December 24th, Christmas Eve arrived.
While other players packed their bags, ready to hit the streets for gatherings, Maël was still at the club's training base, practicing crosses.
It wasn't that he was antisocial; he just had a few points left to max out his Cross skill. He wanted to complete the upgrade today before resting and having fun.
With one more lv4 skill, he would have more confidence and be more combat-ready for the Boxing Day Battle on the 26th.
"We're heading to the barbecue restaurant first, we'll drive back to pick you up later."
Team center forward Evans swung his Mercedes AMG keys, hooking Gilbert's shoulder as he said goodbye, with several teammates nearby.
They had all come to persuade Maël, hoping he could put football aside on such a day.
"See you later."
Janu Hans waved at him, his expression a mix of incomprehension and admiration. Turning back, he whispered, "No wonder he's improving so fast with training like this, but the sacrifice is too great."
"Do you support him?"
Ward was also there. He asked, "Or rather, are you willing to pay such a high price and sacrifice to achieve glory on the field?"
Janu Hans was silent. He usually looked at Maël with envy, countless times wishing he could be him.
But now that he thought about it... how much had he really sacrificed? If the price for creating over 20 goals in the EFL Championship was this, he couldn't say he would definitely be willing.
The others didn't speak, their moods complex. They didn't take up the topic, only Gilbert, who was usually very strict with himself, looked nonchalant.
Under Maël's influence, he had also given up a lot of social and rest time, spending all day on the field.
"Actually."
Seeing everyone fall into silence, Gilbert thought for a while and said, "I've always felt that the difference in talent isn't as big as everyone thinks. It's just that sometimes, we can't bear to give up comfort and are unwilling to sacrifice too much."
His words stirred many people's hearts, and they looked back at Maël on the field.
He had just kicked more than a dozen balls and was running to the other side to pick them up. His straight back seemed to contain infinite Strength, never to be defeated.
"I'll take a taxi myself later."
Maël shouted towards them, his voice very clear, "I won't be long, I'm afraid you'll have just arrived and have to come back to pick me up again."
The others nodded and left, and he continued to practice alone, occasionally patting his head to keep himself awake.
He slowly realized that falling into a numb state during practice was not a good thing.
It was better to do the movements consciously, accept the body's feedback, and better memorize these feelings, so that the increase in proficiency would be faster.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Cross after Cross was kicked out, Maël gradually felt a throbbing. When passing the ball, his accuracy became stronger and stronger, as if he could vaguely control the landing point.
Finally, as he swung his wrist, the inside of his foot wrapped the football and sent it towards the center again, a sense of clarity instantly filled his entire brain.
[Skill: Arc Guiding lv4]
[Proficiency: (1/2000)]
[Effect: Countless beatings have brought your Cross to a new stage. All the skills and movements related to Cross are engraved in your body, as if they were innate, and the ability to control the landing point is greatly improved!]
Here it comes!
The second lv4 skill! "Phew."
Maël exhaled, as if exhaling all the fatigue, exhaling all the gap and frustration of watching others go out to celebrate the festival early, while he could only stay on the training ground.
A strong joy and sense of accomplishment rose in his heart, dopamine was constantly secreted in the brain, and even the cold feeling on his body disappeared.
At this moment, he felt omnipotent, and there was no more hardship.
"Yeah!" he shouted, waving his emotions, this was joy that belonged only to him, a romantic celebration that belonged only to him.
Nothing felt better than this, this emotion that originated from the depths of his heart was sincere and passionate.
"Cheers!"
More than twenty minutes later, Maël arrived at a barbecue restaurant in the city. Evans had booked the place today, it was a private event just for them.
The players each grabbed two or three bottles of beer, poured them into Christmas cups filled with red elements, and clinked them together.
Tomorrow is a day off, so having a couple of drinks today is fine. If your ability to break down alcohol is poor, you can go for a run in the morning to boost your metabolism.
"To our 43 points!"
Captain Robert, the oldest, spoke first, "In the second half of the season, we need to get another 43 points!"
"Hahaha."
The scene was filled with laughter. Maël was a bit hungry. After finishing his cup of beer, he cut two pieces of steak to eat, his eyes fixed on them.
"Merry Christmas Eve!"
"Happy, happy."
"This cup is to Mr. Gareth Speed, it's a pity he's not here."
They clinked glasses several times. Apart from a few players who had a habit of drinking, the others were a little flushed and spoke without restraint.
The scene was very lively, with more than twenty people sitting at two large tables pushed together, chatting noisily in groups of three or five, and sometimes everyone chatting together.
"This cup."
Evans raised his glass of beer. He was also a veteran in the team, "We must drink to the team's top scorer and Assists Leader."
"Oh!" A cheer rang out, and everyone turned their attention to Maël, with special emotions in their eyes.
Usually, they rarely had private contact with Maël, as his time seemed to be devoted to football.
Taking this opportunity, they had to get closer to him, after all, he was likely to be a future superstar player. Maël heard that he was talking about himself, finished chewing the meat in his mouth, raised his glass, thanked everyone around him, and drank the wine in one gulp.
"Maël, how many goals are you planning to score in the second half of the season?"
Steven, the team's center-back, didn't know how to interact with Maël in this setting, so he awkwardly chatted, "You have to bring the top scorer title back to Sheffield United."
"Don't just assist Bologanovic and Evans, I've given you more assists than the two of them combined."
Ward complained with a look of dissatisfaction, "You have to give me back 5, otherwise I'll fall out with them."
"Why fall out with us?" Evans widened his eyes in confusion, shouldn't you fall out with Maël?
In short, everyone was arguing like this, saying things they didn't have the chance to say on weekdays.
When the excitement passed, everyone was tired of shouting, tired of eating, and a little drunk, the dinner party entered its second half.
At this time, emotion and memories became the main theme here.
"At the beginning of the season, who could have imagined this? At that time, I couldn't see any hope. Every time I stood on the field, it was a torment, wanting to escape everything."
"Yeah, who would have thought that our best player now hadn't played a single professional league game when he came to the team at the beginning of the season?"
"Haha..."
Someone suddenly remembered something, looked at Maël and said his worry, "Maël, I heard people say that you might go back to Arsenal after playing the Boxing Day Battle?"
As soon as these words came out, many people turned to look at Maël, with various expressions on their faces, some with doubt, some with suspicion, some with unease, and some with anticipation.
Even Gilbert, who came from the same youth training camp, was a little nervous at this time, fearing that Maël would nod.
"Who said that?"
Maël smiled and raised his glass, and said with a smile: "How could I be willing to leave you, to give up this season that might create a Promotion to the Super League miracle?
"Don't worry, brothers, I won't leave, I will fulfill my contract."
The crowd on the scene was stunned, and then, I don't know which two outgoing people suddenly cheered and led everyone to shout.
"Yeah!" They seemed to be standing on the podium, raising their arms and shouting.
Looking at their appearance, Maël felt a special sense of satisfaction in his heart. He didn't want to hide it. The sense of being needed and the sense of importance were also things that everyone must have in the world.
Only in this way, he didn't have the illusion of weightlessness, feeling that he was living in an unreal world.
After dinner, there were still a few playful players who wanted to go to a nightclub and took a taxi alone for the second round of fun.
Maël and Gilbert went home, both of them were a little tipsy. The last time they had this feeling, they had to go back to when they first came to the team.
"Maël."
Standing on the street, Gilbert put his hands in his pockets, swaying slightly, with a hint of teenage angst: "I'm so tired, but I..."
Here we go again. Maël didn't give him a chance to express his feelings, quickly interrupting his spellcasting: "If you're tired, go home and sleep."
That night, Maël had just gotten into bed when he suddenly received a call from his uncle.
He answered the call and held it to his ear, "Uncle, what's up? Are you planning to come over soon?"
The other side seemed a little hesitant, a little embarrassed: "Uh, Maël, actually, we arrived yesterday. We were planning to give you a surprise, but now we've run into some difficulties."
"Ah?"
Maël's mouth dropped open, and he sat up in bed, "You came over yesterday?"
"Yes, we all came over. It sounds a bit like a joke, but it's true. We originally wanted to secretly watch your game and then suddenly appear in front of you after contacting the club staff."
At this point, Clermont's voice changed, with a hint of regret, "But I couldn't get tickets. I didn't plan well enough. I didn't expect this game to be so popular. I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
Maël, while processing the shock of this news, smiled wryly and comforted him, "I'll figure out the ticket situation. It's okay if it wasn't a surprise, we can spend Christmas together tomorrow."
"Have you found a place to stay?"
"Yes, we have."
"Okay, I'll consult with the people at the club now, otherwise, the tickets might be even more scarce tomorrow, and we might not even be able to get a box."
After hanging up, Maël immediately called Joelson, who had now implicitly taken the position of first assistant coach and had a lot of say.
After learning that his family was coming for the first time, and sensing the sincerity in his words, Joelson only left one sentence, a very cool sentence.
"The tickets are gone, and the boxes are probably gone too, but leave it to me. I will definitely make sure your family is at the stadium on the 26th."
"Even if they have to sit in the coaching area or on the roof of the stadium, I want them to experience the game live. Leave it to me."
His second sentence was definitely a joke, but it showed his determination.
Hanging up again, Maël was a little sleepless. It seemed that this Boxing Day Battle was really crucial for him.
Half an hour later, his phone vibrated a few times. Joelson was probably afraid he would fall asleep and sent a few messages.
--"The bad news is that I can only get three internal tickets for you, which is not enough. Sitting in a box would also mean sitting with other people."
--"The good news is that the club owner, McCabe, knows about this, and he has invited your family to watch the game in his private box, and promised to clear out any irrelevant people and make it your family's home field."
--"That's the situation. I hope your family agrees, sitting next to a billionaire while he explains the situation to them (laughing)."
A smile appeared on Maël's face. He took a deep breath and sent a message to his uncle.
ps: Sorry for the unstable update times, I'm slowly adjusting. I don't have any saved chapters, and increasing the update volume all at once requires some getting used to.
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