Chapter 72: Volume 1, - 72: Choose Your Weapon
Bia leaned over the printed blueprint spread across the library table, tapping her pen against a concrete plaza diagram. "It’s completely useless between noon and three," she said, tracing the pedestrian lane with her fingernail. "Look at the layout. The benches face directly south into full sunlight, and there isn’t a single tree or shade structure along the entire eastern edge."
"It looks clean in the 3D render, though," Mari said, tilting her head as she adjusted a colour swatch beside the elevation drawing. "The contrast between the light limestone and the terracotta planters gives it a distinct visual identity. If we change the bench placement, we ruin the symmetry of the entrance grid."
Daniela rolled her eyes, resting her chin on her palm. "Mari, normal people don’t care about the symmetry of an entrance grid when their knees are melting off on steel chairs. Pedestrian flow matters. If someone is walking from the bus stop to the clinic, they aren’t going to take the pretty zig-zag path around the fountain. They’re going to cut straight across the gravel and ruin your landscaping."
"The signs are confusing, too," Bia added, pulling up a photo on her tablet. "The transit arrows point towards the park entrance, but the actual metro stairs are tucked around the corner behind the kiosk. It’s a space designed to look good in an architectural magazine, not a place where anyone would want to spend twenty minutes waiting for a bus."
"So we redesign the central axis," Mari suggested, though her tone was reluctant. "Shift the seating west under a timber pergola?"
"Only if the pergola doesn’t block the crossing view," Daniela said. "Otherwise people will just walk around it."
Rayan arrived after the three girls had already covered half the blueprint in notes. He dropped into the empty chair beside Bia, set his notebook in his lap and immediately began bouncing one knee beneath the table. His attention kept slipping away from the plaza diagram, as though he had brought another problem into the library with him.
"If the path is too crowded," Rayan blurted out, leaning forward, "you just need one sharp turn to get around the block, right? Like, if everyone is moving one way, you force them to shift weight before you—"
He stopped so abruptly that Bia wondered what he had nearly said. Daniela and Mari were both staring at him.
"Rayan," Daniela said slowly, "we are talking about bus stops and shade canopies, not a counter-attack."
"Right," Rayan said quickly, clearing his throat and sitting back. "I mean... if the signs are confusing, people will just follow wherever the shade is. Just put a bench where the shadow falls."
Bia looked at him for a moment, then looked back down at her tablet with a faint smile. "Actually... that could work. We can map where the shade falls and move the benches there."
"Don’t encourage him," Mari laughed, swapping her pen. "He’ll have us installing goalposts in the plaza next."
Rayan smiled and finally stopped trying to turn the plaza into a football pitch. While Mari and Daniela argued over traffic flow, signage and transport access, he remained quiet and listened. Bia returned to the blueprint, mildly surprised that he was actually following the discussion.
That evening, in the quiet space of his bedroom after dinner, Rayan called up the interface.
The translucent smoked-black panel resolved instantly in his vision, opening straight to the [SKILL LIBRARY].
[BASIC SKILL LIBRARY]
[Available Skill Tokens: 1]
The three options remained displayed side by side:
[BODY FEINT]
[Deceives defender’s balance through synchronised head, shoulder, and hip weight transfer prior to making the exit touch. Effective for creating immediate half-yard separation without stopping the ball.]
[SINGLE STEP-OVER]
[Disguises intended direction of travel by stepping one foot around the circumference of the ball. Alters defender’s recovery rhythm and forces hesitation in tight wide channels.]
[FIRST-TOUCH ESCAPE]
[Enhances directional first contact when receiving under close pressure. Uses body angle and weighted touch to transform a defensive reception into an immediate forward exit.]
He studied them carefully.
The Single Step-over was the most enticing. It was the move of highlight reels, the classic flair technique used by elite wingers to humiliate defenders. Part of him wanted it simply for the spectacle. But as he pictured himself against defenders like Rodrigo Neves or Nunes, he hesitated. A step-over required rhythm, time, and space to execute. If his timing was slightly off, the defender wouldn’t bite; they would simply wait him out or step into his path.
The First-Touch Escape was practical. It directly targeted his struggles when receiving the ball with a defender tight against his back. Yet, it relied entirely on the incoming pass. It was a defensive reaction rather than an attacking weapon he could initiate himself.
Then his eyes returned to the Body Feint.
It was simple, direct, and unglamorous. But as he read the description again, synchronised head, shoulder, and hip weight transfer it clicked. Acceleration was already his strongest physical trait. He didn’t need to completely trick a defender or perform three step-overs. He only needed the defender to shift their weight half an inch in the wrong direction. If he could throw off their balance for a fraction of a second, his natural burst would do the rest.
It wasn’t the skill that looked best in a compilation video, but it was the skill that fit his game right now.
Rayan focused his mind on the selection.
[BASIC SKILL TOKEN CONSUMED.]
[Skill acquired: Body Feint.]
[Proficiency: Novice — 0%.]
[Accelerated learning enabled. Instant mastery unavailable.]
A wireframe silhouette of a footballer materialised within the interface, illustrating a biomechanical demonstration. The model broke the movement down into distinct, clinical stages:
Approach speed: Sufficient momentum to make both directions credible.
Eye line: Forward, without staring down at the ball.
Head and shoulder movement: Small, convincing sell towards the false route.
Hip position: Turns far enough to suggest commitment without locking the body.
Weight transfer: Centre of gravity shifts over the plant foot while balance remains controlled.
Exit touch: Immediate push with the outside of the opposite boot into the true direction.
The demonstration cycled through three times before vanishing, leaving behind a new prompt.
[TRAINING MISSION: SELL THE FIRST DIRECTION.]
[Complete 100 technically correct Body Feint repetitions.]
[Incorrect form will not count.]
[Reward: Body Feint proficiency +10%.]
Rayan pulled on his trainers, grabbed his ball, and headed down the stairs into the small, paved courtyard behind the apartment building.
One hundred repetitions sounded manageable. He set the ball down on the concrete, taking two steps back.
He jogged forward, dropped his right shoulder, and pushed the ball to the left with his left foot. It felt smooth enough.
He looked up at the interface.
[Weight transfer insufficient.]
[Repetitions accepted: 0/100]
Rayan frowned. He picked up the ball, set it back down, and tried again. This time, he dramatically dipped his head and thrust his right shoulder down, lunging hard onto his right foot before taking the exit touch.
The movement was so exaggerated that his momentum stumbled, his left foot dragging awkwardly across the pavement as the ball bobbled away.
[Biomechanical imbalance detected. Centre of gravity compromised.]
[Repetitions accepted: 0/100]
Rayan retrieved the ball, wiping a line of sweat from his forehead. Unlocking the skill hadn’t magically planted the technique in his feet. The System had given him the blueprint, but building the muscle memory was still entirely on him.
He set the ball back down on the concrete, adjusted his stance, and breathed out slowly.
[Repetitions accepted: 0/100]