Please read and review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you want, it'll help me become a better writer.

Well, seeing as how this person called me a "Maple Boy" it'd make sense that this was someone I had met recently, so at least this person wasn't some random stranger. Then again, how could I have forgotten who this was? I felt kind of rude for having forgotten this person already, and I even prided myself on having good memory!

I didn't want to make it look like I had forgotten this person, so I made sure to text back without addressing his or her name.

Me: Sorry, I've been busy studying and trying out for soccer practice. Didn't have any time to reply.

*BZZZZZ*

Sent 8:11 P.M: Yeah right. Are u SRSLY telling me u didn't have enough time to press a few buttons just to talk? Rlly?

Okay yeah, that did sound like a pretty lame excuse but it was the truth! Besides, lying didn't sit well with me anyway, so I texted back.

Me: Uh...yeah? I really am sorry though.

*BZZZZZ*

Sent 8:12 P.M: Well whatever. Anyway, watchu doin?

Me: Nothing much, just about to finish up my homework.

Sent 8:12 P.M: Hah, hw. Wat classes r u taking?

I then exhaled suddenly realizing I was holding my conversation was going well, so that was good. Still, the other person on the line wasn't revealing anything about him/herself besides the way he/she texted, but nearly everyone I knew besides Joe texted this way, so I was still stuck.

Me: Just the usual. Well, besides a few advanced classes like English 1A, Algebra 2, and a Viet class. What about you?

Sent 8:13 P.M: Hah, funny. U and I are taking similar classes.

Similar classes? Did that mean he or she was taking Viet as well? Weird...but I don't know anyone in my Viet class! Who was this person?

Sent 8:14 P.M: Well anyway, catch ya l8tr. Signing autographs rn.

Autographs? Did I read that right? This person was signing autographs? Okay seriously now, who the heck am I talking to? Pretty sure there was absolutely NOBODY I knew who was that famous. Still, even though the person said "catch ya later", it didn't feel right for me to just leave him or her hanging like that. I needed something to say to that, but what?

Should I just reply with a "see you later"? Nah, that lacked familiarity and emotion.

What about a "Good luck"? That seemed like a good idea, right? Then again, do you need luck to sign autographs? What about luck to avoid being bombarded by fans? Wait, did he or she ever get bombarded before? Ugh, too many variables.

Would a "have fun" sound alright? It sounded appropriate, and although not everyone saw signing autographs was fun, that phrase was basically a wish for a person to have fun. Yeah, this sounds good. Let's go with this one.

Me: Alright, have fun.

"Whew!" I exhaled as I finally put my phone down and resumed doing my homework. Not hearing my phone buzz for the past few minutes, I concluded that he or she might have already turned in for the night. Sighing as I finally finished my homework. I plopped down on the bed with everything on, even my uniform and turned in for the night.

"Alright everyone, when I call your name, please come up and grab your tests." Ms. Kyrin said as she stood up and grabbed out a stack of papers and ran through the names. The test was on a novel called "The White Mage". It was a story about an optimistic mage who travelled the world helping people in any way he could, trying to find the "Ultimate Light". However, as time went on, he began to notice that no matter how many times he tried, he could never erase the darkness from the people's hearts and eventually realized that there was no "Ultimate Light", only "Ultimate Darkness". As a result, he came to the conclusion that people were not worth saving and instead of saving them, began to eradicate them. Thus, due to the darkness in his heart, his form began to change and eventually he became the Black Mage.

Although Alpha and Beta didn't like it very much, I found myself a pretty big fan of it. It also helped that it was fantasy, which was a genre I enjoyed reading.

"Aaron."

Hearing my name called, I left my seat to collect my test. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the number 96 written and circled in red pen. I was a little disappointed I didn't get a perfect score, but it was sure to boost my current grade percentage. So caught up in my high score, I didn't hear Alpha or Beta's name being called. Only when they tapped me on the shoulder did I bring my attention off my test.

"So...what did you get?" Alpha asked, hiding his smile behind his test.

Wordlessly, I held my test in front of them, proudly showing my 96. To my surprise, they only hummed and nodded as they looked at each other. Their smiles even got wider. Curiosity getting the better of me, I couldn't help but ask.

"Well, what did you guys get?"

In less than a second they shoved their tests in front of my face, their quick movements eliciting a loud sound. Circled on the top of both of their papers was the number 104.

"What?! Even the two bonus questions?!"

Their smiles no longer hidden by their tests, I could practically smell the smugness coming from them.

"Ugh, I'll get you guys back next time."

"Oh really? How about we make a bet?" Alpha asked. "Loser gives 50 mesos?"

A bet involving money? Normally I wouldn't indulge myself in things like that since it was usually dad's money that filled my wallet, but seeing as how it was only 50 mesos, I figured he wouldn't mind. With the stakes higher, maybe I'd study harder.

"You are so on." I replied, shaking his hand.

"Remember, only the winner gets 50 mesos, so if two of us beat you and get the same score, you gotta give 100 mesos." Beta added.

"You guys are so on."

Save for a few easy quizzes, I was glad there wasn't anything much happening at school. Less worries allowed me to focus more on sports and clubs. After school, I hurried up and ran to the gym locker room to change into better clothes suited for soccer. Hurrying to the large field and seeing Eun-Wol repeatedly bounce a ball with his knee, I rushed over to get into his line of vision and raised my hand up, indicating that I was ready to receive a pass.

Noticing me and smiling, he lightly kicked the ball over to me. All I had to do was stick out my foot a short distance before it bounced on the side of my foot. Kicking it up, I bounced it on my foot and heel a few times before I passed back it back to him. Stopping the ball with his foot, he kept it under his foot and held his index finger up.

"One game? First to five?" he asked.

"You're on."

Moving to the center of the field, I let him kick off the ball and then we were off. Immediately, I stood in front of him, trying to take possession of the ball. He constantly moved the ball in between his feet and performed several fakes before finally nutmegging me.

"Oh, I see how it is!" I yelled as I chased after him. Although I wasn't as good of a dribbler as he was, when it came to speed, I knew I had him beat. That said, it barely took me a few seconds to get ahead of him and when I did, I immediately slid down and stuck my right foot out, effectively kicking the ball away from him as he tripped and fell.

"My bad!" I yelled as I chased after the ball and sprinted to my toward my "goal" and kicked it in. "Whoo!"

The process then repeated for the next few times since it was pretty straightforward with just two players on the field. Of course I did miss some tackles, but by the end, the score was 3-5. My victory.

"Yo, thanks for the invite!" Towards the entrance of the field stood Joe and Alpha.

"Sorry about that, you still had class so we had an hour to kill." I said.

"Your fault for having another class during this time." EunWol chimed in.

"C'mon, not our fault you guys don't need sleep!" Alpha said, receiving the ball that EunWol passed to him.

As soon as they arrived, so did coach and the other players. Once everyone was ready, we then started our Monday routine. First was stretching our muscles, then jogging two miles. After the two mile run, we found several cones and other training equipment set on the huge field, but we weren't to use them yet.

After our jog, we all gathered in the middle of the field and split ourselves into groups of seven to play a game of 8 vs 2 keep-away to strengthen our teamwork. Within an imaginary 20x20 feet box that was marked by cones, I volunteered to be part of the 2, so therefore my job was to intercept the ball being passed between the 8 players. It took a few minutes, but I eventually managed to intercept a ball and then switched with the player whose pass I intercepted.

"Whoo, nice!" Eun-Wol remarked.

This continued on for about twenty minutes and after we took a small break before moving on to shooting drills. For shooting drills, we were to high-step through several cones before receiving a pass from one of the assistants for us to pass back. After passing the ball back, we were to high-step several more cones until we received one more pass in order to shoot it into the goalie-guarded net. I'd like to think that I'm a decent shooter but with a goalie like David, it was easy to doubt, seeing as how I only made two out of my five attempts while Eun-Wol made three, Joe made four and Alpha made all five.

After the shooting drills, coach called us over personally to tell us our position. Lining up, we waited for coach to give his analysis on everyone's strengths and weaknesses before their position.

When it came my turn, coach scanned his notes as he addressed me. "Alright Aaron, let's see here… right footed, good at passing and intercepting balls along with being able to jump very high... tackling is okay but could be improved...the same can also be said for your scoring and dribbling… and very high speed. Just work on your tackling and dribbling. Also try practicing with your left foot more as it will allow you to dribble better. Other than that, you are perfect for the right-back role."

Right-back, huh? Certainly not a position I was expecting to be assigned to since I was aiming to be a right-winger but hey, coach knew more about my play style than I did. Also, it was on the right, my zone of comfort since I was right-footed, so I couldn't really complain.

"Alright, thanks coach." I said, heading back to the group as they finished before I did. However, practice still wasn't finished as coach still had to make an announcement.

"Alright everyone, now as I'm sure you're all aware, our first match is right around the corner." he said, with his arms crossed. Most of the group then cheered in excitement, most likely ready to show off their skills as a team.

"We've certainly come a long way," coach continued. "Our soccer team was first formed just four years ago due to the fact that in the past, we lacked sufficient members. Cristiano, Luka, and Xabi I'm sure can all attest to that." They all then nodded in agreement. "Because we were new, we were given old equipment and started off playing in the Fourth Division, the lowest league in the entire district along with playing on the smaller field, the one used for Lacrosse and Track and Field. Despite winning the league and being promoted to the Third Division, our team still failed to receive the required amount of funding and as such we still struggled to provide for our players. That coupled with the fact that some of our players had already graduated, dwindling our numbers and making it even harder for us to stay as a team. However, we still pulled through, managing to win the league once again and being promoted to the Second Division. But even being promoted to the Second Division wasn't enough, as the same issue still repeated. But now, here we are. Newly promoted to the First Division and, from my observations, the strongest and most manned squad we've ever had. As of now, even our Junior Varsity squad is full."

This time, the cheers were even louder. I also couldn't help but cheer and clap along, feeling proud that I was a part of this team and to be one of the first members to play in the First Division.

Coach then held his hands high and lowered them, silently telling us to quiet down. "Thanks to that, our funds have greatly increased, allowing us to purchase new uniforms and training equipment and even land a sponsor! Therefore, to celebrate, I've decided to allow everyone on this Varsity squad to print their names on their uniforms and warmups and keep them. For free! Also, the squad numbers will be reset, therefore if you want a certain number, hurry up and get it first."

I was waiting for a moment like this to come. Instinctively, I raised my hand up and yelled. "Dibs on number 7!"

…

For a few seconds there was silence before coach scribbled something on his clipboard. "Well then, number 7 is now off the list."

I was then bombarded by yells, praises and noogies from several upperclassmen.

"Yooo, check it out! Little freshmeat here just stole Cristiano's number!"

"Man, that was MY number!"

"Dang man, this guy here is a savage!"

Although I could've chosen the squad number of the right-back, number 2, I also felt I couldn't let anyone else take number 7. I had my lucky number calculated and everything. No really, I even did the birth date thing online and the number 7 came out as my lucky number. It also helped that it was also my favorite number and the number of the right-winger, a position I favored so...yeah! Lucky me I guess.

After our numbers, we had to input our sizes. Thankfully, we could fill those out on sheets of paper, so that's what I did. I entered an adult large for the tops and a size 34 bottoms just in case I gained some weight over the year.

In a flash, all the other students lined up to sign up for their numbers. Seeing Alpha, Joe and Eun-Wol at the front, I guess they decided to follow my example and not waste any time.

"So, did you guys get the numbers and positions you wanted?" I asked them.

"Yup. Managed to get 9, my favorite number. Also assigned an attacking-midfielder, so I'm glad it's a position I'm familiar with." Joe said, pumping his fist.

"0 for me. My favorite number along with going with who I am as well." Alpha replied. "Anyway, I'm a striker, played that in middle school and I love scoring goals so I'm sure I'll do fine."

"Yup. 6 for me. Convenient too. Same number as my position, defensive midfielder. Hopefully I'll do fine. Never played competitively before"

After a few minutes, Cristiano clapped his hands together. "Alright everyone, gather round! I have an announcement!" Gathering around our team captain, we saw him conversing with coach and his assistants before heading back to us.

"Alright now, I have some good news, and some better news."

Some of the players hummed, as if already knowing what he was going to say.

"The good news is, our very first game in the First Division is next week." The whole team then clapped, excited for their very first game in the highest soccer league. I had to admit, I was too.

"Now for the better news, our first match is against...Seoul's Private High School for the Gifted!"

This time, the cheers were as loud as they ever could've been. At first I didn't know why. From what I heard, they had been champions for years. Weren't we just newly promoted to the First Division? Where was the tension? My questions were quickly answered by the shouts within the group.

"Alright! Finally, on the same playing field!"

"We're gonna show that we're the winners!"

I had to admit, their passion was contagious. Even the tension and nervousness I felt previously was gone. No sooner had Cristiano made the announcement were we sent to coach's classroom to watch tapes on their games.

Their uniforms were white, black, and purple, with white being their main color. Watching their games, it was easy to tell their teamwork was top-notch. Passes were quick, accurate and efficient and finished off with finesse. What's more was their ability to create space for their teammates to roam in. Their defenders even had quick reaction times, quick enough to intercept passes before they passed the halfway mark on the field. They were practically cruising through each and every game. However, one player stood out from all the rest.

"As you can see here, their number 8 seems to be the center of their plays. Once he has the ball, you can almost guarantee him breaking through the defense either by dribbling through or passing." coach said. Honestly, it wasn't too hard to see. His speed was amazing and his dribbling skills were enough to make defenders trip. Combine that with high passing accuracy...it was no wonder why they were currently at the top.

Upon closer inspection, I was able to see the name on the back of his uniform. It read "Kinesis".

Hah, maybe that's why they were winning games. He was using his powers of tele..."Kinesis" to send the ball wherever he wanted it to go.

…

Wow, that was so lame. Why did I even say that? Let's pretend that never happened. Good thing I didn't say that out loud.

"Although the entire squad is good, it goes without saying that he's their biggest asset. Therefore, our main focus will be on him. Be ready."

(A week later)

I watched as the starting eleven from both teams talked to the center of the field in their warmups, high-fiving the opponents as they walked by. However, most of my attention was on the large stadium. It wasn't hard to tell that it was a large stadium, maybe just as large if not larger than our stadium. Like our school, they also had two huge electronic displays across from one another. I could also see camera crews along the stadium, filming the scene. Not only that, but the stadium was completely filled, something I didn't expect to see at a soccer game. Cheers rang through the field, and many of them held posters of their favorite players. At the bottom of the field were the team's cheerleaders, rehearsing their routine. I think I saw someone familiar among them, with her silvery white twin-tailed hair, but I shook off the thought. Now wasn't the time to focus on such things.

Wait a minute…

"Their cheerleaders even attend soccer games?" I asked.

"Probably voluntary." Eun-Wol replied. "Most likely to show pride and spirit for their school. Take a look, we even have our own."

He was right. To my right were our team cheerleaders doing the same, I could even see Lazuli among the group. There was also a visitor section in the stadium for strudents from our school to sit, however, it was difficult to spot any red in the audience.

"Guess we don't have many fans…" I said.

"Well, we're a relatively new team. That and combined that with the fact that soccer is the least watched sport at our school...makes sense right?"

"Well what about here? Seoul's Private High School for the Gifted seems to have many soccer fans."

"Yeah well, depends on what, or rather 'who' they're fans of. I mean, take a look at the posters around. My bet is that they're mainly fans of the team's number 8."

Taking a better look at the posters I could see without glasses, I had to say, he was right. "Kinesis" was plastered all over their posters. Sure, there were some for different people like "Velderoth" and "Seamus", but that was only a small percentage of the hundreds of posters around.

After the the starters high-fived one another, they both headed to their respective locker rooms to change.

Our uniforms were pretty cool. Its main color was black with a bright red "V" shape on the chest area. At the bottom of the "V" was a snowflake logo encased in a circle, showing our sponsor, El Nath inc.

"Yo Joey! You didn't tell me your dad was sponsoring us!" Alpha laughed, examining the uniform like me.

"Oh come on, don't call me that! And I didn't even know either! He probably did that because he knew I'd join the team…"

On the upper left of the chest area was a red maple leaf in a black circular background with the words "Maplestory Academy" in red circling the leaf. On the upper right of the chest area was a "P" in cursive script, displaying our uniform provider, Pensalir. On the back of the shirt was our number printed in red, and above it was my last name, "Le", in all capitals. Our shorts were also black, with the only the school's emblem and squad number in red. For our socks, they were mainly black with two wide red stripes. For the goalkeepers, it was just plain blue. With some white stripes along the shoulders and socks.

I put everything on along with my dad's shin guards and cleats, feeling how tight they were. Maybe I'll ask dad for some money after I get home.

Soon it was time for the kickoff. Along with the rest of the starters, Joe and Alpha gathered on the field. I saw Cristiano and "Kinesis" gather to the center of the field along with the referee, who did a coin flip. Seeing the "Kinesis" point to the goal on one side, it was easy to see that he won. Since we were the losers of the coin toss, we were to start with the ball.

The boos started immediately as soon as the ball was in play. Immediately, defenders crowded the goal net, preventing any of our players from breaking through. The ball was then passed from Alpha to Cristiano, who drifted to the wings of the field, drawing many of the defenders to him. With some space created, Cristiano easily maneuvered past the defenders and managed a pass in Alpha's direction. Alpha then jumped and performed a header, only for it to be caught in the gloves of the goalkeeper.

"So close!" we exclaimed. The tides then turned when the goalkeeper threw the ball forward for "Kinesis" to catch. Surprisingly, only three or four players dashed forward. Like our opponents, many of our team crowded the goal net, but I guess the he predicted that as he made a long pass forward to one of the forwards. David attempted to catch the shot, but instead of finishing off the pass, the forward performed a back heel pass, allowing "Kinesis" to take advantage of David's distraction and kick the ball in from afar.

The crowd then roared. Barely a minute passed and they had already scored. It didn't take long for them to score a second goal either. And this was all before half-time.

Surprisingly, when halftime came along, none of the starters looked discouraged. If anything, they seemed even more determined to win upon re-entering the locker room. In contrast to a 70 minute Junior Varisty match, a Varsity match was a total of 80 minutes, containing two 40 minute halves, and that wasn't even counting half-time, extra time, or even overtime. To be sprinting back and forth for 40 minutes already and not even breathing hard...it really made me question whether or not I was as fast and tenacious as I thought I was.

"Alright everyone, rough start! But that was to be expected. Is everybody warmed up yet?" coach asked.

"Yeah!" They exclaimed, drinking from their bottles.

"Alright, now here's the deal. We're going to do this the other way. Instead of blocking Kinesis, we're going to block his targets. Sound good? Doing so will allow David an easier time to catch the balls coming his way, and our attention will be solely focused on one player. Also, one more thing…"

Coach then tapped Eun-Wol on the shoulder. "Eun-Wol, start warming up. You'll be replacing Ivan."

Wordlessly, Eun-Wol nodded and began to start jogging and stretching on the field.

While Eun-Wol warmed up, the cheerleaders took to the field. Because we were the away team, our team took the stage first. Unlike during the boy's basketball game, the current team consisted of both boys and girls, most likely since this was a soccer game and attendance was voluntary. At the front of the team stood Lazuli with both of her arms raised.

"DO YOUR THING LAZULI!" Alpha shouted from the bench.

"I said BRRR!

It's cold in here!

There must be some Maplers in the atmosphere!"

What came after was music and a series of flips and towers. I couldn't say much about the choreography since I barely knew anything about cheerleading, but I could see that everyone was nicely synchronized as they performed their tosses, flips and rolls.

I eventually had to look away as I brought my attention back to coach as he explained the new formation and strategies. My heart rate quickened. Was I going to be called next? But after Eun-Wol, coach made no more substitutions.

The whistle then blew, signalling the beginning of the second half. Because we kicked off first, this time it was their turn to start.

They started off rather slowly, seemingly in no rush to charge forward as they were already ahead. Luckily, Eun-Wol, who was fresh into the game, took advantage of their easy-going attitude and intercepted a pass, managing to charge forward and pass it to Joe, who in turn passed it to Cristiano for a successful header.

"OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!" we all yelled, seeing the ball go past the goal line.

I saw the rest of the players run over and embrace Cristiano as he slid down the grass and celebrated. I guess that was the wake up call for our opponents, as they wasted no time in getting the ball back into play. Thanks to coach's new strategy, everyone hurried and marked a player, with Cristiano himself marking Kinesis. With all of the players marked, he had no choice but to push forward himself. As he neared the goalie box, he attempted to charge forward and draw the defenders to himself. Luckily, our defenders saw through him and stayed on their targets, forcing him shoot only to have it caught by David.

"Wheeeeewwww...props to David for catching that." one of the bench player said. I think his name was Ivan.

With the Private High School for the Gifted on their guard, the game progressed more slowly. They started switching to a more defensive playstyle, hoping to kill time until the game ended. Smart strategy on their part, trying to agitate our players into scoring and making mistakes. As the 70th minute passed, it was easy to tell our team was getting impatient as they constantly made shots at the goal, only to miss or be blocked. They only needed to score one more goal to tie the game since winning at this point was pretty much impossible.

Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Alright Aaron, you'll be up in a few minutes. Start warming up."

A little shocked that coach would be substituting so late, I could only nod my head as I stood up from the bench and started stretching and started jogging. For some reason, although the game was almost over, I felt my heart rate quicken. I pounded it softly, hoping to calm it down, although I think I only made it worse.

I heard the whistle blow as I stood at the ready during the 77th minute. The referee then held a display board that showed an electronic display of two numbers, 2 and 7. The 2 was in red signalling a sub-out and the 7 was in green, signalling a sub-in. Once Phillip, the starting right-back came over, I high-fived him before rushing out to the field.

"Show your speed, Aaron!" I heard coach yell, as I dashed out to my side of the field. The opponents payed me little to no mind, most likely thinking I wouldn't contribute much since it was so late into the game. That relaxed me a little, as it allowed me to do what I wanted without having to worry about them stopping me. Observing the field, I saw Eun-Wol in possession with the ball, slowly dribbling forward through the persisting "boos" that rang through the crowd. As sneakily as I could, I strided forward, hoping that he'd see and pass it to me. Once we made eye contact, he passed immediately. Due to his accuracy, I had no problem catching the ball with my foot. Taking coach's words into mind, I sprinted forward the moment I had the ball.

Daring not to look to the side to see whether or not they were hot on my trail, I looked to the front, seeing Alpha and Joe dashing along with me, albeit farther ahead. Once I was close enough to them, I performed a cross to Joe who immediately kicked it towards an opposing defender's leg, making the ball bounce toward Alpha and allowing him to take advantage of the goalkeeper's confusion and score the goal.

I don't think I've ever roared so loud in my life. Feelings of excitement and happiness washed over me as I dashed towards Alpha while he was performing backflips in celebration. By the time I arrived, he was already buried by all of us.

After the 80th minute passed, overtime began. Due to the fact that everyone was exhausted, nobody was really able to contribute much. As a result, the rest of the two 10-minute periods was used to pass the ball around to kill time. We could hear coach yelling at us, telling us to go for one more goal, but nobody had the energy left to finish off any of my passes. After a while the referee blew his whistle, signalling the end of the match. The game was over. The final score, 2-2.

We carried Alpha towards the locker room as we celebrated the tie. While doing so, a single thought ran through my mind

I managed to do something! I managed to contribute!

And because of that, I was hooked on soccer and wanted more.

I wanted to play more.

I wanted to win more.

I needed to try harder.

So? How was it? Anything you like? Disliked? Anything I could've done better? Don't hesitate to let me know!

I tried my best to have the character's skills and traits correspond to their positions in soccer.

Like in my old story, MapleStory High School, I modeled Aaron after a Bishop. Bishop's are a class that excel in supporting party members more than dealing damage. As such, I felt being a right-back (or full-back) fit him best. Full-backs are more offensive defenders, and despite being able to push forward, defense is their main priority. Usually they push forward only when the team is on the offensive, and I felt that captured a Bishop's playstyle really well, seeing as how they'd start attacking right after they finish buffing everyone in the party. As a Bishop, whenever the party is low on health or is dead, skills like "Resurrection" and "Heal" enable them to continue fighting. Skills like "Advanced Blessing" increase their attack and defense. As a full-back, once the team is on the defense, their main priority is to prevent the opponent from scoring. Lots of defensive plays from full-backs involve them tackling players, kicking it away from the goal line, intercepting shots, or chasing down stray balls, similar to "keeping the team alive" and on the offense. When on the offense, they usually operate on the wings of the field and give some offensive variety, therefore boosting the team's "attack" in a way.

Since Zero is a warrior class with high attack and little to no support abilities, I made him a Forward/Striker hybrid. I made Alpha a forward as well as a striker because of the one support skill he had, "Rhinne's Protection", so at least he had some party utility instead of just being an all-out attacker like a striker.

Eun-Wol's position was a little more tricky to choose since he has high attack along with higher defense, and I couldn't really narrow those traits down to one position. Like Zero, he also has only one support skill, "Heroic Memories", so I also considered making him a forward, but then again they weren't really ones that had high "defense". Ultimately, I decided to make him an all-around midfielder due to having more defense than attack, but still being pretty strong. Although he is usually deployed as a defensive midfielder, he is capable of playing all midfield positions like a box-to-box midfielder (a kind of central midfielder that can both defend and attack on a high level) and a playmaker (a kind of attacking midfielder that specializes in leading the offense).

Joe was actually an OC requested by a reader long ago. He was modeled after the Paladin class, a class known for its defense rather than its attack. As a result, I considered making Joe a center-back, but the reader requested Joe being an attacking midfielder. I put some thought into it and figured it made sense. Paladins also had support skills like Bishops, but they also more tanky, dealt more damage and had a more up close and personal playstyle. For that, attacking midfielder was a perfect choice.

Also, to get an idea of what the MapleStory Academy soccer uniform looks like, just search up VfL Wolfsburg's 2015/2016 home kit. A player who I thought wore it really well was Julian Draxler, so you can also search him up as well. Just replace the white colors with black and the green colors with red. Also replace the Volkswagen icon with a snowflake.

For the Private High School for the gifted, just search up Tottenham Hotspur's kit. Same year.

Name: Lazuli Kessho

Gender: Female

Age: 14-15

Height: None of your business

Interests: reading, writing, art.

Hobbies: reading gore novels, watching horror movies, writing her own dark stories.

Strongest subject: English (Literature, Language and Composition)

Favorite food: Burgers

Favorite music: Orchestral

The type of boy she like is: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

Other info: Youngest among the pair of twins, Lazuli is the polar opposite of her elder twin brother, Lapis, being more negative, pessimistic and quick to anger. Despite that, she gets along well with the twins and manages to deal with Joe with his constant attempts at trying to befriend her. Like everyone else in the group, she has exceptional grades, although her English grades stand out the most. A big fan of all kinds of literature, she loves to read but gets exceptionally excited reading gore novels and watching horror movies, especially ones containing lots of blood. When Alpha told her he enjoyed reading a bit of gore (actually a lie, he only said that so Lazuli wouldn't feel alone) Lazuli made it her personal goal to get Alpha to read every new gore novel she came across so they could have deep discussions about the "plot", although these usually involve Lazuli talking and Alpha only listening half the time. When she has free time, she usually spends time in the library reading or finding new books to find. She also enjoys shopping and drags Alpha along with her every chance she gets, but then gets annoyed when he invites other people to come along.