Five days at Ajax had fallen into a brutal rhythm. Every morning at 5 AM, thirty-mile runs through Amsterdam's cold streets. Every afternoon, technical drills that pushed their eight to eleven-year-old bodies to breaking points. Every evening, tactical sessions that felt more like military briefings.
But somewhere in that hellish routine, something beautiful had emerged.
"Partner up for passing drills!" Erik's voice cut across the training ground.
Without hesitation, Elsa moved toward Takeshi. It had become automatic, natural as breathing. Oliver paired with Isabella, Marcus with Kwame, but Takeshi and Elsa always found each other.
Their first pass was crisp, perfect weight. Second pass, one-touch return. By the third, they'd fallen into that otherworldly rhythm they'd discovered on Day 1.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The ball moved between them like it was on a string, each pass perfectly weighted, each touch precise. Other players had stopped to watch—even Erik was taking notes.
"You two are like magnets," Oliver called during the water break, grinning at Elsa with that knowing smile she'd grown to hate.
Elsa's cheeks flushed pink. "We're just good partners."
"Sure, that's what it is."
Why does training with him feel different? Elsa wondered, watching Takeshi demonstrate a drill technique to Kwame. Why does my heart do that weird fluttering thing when he smiles at me?
She was eleven. Too young for these confusing feelings. But watching him... the way he moved, the quiet confidence, how he always checked if she was okay after hard tackles, made something warm and strange bloom in her chest.
Maybe it's... no, I'm only eleven.
Meanwhile, Takeshi's adult mind saw only a talented teammate developing well. He appreciated her work ethic, her intelligence, the way she anticipated his movements. Protective instincts stirred when opponents targeted her, but purely platonic, she was just a good kid who deserved success.
He had no idea that every encouraging word, every casual touch on the shoulder, every time he said "Good job, Elsa" sent her heart into overdrive.
"You're completely oblivious, aren't you?" Oliver muttered to himself, watching the whole thing unfold.
"Everyone, gather around!" Erik's voice boomed across the pitch, different from usual, excited, almost predatory.
The six young players stopped mid-drill, confusion rippling through the group.
"No training today."
Thank God, Takeshi thought, his body still aching from yesterday's torture session.
But Erik's smile was razor-sharp. "Instead, you have a match."
Interest sparked. They'd been training for five days straight without a real game.
"Against Ajax U16 team."
Silence.
"Six versus six. You six against their best Dutch talents."
What the hell?
The words hit like ice water. U16 meant fifteen and sixteen-year-olds. Seven to eight years older than Takeshi. In football terms, that was the difference between children and young adults.
"Many scouts will be watching," Erik continued, his eyes gleaming. "Professional scouts. International attention. This is your audition for the real program."
The weight of those words settled on their shoulders like lead.
Make or break. Everything we've worked for comes down to this.
Erik approached Takeshi privately as the others dispersed in nervous chatter.
"Win this game," he said quietly, his usual menace replaced by something almost... caring? "Many scouts are there to keep an eye on you specifically. You're already in the spotlight as an expert."
His cold smile returned. "I'm your mentor. Do your best."
Why does he care so much about me winning? Takeshi wondered. But there was no time to analyse Erik's motivations.
The match was in two hours.
Walking toward the pitch, something familiar stirred in Takeshi's mind.
Finally.
The system window blazed to life after four days of mysterious silence.
[SYSTEM REACTIVATED]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
BLOCKED PERIOD: COMPLETE
Reason: Evaluation of natural growth
NEW QUEST: THE PLAYMAKER
Provide 2 ASSISTS in the match
Against U16 opponents (8 years older)
No defensive mistakes leading to goals
REWARD: Random 5-Star Skill Roll
Unlock one elite technique
Could be anything from legends
PENALTY: None
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Quest Type: Playmaking Focus
Difficulty: ★★★★☆
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Two assists against teenagers? The system's finally giving me impossible tasks.
But no penalty meant the real pressure came from elsewhere, the scouts' judgment, Erik's expectations, his teammates' dreams.
Time to see what I'm made of without a safety net.
The team formation felt natural despite the circumstances.
In goal, Jan van Der Berg, a fifteen-year-old Ajax academy keeper who looked at them with barely concealed amusement.
"These are the prodigies I'm supposed to protect?" he muttered in Dutch.
Defense: Kwame and Isabella as center-backs, their speed and intelligence meant to compensate for the size disadvantage.
Midfield: Elsa and Oliver, tasked with controlling the tempo and linking play.
Attack: Takeshi on the left wing, Marcus as the central striker.
2-2-2 formation. Flexible, attack-minded. We'll need every goal we can get.
The Ajax U16 team emerged from the tunnel like giants among children.
Their captain, a sixteen-year-old midfielder named Jurrien, stood at least six feet tall with the build of a professional. Their striker, Denzel, looked like he could bench press Takeshi with one hand.
"We're playing against children?" one of them asked in accented English, loud enough for the kids to hear.
"This should be quick."
Laughter rippled through their ranks, not cruel, just confident. They genuinely didn't see this as a real match.
That's their first mistake, Takeshi thought grimly.
But looking at his teammates, he could see the doubt creeping in. Even Marcus, usually brimming with confidence, looked uncertain facing opponents who towered over him.
In the stands, scouts from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Liverpool settled into their seats. Erik stood on the sideline, notebook in hand, watching his experiments unfold.
"Remember," Takeshi called to his teammates as they lined up, "we're not trying to match their strength. We're here to show them something they've never seen before."
Elsa caught his eye across the formation, her usual confidence wavering. "Can we actually do this?"
"Trust me," he said simply.
The referee's whistle pierced the Amsterdam evening air.
The opening minutes were a masterclass in why age groups exist.
Ajax U16 moved with practiced precision, their passing sharp and purposeful. Every tackle was perfectly timed, every run intelligently made. They weren't trying to humiliate the kids, they didn't need to.
They were just better. Bigger, stronger, faster, more experienced.
Kwame lost every aerial duel. Isabella was shrugged off the ball like she weighed nothing. Oliver's passes, so crisp in training, were intercepted with casual ease.
"These are the prodigies?" Denzel called out after dispossessing Marcus for the third time. "Ajax must be losing its standards."
The laughter from their bench stung worse than any tackle.
Five minutes in, the inevitable happened.
Ajax U16's left winger received the ball in space, Kwame desperately closing him down but arriving a step too slow. The cross was perfect, weighted precisely for Denzel's run.
The Dutch striker towered over Isabella, meeting the ball with a thunderous header that Jan had no chance of stopping.
GOAL: 0-1
The U16 team celebrated casually, already looking ahead to how many more they'd score.
"Too easy," their captain Jurrien called out. "Are we sure these kids belong here?"
In the stands, scouts scribbled notes. Not about the goal—about how completely outclassed the supposed prodigies looked.
Takeshi's system quest flashed mockingly: 2 ASSISTS REQUIRED
How am I supposed to create chances when we can't even touch the ball?
But as he looked around at his struggling teammates, Elsa's frustrated expression, Marcus's clenched fists, Oliver's determination despite being overrun. something clicked.
They were playing Ajax U16's game. Trying to match their physicality, their pace, their direct approach.
Time to stop playing their game and start playing ours.
As the match resumed and the teenagers continued their casual domination, Takeshi caught Elsa's eye across the midfield. She was breathing hard, blonde hair plastered with sweat, but her eyes still held fire.
What do we do? her expression seemed to ask.
Takeshi smiled. not the desperate grin of someone drowning, but the cold calculation of someone who'd just figured out the puzzle.
Time to show them why Erik chose us.
Time to remind everyone what happens when demons stop pretending to be angels.
TO BE CONTINUED...