Chapter 61

Bandana of Minor Fortitude- +5 to Mental Fortitude, +1 to Aptitude.

Grips of Spin- +2 to Top Spin, +2 to slice, +1 to Slice Serve, +1 to Kick Serve

Wrist Bands of Stamina- +10 to your stamina while using these wrist bands.

Dampener of Ease- -5% stamina drain while using a racquet equipped with this dampener

It had been a practical nightmare waiting the entire day to pull these items out of his bag and put them on before tennis practice. He’d read over them, multiple times, after Syn’s mysterious package drop off. However, even though his mind could, in theory, comprehend what they were, the actual realization, or moment of acceptance, per say, would come out on the courts. It was one thing to read and see the numbers, but Dan wanted to feel them. He wanted to see what the changes felt like. He wanted to see what they meant for his actual practice.

According to Syn, who’d seemed extremely proud of himself after the mysterious loot drop off, heroes were commonly presented with magical gear and items during their travels. These items, meant to augment their skills and progress, were supposed to meld with the magical powers the heroes gained, in order to help them defeat the demon lords, or whatever other task they were supposed to have in the worlds they’d been teleported to.

In Dan’s case, in Syn’s words, it was a ‘Shit Show’ of unprecedented circumstances. After all, Dan was living in a world that, by all means, didn’t have magical gear or items. However, because of how his powers were integrating in the world, and the fact items and gear already offered him slight differences to his skills and abilities, Syn had mentioned they’d found a way to get him some actual special gear. Furthermore, Syn informed Dan that, going forward, he may be rewarded with even better gear. The current stuff he’d been given, while amazing in Dan’s eyes, was, again to quote the weird voice, ‘trash-tier’, basic gear. At Dan’s current power levels with his skills, Syn claimed he should at the very least, have been moving into the uncommon or rare loot tier tables.

But, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and the fact Dan didn’t even know such things were an option meant they were welcomed with a lot more appreciation and excitement than he was certain Syn had been expecting. Combined with the mood Dan had been in beforehand, and this loot drop had been exactly what Dan needed to pull himself from his slump.

It also meant time had moved ridiculously slow the rest of the day. He’d, actually considered trying to use his headband during school, but realized that wouldn’t work. While Peter seemed to completely ignore the school’s dress code, Dan doubted he could. And headbands, well, any headgear at all actually, was forbidden by the damned school rules.

As such, the moment it was time for school to end, and practice to begin, Dan had rushed to the locker room and eagerly put the gear on. The headband was all white, with a slightly shimmering symbol on it, that at first look, almost seemed to be a Nike symbol. However, twisting it just right made it flash and seem to change, almost to look like a rune of some sorts.

The wristbands, on the other hand, had a similar rune like appearance to them, though from a distance, or with just a glance, they’d appeared to have a brand symbol on them as well. Dan was wondering, if the brand symbols were a way for the gear to blend in, and only he could see their actual rune like shapes. If that was the case, he was already wondering if he could get a matching set of everything. All of the varsity members, after all, seemed to have a favorite brand of tennis gear, and only utilized items of that brand.

If he made it to varsity, no, when Dan made it to varsity, he didn’t want to be going around in mismatched gear. Even if it was secretly amplifying his own special powers.

The dampener, he knew from his research into the sport, and because some of the other players used them, was easy enough to figure out. The shape of it, a small rubber square with what appeared to be two horns on them, clipped onto the strings of his racquet, down near the base of the racquet head. Normal dampeners, otherwise known as vibration dampeners, were supposed to, keep the vibration down on the racquet. They legally could be on the racquet, as long as they were near the outside of the frame, away from the mains and the crosses on the racquet, and reasonable sized. His, was roughly the size of a nickel.

Applying it to his racquet, which was still the Babolat Pure Drive 110 Peter had gotten for him, had indeed increased the stats on it, and interestingly enough, changed the prompt color from white, to green when he looked at it, as well as adjusted the name.

Babolat Pure Drive 110 of Ease*: +2 to Power (29), +3 to spin (34), -5% stamina drain

*Augmented

While he was excited scanning over it, especially noticing the skill boost on it regarding his spin had gone up, courtesy of the stat climbing over the 30s, and knowing soon the power boost would increase as well, he was stuck at the last piece of gear. He’d never applied an over grip to a racquet, and really didn’t know what he was doing in that regard.

Which was why he was sitting there, rest of his gear equipped, with his phone in hand, pulling up tutorials, as Peter walked in.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Peter asked immediately upon noticing Dan. Dan had his phone in front of him, while he was mid process of trying to pull off the grip on his racquet with his teeth, the new grip sitting in his lap.

“Uh,” Dan said, dropping the grip from his mouth. “I uh, got some new stuff, and was trying to put it on my gear.” He motioned towards the dampener that he’d already placed onto the racquet, as well as the grip in his hands. The grip, when not focused on and having runes appear, were completely white, with tape that said ‘Babolat’ on them. Which made them, interestingly, the same ‘brand’ even if they were magically provided to him, as his racquet. Neat.

“Seriously?” Peter looked at the racquet and sighed. “A dampener? Man, you’re going to hate that thing. It takes away the sweet, sweet noise of victory.” He laughed as he walked over to Dan. “Though, with how much work you’ve been putting in, maybe it’s worth it for now. Save your arm a bit from the vibrations, so you can work even harder, eh?”

He eyed the overgrip and held out a hand expectantly for Dan’s racquet. “I’ll show you how to put that on, once. First off,” he immediately wrapped the grip Dan had been in the process of removing, back onto the racquet. “Those are overgrips. Meaning, they go over your grip.” He sighed, and then started unraveling Dan’s magical new overgrip. “That being said, putting these bad boys on, is a pretty simple process. And, I must say, I applaud your choice. Dampener, questionable. But these definitely feel like they’ll be quite comfortable.” He eyed Dan approvingly as he worked with practiced ease, wrapping the grip upwards around the racquet, slightly crossing over each layer as he covered the original grip up.

“Honestly, if you ever need tennis gear, let me know, and I’ll hook you up. But, I can tell you now.” He finished, using a piece of tape that came with the grips, reading ‘Babolat’ to secure the top tightly, “these grips, are definitely a good choice.”

“Thanks,” Dan said, excitedly taking his racquet back. Already, he could feel the difference. Not only in the physical feel, which was much more comfortable, the overgrip covering up some of the worn pieces of the grip, making for a much more comfortable and secure feel of the racquet. He could also feel the faintest feeling of warmth flow through him as he swung it a few times, a pleasant sensation that filled him with confidence that the magic was working.

“Don’t mention it.” Peter said with a chuckle, ruffling Dan’s hair as he spoke. “Now, hurry up. We can’t keep the girls waiting.”

“We, er, what?” Dan paused mid swing and glanced at Peter, who was smirking knowingly.

“The girls.” Peter said with a laugh. “you know, the ones with the pleasant looks and features.” He winked. “We’re going to be practicing with them today. Figured it was time you got some actual doubles training in. Especially considering at the rate you’ve been killing yourself this week, I figured you needed a little something different to occupy your mind.”

Dan looked at Peter, unsure of what to say.

“I can tell you’ve been upset Dan.” Peter said softly. “But like, don’t keep that shit bottle up. You’ll burn yourself out that way. Remember, you’ve got me, if you ever need to talk.” Peter turned and began to leave but looked over his shoulder with one last smirk. “And, if you don’t’ talk to me, I’m still going to notice, and I’ll figure out some sort of fun distraction for ya. After all, that’s what best friends do, yeah? They look out for each other, no matter what.”