.
.
Though silent, the atmosphere within the Ravenville's changing room was filled with spirits.
With some of the last active players still maintaining a rather quickened breath, most of them were excited after experiencing a proper match after the long holiday AND winning!
4-1!
They had won against one of the more renowned Silver Crown regulars by a large margin,
Even the least expressive players like Baron and Renee Morgan were showing signs of satisfactions through their slight gestures at the moment.
Quite unlike them, Irvine was actually the calmest amongst the rest.
It could be said that it was because he had already experienced way more matches than the rest of them cumulatively.
But it's also mostly because he knew their current winning circumstances weren't something that could be replicated against any other schools short for the ones who didn't even bother to research them beforehand.
And nobody in Zeta City would be ignorant enough to do that considering their current standings in the college Arena scene.
Just now, they had made use of their terrain-specific strategies against an enemy that hadn't fully taken that aspect into account.
Not to mention they'd done it this early in the season even before the start of the Warrior Crown Tournament.
Of course Irvine had also somewhat understood part of the reasons why the Coach had decided to do this,
'The Head Coach really went out of his way to take the match's attentions away from us new regulars...'
With how the entire match had gone, when their enemy schools would inevitably research this practice match footage, they would now be more conscious against the terrain side of things compared to the Ravenville's new lineup.
Irvine was sure that Lark's intention for this sparring match was not to showcase the new generation of players that, in his opinion, was still far from complete.
The sparring match was for them to have a first-hand experience on fighting a strong enemy and win.
This would not only boost their confidence but also keep them on their toes for when they looked back to what they'd lacked during the match.
And knowing the coach, he would make sure that his players always remember what they'd been lacking more than the win they'd achieved today.
"Well, I'm not complaining. At least I got to test the usage of [Quake Blast] in this match." Irvine muttered subconsciously.
"--Is that what you're calling it? Don't think I'm letting you off the hook for that. After I've specifically ordered you to not show any of your new moves in this practice match."
The moment Irvine had just finished his words, the door opened beside him, revealing the figure of the Head Coach walking in from the outer walkway.
"Ah--"
"""Sir."""
When Lark had arrived, the rest of the players, including Irvine, greeted him semi-formally from their respective positions in the room.
"No no, you told me not to use the [Impact Armor], and I'm not using that." Irvine denied the baseless accusation with a straight face.
"..."
Because of the delicate control and preciseness of its execution, the stomping move that Irvine had used against Sylphie just then was not something suitable to go against a more technical type of players.
At his level of proficiency with it, [Quake Blast] would only show its best effect against the type of players that utilized big and wide movements in exchange for strong exploding effect.
Someone exactly like Sylphie Hunter.
The moment they'd enter into a little bit of unbalanced stance, like perhaps lifting one of their feet too high up the air, Irvine would have enough time to use the tremor effect of the move to further disrupt their footings.
But this would be hard to do against an opponent that watched their steps carefully like his Captain, Renee Morgan.
"Don't worry, unlike the armor, it's not a higher level application of [Blast] or anything like that, it's just a more creative way to use it. Plus it's very subtle." Irvine explained his viewpoint to the Head Coach.
He basically just compressed the air like normal and released it downward towards the ground while spreading the blast evenly.
"The fact that I'm talking to you about it means that it's not subtle enough, no? People will be cautious of it after this." Lark sternly reprimanded him.
"--Hm? Did you do something new during the match, Lang?" But before he could continue, Derrick who was seating on a bench close to them asked curiously, seemingly not understanding what the two had been talking about.
Hearing his question, Irvine jokingly shot the coach a look with widened eyes that seemed to imply that even his closest teammate at the time hadn't noticed it.
"...A more observant people will be cautious of it." Lark slightly corrected his wordings after sharply glancing at Derrick.
"I know." Irvine nodded in the end.
Even he knew that if his coach could see it, other people would be able to notice this threat from him as well,
"I'll strive to perfect it after we go back so that it could be used against a wider range of situations."
He already had a complete list of things to improve before the actual Warrior Crown began after all.
"Yes you will." Lark replied simply before finally moving on towards the center of the changing room to address the entire team.
.
*CLAP*
"Great show today." The Head Coach first opened with a compliment aimed towards everyone who's present in the room.
"...Well, it was mostly me who's great, in case some of you hadn't noticed--"
Yet his next words gave a slight twitch to the facial expressions of some of the players almost immediately afterwards.
"--But credits should be given where credits are due. You guys at least executed the plans to the best of your ability. Enough to give us a 3-point difference at the end."
"...Still."
At this point, Lark's tone of voice quickly changed into a more deeper and serious form.
"If there's one thing that you should take away from today's match, it's that you guys are still far too lacking right now."
""...""
"Look at the damages we've sustained compared to theirs," He continued,
"When scores are tied, Battle Arena looks at the teams' total HPs for decisions, and if today had to come to that, you guys are unequivocally F**ked. First off--"
"The Young brothers."
"You have improved a LOT compared to last year, but if you can't damage worth a damn, do you think any pro teams would look for you in the future? You're a Fielder, think on it."
""..."" Dan and Dennis listen silently to the coach's words.
"Dormer, your shots are harder to track for sure, but you took too long to set up position."
"--If there was only 1 Guard just then, your support would've come far too late. With that speed, it is very possible for you to miss out on an entire battle by the time you finished setting up!"
"Also, take into account that the Ruined City Block is more disadvantageous for your style. But it can also be a weapon to you depending on how you look at it. That'll be your homework until the regionals."
"...And lastly, your commanding skills are severely lacking. Even when compared to Magnolia's Ranger who had made the call that cost them their final 2 points at the end."
"Yes, sir..." Medea answered with a dejected look on her face.
"Work on it. All of it." He reiterated.
"Wallace..."
"Fletcher..."
"..."
Head Coach Lark kept on going for a while with his harsh criticisms, pointing out the shortcomings that each player had shown in today's spar.
"And Lang,"
Eventually, Irvine's turn too had arrived.
"Truth be told, your fast decision-making skills and quick responses to in-game developments are VERY good, might even be the best in this team. You control flows and paces very well..."
"But."
"For the position that you're trying to become, you're still far too lacking in both direct fielding and solving right now."
"Your [Joint Break] moves help you control the pace really well, same for that new one from before. But objectively speaking, as a Fielder you're suffering from the same thing as the Youngs do. Damage output." He evaluated.
"The worse thing is, it's not that you can't. Your Ability [Blast] is one of the most famously known Gene Mod for damaging and knocking back opponents. And yet you rarely utilized it as such."
"And as a Solver, which is what you truly are based on the rules..."
"Honestly speaking, you're slow. I know you sacrificed some things when you've chosen [Blast] and the Solver position combination. But I hope that doesn't become an excuse for you to not improve."
As Lark finished his speech, he looked directly into Irvine's eyes and noticed that it was still clear without any form of confusions or dejection visible.
"..."
"Yes, sir." He replied.
Irvine had known his own shortcomings best.
And he also understood how Head Coach Lark had spoken to him and the others with such strict criticisms.
It was because just like what he did to himself, Lark had been judging everyone on the team based on the standards of Pro League's players this whole time.
And based on THAT standards, there wasn't a single thing wrong with what he'd said. Irvine of all people should know.
In the Olympus Pro League, even if someone was specialized at one thing, there was a certain level that one must reach in other aspects of the game to become a full-fledged pro player there.
Solvers and Rangers must be proficient at close-combat at least enough to escape it.
Guards also must be able to at least know the basics for grappling and locking that Fielders should be most proficient with.
Because of the varieties of possible situations and developments in a match, Battle Arena was a rather all-rounder sport. Just like baseball where its every players should at least be proficient in hitting the ball.
And the OPL that represented its highest level of plays and entertainment in Olympus, must also have players that represented at least that same level of standards in all aspect of the game.
That was why at their current level of damage output, it was true that no pro teams would be willing to pick Dan or Dennis no matter how much better they were at restraining and controlling their enemy with [String].
.
.
The post-match briefing had continued for another while longer after that.
Amongst all the people in the group, Renee and Baron had received the least amount of criticisms followed by Clint.
That was because the three had almost no glaring weakness in their plays, unlike the current others.
Even Clint who specialized in mid-range shooting style could still show his prowess to a certain extent during long range interceptions.
He was even good at close combat, at least enough for him to not embarass himself if caught off-guard by the enemy.
And this fact was even more true for the two 4th years Renee and Baron.
There was not a single thing that they're terribly bad at, be it for their own positions or otherwise.
.
The moment they got out of the changing rooms and subsequently, the stadium, all the Ravenville regulars had already changed back to their casual clothes.
They were now in the process of cleaning up and dragging back their equipment, including their exosuit, to bring back to their campus.
Irvine, Derrick, and Greg were in the process of loading their spares to the school bus when the sounds of footsteps approached them from afar.
When they looked back, they quickly identified the source of the sounds to be from two people who're still wearing some parts of their white and green exosuits outside.
Looking at the rather beat-up parts on the suit, the owners were of course, not unfamiliar to the three from Ravenville.
'Oh, it's actually the Captain and that Solver from the first half!' Greg whispered to Derrick at his side while the two girls were still quite a distance away from them.
'It seemed like they're walking here, do they have business with us?' Derrick also replied to him in a low voice.
'Ooh! Don't tell me it's finally time to exchange contacts!! What're their names again??'
As he thought that, a steam of air were coming out of the big guy's nostrils.
'As if...' Derrick snorted, 'It's Sylphie Hunter and-- I forgot the Solver's name.'
"It's Jade I think." To the side, Irvine who'd been silent all this time replied to them in a normal voice while also looking towards the same direction,
'The future Sigma Conqueror's Ace Fielder, Sylphie Hunter...'
He was currently thinking how it was really hard to put together this lively-looking girl coming towards them with the fierce and intimidating player he'd fought against on that field.
But before he could finish this thought, the two had arrived first in front of the three new regulars from Ravenville.