Gilbert's Realization and Cross lv1

Gilbert's Realization and Cross lv1. July 2, downtown Sheffield City, Cherry Street.

After taking some time to choose, Maël and Gilbert finally settled on an apartment in the center of the street.

It was a nine-story British-style building, with convenient transport nearby, complete living facilities, and even a large gym on the first floor.

Their place was on the sixth floor, around 115 square meters, with two bedrooms, one living room, and two bathrooms. It had modern decor and came fully furnished.

It could be said that it met every requirement Maël and Gilbert had.

They spent most of their time at the club, only coming back at noon and at night to rest. As long as it was convenient and comfortable to live in, that was enough.

After getting everything settled, Maël and Gilbert lay on the soft sofa to rest.

Joelson was there too. He had been helping out all day.

"Thanks, Joelson."

Maël thanked him, and Gilbert then waved to him as well.

Joelson shook his head to indicate it was nothing, then stood up and walked to the window, pointing at a spot. "See Bramall Lane Stadium? From here, you can see the top of the structure."

"That's Bramall Lane?"

Maël walked over to the window in some surprise. He had not noticed the view outside just now.

Bramall Lane was the home ground of Sheffield United Team, able to hold thirty thousand fans watching a match at the same time.

On match days, the area around it was always packed with noise and people, filled with Sheffield United's red elements.

"Yes. It's a stadium built in the city center."

Joelson smiled, looking very proud. Then a few ripples rose in his eyes. "I played there for seven years and made ninety-two appearances."

Gilbert walked over as well, his gaze filled with longing. "I hope I can make appearances there too. Doesn't have to be many. Ten would be enough."

"Because of the 8k weekly wage?"

Maël turned his head and cracked a joke, then looked back again. A few traces of heat appeared at the corners of his eyes. Of course, he was also very much looking forward to playing in a large stadium.

That had to be a completely different experience.

A sea of fans singing loud and clear, every challenge and every brilliant moment able to draw a cheer that rang through the sky!

The emotions of tens of thousands of people gathered together, waiting for the goal that would ignite their passion.

And in the end, they would erupt hysterically.

"No matter what, you'll both get your chance."

Joelson left the window and picked up the keys from the coffee table. "Let's go. I'll take you to the training base and let you get familiar with the place in advance."

The two withdrew their gazes, but a seed had already been planted in their hearts. They had to step onto Bramall Lane Stadium as soon as possible.

As they were about to leave, Maël suddenly called out to Gilbert, seeming to remember something. "Why don't we bring our boots and have a few kicks?"

Gilbert froze for a moment, then looked at Joelson beside him. "Can we?"

For people like them, who dealt with football every day, going a day or two without playing really did make their feet itch.

"Of course."

Joelson smiled and nodded. How could a professional team possibly restrict players from playing football? "The team's assembly day is July 10. Before then, you can use the First Team's training pitch whenever you want.

"After that, if you still want extra training, there aren't really any restrictions either. Just go to another grass pitch that doesn't have training duties."

Maël and Gilbert looked at each other and smiled, then each began rummaging through his luggage for boots.

"Oh, right."

Just as he reached his suitcase, Maël smacked his forehead. "I've been too busy these past two days. I haven't had time to buy boots yet."

How had he forgotten that? He had clearly been thinking about it for so long.

"What do we do, then?" Gilbert crouched in front of his suitcase and turned to look over.

"Buy some?"

Joelson gave the two of them a suggestion. "There's a pedestrian street that specializes in sporting goods two miles away."

"Let's go!"

With a sweep of his hand, Maël set off in a rush with the other two, and they arrived at the pedestrian street.

Half an hour later, they walked out of the pedestrian street, each of them carrying at least four shoe boxes. They looked rather wretched as they walked, like shoe dealers coming nearby to stock up.

Gilbert really wanted to say that if he had known it would turn out like this, he would have given Maël a pair of his own boots first.

Joelson also deeply regretted saying that there was a specialty store nearby. He had not expected Maël to be such a collector, had he?

"Walk faster."

Only Maël walked at the very front, refreshed and full of energy, a warm smile on his face the whole time, urging the two from time to time.

It seemed he no longer had to worry about whether his boots would come unglued, nor about whether he had the money to buy new ones.

At two-thirty in the afternoon, Sheffield Training Base.

Since there was hardly anyone around, after Joelson greeted the gatekeeper, he drove the car straight to the side of the First Team training pitch.

Maël and Gilbert got out of the car carrying their boots, looking around at this new training base. They would be spending a year here.

In terms of scale, Sheffield United Training Base definitely could not compare with Colney Training Base, and its facilities were not exactly complete in every respect either.

Fortunately, the surroundings were beautiful, with plenty of greenery and a quiet, peaceful feel.

"Not bad. It's really close to where we're staying, too."

Maël closed his eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air, then walked into the training ground and stepped onto the grass.

Gilbert had a few more preparations to make. First, he pulled back the right foot that was about to step onto the pitch, awkwardly switched to entering with his left foot, then touched the ground with his right hand and made the sign of the cross.

"What are we practicing?"

During warm-ups, Gilbert looked at Maël with curiosity written all over his face. "I figured it out on the way here. Once we got to the club, I had to follow you every day for extra training.

"I'll do exactly what you say. After all, everyone can see how well your extra training works."

Maël thought for a moment, then shot a mischievous grin at Gilbert's innocent face. "Sure. I'll cross, you head it. Then one-on-one, I attack, you defend."

Gilbert nodded and added, thinking he had it all figured out, "We rotate after a few sets, right?"

"No."

Maël rejected him. "No rotating."

Gilbert's brows squeezed together. After thinking seriously for a while, he said, "Is it because focusing on one ability for a long time makes you improve faster?

"I get it. You really do know what you're doing."

Maël glanced at him, his eyes dodging slightly, and said nothing more.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of passes soon rang across the entire training pitch, but there were not many balls that actually found the right heading point for Gilbert to power toward goal.

For most of them, he could only twist sideways and volley, or simply jump up and catch them. The quality really was not high.

Half an hour passed, and Gilbert finally could not hold back anymore. "Why don't I cross for a while instead?"

"Here it comes!"

What answered him was Maël's shout, along with the football whistling toward him.

With no other choice, he could only endure the boredom and keep going, using every trick he had just to "get on the end of" Maël's crosses.

Gradually, Gilbert realized that as long as he judged Maël's body posture and the shape of his foot, he could roughly tell where the cross would end up landing. Then, in a certain instant, a few flashes of understanding suddenly crossed his eyes, followed by disbelief and panic.

It seemed like he could judge the landing point now?

"Stop spacing out."

Maël sent in another ball. He was just about to ask Gilbert what was wrong when several familiar lines of text appeared before his eyes.

Skill: Cross lv1

Proficiency: (29/100)

Effect: You gradually come to feel that, as a winger, having a good cross is essential. You begin training hard day and night, but your accuracy and quality are still far from good.