I had four days left to train. Four days until the first day of tryouts, where I would see if I was any good despite my lack of real interest in the sport until I messed up three days ago.

Those three days were a bit of a rush for me, as I had to make a basketball court in the Soul Forges arena and get a basketball on top of that. I couldn't practice without either of those. Then I also had the side activity of searching the library for a book on basketball rules and terms. I honestly had no idea about most of that stuff, and if I showed up without at least some of the basic terms that someone who played basketball before would know I would look stupid.

I ended up finding one, but it was not very useful so I just decided that I would stop looking for another book if it exists and spend my time doing other things.

My basketball court got installed inside the arena by the end of the third day, as I had taken a bit of time to build it in a way so it could retract out of the main arena to not get in the way when I was not using it. With that finished, I had to turn my attention to the next thing that I needed. A basketball.

I still had some money from selling my stuff to that pawn shop, so it wasn't hard to get one if I knew where there was one that was accessible. Only problem is that the nearest place that probably sold basketballs was about half an hour away from the school. So as soon as I finished installing the basketball court in the arena, I took off and out of the school yard while also trying to go as unnoticed as possible with my stealth passive.

So I ran away from the school through the city and went back into the Soul Forge with a newly bought basketball in my arms. However, when I did that something unexpected happened.

New Quest: The long game.

Difficulty: Mid-difficult

Requirements to succeed: Get picked for Yancy’s junior basketball team during tryouts.

Rewards if succeeded: One Passive Ability or 100 Ring Gold along with one free level in a Passive Ability of your choice.

I got a quest. Apparently the system must have picked up on what I was trying to do and turned it into a quest for me. The difficulty was higher than normal, as normally quests that I get for school are Low grade, Mediocre grade and in one case, Average grade. I didn't know how the grade system worked exactly, but this was a step up from my usual stuff at least. Maybe a few steps up.

But with a higher difficulty comes a higher reward apparently. I could get a Passive Ability or a hundred RG and a free level to something! That was a huge step up from my normal 1-60 RG for school work. Of course I would pick the Passive Ability if I succeeded in the quest, as those are turning out to be incredibly more valuable than RG and a level in a Passive combined in my eyes.

Even more pressure to get on the team. Ok. Fine. That's fine.

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Four days of intense basketball training followed me receiving the quest to join the team, and by the end of the last training session I could squeak out I had little to show for it. Not none, but a little.

I had worked out how to use my Passive Abilities to increase my lacking basketball skill somewhat, with Deflection and Evasion becoming almost always on my mind when dribbling and increasing my skill somewhat doing that as far as I could tell. But the trouble with practicing by myself was I didn't really have anything to gauge on how effective something is.

I suspected that Deflection would work well to increase my ability to block shots as well but I didn't have a way to really test that out.

Aside from those skills helping me along with my defence and maneuvering, my shooting practice was turning out pretty good as well. For the first two days I practiced and was slowly getting better and I realized that while I didn't have a skill to help my accuracy, muscle memory and technique was probably just as important when learned on their own. Then on my third day of practice, I started to think and I realized a few things which helped improve even more.

I realized that while I did not have a skill for throwing basketballs, I did have a skill that helped with accuracy of throwing knives.

For most normal people, I am pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to find a connection that they could utilize. But after a while of swapping between throwing knife practice and shooting baskets, I started to feel a small connection between the skill and my throwing. I started to actually improve my aim somehow through using that small connection to my Dagger Skills ability. I started to august my aim subconsciously, similar to how my Dagger Skills ability worked.

Though I didn't do this practice to gain a level in Dagger Skills, somehow it ended up pushing me to level ten. Then as I was celebrating reaching level ten, I felt something in my mind click and I got another notification on the bright blue screen that popped into existence in front of me that I read quickly. “Passive ability: ‘Throwing Skills lv1’ unlocked.” I read out loud with a grin.

It turned out that by finding the connection to the system ability through my Dagger Skills ability, I managed to pull off getting myself the ability I was hoping for.

In terms of system passive abilities, I now had a skill for shooting more accurately, which is Throwing Skills, a skill for evading my opponents, which is Evasion, and finally Deflection which I am pretty sure will help with stealing balls and blocking passes and preventing the other team from scoring. Everything I needed for playing, really.

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I just had to translate system guidance to actual playing, and practice to get my physical skills to a respectable level. But on the other hand, I had a single day to test out my newest skill and then it was the first day of the tryouts.

So I used that one day the best I could. I practiced dribbling and shooting, pretending to be in a match as best as I could. I think I was alright, but the phrase you are your own worst critic and the fact I don't have anyone to really try myself against really makes anything I personally feel to not be the best estimate. I would just have to wish for some good luck for the tryouts and hope that I get on the team. I really want that Passive for the quest, and honestly it would be embarrassing for me if I fail and Grover plus Percy find out. Also it could possibly make Percy suspicious all over again. I was playing the long game right now and I got to win.

That last day of practice was honestly the hardest I had ever exercised and practiced anything before, but it came to an end eventually. I walked back to my dorm room in the late afternoon covered with sweat and feeling a little sore from my practice, ready to go to sleep but I knew that I needed supper and a shower first so I dragged myself into my room to do just that.

“Oh, hey.” I greeted the two figures that were sitting in the dorm when I had walked inside, Percy and Grover. They looked like they were both just relaxing together and talking while sitting on Percy's bed when I walked in.

“Hey, Ardika. Where have you been? You missed supper.” Percy asked, with a concerned look on his face and causing me to blink in surprise. “Really? I missed it? Man, I really need a watch. I must have lost track of time…” I said, a little annoyed with myself if I was being honest. I was mostly ok with staying on time with when I finished my stuff in the Soul Forge and I haven't had a slipup like this before, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. I needed to fix that particular problem. Maybe I could make myself a mechanical watch when I have the time.

With my explanation to Percy and Grover said, and my thoughts sliding away from my tired mind, I went over to my clothes and selected some pajamas. “I am getting into the shower, I need some sleep.” I say quickly to Percy and Grover before walking to the bathroom and stepping in.

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I walked out of the last class of the day, which in this case is science class, with Grover and Percy the next day. “First tryout meeting was in just over half an hour.” I said to both Grover and Percy with a grimace, “I think I should get going. It's better to be a bit early.” I explain with a sigh.

“Hey, don't worry about it. You will be fine. You certainly trained hard enough.” Percy said, trying to comfort me while Grover ate an apple he had saved not paying attention. Until Percy bumped a bit into his side and caused him to look up. “Huh? Oh, yes. You will do fine. Good luck with that!” Grover said suddenly, looking up to me and causing me to smile a bit. “Well thanks.” I thanked the pair with a grin, “I will tell you how it went later. See ya.” I said casually and made my way to the gym, feeling just a little lighter.

The hallways were as packed as usual and the gym was practically on the opposite side of the school so it took some time to get there, about twenty minutes of walking through the crowds of kids in the halls until I reached the gym door and opened it up to head inside.

It was still a bit odd to be the same height and physical age as a bunch of middle schoolers, but it didn't really bother me until I looked around and saw some pretty tall twelve year olds that were more than a couple inches taller than me. If I was around five feet three inches now, then most of these guys are around five feet six inches, with a few taller than that. But I mean… height isn't everything in basketball. Right?

I only spent a second taking in the people around me, currently seven kids, then I went over to the side of the gym where they were grouped up. There was a table with some paper near there, along with a blank whiteboard on a wall.

As I approached the group of seven, I looked them over. There was a group of four that seemed separate from a group of three guys, the group of four seeming to be a more athletic group with them clearly having more muscles then the group of three and having the tallest guy. There was a guy with short blond hair and a bit more slim athletic figure, a guy with short greasy black hair who seemed more muscle bound then the blond, a more lanky guy with longer brown hair, and finally a guy wearing what looked like form fitting clothes unlike the rest of the group and who seemed the middle ground in terms of height and athleticism. I think all of that group is in my class now that I think about it.

The group of three consisted of a taller lanky guy with glasses, a guy around my height with a slimmer frame, and finally a dude with a black New York Knicks shirt who honestly had a bit of a gut.

As I walked over, the lanky guy with brown hair saw me and nudged the blond guy while gesturing to me, saying something that I couldn't hear from over here and causing the other guys all to look over with a look of curiosity. Then as I walked closer, the blond guy broke off from his group with a fierce look on his face and walked towards me. “Hey! Aren't you the guy in my class with the drone that dumped pink hair dye onto Nancy’s head during history class! Arda, wasn't it?” He asked with a hard look on his face and an interrogative tone as he looked me up and down.

“Well, I am Ardika so close enough I guess.” I said with a slight grin, it was honestly always funny when people messed up my name that bad. “And I am not telling if I did that or not, but I am who Nancy thinks did it.” I said with a grin, “And she deserved it too. She stole my presentation!” I announced to the guy, expecting him to start defending her or start something with me.

Then the blond guy broke out into a grin. “Really? She stole that from you! HA! Stroke of creative genius my ass!” He laughed out, with a relaxed stance. “I get what you are saying too, totally deserved it. Good job on that, best prank that I have ever seen.” He complimented easily and waved me over to the other four in his group with an easygoing smile.

“Well Ardika, my name’s Jay, here are Tom, Vincent and Terry. Guys, this is Ardika.” He introduced me to his group, pointing out the black haired guy, the lanky guy with brown hair, and the guy with the most likely expensive, form fitting athletic outfit respectively.

All of them gave a nod of greeting, which I did as well, but before anyone could say anything the gym door opened with a slam, causing everyone to look to the door. The gym teacher Mr. Stine, who is now my coach I guess, was standing in the open doorway as he looked over to our small group of eight with a scowl. “Only you guys had the decency to turn up on time?” He shouted across the gym to us, clearly annoyed.

“Well, while we wait for the rest of the lazy students you'll stay here. I need to go search some people out!” He shouted to us again and turned around to leave again, walking out the door and letting the doors shut behind him with a thud.

Jay put his hand on his forehead as the large man made his exit. “Sorry about dad. He is all stressed about the team this year, apparently last year our team didn't make it through the first game.” Jay apologised, causing me to turn to him in confusion. “Dad?” I asked, confused. “Oh, you don't know? My dad is the coach.” Jay explained quickly with a slight grimace.

Well how about that.