From Arsenal to the Ball God

The time moved into November, and since there were two weeks of national team matches scheduled in the middle of the month, the fixture calendar for every top club playing across four leagues was quite tight.

They needed to complete 6 matches within 19 days, basically averaging one match every three days.

Ma’el took advantage of his spare time to train even harder on the training ground, focusing entirely on Level 3 skills, though the frequency of leveling up wasn’t as fast as before.

Still, many skills were indeed slowly approaching the upgrade threshold... Among them was the ball control skill that he valued the most!

On the field, football is constantly in motion, either through passing or dribbling.

His passing ability was quite good; as long as he improved his ball control, there would really be no problem with his ’control’ over the ball.

A defender trying to complete a steal under his feet?

Unless everything in that attack-defense scenario was against him, otherwise, the probability was quite small.

”My ball shield is like Henry’s.”

Ma’el recalled Li Yi the Great Emperor’s famous phrase, and once his ball control improved, his shielding genuinely resembled Henry’s.

Plus, thanks to a better physique, it might even achieve a protective effect superior to Henry’s.

”Boom boom boom....!”

On the training ground, he sweated profusely, rapidly flicking and pulling the ball with both feet, repeating these actions thousands of times daily.

Sometimes, when feeling bored, he would wonder how his ability would compare to peak Henry once his ball control and rhythm improved?

It should be very close... Not suggesting he is weaker than Henry, just describing the similarity between the two.

Henry’s shortcoming, and his currently, was the lack of header skills; beyond that, everything else was rather perfect.

Overall shooting ability should be superior to his, but in many aspects, he was slightly better than the Great Emperor.

Having Henry’s level at 18?

Ma’el showed a slight smile, it truly was an extraordinary achievement.

After wrapping up the day’s training, he wore sunglasses and drove his Ferrari home with Jose. Before getting into the car, he glanced at his skill level progress.

[Skills: Aerial Strike Level 3]

[Skill Level: (464/800)]

[Skills: Outside Foot Arc Level 3]

[Skill Level: (430/800)]

[Skills: Ball Control Level 3]

[Skill Level: (1906/2000)]

[Skills: Endurance Level 3]

[Skill Level: (1646/2000)]

[Skills: Rhythm Level 3]

[Skill Level: (1142/1500)]

”Almost there.”

Ma’el took a deep breath, eagerly anticipating the day his ball control and rhythm both leveled up, which would definitely be a comprehensive enhancement of abilities once again.

He also started to think about his future improvement plan, considering he already had numerous Level 4 skills, wondering if he should hone one to Level 5 and test the effect?

The novel domain he had longed for remains untrodden till now.

It’s time to advance... to step towards the true limit level of humanity!

That would be an entirely new standard!

No one could find a reference benchmark in reality; this was a novel threshold unique to Ma’el, and any resemblance from others would already be top-tier.

Long ago, he knew that to blaze a new, never walked football path, such abilities were indispensable.

One wasn’t enough, three weren’t sufficient, he sought to be thoroughly versatile, at the extreme of versatility!

If such a good opportunity existed, and he only satisfied with breaking records in the Championship, being a top player in the Premier League, or even just meeting the status of the legendary duo, it would be a waste of talent.

He pursued being one-of-a-kind!

”Try it!”

Ma’el made a decision and then pondered from which Level 4 skills to start practicing.

His initial confirmation was to begin from skill-type skills as a Skill Level of 2000 could help speed up achieving Level 5.

Even if a Level 5 physical-type skill might be much stronger than a Level 5 skill-type skill, a Skill Level of 5000 was rather demoralizing.

Start with skill-type first, taste the benefits before practicing speed and power, and of course, extreme coordination.

”Wait.”

Ma’el suddenly thought of a question; if all his physical-type skills reached Level 5, with all values fully leveled, he might also showcase top performance in rugby and other sports arenas, right?

He showed a faint smile; it was a curious discovery and a daydream, reality might not be so simple.

Refocusing his thoughts, he began contemplating where to start if practicing skill-type abilities.

Compared to passing ability, he was definitely more inclined towards goal-scoring shooting ability.

And the Level 4 shots he currently had were dipping shot and long shot... from an efficiency standpoint, dipping shot seemed slightly better than long shot.

In match scenarios, certainly, dipping shot occurrences were greater than long shot.

Yet the increment... wasn’t enough to extinguish his affection for long shot as his first skill, and pursuit of ultimate aesthetic violence!

Long shot was undoubtedly the cooler, more impactful one!

He still wanted to start with long shot, and once trained to Level 5, then shift to practicing dipping shot, before potentially training other Level 4 skills.

”Once ball control and rhythm improve, first practice long shot.”

Ma’el selected the first Level 5 skill, which held essential significance to him.

Thinking it might reach Level 5 this season, he showed a satisfying smile; from Level 1 to Level 5, long shot had always accompanied him, witnessing his football journey.

He always spoke about cherishing feathers, and if each skill were like a feather, then ’long shot’ must be his beloved one.

Even if it was slowly eclipsed by many more vibrant feathers, losing its prominent presence gradually, it would still provide the feeling of an early love