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The Wolfe of Kaapstad #5: Inflection Point - Bloodless - 2026-08-28 Inflection is the change, such as in a word, the curve of a line, or the pitch of ones voice. How about the change of one's being? The season was over and Dante's mini-spout of depression had been cured through a breakthrough in his own skills, yet it felt more like putting everything he was capable of together for once rather then a sudden surge of skill. He just shed what he didn't need, and the moment Dante let go of the fact that he was unable to score he seemed to improve. He hadn't lost his incessant, burning obsession for scoring goals ... but he had managed to overcome that limitation. Dante still hit the gym every day, practiced his shooting more then anything, and basically carried a soccer ball wherever he went so he could always practice, and get used to how even the smallest amounts of force shifted the ball. He was more in tune with his own talent then ever before, and there was still so much to improve on! Dante wanted to play right goddamn now ... and it was infuriating how he had just reached this level of self-actualization only at the end of the season. Over the last 4 games of the season Kaapstad had score at least 3 goals in every match barring the very last game, which they were held scoreless against the vaunted Paris team. Of those 12 goals scored in the three games before the season finale versus Paris, Dante Von Wolfe accounted for 25% of his teams goals, a total of 4/12. Over all that's not too shabby for a rookie to manage a performance like that for any stretch of time ... but Dante was of course not satisfied. Sure he was finally taking shots ... he was scoring ... he was improving. But when compared to his Academy Season, this performance was honestly a failure. Dante sat in a dark room with a blanket haphazardly tossed over him, a bright tv screen playing multiple clips on repeat. This season might have been a failure by his own standards, but the young Striker of course didn't linger on that fact for too long. Instead, he analyzed those goals to see what worked. Holding a controller in his hand the plays on the TV either sped up or re-winded. His back straightened out as he sat up a bit, rewinding again as he reviewed the last play. He dropped the remote and picked up the ipad beside him, tapping the screen a few times as he pulled up his own specific tape for shot attempts and goals. Dante's eyes lit up as he recognized something in the plays, not what they all had in common but rather what separated the good from the bad. Ah. His timing was much better on all those runs. That one, and that one ... was it that his anticipation and physical specs were finally coming into alignment? Ignoring that it seemed like his other skills had plateaued a fair bit, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing as they had leveled off at a stage which was acceptable for a young Striker. Maybe that's why he had finally been able to create more scoring opportunities further into the season. This new, brief moment of clarity made the next step obvious to the Wolf. This offseason he would train his physicals until he was even more comfortable with his movements, and once they were in sync with his vision of the field he would be theoretically unstoppable. Little did he know that coach @Lpapi had also noticed this and was plotting something in the shadows ...! Training Log - Day 1: Hello journal. In a surprising turn of events, my coach enlisted the help of Kaz Okada (@DidYouSeeThatLudicrousDisplay?) and Nick Kasak (@nckkss) to lure me  to this isolated beach owned by the team. How you may ask? They stole my phone AND my phone charger ... @Lpapi is even more cunning then I thought ... My coach asked me to keep a journal and log both my training and thoughts. While this is tedious at best, coach promised to let me have my phone back at the end of two weeks. My boredom is off the charts already, but for the sake of my phone improvement I am determined to (somehow) make it through this training regiment. Training Log - Day 3: HELP. It's been three days since I started this new intensive training regiment and I think I'm going to DIE. No, I am NOT being dramatic. Every time I sleep in @Jubka dumps a bucket of water on me. So the past two days I've had to immediately get out of bed and begin training while soaked. It starts with a long run along the beach ...  FOR EIGHT FUCKING KILOMETERS. Since I'm an athlete, they set a hard deadline of 60 minutes which is reduced by one minute every day. It's getting increasingly harder to match the pace required, especially considering the terrain. The sand is not easy to run across for long distances thanks to it being softer and shifting beneath your feet every time you step. It's like the very ground is trying to pull you down compared to evenly pushing you upwards with every step. I hate this, but I won't give up just yet. Training Log - Day 8: Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. I didn't have the energy to write in this journal after the combined workouts, but since my last entry I have managed to successfully cut down the beach run to around 41 minutes which puts me well on target to match the pace the coaches planned for me. The real issue comes from what they added shortly thereafter ... muscle training. As an athlete I do in fact work out quite a bit, but it's always enough to stay in shape and maintain my physique while adding on small improvements. On top of bringing in professional trainers who excel in different categories, the coaches brought in two players from Hollywood to assist ... Defender's Lucas Peioxoto (@Lpapi) and Freddy Adu (@Doc) who refused to go easy on me ... sure I'd need the physique to take on top tier defenders, but did they have to train me until I could barely physically move!? Training Log - Day 14: Today was possibly the easiest day I've had in forever. They let me sleep in without tossing water onto me. I didn't need to run along the beach and instead was only required to take a light, untimed jog through a small forested area near the beach. The workouts only involved some light weight lifting which didn't come close to pushing my limits and some stretching to help further improve flexibility. It was a breathe of fresh air, and makes me think that maybe the first chunk of this training camp was just to make sure my physical specs were up to par before we started working on skill and technique! The only part which was truly draining was the meditation ... something about clearing my mind of obsessions and doing away with bad habits. After 10 minutes I fell asleep. I hope coach didn't catch me snoring ... Training Log - Day 15:I was wrong. Yeah, they were just giving me a day to prepare for the worst ... and today was the most hellish training exercise yet. FUCK. Ahem. They increased the distance I have to run each morning from one end of the beach to the other, then through a short yet steep forest path. After the rest of the days intense workouts ... I felt like I was going to give out and completely pass out, but then they made me do a two hour long dance class ... needless to say, I nailed those moves despite my exhaustion, but never did I expect dancing to be the exercise that pushed me past my limits. When I asked coach why I was doing dancing lessons, he told me it was to improve flexibility, sudden movement, and balance. In retrospect it makes sense, but I'm wondering if I can incorporate some dance moves into my dribbling or normal movements in order to throw defenders off ... maybe even as feints? Training Log - Day 19: Day 19 ... was spectacular. Today I got to touch a soccer ball again, and after all that intense physical training it was a much needed break from the grueling regiment they had me on. They basically told me to spend an hour practicing each basic technique, then I could do whatever I wanted as long as it involved the soccer ball. Of course I spent the time practicing my shooting form, including firing off accurate shots from off-balance platforms and positions. To top it all off ... at the end of the day, the coaches finally gave me my phone back! I'm not one to get overly excited, but this day felt like an incredible reward ... although the coaches had a devious smirk when they handed it back ... dunno what that was all about. Training Log - Day 20: I know what that was all about. GODDAMN CONNIVING FOXES DIDN'T GIVE ME MY CHARGER. I slept in, laid in bed, and played games for most of the day ... but the moment my phone ran out of battery I sat there thinking, and upon realizing I didn't have a charger I went to buy one. Well, the coaches got in contact with all the local stores and asked them not to sell a phone charger to me. I didn't even know they had that kind of pull in terms of connections!? Whatever ... I'll just find some other way to charge it! Training Log - Day 21: Yeah they dragged me out to practice ... and honestly, after being scammed into thinking I had finally earned my phone back I was definitely more motivated to get through all this. In fact, after resting most of yesterday ... which it seems like my coaches predicted I would do ... I easily finished their extended course in about 38 minutes and 19 seconds. I want to get it down a bit more, but apparently that's already a little better then the average athlete so I my training seems to be on the right track. I'd attribute a lot of it to getting used to moving on unstable terrain and improved stamina, but still it's nice to see progress. Training Log - Day 25:For the final week of training, coaches ramped up all activities to their absolute maximum intensity. Running, weight lifting twice a day, film study accompanied by a test afterwards, practicing basic skill moves and techniques for a couple hours at max effort, then timed shooting practice and hitting targets under duress. This is the first day this week I have done anything other then fall asleep the moment I got to my room. Fortunately, they do usually give me time to eat which is at least considerate of them. Training Log - Day 29:Today the coaches mixed the order of things up just to keep me on my toes, and although I initially was fine it did clearly take a toll on me by the end of the day. Thus we skipped the second weight lifting session and instead hit the beach with some of my teammates. I didn't want to go at first, but I didn't have anything better to do and it got me out of the weight lifting session so I figured going was in my best interest anyways. It was fun and refreshing, and probably helped us connect a bit more. Even if it doesn't end up helping us on the field, I think it was worth it. Training Log - Day 38: I had lost track of time and forgotten to do this, but when coach told me that the final day of my training was right around the corner I figured I had better come back and recap the last 10 days. It was mostly the same as what I have been doing, with increased running distances as well as adding a secondary, nightly jog before bed to the mix. I now had two shooting sessions each day, as well as two gym sessions and can practically feel myself getting stronger in real time. Apparently I've had a lot of dormant musculature, especially in my legs, and now with all this training it's finally being utilized more efficiently than ever before which is cool. Every other day I have been doing rock climbing, and the days where I'm not scaling cliffs my coaches have had me perform a variety of tasks. From teaching kids how to play soccer, to dueling retired professionals in 1v1's, a beer league match where I scored 5 goals, to paragliding ... these past 10 days have been eventful and varied ... I don't know why they had me try a lot of those things--- maybe it was to expand my horizons, or keep me engaged and entertained. Either way, the variety has helped me stay focused when I'm actually playing even more then usual ... and it's got me looking forward to the final day of training and whatever coach has planned. Training Log - Day 45: The last day of training was ... interesting. I didn't know exactly what to make of it at first, but it started off with everything I did on my very first day of training without rest. I completed it, and although I was drenched in sweat I didn't feel like I was at death's door anymore. Coach showed me a chart with all my times and scores from my first day compared to todays and the results were honestly staggering. I feel like I've eclipsed some sort of wall I never even knew was there. My coaches returned my phone charger after they gave me a written test which I completed, and we got a nice dinner to celebrate. I'm thankful they put the time in to help me this off-season, even if it was ... well, painful might be an understatement but that's still the jist of it. I can definitely feel my physical abilities have improved by leaps and bounds, and I can now better grasp my own limitations and movements ... of which there are honestly few. This ... is making me look forward to the season in a way I never thought I would feel ... just pure excitement. First though, I'm going to sleep for 48 hours straight. Then I'll have to work on my new regiment.