Chapter 90 Superior Skill

[ Victory Rewards ]

[ Six crucial saves: +60 saves ]

[ Goals conceded (0): +50 exp ]

[ Match rating: 8.9 ]

'I was rated nine point zero by the official system and eight-point nine here.'

<Yeah, they were close but this is your correct rating>

'Fifty exp for each clean sheet kept, that's nice.' He said subconsciously as he entered the restroom.

<Exp obtained from keeping a clean sheet is not constant and depends on the difficulty of the match and your contribution to keeping the clean sheet>

'Okay, so I will get a higher exp for keeping a clean sheet against a team like Supreme United.'

<Yeah but if your team's defense becomes so tough in the match to the extent that you're only able to make as much as one save, your exp will still be low>

'Okay.'

[ 425/400 exp ]

[ Level up ]

[ Congratulations, you are now level 4 ]

[ +3 stat points received ]

[ +1 skill point received ]

[ Skill points: 9 ]

'I have a lot of skill points now.'

<And stat points too, plus you have those stat points ready to be used on a particular stat>

[ Please choose a stat to assign stat points to]

All stats are important but I think dexterity is my most important stat as a goalkeeper.

[ +2 stat points added to dexterity ]

[ Strength: 23 ]

[ Dexterity: 28 ]

[ Endurance: 19 ]

'Now it's time to check out this new skill.'

[ Equipped skills ]

[ Double jump: level (01) ]

[ Ball magnet: level (01) ]

[ Available but locked skill ]

[ Double stamina ]

[ Focus ]

'That's a really strange name for a skill.'

<You think?>

Just like the other skills, this one didn't have any description of what it was all about so he had to guess it because Catherine wouldn't tell him anything about it either.

'I'm guessing it enhances my focus in some kind of way.'

<You'll have to unlock it to find out>

'No, I'm unlocking double stamina first.'

[ (-3) exp ]

[ You have successfully unlocked double stamina ]

'I still have six skill points left, that should be enough to unlock this focus skill right?'

<Why don't your try and see for yourself?>

[ You have insufficient skill points to unlock this skill ]

[ Unlocking focus requires (+7) exp ]

'Seven skill points!' The goalkeeper screamed inwardly.

<It's written there>

'Ball magnet only costs two skill points, double stamina three skill points, why is this skill costing seven skill points?'

<Because of the quality, the higher the skill point required the higher the quality of the skill>

'So, this focus skill is far better than the ones I already have unlocked.'

<Every skill is important because they are all required for different things but focus is superior when compared to them in their different aspects>

'So what does the focus skill do?'

<Not working, I advised you to unlock it and find out but you didn't listen>

'One skill point left to be able to unlock it, that won't be so hard to get.'

<Yeah>

______ ______

After checking out his system, he returned to the locker room to meet up with his teammates who were quite in a joyous mood.

He joined them in their victory celebration and took selfies with a lot of his teammates along with his man of the match award before making his way home.

He arrived home by 10:30 PM and quickly made his way to the door as soon as he stepped down from his car and locked it.

He was certain that Emma was going to be there because he had wasted a lot of time at the stadium after that interview.

He knocked on the door thrice and after a few seconds, the door was opened by Emma who was putting on a brown robe now.

"What took you so long?"

"I was with my teammates," Dave said entering the house through the small space there as she was blocking the entrance with her body.

"Of course, I know you were with your teammates, what were you guys doing that took you so long to get back, were you even checking the time?"

"Obviously, we were celebrating our win against Lave City which marks a five-match unbeaten run for us, it's our longest run since the start of the season," Dave said as he walked to the kitchen while she followed him.

"Oh, yeah, you guys have gone five matches unbeaten now, I guess I can't blame you for that." She said standing at the entrance to the kitchen. "But you have to understand that I was worried."

Dave didn't reply immediately as he opened the fridge and took out a fifty centiliter bottled water before walking closer to her.

"Of course, I like that you worry about me." He kissed her on her cheek before making his way to the couch in the sitting room.

Emma watched him until he sat down on the couch and opened the bottled water.

The highlights of the match which had just concluded were showing on the television now and Dave was watching it to see the saves he had made and rate them from a viewer's point of view.

He still had his gaze on the television when Emma got closer to him and instead of sitting down beside him on the couch, she stood there and stared at him like he was some stranger.

"Is there a problem?" He asked before slowly turning his gaze to him.

"No," She shook her head before sitting down on the small table.

"What is it?" Dave asked as he was certain that there was a problem now.

"It's just that..."

"What?"

"You said I reminded you of your mother." She said,

"Yeah, I said it because it's true," Dave said. "I see you still have what happened at the stadium in mind, you know it's funny how you told me to act professional and then you end up being the one to mess it up."

"You shouldn't have answered the question." She mumbled. "I got carried away because you've never told me anything about your mother and then you straight up say that I remind you of her in an interview."

"Oh."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't know," Dave said, shaking his head. "I was about to tell you one time before you almost crashed into another car and sent my heart on a marathon race."

"Oh, that day." She said with an awkward expression on her face.

There was a little moment of silence between the two before Emma decided to say something.

"So, what was she like, your mother?" She asked.

"Like you."

"I know you said I reminded you of her but there's no way I can have all her qualities, there has to be things that make her unique to you." She said,

"Yeah, you're right, there are quite a lot of things that make her unique to me."

The goalkeeper was interrupted by Emma's watch which had started beeping loudly now.

"I'll be back." She said before getting up from the table and quickly making her way upstairs.

"Okay," Dave muttered as soon as she was out of sight before relaxing on the couch.

'What a day this has turned out to be.'

<You know you're forgetting something right?>

'Huh?'

<Open your system and check your tabs>

'Okay.'

He opened his system and went through his tabs to see that there was a new tab with a red dot above it to indicate that there was an unchecked message there.

'Achievements.' He said subconsciously before clicking the tab.

Looking at the messages displayed on his system after clicking the tab, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

'More rewards.'

*****

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