Chapter 23

“Alright, I think you’ve earned yourself a break.” At Peter’s words, Dan felt relief flood his body, and his arm dropped down to his side, the tennis racquet barely held in his hand. His entire body ached, and a quick glance at his stats told him his stamina, as he’d guessed, had fallen below 25. The temporary debuff and drop in his stats had been noticeable, and yet Peter had insisted they continue their practice. If Dan had to guess, Peter had been trying to figure out just how long he could keep Dan training, before he hit his limits.

“Well done this morning buddy.” Peter continued, motioning for Dan to follow after him. A quick glance at his watch told Dan it was just past noon. They’d been practicing for hours. And even though it was the fall, Dan was sweating from the amount of work he’d been putting in. His arms, his legs, his entire body, was exhausted.

“Thanks.” Dan said as he worked to catch his breath. Sure, with his new ‘powers’ he was able to replenish his stamina with short breaks, and he didn’t feel the aftereffects that working out normally would cause. However, his stamina being so low right now, definitely meant he could feel the exertion and pain. This training, honestly, felt like it sapped more energy from him than anything he’d done on the soccer field. And that was saying something. After all, soccer had been all about endurance.

“I just want you to know,” Peter continued, “I’m not saying that lightly. You really are doing great so far Dan.” They’d reached the gate that was the entrance to the court. Dan had managed to ignore the crowd growing during his training for the most part, but now he realized there were quiet a few more individuals watching the duo than Dan remembered. He wasn’t certain if it was because his lesson had been all that interesting, or perhaps it was because it was lunch time? He noticed more than a few of them seemed to be chowing down on pizza slices or other types of food. Which reminded him, he was extremely hungry after that grueling training session.

“What can I say, I have a great teacher.” While Dan may have had access to special powers, he had no doubt in his mind that he wouldn’t be progressing as quickly with any other teacher. There was no doubt that not only was Peter phenomenal at the sport, but he was surprisingly skilled at teaching.

“And don’t you forget it.” Peter flashed him a smile as he opened the gate. His smile faded as he stepped through, and he pointed towards a trio that looked roughly the same age as Dan. “Mark, Alex, Joe. Clean up the court, and make sure it’s ready for a practice match when we come back. That means a clean sweep, and all the lines crystal clear.”

The trio jumped at the sudden attention, but didn’t argue. Even though they’d seemed like they were in the middle of lunch, they just nodded towards Peter, and headed towards the court without another word.

“Perks of being King.” Peter said in response to Dan’s questioning look. “They’ll pretty much do whatever I tell them, within reason of course. Which is also why, when we come back, we’ll have a few of them act as ball boys for our match.”

“Our…what?” Dan wasn’t sure he’d heard Peter correctly.

“Well, before I let you off the hook for the day, and we watch some of the other players, I want to test your skills myself. And, what better way, than with a practice match?”

“Because you couldn’t gauge my skills from our training this morning?” Dan asked dryly. He was exhausted, and not even the ‘short rest’ bonus he was going to get to his stamina recovery during his lunch meal would put him back at full. Sure, it would likely put him above 50, and maybe get him close to 75, but even still, Dan doubted he would be able to last very long before his debuffs started stacking again. And compared to Peter, who hadn’t really be doing anything physical all morning…Dan’s already drained state was going to make him seem even weaker besides the Senior. And that was, of course, regardless of that fact that Peter was literally the King of Tennis in the area.

“There’s something to be said about practical…practice.” Peter said with a chuckle. “I’ve been drilling these techniques into you in stationary environments. Now I’m going to have you practice them in an actual match.” Peter directed them back towards the large courtyard that they’d originally encountered Sophia and Ashely in. “Don’t worry though, I promise I’ll go easy on you.”

“Oh yeah?” Dan asked dryly. “Are you going to use your weak hand?”

Peter laughed. “You know it. And I’ll even play it slow and easy for you. How about, twenty five percent of my normal tempo?”

“You’re still going to win, easily.” Dan replied. He couldn’t tell the exact numbers of Peter’s stats, but he had a good idea of the range. Even one-fourth of Peter’s skill was still higher than Dan’s. After all, Dan’s top stat for tennis, his forehand, had just barely broken into the double digits. A quick glance confirmed his Forehand (Semi-Western) was sitting at a 13, while his Top Spin (tennis feature) was sitting at an 11, before the bonus from his racquet. Both skills, much much lower than Peter’s.

“It’s not about winning or losing at this stage buddy.” As Peter spoke, Dan noticed food trucks appeared to have taken up positions around the tennis courts. From them, he could smell a mouthwatering array of flavors, from the delicious smell of brick oven pizza to the sizzling smell of burgers and chicken. Even more costs to this special event. Dan couldn’t imagine how much money these special tennis league had to raise, and spend, on these events. The fact it was all managed by people like Peter, was even more impressive.

“Right now, I need you to get experience. You can practice and hone skills all you want, but experience is going to be what sets you apart from the others. The more actual practice you get, the more opponents you play against as you work on learning all of your tennis skills, the better player you will be when they all come together. Don’t view our match as something that you’re going to lose, view it as an opportunity to gain experience against the best tennis player around. That, is invaluable.”

“If you say so.” Peter had a point. The same held true for any sport Dan had ever played. You could practice dribbling and shooting goals in soccer all you wanted, but it all changed when you were in a game against other players. The pressure, the feel, everything was different. That was why you practiced, of course. So that the muscle memory could help you execute your efforts properly, while experience ensured you knew how to respond to different situations. In that same way, playing actual matches, even if he had a 0 percent chance of winning, would at least help him improve.

Come to think of it, Dan had gotten a decent amount of experience in his skills playing against Sophia and Ashely, even though the match itself hadn’t lasted as long as one of his training sessions, nor had he been as active in it. If he looked at it that way, this match against Peter would be the perfect way to accelerate his skill’s growths. And if he climbed his skills higher, then as Syn had alluded, his skill assist would be more effective.

“But of course, before we have our match.” Peter ruffled Dan’s hair as he paused, looking over at the various food trucks. “What poison should we pick? My treat of course.”

And with that, Dan found himself even more willing to take part in his practice match against Peter. In fact, all the training of the morning seemed a lot more bearable. Hunger, and the promise of delicious, albeit unhealthy, food truck food, did that to a person.

“How about some pizza?”

Peter’s eyes danced with pride. “I swear Danny, you just keep making me like you more and more.” A moment later, a prompt appeared across Dan’s screen, letting him know Peter’s statement, wasn’t just pure words. Apparently, Dan had accidently triggered something else. Apparently, Dan had just triggered a Relationship Buff.