Chapter 8

For almost an hour, Peter had Dan standing on one side of the net, starting with his racquet pointing somewhat angled, down to the ground, on the other side of the net. Then, Peter would toss a tennis ball towards Dan, and Dan would have to rotate his wrist and arm in a counter-clockwise arc. This would bring the racquet from facing down towards the ground, likely pointing at roughly the 4 or 5 on a clock, and up until it was at almost 9 or 10. The whole purpose of this, was to use that momentum of the rotation to hit the tennis ball.

And, while this was extremely technical, and monotonous, the biggest point of confusion for Dan was that he wasn’t swinging the racquet forward. This entire drill, it was just going from down to up, in a twisting motion. But any time he tried to push it forward, Peter would correct him. It…didn’t make sense. When you hit stuff…you hit stuff. Kicking a ball with a foot, hitting a baseball with a bat…you always swung and kicked through. Yet somehow, someway, with this drill, the mere motion, the twisting of the arm and wrist, sent the tennis ball forward in a surprising way.

“I’ve got to say Danny,” Peter pulled him from his musings as he hit yet another ball. Shortly after they’d started their training, a freshman had showed up with a massive cart full of used tennis balls, and Peter had been using those with Dan. That cart held in it probably 200 tennis balls, and any time they emptied it, Peter had Dan push it around, collecting all of the balls, before beginning again. Apparently, Dan wasn’t ready to use brand new tennis balls just yet. “I’m really impressed by your resilience.”

“What do you mean?” Dan said as he watched the next ball, timing it just right, so that when the ball met with his moving racquet, it hit in the middle of the strings, the ‘sweet spot’ as Peter called it.

“Honestly man, I was just doing this to see how long until you complained about the training. I didn’t expect you to actually put this much focus into it on day 1.”

Dan only half heard him, his focus seeming to narrow in on the tennis ball, his eyes tracking it. He timed it perfectly, sending the ball forward with a small amount of force, but a lot of spin. That was what he’d noticed about this technique the most. The rotating motion of his racquet imparted a lot of top spin into the ball, making it rapidly spin, causing it to bounce high the moment it did land on the court.

Tennis Trait leveled up

+1 Forehand (Semi-Western) (Tennis) (3)

+1 Top Spin (Tennis Feature) (2)

“Oh,” Dan said, trying to keep his excitement at bay. Honestly, if he’d just been doing the training, he would have stopped a long time ago. It felt foolish, his arm and wrist were hurting, and that racquet was starting to feel quite heavy in his hand. Not to mention his back and legs were starting to get sore. There was a lot more to tennis than he had thought.

However, the moment he’d begun the training, a progress bar had popped up the bottom right portion of his field of vision. With each ball he hit, the progress bar would move ever so slightly, and flash for a brief second an experience value. In other words, he was able to actively track the experience he was gaining towards his unlocked Tennis Trait. Even better, the first time he hit one correctly, giving it top spin, he’d unlocked that as a feature. And so, as he sat there, hitting ball after ball, he lost himself to the task. No longer was it about practicing tennis…instead he was just grinding out experience for his skills and traits. Something he was no stranger to in gaming.

“That’s all you’ve got for me buddy? Oh?” Peter chuckled and stopped, mid toss. Instead of throwing the tennis ball towards Dan, he bounced it on the court for a moment. His eyes looked Dan up and down, appraising him. After a moment he grinned. “There’s something different about you. Honestly, I think you’ve got more potential than I earlier gave you credit for.”

+1 Self Esteem (55)

+1 Ambition (50)

Ambition Tier bonus unlocked!

+1 Charisma (48) -1 Happiness (66) -1 Compassion (58) +5 Mental Fortitude (5/100) +5 Aptitude (5/100) +5 Max Stamina (105)

Dan’s mouth opened as he read through the notifications. “Bonus unlocked?” He whispered. This was definitely something he’d not experienced before. When his ambition had hit 40, nothing had happened. Was it an incremental tier list for those personal traits? If so, what was the scale? He had so many questions now-

“Did I break you?” Peter’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Seriously man. I said you have potential. You’re not going to become Federer overnight.” The senior chuckled. “I like that you think so highly of my praise, but come one. I’m going to work you for at least another hour before I let you call it a night.”

Dan had no idea who Federer was. He was guessing it was someone good at tennis. That being said, a quick glance at his stamina showed he’d burned through almost half his stamina already with the hour of training. Which explained why his body was so sore. Another hour was probably the most he could keep up. And that was depending on what type of training Peter had planned next.

“Sorry,” Dan said sheepishly. His mind was still racing. He needed to know what the Bonus’s were. He needed to know what the other skills would do with their bonuses as well. Because that would allow him to better try and use these new powers of his, to create the best version of himself he could become. And most importantly, he was eager to see what would happen next. His Charisma was almost to level 50….what would the bonus be there? Would he unlock new skills? His mind was definitely overriding some of his previous doubts and suspicions about this strange new skillset of his, in exchange for the potential that was now-

A tennis ball to the gut caused him to completely change his focus. Peter had another ball in his hand, holding his racquet lightly with a grin on his face. “Seriously Danny, you gotta stop losing yourself in your mind.” He tossed the ball up high, and a moment later his arm moved in a blur. All of a sudden, another tennis ball was flying towards Dan. Before he could respond, it impacted in the exact same spot the first one had. Either that was dumb luck, or Peter was deadly accurate.

“What the-“ Dan’s anger flared. That hurt. Like a lot. He’d never thought a tennis ball could hurt so much, but honestly that impact stung more than getting blasted with a soccer ball.

“Tough love buddy.” Peter smiled and shrugged. “Now, you ready for your next lesson? Otherwise,” Peter picked up another ball, “I’m sure you could help me practice my accuracy a bit. Moving targets are always fun.” The way Peter said that sent chills down Dan’s spine. If he had to guess, the Senior had used underclassman on more than one occasion for such training.

“I’m ready.” Dan tried his best to make a mental note to ask Syn about everything that had happened through the day, especially the Bonus he’d just unlocked. However, for now, he knew it was in his best interest to pay attention to Peter.

“Good, good.” Peter tossed the ball up high, and Dan flinched. However, instead of blasting the ball towards him, Peter tapped the ball lightly with his racquet, sending it in a gentle arc over the net. The ball landed, and then bounced, matching the exact height he’d been using with his tosses when Dan had been practicing. “I’m going to send you balls like that. We are going to have you practice hitting them with a little forward momentum.”

Peter held his racquet out. “But, you’re going to need to do just as I do.” He brought his arm backwards in an exaggerated C pattern, going from high to low. As he neared the end of his C, he paused. It was exactly the same position he’d been teaching Dan earlier over the net. Then, he went through the rest of the motion, twisting his arm as he’d been having Dan do so much earlier. With the addition of the backwards movement, Dan could see there was now forward momentum to the swing. Meaning not only would he be trying to get his wrist rotation down properly, but also, the timing down with the rest of his swing. He definitely wasn’t going to have enough Stamina left for this task. However, he was going to try his hardest until it did run out. After all, he had stats to grind.

“Got it.” Dan said, trying his best to sound confident. So far, his self-esteem hadn’t dropped, meaning he wasn’t feeling down on himself. That thought lingered in his mind for a moment as Peter gently sent a ball his way. Was he starting to think about himself in a game type of pattern? Was he going to use the notifications as a way to give himself an indicator of how he was feeling and acting? Was that right? Which drove it, the system, or his thoughts and actions? Needless to say, his mind broke for a moment, and he completely missed the tennis ball.

-1 Self Esteem (54) -4 Mental Health (67)

“Swing and a miss Danny.” Peter chuckled, preparing another ball. “Don’t let me down on this one.”

Dan shook his head, glaring angrily at the racquet. At least, he was sure that how it seemed to Peter. However, he was glaring at the notifications that had popped up on his screen. Apparently, trying to think too much like that, was dangerous to his mental health. Each time he started to figure out whatever Syn had done to him…he just met more complications and difficulties. Seriously, Dan was starting to wonder how long it would take to truly understand what had happened to him.

And, if he was going to think about it, the tennis court was not the place. He turned his full attention back to the task at hand, watching the ball gently bounce. Even with his thoughts, he hadn’t missed the fact that Peter had sent the ball to the exact same place as the last one…just how good was the senior?

Dan went through the motion, trying to mimic what Peter had shown him. It felt strange, jerky and unnatural. Completely different from the fluid, practiced ease that Peter had displayed. He messed up his timing, and to his dismay, didn’t get the ball over the net. However, Peter gave him a smile and a nod, before tossing the next one towards him.

“That’s it Danny.” Peter’s voice was filled with actual kindness or warmth. “Just take it one ball at a time, and we will get you there.”

+1 Self Esteem (55) +1 Happiness (67)