THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Zachary felt a sense of urgency building up within him after watching the Europa League draw.

Rosenborg would be facing off against Fiorentina on February 20th in the first leg showdown of the Europa League's round of thirty-two fixture. The second leg would then be held a week later, on the 27th, to determine the team that would qualify for the next stage of the tournament. So, he only had a bit more than two months to prepare for the new season of competitive football.

Moreover, if he were to factor in the festive season, the pre-season training sessions, and the potential friendly matches, the available time would reduce to about a month and a half. Thus, he had to make the proper adjustments to his training plans and utilize every resource at his disposal to improve his skills as quickly as possible. And that's why he'd decided to immediately consume the vitality-enhancing-elixir that'd been collecting dust in the system inventory.

He'd obtained the vitality-enhancing-elixir as a mission reward for completing one of the milestones of the system's 2013 Tippeligaen Serial Challenge mission. However, to prevent the side effects from affecting his daily performance, he'd hardened his heart and decided not to consume the elixir at the time.

But at the moment, it was already the offseason. There were no upcoming competitive football matches or daily team training sessions to consider. So, it was the ideal time window for Zachary to consume the elixir without hindering his football career.

Moreover, since there were only five days remaining to Christmas day, most of his neighbors had already traveled to who knows where. As a result, his neighborhood was quiet, without many people loitering around. It was thus the perfect location to consume the vitality-enhancing-elixir without worrying about potential disturbances.

Everything was in order, and Zachary decided to act right away.

On that Thursday evening, he returned home from the gym earlier than usual. He went through a one-hour yoga routine before taking a warm shower to relax his muscles. After that, he feasted on a sumptuous early dinner to sate his hunger before meditating slightly to adjust his mental state.

Back then, when he'd just returned back in time, he'd consumed a B-graded version of the vitality-enhancing-elixir and suffered a great deal from its effects. So, this time around, he had to be prepared mentally. And that's why he was trying his best to achieve his best condition since he understood how potent an A-graded version of the elixir was.

The minutes flashed by quickly, and soon, the clock hand pointed to seven o'clock in the evening. Zachary ended his meditation and drew all his blinds, thus isolating himself in his living room. After ensuring that he'd latched the door properly, he then settled down on his yoga mat before summoning the system interface. With a slight shimmer, the familiar crystal-like display immediately materialized before him.

"System," he said, glancing at the interface. "I would like to consume both the A-graded physical conditioning-elixir and the vitality-enhancing-elixir right away."

"Command received," the system AI replied immediately. "Confirming... The user has a single dose of an A-graded vitality-enhancing-elixir and another single dose of an A-graded physical conditioning elixir stored in the system inventory."

"The user can select the respective cards in the inventory to summon the elixirs. But, the user should consume the elixirs within five seconds after their removal from the system inventory. Otherwise, their effects will disappear if they spend more time out of the inventory."

"Okay, okay," Zachary said, glancing at the two cards that had just floated forward and occupied the entire length of the crystal-like display before him.

One card depicted an image of a small apple, with the words "Vitality-Enhancing-Elixir" inscribed below it. Another portrayed a small banana, which was usually the form of the physical-conditioning-elixir in the system inventory.

The two cards were glittering slightly at the edges, causing Zachary's heart to throb with anticipation. There was a chance of his agility attribute breaking through to the S-grading after consuming the two elixirs. So, how could he not be excited?

Zachary decided not to dilly-dally any longer. He first clicked on the card portraying the image of the banana. And voila, the banana, the size of small candy, popped out of the translucent blue screen the next moment.

Zachary immediately gulped it down, only in two bites. But he didn't stop just at that. Without bothering with the refreshing sensation spreading around his body, he summoned the vitality-enhancing elixir in the form of an apple and also gobbled it down in a single bite. After that, Zachary lay supine on the yoga mat and braced himself for the effects of the two elixirs that were about to kick in.

At first, there was only a rejuvenating feeling circulating from his stomach and slowly spreading to the rest of his body. Then the pain came abruptly.

Before he could adapt, a tingling sensation similar to low voltage electric shocks passed through his entire being, causing him to shudder with agony. It was as if thousands of tiny ants were drilling into his body and squirming around while eating away his blood and fresh.

The pain was almost too much for Zachary to withstand. However, he could still feel the weird changes happening to his body, even in his dazed state. It was as if there were strands of alien substances slowly infusing themselves into his blood, veins, tissues, and bones.

Some of those strands even slowly started imbuing themselves into his brain region after a short while, and the pain tormenting his head grew in intensity. He couldn't see anything and couldn't even move his body as it was out of his control. And finally, after suffering such discomfort for a few more minutes, he couldn't take it anymore.

He fainted.

After a long time, Zachary woke up.

The searing pain had already disappeared, replaced by a numb feeling coursing through his entire body. However, the numbness was also fast fading — and in its place was a growing warm sensation overflowing within him.

Unexpectedly, after this sensation grew to a certain level, he felt a wonderful blissfulness envelop his entire being. The feeling was like nothing he'd experienced before, so comfortable and fulfilling to the very core.

Moreover, his body seemed to be full of energy at that moment, and just as he stretched, slight audible cracking sounds could be heard from his joints. For sure, the vitality-elixir had benefited him greatly.

But just as he was about to summon the system interface to check out the extent of his improvement, his nose twitched slightly. A potent fishy smell was at that moment assaulting his senses, making it hard for him to breathe normally.

Zachary was slightly startled. He hurriedly observed the entire outline of his body. Unexpectedly, a thin greasy layer coated the skin on the exposed parts of his body.

"What the hell?" Zachary yelped in surprise. "Isn't this the stuff of legends where powerhouses expel the foul substances from their bodies as they grow stronger?"

Zachary's brows creased together as he continued observing his body. He had a feeling that he might turn into a superhuman if he continued consuming the system's high-grade elixirs. But he reckoned that there was nothing to worry about at the moment. Whether the changes were a bad or good thing, he would have to wait and see what the future had in store for him.

Zachary didn't continue lying on the floor with such a stench hovering all over him. He hurriedly took a quick shower before returning to the living room and summoning the system interface again. He was in a rush to find out the changes in his attributes after consuming the elixir.

"System," he intoned, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Bring up my physical attributes stats right away."

"Command received," the apathetic voice of the system's AI sounded the next moment. "Host's physical fitness attributes will be coming up on the system interface in a bit."

"Excellent!"

Zachary immediately focused his gaze on the crystal-like display before him. Without further ado, he started perusing through the contents on the displayed page of the interface.

****

*USER STATS

->Physical Fitness (Av. Rating: S-)

Body Control (Balance and Coordination): S-

Agility: S-

Strength: S-

Stamina: S-

Endurance Points: 17,500/18,000 (S-)

****

"OMG!" Zachary yelped in surprise once again as his excitement shot through the roof. Both his agility and strength attributes had finally broken through to the S- grading after ingesting the elixir. As a result, all his fitness attributes had finally achieved the S-grading.

He'd only hoped to only raise his agility to the next level after consuming the elixir. However, he'd lucked out quite a bit by also being able to push his strength attribute to the S-grading.

Strength or power was an attribute that contributed significantly to a player's speed and agility. Furthermore, it impacted a player's ability to shoot, make long passes, defend and shield the ball. Great strength also allowed the player to win aerial duels and easily steal the ball from opponents.

Even ball wizards like Messi and Ronaldinho had to place emphasis on honing their strength-attribute. That was because, without strength and power in both the upper and lower body, even players as highly skilled as them could be easily pushed off the ball and lose possession. Strength was that important for a player.

Zachary couldn't help but crease his brows on looking further down the screen. "As expected," he said, "it seems like my soccer-technique average rating has fallen to the A- grade after consuming such a potent elixir?" Without further ado, he clicked on the attribute to ascertain the exact change in his skills.