CHAPTER 85: SPECIAL TRAINING (S.U)

The next morning.

Lukas got up from his bed after finishing his LTC training for the day.

"Ahhh, finally, I’m done with KDB skill training," he said as he stretched his body. He had returned to skill training after his ankle recovered in the LTC.

"Oh?" Lukas stopped as he looked at his leg.

The ankle, which had hurt slightly whenever he stood on his toes, was now completely free of pain.

He jumped slightly, careful not to land too hard on his left foot.

No pain.

He did it again, this time landing on both feet equally.

Same thing.

Then again, landing on just his left foot.

Perfectly fine.

A smile formed on his lips as he sprinted out of his room into the living room, completely free of pain.

"Ohhh FINALLY!! Thank goodness it didn’t take a week like the last time you showed me a progress bar."

[*Ahem... You’re welcome.*]

Lukas’s injury was completely healed. He felt even lighter on his feet than he had before the injury.

He had missed two games, and his team had drawn both of them 1–1. With very important games coming up, he knew he had to get back to top form as soon as possible.

"TT, open player profile and skill windows."

[ PROFILE – LUKAS BRANDT – FOOTBALLER

DATE OF BIRTH: 30/12/2008 (16)

HEIGHT: 178 cm

WEIGHT: 62 kg

CAREER STATUS: EINTRACHT FRANKFURT FIRST TEAM

POSITION: ATTACKING MIDFIELDER

CURRENT LIMIT: 85

RATING: 82

PLAYER STATS

ATTACK:

Off. Awareness: 82 (↑2)

Ball Control: 81

Dribbling: 81

Tight Possession: 80

Low Pass: 82 (↑1)

Lofted Pass: 81 (↑1)

Finishing: 80

Header: 80

Set-Piece: 81

Curl: 81

DEFENCE:

Def. Awareness: 76 (↑1)

Tackling: 74

Aggression: 71

Def. Engagement: 70

STRENGTH:

Speed: 81

Acceleration: 80

Kicking Power: 83 (↑1)

Jump: 80

Physical Contact: 80

Balance: 80

Stamina: 80

Note: One of the best in the league.

SKILLS:

Injured From Training? Not Me – Passive – Level 4/5

First Touch Ball Control – Level 2/5

La Croqueta – Active – Level 2/5

Step Over – Active – Level 2/5

No-Look Pass – Level 2/5

Disguised Through Pass – Level 3/5 (↑1)

Chipped Finishing – Level 2/5

Ozil Bounce – Level 1/5

Visionary Playmaking – Level 1/5 new

Thunderbolt Strike – Level 2/5 new

Surgical Throughball – Level 1/5 new ]

"WOW! The training was horrid for a reason... It’s so worth it," Lukas exclaimed as he looked at his stats and skills.

"To think training a skill would increase my stats this much... Sometimes I’ll spend a week on a specific stat training just to get a one-point increase. What do I train now, though?" he said aloud, before going deep in thought.

There were currently 14 days before the match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, and 21 days before the one against the reigning champions — Bayer Leverkusen — at the Deutsche Bank Park. These were the two teams ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga table.

These were the kind of matches where players really showed their star quality. And Eintracht Frankfurt would go into both matches clearly as the underdogs.

"That means I have 56 and 84 days to prepare for Bayern and Leverkusen in the LTC. I feel like I should focus on just one thing in that period... My shot power is already very good after this KDB skill training. I don’t think I can train my strength enough to out-muscle someone like Dier and Kim, or even out-smart someone like Kimmich with his experience and skill... There’s only one option, then... I’ve gotta out-run them... Speed and Endurance it is, then!"

[*Oh wow. I am proud of you. Being able to figure that out on your own.*]

"Just ’cause I let you act smart, doesn’t mean I’m dumb. You understand that, right?"

[*Yeah, yeah, sure. I do. You want me to start special training for Speed and Endurance when you log in to the LTC?*]

"Special training, huh? What’s the difference from the normal training?"

[*Well, you’ll find out, won’t you...*]

"Hmmm... That’s suspicious, but sure, start special training for Speed and Endurance."

Immediately he said that, a system window appeared.

[ Special Training: Speed and Endurance

Please Select Duration in LTC days. ]

"84 LTC days."

[ 84-day Speed and Endurance special training started.

Special Training Debuff:

Passive Skill Injured From Training? Not Me reduced to Level 1/5. ]

"Oh... Wow... Okay... I wasn’t expecting that. I’m probably gonna regret this."

[*Don’t worry, you can’t die in the LTC.*]

"That’s where the bar is? Death?"

[*It’s called a ’special training’ for a reason.*]

"Argh!! F*ck it! What’s the worst that could happen? It cannot be that bad... We’ll see what you’ve got, starting tomorrow," Lukas said, forcefully pumping his chest to give himself the courage to face what was to come.

He had no idea that he had just signed a deal with the devil.

Just then, the entrance to the apartment chimed as someone successfully input the door’s password.

It unlocked, and Javi walked in carrying groceries.

"Dad, you should have woken me up to help," Lukas said as he rushed to the door and took a few plastic bags from Javi.

"Be careful, Luke. Take it easy. The doctor said you can’t be running yet."

"Dad, I’m fine. I feel perfect," Lukas said as he bounced on his feet.

"Stop that! Even if you feel better, you cannot do what the doctor asked you not to do. You have another checkup today, right? Go take a shower, we’ll see what the doctor says after today."

"Yes, sir," he replied as he dropped the groceries on the countertop and headed to the bathroom.

"He looks... okay... I just hope he’s cleared of this soon," Javi thought as he watched his son walk to the bathroom with a smile on his face.

Although he had not shown it, Javi could tell Lukas missed playing. They had watched the two games Lukas missed together, and Javi could see the look in his son’s eyes as the matches went on and their team needed a win, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

When the injury happened, he was so worried about something like that happening again — or even worse, a more serious injury. He had even thought of asking Lukas to quit. But that thought only lasted a second, as he quickly remembered how Lukas reacted when he was dropped from the Darmstadt academy.

There was nothing Javi loved more than his son. But there was nothing his son loved more than football. And Javi was well aware of that.

"Ahhh... Parents... What we’ve got to go through," he thought, shaking his head as he started unpacking the groceries and putting them in the fridge.

* * *

Same day, a few hours later.

In a familiar office at the end of a hallway in the B-section of the ProfiCamp, Dr. Plachel was sitting behind his desk, staring hard at something on his monitor.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Please come in."

Dino Toppmöller opened the door and walked into the office. Plachel stood up to greet the head coach. After a few seconds exchanging pleasantries, Toppmöller spoke up.

"Fabian, you said it was important?" he asked as he sat down in an empty seat.

"Yes. Have a look at this." Plachel turned his monitor around to face Toppmöller.

The screen displayed several scan images of an ankle from multiple angles. At the bottom, a tiny name was written in black: Brandt L.

"This is Lukas’s ankle... What am I looking at? Is there a problem with his recovery?" Toppmöller asked, his heart sinking at the thought of bad news — a deeper hidden injury that could rule Lukas out for more weeks. He had very important games coming up, and he knew he absolutely needed Lukas fit for those fixtures.

"A problem? What problem? He’s completely healed. I mean, completely."

"...Huh?"