She couldn't purchase from the Divine Market because of the boycott. Other clubs will be doom but Joan was different. She had the system store.
She glance through the system store.
[System Store]
• Shattered Ember — the weakest tier. Gear that is cracked, flickering, barely holding its elemental spirit. (Unlocked)
• Veil-Forged — items made under a mist or shadow; modest protection, more style than power. (Locked)
• Ironwood Sentinel — as tough as iron, flexible as wood; often enchanted for resilience or ongoing protection. (Locked)
• Rune-Woven — gear whose patterns of runes actually stabilize its magic, more durable and uncommon. (Locked)
• Storm-Borne — imbued with the raw energy of storms; gusts, electric hums, faint charge in the air. (Locked)
• Obsidian Aegis — dark, sleek; often rare or elite defensive gear, with danger and beauty. (Locked)
• Soul-Anchored — items bound to a living soul or spirit; respond to emotion/state of owner. (Locked)
• Astral Gleam — items that reflect stars, cosmic dust; light-weight, glowing, subtly powerful. (Locked)
• Phoenix-Heart — items that regenerate, that heal themselves (or their bearer), or rise from "ashes" (destroyed state). (Locked)
• Celestial Verge — gear on the cusp of divinity; barely mortal, but with divine spark, crossing thresholds. (Locked)
• Eclipse Sovereign — items whose power comes from contrast (light/dark), or that transform during certain celestial events. (Locked)
• Cosmic Apotheosis — top-tier exalted gear; items that transcend origin, legendary, with mythic influence. (Locked)]
There were 12 grades of items. She only got access to the first grade — the shattered ember grades. Yet, she couldn't purchase any reasonable kits. She exited the store because her pocket was hopeless.
The dawn broke over Eclipse Shadows' shabby training complex, oh! It's yet to be a complex more like an empty field, with a calm that belied the storm of energy soon to come. The phased turf gleamed faintly, a lattice of light and shadow interwoven, as if the very field itself were aware and anticipating. Joan stepped onto the pitch, Obsidian Marks faintly pulsing, feeling the heartbeat of the stadium and her squad in tandem.
"Today," she said, voice carrying, "we grow beyond ourselves. Every pass, every sprint, every breath—counts. The realm watches. The cosmos listens. Faith and shadows fuels you. Loyalty binds you. Victories... will be ours."
The players lined up, their eyes alight, feeling the surge of power from an unknown source and Joan herself. The new recruits had yet to fully understand the strange rhythms of her guidance—the pulses of cosmic mythic energies that threaded into muscle memory, the invisible whispers that made the impossible seem routine—but they trusted her. And that trust fed her system.
Minute by minute, the drills began.
GK – Zara (Captain, Defensive Titan): The system detected subtle inefficiencies in his positioning. Joan initiated the Focus Weave, and Zara's movements synced with a fraction of predictive probability bending. Each save now left a ripple: a shadow of past trajectories overlaying his current perception.
RB – Juno (Slum Sprinter): Speed drills were enhanced by the system's hidden threads, slightly bending distance perception. Every sprint shaved milliseconds off reaction time. Joan's notification popped:
[Player Upgrade: Juno – Sprint Efficiency +2%, New Skill Unlocked: "Shadow Blitz"]
CB – Rook (Mad Disrupter) & Darius (Stone Wall): Tackling combos escalated. Darius absorbed impact shocks that would have buckled normal spines. Rook's loyalty rose from the day's praise and physical endurance:
[Player Loyalty Gains: Rook +3, Darius +2]
LB – Nia (Silent Blade): Shadow drills enabled silent interception skills. He could vanish briefly behind opponents' visual perception, stealing the ball with preternatural timing.
RM – Kai (Chaos Dribbler) & LM – Lyra (Twin Brother, Trickster): Coordination drills synchronized their twin instincts. The system noted a synergy spike:
[Team Synergy: Kai-Lyra +7%, Probability Thread Active]
CM – Mila (Shadow Striker, Deep Lurker) & Elian (Balance Keeper): Joan focused on situational awareness drills. Every pass, every feint, trained them to react to anomalies not yet occurring.
ST – Orion (Aerial Predator) & Sylas (Twin Brother, Trickster): Heading drills were accelerated by micro-adjustments in gravitational perception courtesy of the system. Sylas's "Twin Trickster" skill activated spontaneously: he mirrored Orion's movements in perfect symmetry, creating dual attacks.
The system itself tracked and rewarded incremental growth:
[Victory Simulation: +0 CC earned]
[OM earned: +19]
[Morale: 84% → 88%]
[Hidden Threads Detected: Talent Repair Efficiency +0.3%]
Joan adjusted formations in real time. Chaos Eclipse, previously locked, pulsed faintly with new activation triggers. The players didn't need to consciously understand it; the system wove their instincts into the formation.
The new recruits trained with a mixture of awe and frustration.
Eryndor (One-Eyed Guardian, A-Potential): A series of reflex drills tested his limits. His loyalty rose slowly:
[Player Loyalty Gains: Eryndor +2]
[New Skill Trial: "Blind Sentinel" – partially unlocked]
Korrik (Iron-Blooded Tackler): Defensive drills with Darius revealed latent strength. Feedback from Joan allowed his tackling to become both anticipatory and precise.
Halvor (Ex-Talons Youth, Vengeful) & Fenris (Wolf-Blood Striker converted to Defence): The system intervened subtly: both learned to read body weight and micro-movements, even adjusting instinctively for one another.
Veyra (Exiled Priest, Spiritual Anchor) & Sorin (Alchemist Midfielder): They absorbed divine energy from Joan's Obsidian Marks. Veyra's aura enhanced morale. Sorin's experimentation with passing loops allowed mid-field control unseen by ordinary systems.
Kallus & Rhea (Twins, Tricksters): Their rivalry became fuel for explosive skill growth. Probability threads nudged their decisions for maximum synergy.
Draeven (Firebrand Striker, Loyalty 10) & Kairon (Silent Killer, Loyalty 24): Joan's interventions in split-second positioning combined with their natural aggression:
[Player Loyalty Gains: Draeven +2, Kairon +1]
[New Skill Unlocked: "Silent Strike" for Kairon, "Flare Shot" for Draeven]
Tovan (Utility): Played all positions in rotational drills. System noted unmatched stamina and adaptability.
By the end of the training, Joan pulled up the Club System Menu:
[Club System Menu]
• Club Management – 1% Optimisation
• Talent Radar – 41% Range
• Staff Recruitment – 1% Success Rate
• Divine Tactics– 1 Unlocked Formation (Chaos Eclipse)
• Hidden Gems – 1 (Unlocked training roadmap)
• Repair Broken Talent – 3.8%
• Morale – 88%
[Currency]
• 6 CC
• 0 GB
• 1 FS
• 373 OM (Invest guide: Stadium structure! Pitch construction...)
]
Small, incremental victories, but monumental in aggregate. Every pass, tackle, and sprint was not just practice—it was investment. The system whispered: Faith and loyalty compound faster than credits or contracts.
Joan allowed a short break. Players huddled, sweat and cosmic residue glistening. She let them feel the surge, the invisible hand of OM flowing with their belief.
"Notice it?" she asked. "Your synergy, your timing—it's not just talent. It's belief. It's trust. It's philosophy weaving into you. You're becoming more than the sum of your parts."
Minute by minute, she charted their progress, and the feedback from her Obsidian Marks lit small constellations across the training pitch, signaling gains: speed, reaction, cohesion, morale, loyalty. By sunset, the squad had achieved what she called First Tier Ascendance: basic synergy threads unlocked, new tactical options open, micro-reactions optimized.
She breathed in and pull up her league rank. Her system flashed another notification:
[Recognition Complete]
Club: Eclipse Shadows
Registered Owner: Joan Salvador
League Assignment: Ashen Ranks, Tier 1
Promotion Slots: 1, 789, 433 out of 2,000,000
Progressive rank increase, a slow climb from obscurity to prominence. The Market might boycott, traders might sneer, but the momentum was irreversible.
Joan surveyed her squad as twilight bathed the shabby complex in construction. Shadows flickered, real and artificial, entwining with the edges of players' perception. She knew the next match would test more than their skill—it would test faith, loyalty, and the ever-watching OM. But the explosive growth, the bonds forged in sweat and cosmic whispering, would carry them.
"Tomorrow," she murmured, "you show the world what shadows can do."
The players looked at her, tired but unyielding, ready to turn the field into a cathedral of devotion, belief, and unbroken loyalty.
The match day dawned in a crisp brilliance, sunlight refracting off the phased turf of Eclipse Shadows' stadium. Joan's squad assembled, every heartbeat synced to the invisible threads woven during yesterday's marathon of drills. OM tingled along her forearms, the system pulsing with anticipation: the match against the long-standing rival, Dusk Talons, would be a crucible of skill, and raw cosmic interference. They will not play at advantage. They would have to travel to their rival stadium by midday.
The stadium roared with early fans, but the energy was already electric inside the field. Joan performed a last-minute mental scan of the squad through her Obsidian Marks. Subtle alerts flickered.
[Player Fatigue: Minimal]
[Morale: 91%]
[Hidden Threads Active: Chaos Eclipse → Attack Bias +3%]
She whispered to the squad as they lined up for the opening minutes: "Focus on synergy, on timing. Trust my tactics, trust yourselves. Every action becomes probability, every reaction becomes destiny."
Kickoff – Minute 1
Juno surged down the right flank with preternatural acceleration, weaving past Dusk Talons' left-back. The system nudged the ball's trajectory subtly in Kai's favor:
[Probability Thread: +12% Assist Success]
Kai intercepted a slightly misjudged clearance, instantaneously exchanging a feint with Lyra. The twin trick synergy created a micro-gap in the defense, Orion threading an aerial strike toward the near post. The goalkeeper's hands grazed the ball, but Sylas mirrored Orion's flight perfectly: 1-0 Eclipse Shadows.
The crowd erupted, notifications blinked:
[Team Synergy: +5%]
[Boost Multiplier: Active]