'...'
"Critical Vision, so a scouting skill. Does it just work when spectating someone or does it work on the court as well? I wish the system would give just a little more information."
Mulling over the potential applications of this new skill Lance finally decides to turn his attention back to the other three items he received from the starter package.
'I am gonna save the coin for last and use these tickets up first, can't eat desert before dinner. The real question is, do I focus on what I am already good at or do I start trying to strengthen my weaknesses?'
Clicking on the Specialized Upgrade Ticket first, Lance navigates over to the detailed stat menu as he begins to consider the optimal choice.
'Hmm, I could start working on one of my weaker stats, but I am quite inclined to upgrade my physicals as high as possible first. The other skills can be learned quickly if I start playing pick up and get some work in, but I feel like physicals, especially strength and endurance with how high they are now, are going to be tough to upgrade. Let's go with strength for the ticket and push that into the As.'
Having decided and clicking the >Apply< button besides the strength stat, the ticket dissolves away in a stream of blue motes of light as the previous B+ on strength turns into an A-. As the change settles in, a strong but satisfying ache spreads through Lance's body, like how one might feel after a really tough workout. The physical difference in his strength can be felt almost immediately, as he clenches his fist and rolls his shoulders, the difference between B+ strength and A- feels like quite a qualitative improvement.
'Wow, that is a noticeable difference. It seems like grade jumps are big changes. That's good to know. Big ticket next.'
Feeling excited by the jump in strength, Lance tabs over to the General Upgrade Ticket and immediately applies it to the physicals section. The ticket, like the previous one, dissolves into motes of golden light as the grade on the physicals section changes from C to C+.
The changes begin to quickly settles in as a searing pain shoots all throughout Lance's body causing his knees to buckle, dropping him to the ground onto all fours. His muscles spasm and pulse as they reknit themselves, feeling as though they are on fire. His breathing comes out labored and heavy as sweat pours from his brow, mixing with a faint, black sludge that seems to be released alongside the sweat.
After what feels like ages, in reality, closer to two minutes, the pain subsides as Lance slumps to the ground panting heavily.
"Haa...haa... what the hell was that?!"
Taking a moment to curse the system and recover, Lance moves up into a sitting posture as he leans back against his bed. Taking a deep breathe and looking at himself in the mirror, Lance notices that here have been some immediate changes to his physique.
He is much more chiseled and slightly burlier that the version of himself five minutes ago. Striations can be see highlighting the definition of his muscles and his complexion looks clearer. Overall displaying a stronger, broader and more steady frame.
'Well, maybe it wasn't all bad.'
Lost in his thoughts, Lance does some flexing in the mirror before a small assaults his nose. One much worse and stronger than what his dirty room was producing earlier. Wrinkling his nose and performing the old sniff test, Lance was astounded to find that the smell was coming from him.
'Must of been the gunk that came out with my sweat earlier. Damn, that's bad. I should hit the shower and then figure out some more about my situation. But first I need to check out this coin.'
Pushing aside the discomfort of the smell and the deep ache of his muscles and bones, Lance brings up the overview screen and navigates to the bound coin from the starter package. As the coin pops up on screen, an equally cartoonish slot machine appears to the side of it along with a button, >Spin<.
'Yup, still as dramatic as ever. Well, here it goes. I'm curious to see what skills the old me had and what I get from this.'
Clicking the button, the coin flies into the coin slot as the lever to the side of the machine pulls down and the slots begin to spin. This spinning happens for around a minute, as the slots, eventually, come to a stop and spit out three different skills before fading away. The three skills float to the middle of the screen before revealing themselves in an ordered list.
>Choose one skill to keep!<
1. >Prince of Passing (Playmaking)<
2. >Hardwood Director (Fundamentals)<
3. >Slippery (Defense)<
'Hmm, those do make sense for my old play style.'
Curious as to what they do, Lance tries to click on each one but instead of popping up the familiar sub-screen, they simply become highlighted and a button at the bottom of the screen, that was previously greyed out, >Continue<, becomes lit up.
'So it seems like I can't inspect a skill here unless I choose it. That's annoying.'
Feeling some bubbling frustration, Lance takes a deep breathe, and refocuses back to choosing a new skill.
'Okay, so let's go though these one by one. I can rule out Slippery off the bat as that would seem related to avoiding screens. Playing the five shouldn't require me to dance around screens near as much, so that skill wouldn't get great use. With Slippery out of the way, that just leaves Prince of Passing and Hardwood Director.'
Drumming his finger against his arm Lance continues his thoughts.
'Hardwood Director seems useful as it could help with leading a team, but considering that I am no longer a point guard and currently suck at basketball, no teammate is going to listen to my directions as is. Besides, passing for a big man is a very important skill, getting something off the rip would be very helpful for starting breaks and dishing from the post.'
Having convinced himself, Lance selects >Prince of Passing<, takes a deep breath and selects continue. Following that action, the other two skills fade away as the >Prince of Passing< skill becomes moves down to the skill section.
Content at seeing it moved down there and feeling a pull of curiosity as to what the new skill does, Lance clicks on it immediately.
>Prince of Passing - Novice - Improves a players ability to thread passes to teammates, catch defenders with pass fakes and improves flashy passing.<
'Hmm, not quite what I had expected but not bad overall. Slinging passes from the post can lead to heavy turnovers if I am not careful. This should definitely help with that.'
Satisfied with the new skill and having exhausted all of the freebies that the system has provided, Lance looks at his updated stats screen with a bit more confidence in his situation.
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Lance Moss
Position: Center
Age: 16 (Incoming First-Year)
Height: 7'2"
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Shooting: F- *Click for detailed breakdown*
Finishing: F+ *Click for detailed breakdown*
Playmaking: F- *Click for detailed breakdown*
Defense: E *Click for detailed breakdown*
Rebounding: D- *Click for detailed breakdown*
Physical: C+ *Click for detailed breakdown*
Fundamentals: F- *Click for detailed breakdown*
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Skills: [Brick Wall - Novice][Skywalker - Novice][Iron Man - Expert][Critical Vision - Novice][Prince of Passing - Novice]
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Quests:
Main Quest: Start the first day of class!
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'Alright, don't get complacent, this is merely the starting line. I need to hit the shower and then I can start trying to figure out more about who Lance really was.'
Authors Note: This is the last chapter of heavy system usage. I hope you're enjoying so far as this is my first novel! If you have any critiques please let me know. Thank you so much for reading! :)