"I''m just going to try again." The goalkeeper said after stopping thest ball which was shot directly at him.


    He gathered all the balls around him and quickly made his way to the ball ster.


    <I told you it was going to be a tough quest>


    ''You don''t have to keep telling me that.''


    <Why don''t you try level four? You may get a lower quest that you''ll be able toplete>


    ''No.'' The goalkeeper replied before getting up on his feet and clicking the number five button and the redrge start button.


    After clicking the buttons, he quickly made his way back to his goal line.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out seven of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +30 exp ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    [ (+5) Energy upgrade ]


    ''It reduced the requirements.''


    <And the rewards too>


    The first ball was shot out toward the bottom left-hand corner as the goalkeeper quickly dived toward it and pushed it out before it could hit the floor and bounce into the goalpost.


    He quickly got up on his feet after keeping out that one to get ready for the next one.


    The next ball was shot out after fifty seconds and this one was aimed toward the left side, it wasn''t top or bottom but it was ced really far away from him.


    He dived toward the ball as soon as it was shot out and with the tip of his glove, he pushed the ball off the goalpost so that it hit the crossbar and rolled off.


    <You have ball ma remember>


    ''I know, I didn''t need it to make that save.''


    The third ball was shot out after the time wasplete and this one was aimed directly toward him but it was elevated in such a way as to confuse him but that goal from Kno in thest match had taught him a lot.


    He followed the ball with his eyes and just like he suspected, it was going to fall into the but he was there to push it over with both of his hands.


    <If you had been this decisive in that match, that goal wouldn''t have gone in>


    The fourth ball was an easy save for him as it was shot toward the lower right side and all he needed to do was stick his leg out and block it.


    <Four out of four, impressive>


    The fifth one was ced toward the top left-hand corner, this was a situation that required a certain skill to take care of.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    He dived towards the ball and with the help of his ball ma, the ball was pulled toward his glove and which made tipping it over the bar easier.


    "Five out of five." He muttered before slowly getting up from the floor.


    <You''re doing great>


    The sixth ball was also easy for him to save given the fact that it was ced toward the right side and wasn''t even stretched that far enough to stress him.


    <Six saves in a row, just one more>


    ''Yeah, just one more.''


    He expected the seventh ball to be ced somewhere tough like the angles but the ball was shot directly at him and all he needed to do to take care of it was pull his leg back and kick the ball but that had gone terribly wrong.


    He kicked the ball expecting it to fly low and hit maybe his front door but he seemed to have underestimated the power of his shot and how small those balls werepared to the standard ones used in official matches.


    The ball flew straight toward the ss window to his room upstairs and smashed through it shattering and breaking the ss in the process.


    "That wasn''t what I expected." He said with an awkward expression on his face.


    Nevertheless, he didn''t bother to go upstairs to bring the ball and clean the mess that he just made even after saving thest ball which was also an easy catch for him.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully kept out seven of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +30 exp received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ (+5) Energy upgrade ]


    [ 155/300 exp ]


    ''You should have just given me the first quest you damn system.''


    <Maybe you would have failed it if you have gotten it>


    ''You just witnessed me keep out eight balls, if I had gotten that same quest, I would have clearlypleted it.''


    <That''s what you think>


    ''What do you mean?''


    <Never mind>


    ''Okay.'' Dave replied.


    [ 65/105 Energy ]


    ''So, that''s what the energy upgrade is about.''


    <Yeah, the more your energy upgrades, the more energy you will be able to save and the more energy you''re able to save, the more you canst in tough situations>


    ''Okay, is there any other way I can upgrade my energy apart from earning it through quests like this?''


    <Stat points work on it>


    ''They do?''


    <Yeah, try it>


    ''Okay.''


    [ +1 stat point added to energy ]


    [ Energy has received a (+1) upgrade ]


    [ 65/106 Energy ]


    ''I think I''m going to keep my stat points to my physical stats and leave the energy upgrade to the rewards from quests.''


    <I was about to suggest the same>


    Dave had entered an intense training mode given the fact that Emma wasn''t home and there was no way for him to go at the moment.


    He trained with the ball ster for a way but for some reason, he refused to go further after level five.


    After training for a while with the balls, he switched to physical training in the form of push-ups, squats, sit-ups, and stretches.


    Physical training wasn''t exactly his thing and because of that, by the time he was done, his body was covered in sweat, he was breathing heavily and his energy had gone down low.


    [ 15/106 Energy ]


    But that was good given the fact that he had gotten some rewards for his hard work.


    [ Your training has paid off ]


    [ +2 stat points added to strength and endurance ]


    [ +1 stat point added to dexterity ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 23 ]


    [ Dexterity: 26 ]


    [ Endurance: 19 ]


    "I think I''m done for today." He muttered before making his way to the door.


    <The sun is almost gone anyways>


    He stood in front of the door and was about to open it when he heard footstepsing from the side and quickly turned his gaze there to see Emma approaching him from there.


    "Hey." He said with a smile on his face as soon as he saw her.


    "Hey." She said before looking at him from head to toe and then turning her gaze to thewn which had balls scattered all around it.


    "I see you''ve been training intensively." She said,


    "It was the only useful thing I could do," Dave said before opening the door for her to walk in. "So how was work today?" He asked before shutting the door.


    "Work was fine," She said with a nod as she moved toward the staircase.


    "And the article, did your boss like it?"


    "Ehhh.... she had a problem with some parts of it but she liked the rest." She said slowly making her way upstairs.


    "Okay."


    "I need to go get changed and you should go take a shower." She said before making her way upstairs.


    "Yeah, I really need it." He muttered.


    <You do realize that you never recovered the ball from that ss window you broke>


    "ss window," Dave muttered with a horrid expression on his face.


    "Dave!!" Emma yelled from upstairs.


    "Uh, oh."


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.


    Also, if you''re enjoying the novel so far, please drop a review, I just need two more reviews to get a rating.