CHAPTER 10: TIME OF REST

Ethan's nerves calmed down a bit after a few minutes and by then the train had already moved off, he moved to a vacant seat beside a window and looked through it, night time had already filled the sky and you could even see a bit of stars all around, lighting up the sky.

People by that time had already stopped staring at the weird fourteen year old for his acrobatic stunt.

Shockingly enough that was not the first time it had happened this week, hell it's not even the first time it has happened today.

So within a few moments everyone was already back to doing their own stuff.

The ride to Liverpool was the most peaceful time Ethan's had in a while, the steady chime of the train mixed with the comfortable silence and the peaceful scenery moving by…

'hope mom and Sera are okay' Ethan thought

As soon as he thought that a flood of emotions overcame Ethan, he couldn't help but think of everything he has experienced in his life up till now.

How he first came to England after his father and mother had a fall out with each other, how he attended his current school and was admitted into the team for being the best player in the school trials, and how Charlie began to bully him after the school trials, something which became a lot worse after the tournament.

When he thought of the last one his eyes reddened and veins threatened to pop out of his skin, his blood boiled and he folded his hands into a fist, he squeezed his fist so hard so much it would have drawn blood..

'Charlie, you'll pay for everything that you did to me or my name isn't Ethan Parker'

The train soon reached Liverpool, it was an uneventful ride, the type Ethan needed with all that was going on…

He walked into the still bustling city and stared at everything like a local country bumpkin, he stumbled about in the street lights until he came across a food cart.

The food tasted a little salty but Ethan rushed it nonetheless, he was already done by the time he came across a stadium.

By this time it was already very late in the night and the air was as chilly as ever, the sky was filled with stars that shone brightly down, twinkling in apparent joy and happiness but Ethan still had one problem and that was where he would stay…

….

"Whew.." Ethan heaved a sigh as he laid on the bench in the Liverpool youth dressing room.

It was already dark at that time and he was so tired that all he wanted to do was get some shut eye. He didn't even know how he got to the youth centre but all that mattered now was that he did…

'Now time to get some shut eye'

But….

"Aaaah!" Ethan's scream reverberated around the room.

"What the hell man" Ethan was talking to Hercules who was staring at him in all seriousness while he was asleep.

[I need to ask you something] Hercules didn't look like his usual playful self, he looked... different.

"It's 11pm right now and where were you all this time I was getting chased for my life" Ethan asked in exasperation

[Oh me? I was busy watching the show with some popcorn and a beer, it's the first time I had to watch an action movie life and direct you know, I wouldn't miss it for the world] Hercules beams you a smile (My kinda guy)

Ethan grits his teeth in anger...

But soon enough his sighed, he was just too tired to get angry right now

"Alright what is it" Ethan rubbed his eyes sleepily

[Can you do what you did back then at the station again, right now?]

"Nani- I mean huh??, what did I do in the station back then?" you ask with a confused look on your face..

[I mean what you did when you paused time back there]

"paused time? isn't it what normally happens when something life changing happens to someone, at the brink of death maybe."

[Hah, in the world right now it is difficult to see but there are people who awaken talents, some more powerful than the others.

Let me give an example, Cristiano Ronaldo awakened the talent to acquire any skill that he trained repeatedly on over a long period of time.

Ronaldo Nazario had a more powerful skill of being able to learn anything he can think of as far as he has enough determination, willpower and magic stats but apparently his awakened talent was a bit too….stressful for him and he got injured for a chunk of his career. Messi has a weak but very useful talent of being able to see 1 second into the future for about 5 seconds and apparently coupled with his high magic stats, it was a recipe for disaster, for the defender that is]

Hercules look at him again

[Now do you understand what you did when you slowed down time, not only that but every thing you did during that time was to perfection. If you can use your talent more frequently then you might just be able to achieve your dream as one of the best players in the world.]

Ethan was speechless…

"...."

[....]

"Are you sure you haven't been reading too many webnovels recently, or maybe you have a fever?" Ethan tried to reach his backhand towards Hercules's face to feel his temperature but he swatted it away annoyedly.

[It's fine if you don't believe me now, you will in the future. Get some rest, tomorrow is the start of a very hectic training montage] Hercules disappears in a poof.

Ethan who was barely holding himself up until now immediately fell asleep.

Ethan woke up very early the next day and put on a tracksuit from one of the sets laying there. He quickly went for his daily morning jog, it was a walk in the park all up to the 50km mark but after reaching the 75km mark he felt his stamina running dry and by the time he had reached 110 he had already been spent, laying on the floor was the best he could do.

One thing that Ethan noticed now which he didn't before maybe because it was late at night and he was pretty tired was that it wasn't actually Liverpool youth stadium he slept at last night but a local football field stadium. Well, although he wasn't picky about which pitch he trained at he still thanked his luck, after all he didn't want to get caught by one of the workers for a break-in.

He removed his mind from such thoughts and continued the daily quest given to him and before the sun fully came out he was done.

DAILY QUESTS

[RUN 110KM daily] Starter's discount

KM RAN→110/110

[75 PUSH UPS daily] Starter's discount

PUSH UPS DONE→75/75

[75 SIT UPS daily] Starter's discount

SIT UPS DONE→75/75

REWARD: Low grade vitality potion

[REWARDING MISSION COMPLETION..]

Ethan's eyes opened wide when a purple bottle poofed into existence right beside him. His face twisted into one of shock and surprise.

"Hiaaa" he almost jumped off the bench he was sitting on.

"This must be the vitality potion, I'm not foolish enough to think that this came from a mysterious system or some random bullshit like that so this likely came from Hercules"

Ethan's head went down as he thought

'I guess this is his way of investing in me' a warm smile blossoms on his face 'i won't let you down'. (Yeah go get 'em tiger)

With that Ethan downed the whole potion in one go, his body immediately felt refreshed, like he just jumped in hot water on a very chilly day.

…..

After Ethan showered and put on another set of training kit, he left the room filled to the brim with confidence going to the pitch where there were already people playing. He joined different people and played on different teams till nightfall.

When everyone had gone Ethan deemed it time to start his training, he set up cones and other training materials and officially began his training. He knew his journey had started and he knew he had to give his best from the very beginning.