THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

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*USER STATS

->Soccer Technique: (Av. Rating: A- (A+))

Ball Control: A- (A+)

Dribbling Skills: B+ (A+)

Passing Accuracy: A- (A+)

Body Control: A+ (S-)

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NB: The grades in the brackets represent the user's base stats or, in other words, the user's attributes before consuming the elixir.

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*****

Zachary's eyes narrowed even further after perusing through his soccer-technique stats.

Since his body fitness had improved by a large margin within a short period, his skills couldn't follow but had instead dipped to some extent. His ball control, dribbling skills, and passing accuracy had all dropped by a grade or two after consuming the potent vitality-enhancing-elixir. Additionally, his body control attribute, formerly at the S-grade, had now fallen back to the A+ grade. Moreover, his technique might continue plateauing for a long time if he couldn't adapt to his new body attributes quickly.

A person's technique was perhaps the most visibly conspicuous element to success in football. Even an amateur could recognize a good technique. Does a player possess impeccable ball control? Is he fast with the ball at his feet, or can he dribble through opponents? And how's his passing ability? Those were some of the questions to consider when assessing a person's technique in football. They were the basic foundations of any football player if they wished to make it big in the game.

Thence, should a professional player experience even a slight dip in his technique, he would be in for a hard time. That was because the individual in question would automatically lose his form and immediately fall out of grace with the coaches.

In more severe cases, the player would become more prone to injuries since he would try to compensate for the dip in form with extra hard work on the field of play. That extra effort without the accompanying technique would often bring him in a hell-lot of excessive physical duels with opponents. And those duels were what brought about the spell of injuries for many off-form players.

All in all, a player might possess a high body fitness level with exceptional agility, strength, and endurance stats. However, if he had no football skills, he would still be mediocre on the field of play. That was why sprinting champions like Usain Bolt or Justin Gatlin would find it hard if they wanted to make it big in football. In their case, it was simply a matter of technique, not physical fitness.

However, in Zachary's case, the issue with his technique wasn't that severe since the side effects of the elixir were only temporary. So, as long as he underwent a targeted training regimen over the following two months, he would be able to return to his peak in a short while. There was even a chance of going further and elevating his skills to a higher level if he played his cards right.

Zachary's entire being was already throbbing with anticipation on thinking about how he could soon be able to increase his skills. "System," he said, glancing at the crystal-like display before him. "Could you establish a training plan that can help me in returning my football-technique attributes to their peak in the shortest time possible?"

"Command received," the system AI replied. "The system will deduct 200 Juju-point to assemble an appropriate training plan to suit the user's needs. Is that okay with the user?"

"That's okay," Zachary was quick to reply. "Go ahead and formulate the best training plan for me. It would be best if the plan could help me regain my peak state within a month."

"Command received," the AI replied. "200 Juju points deducted. A tailor-made training plan is being put together at the moment. Please wait!"

Zachary didn't have to wait for long. In only a matter of seconds, new contents appeared on the translucent bluish screen before him with a slight shimmer.

He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the lighting on the screen. Without further ado, he started going through the training plans that the system had just put together in the form of a mission.

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G.O.A.T MISSIONS

#NEW MISSION: A forty-day training regimen to solidify the user's football techniques.

*Task 1: Run a distance of 5 miles every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (Must involve high-intensity running exercises such as sprinting in the outdoor environment).

*Task 2: One-hour gym work, including weight training, on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. The user must complete the following exercises during those four sessions.

->100 squat-and-press routines with a pair of 15 kg dumbbells

->60 single-leg-squats (30 for each leg)

->60 push-ups

->60 sit-ups

->A 30-minute 'Controlled Mountain Climber' routine.

*Task 3: Rope jumping for thirty minutes on a daily basis.

*Task 4: Non-stop juggling the ball for one hour on a daily basis. The user should include both slow and quick motion juggling for better results.

*Task 5: A one-hour wall training session on a daily basis.

*Task 6: A one-hour agility session, including cone drills, on a daily basis. The user should include dribbling and trapping exercises for better results.

*Task 7: A one-hour swimming regimen two times a week. That is on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

*Task 8: Complete four rounds of half a dozen Hatha-Yoga poses daily.

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*Rewards:

->A monthly dosage of an A-graded Physical Conditioning Elixir to help the user stabilize his fitness attributes at the S-grading.

-> 150 Juju points.

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*Punishment in case the mission is still incomplete after the stipulated time.

->Loss of a monthly dosage of the Physical Conditioning Elixir

->A system penalty of 1500 Juju points

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*Remarks: There will be obstacles. There will be hardships. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there will be no limits on your path to glory.

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*Accept              *Reject

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****

Zachary had no reason to reject the training mission.

His goal for the offseason was to try his best to improve his attributes. He wanted to hone his football techniques, including his dribbling, passing, and ball control, as much as he could within forty days. After that, he would start mastering the Robinho-step-over juju in preparation for the upcoming football season in Norway. That was why he hurriedly accepted the training mission after it had just popped up on the crystal-like display before him.

"Bzzt Bzzzt! Bzzt Bzzzt!"

It was then that his phone started vibrating from a nearby table. Zachary immediately scooped it up before glancing at the screen. He couldn't help but smile when he noticed that the incoming call was from Camilla.

"Hi, Zach dear," Camilla said from the other end of the line after the call had connected. "I've been calling you for the past twenty hours, but you've not been picking! Are you okay?" She sounded concerned.