81 What You Didn't Take Into Accoun

"He's good." Coach Ardiente rested his elbows on his knees and muttered. "Perfect skills, keen eye, excellent physical abilities, no hesitation on exploiting his opponent's weak points, and what more, performing it instinctively than with thinking. He's the epitome of an athlete. Plus, that level-headed execution and confidence of his own actions is nothing but commendable."

From Coach Ardiente's standpoint, and with the usage of his Ability he can perceive everything within the battlefield. It was a magnificent display of skill. "Perfection…"

He can't help admire Hayden's Ultra Instinct-like plays. He was also sure that Hayden wasn't using his Ability as a Level 3 wielder's essence energy sensing allows one to sense such things.

"He's good, huh?" Sophia's lips inched upwards, a rare sight.

"Incredibly so." Coach Ardiente nodded his head in approval. "He's going to be a vital weapon for a win in the Annual Youth Pride. Plus, the players who auditioned are superb as well. This is going to be the year Philippines win in the Annual Youth Pride basketball."

"Don't forget the goal of our boss." Sophia muttered something unexpected. "We have to find out more of Hayden's interests and whether he's fit for our Pangkat Anino."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Coach Ardiente rolled his eyes. He was certain that Hayden fit their boss' criterion, or else, why would he send two people to look out for Hayden? Isn't that kind of counterproductive? Additionally, there were three more people who protected Hayden in the shadows. Powerful members to boot.

Back to the game. The five people on the former Annual Youth Pride team were all stunned of Hayden's show of feat.

With the ball in their possession, Gabriel threw the ball to John. Gabriel shouted, "We can still turn this around, guys. Guard him."

Experiencing the four-man block, Hayden wouldn't stand around and let them do their plan anymore. He twisted and turned, eluding Gabriel, Jack, Christian, and Caleb without exerting much effort.

Catching up to John, Hayden snatched the ball in an instant and rapidly dribbled to the other side of the court. He smoothly passed the blockers with his superb and high-pace dribbling, ultimately ankle-breaking Gabriel and pulling off a flawless three-pointer.

Looking down at Gabriel, Hayden expressionlessly stated, "I told you. You didn't take into account something. That something is that I won't fall for the same trick twice."

Gabriel gaped at Hayden, developing a sense of weakness in front of Hayden's absolute strength. He now fathomed that strategies can only accomplish so much, and in front of a monster, tactics were useless.

The spirit of the former Annual Youth Pride team was utterly crushed by Hayden's one-person display of skill.

It was one of the flashiest highlights of Hayden's basketball career that made Gabriel eager to fight Hayden. Unfortunately for Gabriel, Hayden didn't employ that for his team at all, overwhelming his team merely with his one-man army capabilities.

What's worse was that this time, Hayden still didn't exercise that tactic when faced with the best of last year's high school basketball team. Instead, Hayden dished out a more advanced level of play and physical prowess.

It was the ultimate slap in the face for Gabriel and it goes to show that sometimes, the gap between true talent and the talentless cannot be unabridged by hard work.

The rest of the game was plainly Hayden doing all these cool stunts. If not for Sophia shouting 'fighting' every time and using her Ability to encourage the Annual Youth Pride team, their wills would have taken a much greater blow.

Seven minutes in the game, the Annual Youth Pride team scored a negligible 10 points while Hayden already scored over 70 points over them. Nobody could stop Hayden's momentum at all.

"This guy's ruthless…" Sophia's impassive expression didn't change in spite of her tone being dry. "There's just no predicting what he's going to do with that ball."

"Exactly." Coach Ardiente smiled. "Have you ever seen a match of streetball?"

"No." Sophia shook her head.

"Streetball is a lot more improvisational and has a lot more style." Coach Ardiente talked as he observed Hayden's outstanding maneuvers. "You'd think that this is detrimental, but as it is more spontaneous and is a showcase of raw individual talent, it makes a player's handling more unpredictable. With the development of basketball over time, more and more streetball players entered the pro scene. You can see a lot of streetball players in the field of basketball who displays such flamboyant moves that easily makes it into the highlights of a game."

Coach Ardiente paused for a bit and followed Hayden with his eyes, who proved Coach Ardiente's point as Hayden dribbled the ball behind his back and twisted to the right as a feint then quickly twisted again to the left to jump and do a fade away shot.

"Therefore, in modern basketball leagues, learning how to dribble ala-streetball style is a vital requirement if you hope to survive." Coach Ardiente continued. "Streetball handling is tremendously different to the earlier versions of handling a basketball and is quite damaging to a team if you don't control your urge to 'show off' and forgetting to pass the ball to your teammates. This is usually the downfall of a player, their own arrogance. In front of us is someone who has the right to be that arrogant. The one-man army and the 'Emperor of the Court.'"

Coach Ardiente and Sophia watched Hayden guard John, who hasn't lost hope yet and was looking for an opportunity to bypass Hayden using his significantly smaller height.

Moving, John actually did avoid Hayden by the usage of his fast dribbling. Or that's what he thought in the least.

A second after he was behind Hayden, the missing ball in his hand registered synchronic to when the sound of dribbling entered his ears.

In horror, John looked back and saw Hayden dribbling absurdly fast. Subsequent to outplaying Gabriel, Christian, and Caleb, Hayden was faced against Jack.

Stepping into the free throw line, Hayden was going to execute a dunk. Propelling himself up and shouting, Jack was sure that he could block Hayden this time. Witnessing this, the rest of the eyes of the members of his team lit up.

That was when Hayden pulled off an absurdly inhuman trick by putting his left hand in front of the ball, pulling it back, ducking a little mid-air, and when he was behind the ring, shot the ball into the basketball hoop with his right hand prior to landing.

The onlookers who were watching with bated breaths couldn't believe what they saw, including Daniel. "Holy crap… How much did this guy secretly absorb knowledge from anime and professional basketball and secretly practice?"

From his experience, Hayden would always prolong his stay in here in the basketball court, doing some mind-numbingly hardcore practice. One time, Daniel caught Hayden shooting from all parts of the court and at differing heights on each.

When he inquired why Hayden was doing that, Hayden responded with a ridiculous yet sensible answer, which was, "Well, I'm hammering into my muscle memory how much strength and force to use whenever I shoot. With my Ability, it's possible, backed by my forceful acquisition of perfect pitch. It's simply that with extra steps."

People might think that Hayden was absolutely lucky when it came to his overpowered Ability, and he was. Be that as it may, without the inordinate amounts of effort that Hayden put in and the out of this world notions he came up with, no one can plausibly copy his feats.

In truth, even Hayden himself didn't grasp how much effort he's put into things. Which is one of the reason Daniel admired Hayden highly. Such a hard-working stud? If anybody else from Puting Araw fathomed how much effort Hayden put in into every practice, they'd remove their abhorrent gazes. Alas, Hayden forbid Daniel from defending his reputation.

"Is he… Presently utilizing his… You know?" Courtney popped Daniel's daze.

"Much as I'd like to say yes, he's not." Daniel breathed out heavily. "He's good, huh?"

Courtney was astounded of this. For the umpteenth time, what kind of a monstrous existence was Hayden?

Thereafter, the last few minutes was solely Hayden showing off, demolishing the former Annual Youth Pride team with his own two hands. It was an impressive show for the spectators.

By the time the ten minutes was up, Hayden scored over a hundred points by himself and without any of his teammates touching the ball for more than a second.

Out of the blue, Coach Ardiente stood up and walked towards Hayden's coach under the watchful gaze of Hayden.

"I've seen enough." Coach Ardiente spoke. "Clearly, Hayden is a prodigal athlete that would do well in the Annual Youth Pride. I'll see him next Monday at the training camp."

"Yes, sir." Hayden's coach bowed respectfully. Clapping loudly, he shouted, "Okay, show's over. I ask the audience to exit the premises."

With a groan, the crowd dispersed, with those who recorded the fight, they mistook this match as a training for Hayden and didn't recognize Coach Ardiente. Consequently, they uploaded the video of Hayden under the video of 'Five people against the 'Emperor of the Court' as training.'

As for the women who watched, they fangirled on Hayden's apparently manly display of athletic prowess. Phrases such as 'what a heartthrob!' and 'how attractive!' can be heard all around.

Meanwhile, Daniel led Courtney to sit on a bench not far from the entrance of the gymnasium. "For the last time, don't ever mess with that guy. He's too vengeful. He might really kill you. I'm not joking."

"He-he'll kill me?" Courtney stammered, evidently terrified of Daniel's warning. "I-isn't that way too much?"

"Oh, no." Daniel shook his head. "That guy is a heavily principled person. As long as you stay out of his way, he won't touch you at all. Howbeit, if you ever so slightly stay out of line, he won't hesitate to kill you, or at least beat you up. Be thankful that he nipped your plan in the bud, otherwise, you'd be buried six feet underneath the earth and won't be able to enjoy your life as a wielder."

"He's that vengeful?" Courtney smiled wryly. Now, she was genuinely relieved that she didn't get the chance to 'seduce' Hayden.

��..

Inside the gymnasium, Hayden and his teammates stood in front of the former Annual Youth Pride team. The two teams shook each other's hands as a show of sportsmanship.

"You guys go cool down and socialize." Coach Ardiente said to the members of Hayden's team and to Gabriel's team. "Hayden, I have something to talk with you about."

Naturally, Hayden went with them. He was angry at the pointless testing, not at Coach Ardiente. He was going to be his coach for the Annual Youth Pride, he cannot possibly hold resentment at him.

One action doesn't determine the entire personality of a person, thus, Hayden kept an open mind. Nevertheless, that didn't hinder him from being annoyed, did it?

Tailing Coach Ardiente and Sophia, Hayden spoke, "So, are we good?"

"Of course we're good." Coach Ardiente's usually stern countenance was twinkling. It disturbed Hayden and Sophia a little. "You are the best basketball player I've seen in years. To think that you're not using your Ability…"

"Yeah, yeah." Hayden waved Coach Ardiente's compliment off. On the contrary, he reproached them of their actions. "What's up with you guys' deal? There are videos of my games in the internet. Was this really necessary?"

"I apologize for that." Sophia was surprised of Coach Ardiente's apologetic attitude. She has never seen him act this way unless it was in front of their boss. "I wanted to see your skills in person, and the parameters of it."

Hayden's face twitched. "You are part of Puting Araw… You literally could've approached me and inquired of my basketball skills. You're also going to be my coach, hence, wasn't this uncalled-for?"

"I informed him that you work better when you're proving a point." Sophia serenely answered Hayden's question. "In that regard, I apologize as well."

"Uh…" Hayden was speechless. He couldn't refute Sophia as she was correct. He was one of those people that, although he's perfectly fine with being proven wrong, he didn't want to. Well, who wanted to, right? "Okay, fine. What's your business with me?"

"Let me formally introduce myself first." Coach Ardiente verbalized. "I am Dominic Ardiente, a Level 3 wielder of Puting Araw. I have an Ability that is sort of special in a way that I can enhance the learning speed of people."

"Oho?" Hayden was intrigued. "I have two questions, coach. First off, Level 3? At your age? I don't mean to be rude…"

"Oh, no need to be polite when asking questions." Dominic smiled amicably. "You see, I awakened only five years ago, and, as you may have known, the later in life you awaken, the slower your progress will be."

This was the first time Hayden heard of this information. With his Divine Perception, Hayden kept his surprise at bay. "For the second question… Your Ability does what?"

"Much like her Ability that calms people down, thus augmenting their mental processes and overall power, my power enhances learning speeds." Dominic gladly explained. "At first, my own learning capability was enhanced and allowed me to perform complex functions and mental tasks. At Level 2, my Ability granted me the power to project this power outwards, which is how I became a coach in the first place. At Level 3, I can do this…"

Information abruptly flowed inside Hayden's minds. Sorting through the information, he was befuddled as it was from… "This is your perspective of my gameplay."

"Precisely." Dominic nodded his head. "I can, not only communicate using my mind, but input my memories into other people's minds. It's quite a handy power."

"Interesting…" Hayden muttered. "Have you ever considered the potential combative prospects of this Ability?"

"What do you mean?" Dominic's fancy was tickled by Hayden.

"You see…" Hayden proceeded on to explaining his idea of projecting emotions in place of memories and information.

On the side, Sophia was truly shocked, though it wasn't expressed on her face. When she first met Dominic, he was so unsociable that she couldn't even use her Ability to calm him down.

What more, Hayden was actually talking to Dominic of Dominic's Ability. It was a peculiar sight for her no matter what angle she rationalized it. 'I guess two people of similar intellectual standing will hit it off… In short, birds of the same feather flock together…'

"Don't you think that's worth a try?" Hayden finished his exposition for Dominic's Ability. "What is the name of your Ability, by the way?"

"Its name is Mind Force." Dominic proudly stated. "It's an aptly named Ability, don't you think?"

"Indeed." Hayden agreed with Dominic. "Anyhow, coach, I'm kind of in a hurry, so can we get straight to the point."

"Okay." Dominic obliged. "The point is that there will be a training camp starting next week. I want you to be the point guard of the team and be the team captain."

"I refuse." Hayden rejected without showing signs of indecision. "If anything, I'd rather play alone than lead a bunch of people. Why do you think I'm a power forward?"

"You have all the great capabilities of a leader. Don't you hate it when people don't meet their potential?" Dominic urged and endeavored to persuade Hayden. "Come on, you possess every requirement to become a leader. Ferocity, a level-headed attitude, analytical skills, seeing the bigger and the smaller picture at the same time, and a charismatic quality that magnetizes people towards you."

"I'm sorry." Hayden stubbornly disagreed. Being in the limelight was hard enough for Hayden, what more a leadership position. "I will help people. I will provide my insights if necessary. However, I will not, ever, lead a team. I'm a good follower. I will never be a good leader."

With that, Hayden turned around and left Dominic. He wanted to chase Hayden, but was stopped by Sophia. "Don't. Once he makes up his mind, he'll stick to it unless the situation calls for it. You can't force him to do something that he doesn't want."

If Hayden heard Sophia's words, he would applaud her. She knew him so well despite not conversing with her that much. Hayden would say something along the lines of, 'You see the understanding that calmness brings?'

In the lockers, Hayden took a transient shower to wash off the sweat a little before putting his uniform back on. In the process of wearing his uniform, Hayden grumbled, "What a waste of time… I lost precious time to produce CHORUS' gifts just for that?"

Being the stoic that he is, Hayden chose to simply accept this fact and moved on. It's not like dwelling on something will change the past. It was a good principle that Hayden employed every time there's something that didn't go the way he wanted to.

Preparing to exit and walk home, he ran into Gabriel and his team, who were kind of down. Walking by, Hayden reminded them, "The world isn't fair. Don't contrast yourselves with others and move on."

These short two sentences of Hayden's attracted the attention of the five people. If not for the fact that Hayden totally wiped the floor with them, they'd have charged at him.

Watching Hayden's departing back, the first one to speak up was Gabriel, "He's right, you know? We can't mope all day, can't we? We plainly have to input greater effort!"

"Right!" Jack was the first amongst the team members to recover and cheer. "Hayden is a prodigious existence when it comes to talent, but does that mean that we can't beat players below him?"

"Yeah! He's probably already at the professional level!" John acquiesced. "That means that nobody our age can possibly beat him! Not us. No other prodigy. And no one at the Annual Youth Pride stage!"

"True, true." Christian nodded his head and provided his assent. "He's preposterously talented, certainly. That doesn't mean that we can't reach his level someday."

With that, the quintet walked to the shower room with newfound determination to practice and play.

…..

Exiting the gymnasium, Hayden was met with Daniel and Courtney. At the sight of Courtney, Hayden's head ached. 'Goddammit…'

Checking the time on his wristwatch, Hayden sighed. "I take it that you've told her my status as a wielder?"

"I did." Daniel grinned at Hayden. Behind that grin was slight terror. "Shouldn't I have told her that?"

"That's fine, she would've found out sooner or later anyways." Hayden's trademarked nonchalant face returned as he bent into a stance of a sprint. "I got to run. I've got many things to do."

"You have remaining energy to sprint?" Courtney had an expression of disbelief. "Is that part of your power, or our powers?"

"It's part of our powers." Daniel fulfilled Courtney's snooping. "I'll explain later… This guy is seriously-"

Before Daniel could finish his words, Hayden burst with speed. Daniel cried out, "You! Wait for us, you fucker!"