THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

"Your stamina is really monstrous," Mikael Dorsin commented, looking at Zachary as if he was a beast in human skin after the exercise. "How's it that you still haven't broken a sweat even after going through all those intensive drills? You really do make the rest of us ashamed."

"Well," Zachary said after chugging down some water. "I joined your group a bit late. That might be why I'm not yet out of stamina even after going through all those agility and body coordination drills."

"Come on, man," Tore, the captain, chimed in, creasing his brows. "Are you implying that all of us are in this worn-out state because of that one stretching routine we went through before you arrived?"

Zachary chuckled, choosing not to respond. However, on the inside, he was also confused. Usually, he would be nearly out of stamina after going through such an intensive thirty-minute training regimen of agility and body coordination drills.

However, it was different that morning. During the exercise, Zachary had felt like all the drills were second nature since he could control his body perfectly. As a result, he'd avoided unnecessary movements during the exercise and managed to utilize his stamina reserves efficiently, without any wastage.

"Could it be that my stamina and my endurance attributes have made another breakthrough? Or could it be my body control this time around?"

Various thoughts flashed through Zachary's mind as he continued going through a warming-down stretching routine to loosen his muscles after the exercising session. He was a bit tempted to open the system interface immediately and check whether his attributes had experienced any changes.

However, a whistle rung across the entire training ground a moment later, forcing him to put a halt to his actions. He looked around and noticed that the technical staff had finished setting up the necessary equipment, including slalom poles, training dummies, cones, and Astro passing hoops, around the training ground. The official Rosenborg training session for that day was about to commence.

"Guys," Mikael said, glancing around. "It's time for the official training. Let's head to the center circle before Coach Johansen starts throwing a tantrum."

The others, including Zachary, laughed while beginning to march towards the center circle, where Coach Johansen and his assistants were waiting. They moved with haste and soon joined the ranks of the other Rosenborg players who were already starting to form a semi-circle before the group of coaches.

-----

"Good morning, everyone," Coach Johansen said as soon as all the Rosenborg players had organized themselves in the center circle. His face was all smiles, and he looked particularly spirited that day.

"Good morning, coach," the players replied enthusiastically in chorus. The players were also full of energy and seemed quite motivated that morning.

"Let me first take this opportunity to congratulate all of you upon becoming the Norwegian champions last weekend," the coach said in an animated voice, glancing around. "You have all been working hard ever since the start of this year, toiling day in, day out, and that's why we have managed to win a domestic double for the first time in years. Your hard work has created a new chapter of success for Rosenborg, and that should fill us with pride since we're already the Norwegian Champions on two fronts."

"However," the coach continued, his tone turning somber. "I would also like to remind you that we still have some more work to do before ending our football season this year."

"In our second-last Europa League group game, we'll face Standard Liège away in Belgium next Thursday on 28th November. After that, on 12th December, we'll have to take on IF Elfsborg here at Lerkendal in our last Europa League group game."

The coach swept his gaze across the players arranged before him in a semi-circle. "I guess each one of you by now knows how crucial those two games are for us. We must win those two matches if we hope to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Europa League. We can't lose or draw against any of our two opponents. That would spell the end of our Europa League campaign. We're not allowed to falter since we need all six points from the two group games to qualify. Are we together, guys?"

"Yes, coach."

"Good," the coach said, nodding. "Since we all seem to be on the same page, there's no need for more words. We'll now begin today's training session with the sole aim of making initial preparations for Thursday's Europa League fixture."

"We only have about two days remaining to Thursday. So, I expect each and every one of you to give a hundred percent effort in both today's and tomorrow's training sessions. If you do that, we'll increase our chances of winning against Standard Liège, come Thursday evening. Are you with me, guys?"

"Yes, coach," all the players roared back enthusiastically.

"Okay, guys, that's the spirit," Coach Johansen boomed, clapping his hands. "In today's session, we'll begin with a dynamic warm-up led by Coach Rolf Aas as usual. We'll then go through some agilities and do some ball work before diving into the tactics for Thursday's game."

"One more issue, before I forget," Coach Johansen said, his tone becoming somber once again. "The medics have just informed me that Nicki Nielsen is still injured and won't be with us for the Thursday match. So, we'll have to play with a 4-4-2 formation against Standard Liège to compensate for his absence on our striking line. Guys, I expect you to familiarize yourselves with a fast-paced counter-pressing game before Thursday since we'll have fewer numbers in the midfield than usual. Reserve strikers should also work extra hard to fill Nicki's shoes on Thursday. Are we together, guys?"

"Yes, coach."

"Then, let's get this training session started right away," Coach Johansen said with a smile.

-----

Zachary drove home feeling spent after training in the evening. He had opted to activate the 1.2 g gravity on his body during the entire session. As a result, the training had taken a toll on his body, causing him to feel like he'd just finished racing against Usain Bolt.

He even felt like letting loose and taking a nap on the floor when he was halfway up the stairs to his apartment on the sixth floor. But with his iron will, he persevered and slowly trekked to his apartment at a snail's pace.

"DING"

The notification sound of the system rang within his mind just as he'd stepped into his apartment. It was like music to his ears, rousing him from his state of exhaustion in a matter of seconds.

"Congratulations," the system AI's apathetic voice sounded the next moment before he could react. "The user has managed to complete a hidden system mission by advancing his body-control attribute to the S- grading without the help of any elixirs from the system. As a result, the system has awarded the user 5,000 Juju-points and a one-month dosage of an A-graded physical-conditioning-elixir to stabilize the user's new S-graded attribute. For further details, the user can check the system interface. Congratulations, once again."