Chapter 26

“And that’s game.” Peter said triumphantly as Dan’s attempt to return the ball crashed into the net. For a second the ball hit the net and seemed to bounce, as if it wanted to climb over the net and land on Peter’s side of the court. Sadly, the wall for it, in this case, the hard, white portion on the top of the net, was too tall for it to climb, and Dan didn’t have the power or spin required to force it over. Instead, it dropped sadly onto his side of the court, giving Peter the final point he needed to finish out their set. As Peter had predicted, and as Dan knew would happen, it had ended 0-6. Even worse, Dan hadn’t even scored a single point.

And yet, Dan couldn’t help but feel good about himself. Sure, a part of him hated that he’d been unable to land a single point against Peter. Especially given his abuse of Minor Skill Assist. However, the whole time playing against Peter, he’d been able to just focus on the Senior, and watch the ball coming towards him. He’d been able to put into practice the things Peter had taught him, and with the aid of his newfound powers, he’d actually returned the ball a few times. Sure…Peter was taking it extremely easy on him, but he’d still felt he’d come a long way from his match just the other day with Sophia and Ashely.

“You didn’t even break a sweat.” Dan said with a laugh as he walked towards the ball. The clay court was covered on his side with footprints and ball marks. He’d been running back and forth as much as he could, struggling to try and return everything Peter sent his way. The Senior, on the other hand, had been staying relatively stationary. When he did move, it was precise, and with ease. In fact, most of the time it seemed like he positioned himself right as Dan was heading to return the ball, as if Peter could predict exactly where Dan was going to return the ball. Something he figured came from all of Peter’s experience.

“That’s because I’m a grade A superstar Danny. You’ve still got a ways to go before you get me sweating.” Peter chuckled and motioned towards the individuals who’d been acting as the ball boys for the match. “Thanks for your help boys. A quick sweep of the court, and you guys are good to go. Thanks for your help today. Lunch is on me next time.”

“Now then,” Peter turned his attention back to Dan, holding out a hand towards the tennis ball. Because Dan had started serving in their 6 game Set, Peter had finished up, and he still had two of the balls in his pocket. “how about we go watch the girls play?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Dan said, sweat dripping from his face. He was exhausted. He already knew his stamina was low. He’d found, during that match, that not only was actual play more exhausting than practice, but utilizing Minor Skill Assist in a real time game drained his Stamina quicker. Additionally, because of how quick the flashes and indicators were on the skill, it took a lot of concentration and focus to follow through with his skill.

Even more eye opening, was the fact that even though he could see the area where the ball was going to land, making sure his body was positioned correctly, and ensuring he could carry out proper form and technique, were all still outside of his skill range. More often than not he found himself either running to far and fast, putting himself too close to the ball or making it difficult for him to stop and hit the ball in time, or he misjudged, and ended up having to scramble to just barely be able to connect with it. Both scenarios, usually resulted in the ball not going anywhere near where he’d wanted it to.

Hopefully, as he leveled up his skills, and his powers, the Skill Assist function would become more useful. Sure, being able to judge in a five-foot spread where the ball was going to land was great, but Dan had a feeling Peter could already gauge that as well, without the use of any special powers. What Dan needed, in order to really be able to execute his skills appropriately, was to narrow down probably to within at least a foot exactly where the ball was going to land, and how it was going to bounce. That way, he could line up the perfect spot, in his sweet zone, every time.

“Really Dan, you were moving great out on the court today.” Peter commented as they walked towards their gear. Behind them, the players Peter had issued orders to were grabbing the massive brooms they dragged around on the court to ‘sweep’ the clay. Dan wasn’t certain if they were happy or upset that Peter had been using them like this. It had been hard to get a gauge on them, considering Dan had been extremely focused on his match against Peter. Additionally, he still didn’t know all the rules, regulations, traditions, and such that went on at these special tournaments Peter and everyone was a part of.

“I don’t know,” Dan replied, “I could barely even get to most of the balls, and I know you weren’t putting any actual power or spin into your hits.” That had been obvious. It was night and day compared to how Peter had been playing against the girls during their doubles match. Every shot Peter did seem soft, and didn’t have near the type of spin Dan had seen him execute before. What had been different, was every single shot Peter did, went to a different part of the court. Dan had started to notice, by the third game, that Peter had been drawing different shapes with his shots.

That final match…Dan was pretty sure Peter had been trying to make him run in a star pattern. Starting with the serve, which Peter had bounce in the service box and then fly to where Dan was standing, at the back right corner of the singles court, by the baseline. Dan returned that, and then Peter sent the ball to service box to Dan’s left, forcing him to run up in a diagonal manner. Then Peter bounced it gently into the right service box, sending Dan horizontally across to it, then Peter sent it high over Dan’s head and to the back left corner of the court, near Dan’s baseline. He’d managed to get to that one, just barely, but Dan’s return had been week, and had hit the net and dropped short. Still…he was pretty sure Peter’s next ball would have completed the star pattern.

“But you were getting to them.” Peter replied. “I was actually rather impressed you were able to react as well as you did. Most new players have trouble predicting where the ball is going to land. You, however, moved quite naturally and seemed to have a good judge of where my shots were going. If we work on your split step and get your timing down a little better, we can get you to stop running through your shots. Your technique has come a long way already, we just have to make sure you can keep yourself balanced, and you’ll be fast on your way to a spot on the team Dan.”

“If you say so.” Dan said. If only Peter knew. Dan wasn’t relying on intuition. If not for his Minor Skill Assist, he would have been completely lost, meaning he would have likely been running around even more chaotically. On second thought, maybe the skill wasn’t completely useless at this level. All in all, Dan had a feeling if he kept his progress and training up like this…well, maybe his goals were closer to him than he thought.

Ambition +2 (67)

“You’re a natural. And with my guidance, you’re going to be great.” Peter closed the gate and paused, looking at all of the players who’d come to watch their match. Everyone was eying the Senior and Dan quietly. A few of them had been cheering and clapping, Dan knew that, when he’d made his returns. Others, had been chuckling, laughing, and there had been some heckling at times, though those had been scarcer. While he was certain many of them didn’t think much of anything about Dan, they all either respected, or were intimidated, by Peter, and had stayed mostly quiet and collected in deference to him.

“Remember what you all saw today.” Peter said to the crowd, “Today, you’ve all glimpsed the start of a great Tennis player. Today, you all got your first look at my Protégé.” Quiet murmuring. “Today, you all got your first glimpse, at my legacy.” Even more murmuring, coupled with some light clapping and cheering. At the same time, Dan noticed more than a few nasty glares being pointed his way. “The next time we step onto this court, I expect you all to challenge my boy Danny to a match.” Peter’s tone changed slightly, “and if you underestimate him, you’ll lose.” At that, the groups all went silent, their faces a mixture of surprise, disbelief, and disgust. All of a sudden, Peter had just put all of the focus and attention squarely on Dan.

“Now that I’ve got that out of the way,” Peter said, his voice once again cheery and filled with amusement. “Let’s go see how our girls are doing.”