Rise of a Football God

~----~

[You have completed a Season System Quest!]

[Congratulations! You have completed Season Quest 2!]

[You have completed mission 1: Win the English FA Cup with Fulham FC!]

[You have been rewarded with +2 increase to 2 random football abilities!]

[Your Dribbling attribute has increased by +2!]

[Your Shooting attribute has increased by +2!]

…

[You have completed mission 2: Win the best player award in the English FA Cup!]

[You have been rewarded with a random reward!]

[Reward randomizing…, please wait…]

[You have received a Skill Upgrade Card!]

[Grade: Perfection!]

[Choose the specific skill that you want to use this card on:]

~----~

For Fulham, the football season officially came to an end.

At the end of the FA Cup game against Manchester United in Wembley Stadium, after the wild celebrations by the Fulham players, the fans, and their families, time finally came for the award ceremony.

Just like other major football tournaments in the world, the FA Cup also had individual awards.

There was the Golden Boot award whose iteration for the 2024/2025 FA Cup season was won by Mohamed Salah, bolstered by his incredible 5-goal haul in earlier rounds of the competition.

Mohamed Salah won the golden boot for scoring the most goals in the tournament while Bernd Leno won the Golden Glove award as the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

As for the Golden Ball award that was given to the best player of the tournament, it naturally went to Sam after his talismanic performances that led Fulham to the final of the FA Cup, eventually winning it.

It was the first major individual award of Sam's career.

After the game, the celebrations didn't end in Craven Cottage as like the fans, Sam returned to his apartment alongside his family, extending the celebrations.

That night, he had the temptation of drinking himself to stupor but knowing just how weak he was with alcohol, he was able to refrain from the stupidity.

But at the end, with friends like Smith Rowe, Ian, Kayla and his family around, it was a memorable moment for Sam.

That night, in his room, his girlfriend consolidated the memory for him as he had an intimate moment with Kayla to never forget.

By the end of it all, Sam sighed contentedly. 'I love my life'. He thought.

From there, they went to the bathroom where they took their bath together before retreating back to the bedroom where Kayla quickly slept.

With his girlfriend sleeping soundly in his arms, Sam finally had the time to focus on his system notifications and this was when he saw all of this.

Once again, his attributes increased but he didn't pay attention to that, rather he paid attention to the reward for being the best player of the tournament.

'A skill upgrade card?!'

If Kayla was not sleeping so soundly in his arms, resting on his chest, Sam swore he would have jumped up to scream in joy.

This was his first time receiving a skill upgrade card from his system but instinctively, he already knew what this card could do.

And looking at the text next to it 'Perfection', he felt hyped.

'Finally!' He thought excitedly. 'I'm about to take one of my skills to the mastery level of perfection!'

Earlier in his career after he just got the Ultimate Football System, the system informed him that football skills are ranked according to mastery and that they were divided into basic, intermediate, advanced, and perfection masteries.

Since then, Sam already grew a lot, even having multiple advanced skills now but he was yet to have a football skill at the perfection mastery.

But with this skill upgrade card, this reality was about to change.

Before making his decision though, he navigated through his system interface, focusing on all his active skills.

***

[Active skills:]

[Basic mastery level: Body feint; step overs; roulette; knuckle shot; overhead kick; rainbow flick; trivela shot, basic penalty technique, basic freekick technique]

[Intermediate mastery level: Elastico; Cruyff turn; La croqueta; Body feint; Power header]

[Advanced mastery level: Spatial awareness; Power shot]

…

[Legendary Inheritance: Elastico]

[Legendary Inheritance: Spatial Awareness]

[Legendary Inheritance: Power Shot]

***

One look at his active skills and his subconscious immediately pointed to 2 skills, his only 2 skills at the advanced mastery level, his spatial awareness and power shot skills.

The choice felt rational and right but Sam did not make the decision immediately, rather he took his time, thinking out of the box.

'I need to be careful'.

'Afterall, I don't know if I'll ever have an opportunity like this again, I need to make it count'.

And when he thought hard about it, the reason that dissuaded him from the 2 obvious choices was because of the suspicion that the skill upgrade card could be used on any skill to improve it to the perfection level, even skills that were previously at the basic level.

'If it's this way, using it on a skill that's already at the advanced mastery level is a waste'.

'Besides, I have legendary inheritances on both my spatial awareness and power shot skills. No matter how long it takes, so long I keep on training, someday, I'll get them to the perfection mastery level and even eclipse it'.

That was all the analysis he needed to make his decision.

And after carefully glancing through his other skills, he asked himself a question, a question that he got after building his experience on the highest tier of football this season.

'In those games when nothing I do work, what skill can help me instantly turn defeat into a draw or victory?'

As soon as he asked the question, he got only one answer.

***

[Perfection Grade Skill Upgrade Card has been used!]

[Your skill, Basic Freekick Technique has been upgraded to the Perfection mastery level!]

…

>Perfect Freekick Technique<

***

After making his choice that night, satisfied, he hugged his sleeping girlfriend tighter to his body before checking his full system status again after so long.

~----~

[Player status!]

Host: Samuel Moses

Current Career Status: Reigning Premier League champion, Reigning FA Cup champion, Reigning FA Cup Golden Ball winner

Talent Rating: S

Player Position: Attacking Midfield

Player Attributes:

*Pace: 86

*Shot: 87

*Pass: 85

*Dribbling: 84

*Defending: 40

*Physicality: 81

*Stamina: 86

Overall Rating: 87

…

[Owned Football Skills:]

[Passive skill: Stalwart]

>You have proven your credentials as a reliable stalwart with well-rounded attributes in the middle of the pitch. You can score, you can assist, you can dribble, and you can press; you are the complete package<

>+10% to all 4 packages when on the pitch<

>All 4 packages refer to your shooting attribute, your passing attribute, your dribbling attribute, and your stamina attribute<

[Active skills:]

[Basic mastery level: Step overs; roulette; knuckle shot; overhead kick; rainbow flick; trivela shot, basic penalty technique, scissor kick]

[Intermediate mastery level: Elastico; Cruyff turn; La croqueta; Body feint; Power header]

[Advanced mastery level: Spatial awareness; Power shot]

[Perfect mastery level: Freekick Technique]

…

[Legendary Inheritance: Elastico]

[Legendary Inheritance: Spatial Awareness]

[Legendary Inheritance: Power Shot]

…

[Ability cards:]

>Shoot it like Lewy<

[Card uses remaining: 2]

>Thread it like KDB<

[Card uses remaining: 2]

>Bend it like Beckham<

[Card uses remaining: 2]

…

[Trophies won:]

>NPFL title ×1<

>CAF Champions League trophy ×1<

>EFL Cup title ×1<

>Premier League title ×1< Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

>FA Cup title ×1<

…

[Title: Space Interpreter!]

[Title: Legs of Steel!]

[System Remark: An elite young talent playing in one of the best leagues in the world!]

~----~

'Finally! My talent rating is at S rank!' Sam felt excited on seeing that figure, he felt nostalgic as he remembered when he just started his career, when he played for Enyimba FC back in Nigeria.

Compared to when he just started, his growth was staggering.

'I've come a long way'. He thought, feeling melancholic.