Blue lock: the true egoist

[Karasu's POV]

I knew Jude wasn't an ordinary high schooler who joined Blue Lock in hope to miraculously become good like most others. 

I knew he was different.

Maybe from the first time I met him. 

At first he was nothing more than a talented player, he was impressive, but not enough to be a threat. A talented player but nowhere near a genius like Hiori. 

It should've been no problem, yet I still chose to go and test the water first. 

It was one of my habits. Being overly cautious was something which allowed me to get out of a lot of potential troubles.

I knew he was tired, I was only going to taunt him and then leave. But after seeing him still training and playing one on one against his teammate right after such an intense game, I couldn't hold back. I wanted to know what kind of person he was. 

Was he also a genius? 

I played against him and soon found out. He wasn't a genius, he was closer to me when it came to that, a talented learner. 

He couldn't suddenly come up with some insanely high level of play. Instead, he knew exactly all his strengths and weaknesses, all he could do was make the best use of it. 

He was the person closest to me. 

I hated that. 

I hated seeing myself in him. 

Because even though we were so similar we each took different paths.

For a moment, I thought he was perhaps what I aspired to be. I couldn't help seeing myself in him.

From the way he was improving at such an insane rate I could already tell he hadn't been playing football for a long time.

Was the only way for me to beat him to rely on Hiori? Those thoughts haunted me. 

I tried letting go of Hiori. I evolved. I pushed myself to the limits. I reached a level of play I didn't think I was capable of. I almost reached the level of those geniuses.

... and yet I still lost. 

I should be sad. Or at the very least disappointed, but all I could feel back then was excitement. 

Not only did I find out the potential hidden within me, but I also evolved as a player. I changed my way of thinking.

This time I won't just rely on Hiori. I will milk him dry, I will use him until there's nothing left to use.

I will use everything and everyone in order to reach the top. 

When I saw him at the end of the 100 goals, it was a given that we would pair up again. The only question was who would be the third person. 

I wanted Otoya, but unfortunately I couldn't find him. He most likely had already moved on to the next stage. 

"Let's team up." 

A short brown haired boy came up to me. It was hard not to recognize him. After all, beside Jude who was the heart of Team X, this man was the brain — Miyata. 

"Why..? No, forget it. It matters very little, actually. You're perfect." With both Hiori and Miyata supporting me, I could reach an even higher level than during our last match. 

Maybe I can evolve even more.

We thus moved to the next stage. I already knew who to look for, but he found me first. 

Jude. 

.. 

.. 

////////////////

[3rd POV] 

"3vs3, first to 5 goals!" 

When Ego finished his explanation, Karasu advanced to take the kick off. 

As soon as he passed the ball back to Miyata, a figure flew towards him. Miyata knew him very well, it was his ex teammate, now rival. 

There was a big difference between seeing him as an ally and seeing him against you. The sheer pressure from experiencing his acceleration and knowing what he's capable of was incomparable to anything he'd experienced before. 

It was nothing like the lighthearted training Team X used to have.

"I know you too well." Miyata flashed a weak smile before sending the ball to Hiori who stood next to him. 

They didn't even need to communicate. They already knew what to do. 

Support Karasu. 

Miyata and Hiori were in perfect sync, Hiori sent to ball to Karasu and they each aided him from one side, forming a triangle formation.

"As if I'd let that happen!" 

[Shadow walk] 

Karasu only sensed it when it was too late, Jude already went back to defense and sneaked up on him from behind. 

[Side quest: score the most goals in the 3vs3! 

Difficulty: C 

Be the player to score the most goals.

Reward: 5 pro points]

The system's screen suddenly appeared in front of Jude's eyes, making him miss by a hair breadth. 

"You've gotten sloppy since the last time." Karasu taunted unconvincingly with a drop of sweat falling down his forehead.

It was his first time not being able to sense Jude even tho he sneaked up so close. Karasu proceeded to side step Jude's tackle before sending the ball straight to the net. 

0-1

"Only four more to go." 

Karasu walked back, his smug face was back to usual. 

"He really know how to get on people's nerves." Yukimiya commented. 

"Where did you learn those movements?" Otoya's attention was elsewhere. How did Jude learn to move like him? 

He didn't have that skill before, right? 

"I guess you could say I learned from the best." Jude replied with a wink as he stood up. 

At first he was more than annoyed by the timing of the quest. It's not the first time that they appear in the middle of a game, but he usually have the time to push them away.

Either way, he wasn't going to complain. 

Every chance to get stronger was welcome, his greed knew no bound. That's the kind of man Jude was. 

"Let's get a bit more serious." 

.. 

.. 

[IMAGE]

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————