I was gathering was useless. First, a considerable portion of it was being absorbed by my guide, who was still the only source of information I had — however flighty and unreliable.

And more Intent was the only hope I had to awaken her.

More importantly, the System was still absorbing the Intent even if it didn't give me an immediate return. And since Intent was able to help my guide to recover, maybe it would work the same way with the System.

It was a risk I was willing to take.

Distracted by my thoughts, I was caught flatfooted when someone tackled me, with a speed that might have caused me to fall down if the responsible person hadn't been barely above a hundred pounds.

Before I could react, a pair of lips pressed against me. A pair of beautiful yet familiar lips, delivering a searing kiss.

Megan.

I would have chuckled in amusement if the tongue slipping inside my mouth worked wonders to suppress any sound I could make. I decided to say nothing, just suffering the consequences of the sudden assault obediently.

My hand already slipping under her skirt to once again enjoy the feeling of her tight ass.

"Congratulations, honey," Megan said as she finally pulled back from the kiss, far too loudly to be accidental as the crowd was still around us, cheering and whistling.

I chuckled as I leaned forward, whispering into her ear. "I thought we were going to break up after the match," I whispered.

"Well, that was before you decided to hide just how good of a player you were from me. Things are different for now," she whispered back. I was impressed, because while her voice was sharp enough to be a divorce lawyer, she managed to look like a lovesick puppy as she delivered those words.

"And, you expect me to accept that alteration without any argument. Maybe I had other plans?"

She smirked, like she was a chess player that just forced a move that would lead to an inevitable loss in three. "I'm sure you won't just dump your loving girlfriend after she had just delivered such an intense display of love."

I looked at her sharply, letting Intimidation seep through to destroy her confident expression, but only for a moment. "You're lucky that I like how vicious you are," I said as I squeezed her ass hard, earning a gasp.

One that was decidedly not fake.

"Don't be like that," she said as she loosened her legs around my waist and stepped down, but her hand was still on my chest. "You still have your date with Kim, and I'm sure I can convince her to increase the intensity for compensation."

"Oh, honey," I answered softly. "You're wildly misguided if you think you can get away with just that after altering our agreement without consulting me first," I whispered.

I expected Megan to look dissatisfied with that, but her face gained a competitive expression, showing she was more than happy to bargain.

Yet, before she could respond, she was interrupted.

"That's enough, lovebirds," Thad said as he grabbed my arm and started dragging me. "We still have our post-game speech, and he's too important to be missing from that part."

Thad looked at Megan with a stupid expression that was good enough to convince me if I didn't see his more serious side. "You can see him at the party tonight, but make sure to be early to protect him from the cheerleaders. I heard that some of them have really interesting ideas for him tonight."

I just chuckled at Megan's frustration as Thad dragged me away. "Thanks," I said. "I appreciate the assistance. Especially the bluff about the cheerleaders. It would help me a lot tonight," I said as I chuckled.

That earned a loud explosion from Thad, his laughter echoing off the walls. "Oh, sweet naive boy. That was no bluff. I recommend you to be careful around the cheerleaders tonight, and don't accept any drinks. I had heard more than one bet about who would be the first one to bed the new hero of the team. They would drain you dry if you get captured by them."

"That bad," I said with a chuckle.

"Oh, you have no idea. They are savages," Thad said with an exaggerated shudder, but the smirk on his face showed the related memories were hardly unpleasant.

I chuckled as I followed him to the locker room, only to meet with another surprise, this time a pair of explosions. I tensed for a moment before a liquid exploded on me, and only relaxed as I noticed the source of it.

Champagne for celebration.

Technically, we weren't supposed to drink, and certainly not in the locker room, but in a victory, especially one against a famous rival college, rules were much looser. Even the offensive players were looking happy despite their pain — as the opposing offense did their best to punish our offense for our daring, misguidedly thinking that we would care about their welfare.

The victory was an excellent painkiller.

Thad grabbed a bottle and joined the small group that seemed determined to drown me in champagne, and I chuckled, letting it happen.

The celebration lasted for a while before they started cheering. "Speech, speech, speech."

As they cheered, I grabbed the bottle from Thad's hand, and took a deep sip. It was not my habit to give speeches, and I wasn't particularly skillful in that aspect.

Yet, my most recent trait, Leadership, gave me a weird new sensation. It was an ephemeral sensation, but it allowed me to, for the lack of a better term, feel the mood and heartbeat of a group that looked to me for guidance, along with a subtle instinct of how to direct and manipulate such a sensation.

"I want to mark such a momentous occasion by a quote from the great general Julius Caesar. Veni, Vidi, Vici," I started, only to receive some good-natured jeers, calling me a nerd. I smirked as I waited for those jabs to reach an apex. "Or, to translate, We came, we saw, and we beat the shit out of them and sent them to their mother, crying!" I exclaimed.

It was not an accurate translation, but the team didn't seem to mind the liberty I took as they exploded in cheers and laughter, cheering my name. "Terry, Terry, Terry!"

I just smirked as I felt someone grab me and they lifted me high, throwing me up repeatedly in celebration. A great change from their earlier attitude, brought by the great success I enabled.

The celebration lasted for a while — a short while, as the real celebration awaited us in the Den — then we split into the showers.

Though as the celebration continued, I noticed that Carter was not around. "Where's the captain?" I asked, as his absence was rather weird.

It might have been different if he had performed badly, but I had made sure he had many opportunities to show off, giving him four sacks, one interception, and three tackles for loss — which was an excellent statistic for any defensive player no matter the opponent, and it was even more impressive in a game against a strong opponent.

"He's already with the coach," Thad answered.

"Really? At this hour?" I asked, and Thad nodded. "Yes, it surprised me as well. But I have a meeting with him tonight as well, as with four other starters, each key player for their position."

"Interesting," I said, surprised. "He didn't ask me for a meeting. Do you think it's something important?"

"Probably, but I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. You have displayed an incredible performance today. I'm sure he wants to reorganize our defense around you, and wants to discuss that with us first to make sure we are aligned."

"Makes sense," I said as I grabbed my bag and left the locker room. "Anyway, I have something more important today."

"Yes," Thad said. "The party!"

"Exactly," I said, feeling enthusiastic about the upcoming party. And, unlike the previous time where I had been struggling just to maximize the scraps of Intent I was receiving, this time my objective was to have fun.

Proper fun…