Chapter 63

“Which stroke do you prefer?” Ben asked as they walked to their side of the court. They’d finished warming up, and the girls had won the spin, and opted to serve first. “Forehand or backhand?”

“My forehands better,” Dan said confidently. After all, it wasn’t a matter of feel for him. He could straight up see the numbers. Stat wise, his forehand had more levels in it, meaning it was better. Even if, personally, he really enjoyed landing a good backhand slice, his forehand was the best of his skills.

“Awesome,” Ben nodded, “I’ll take the Ad side then. Normally the better player is on Ad side anyways, to help out in case we go to deuce, but I figure Peter’s already mentioned that to you?”

“Yeah. He played Ad when he and I played against Sophia and Ashley when I first started. He did it to ensure we didn’t lose… at all.”

Ben winced at that. “Sounds like him. Sadly, I’m not as good as he is, but I’ll do my best. And honestly, considering how you played against me, it isn’t like this is going to be a wash. I’m a better player than the two of them, but not good enough to carry. You’re the least skilled player here, but not to the point that you’ll completely ruin our chances to win. You impressed me the other day, and if you can play like you did then, we may actually even win this.”

Dan nodded and grinned, waiting for the buff to come. Whenever Peter told him things like that, he always got a buff. However, after a second of standing there, awkwardly, not saying anything, Dan realized there wasn’t a buff coming.

His charisma isn’t high enough to actually encourage you. Syn cut in. Peter’s extraordinary, a one in million kind of guy. Ben’s just a high schooler who is better at tennis than most of his peers.

“Noted.” Dan said as quietly as he could. Ben offered him a puzzled look, but then shook his head and took up his spot near the service line on the left side of the court. Sophia was serving first, and the first serve would go to Dan. Dan steadied his breathing and stepped back behind the baseline, gripping and ungripping his racquet, feeling the new grip tape. While it felt comfortable, he could also tell, putting on the new grip, had covered the old, worn pieces he’d gotten so used to. It was strange, but to some degree, it made the racquet feel unfamiliar.

“Zero, zero, love all.” Sophia said loudly. Dan glanced at her, then Ben, and then Ashley. Ashley was standing practically at the net on her side, watching Dan intently, her racquet raised right in the center of her body. The way she was holding it, it was almost like a sword splitting either side of her face. Her eyes were focused, her body prepared. She was taking this seriously, and Dan knew she was going to do all she could to make him look bad. After all, she was well aware he wanted to become Sophia’s mixed doubles partner. Which made him a threat.

“Good luck, have fun, yada yada.” Peter called from the side of the court. He was standing there, arms crossed, watching the court intently. In that instance, he looked every bit a professional tennis instructor.

Incoming. Syn’s voice pulled Dan away from his thoughts, just in time to watch the ball hit the service box, and bounce towards him. It was a good flat serve. Dan could tell that much. But it wasn’t as fast or powerful as Ben’s, and by all means, he should have been able to return it. That is, if he had been paying attention. However, he’d been caught completely off guard, and that ball flew past him without him so much as swinging at it.

“First point of advice.” Peter said. “You’ve got to swing at the ball, if you’re going to hit it.” Peter chuckled. “Don’t get distracted just because she looks good in that skirt serving.”

Dan groaned and stepped towards the service line as Ben moved backwards. The senior offered him a reassuring smile. “You’ll get the next one man. It’s pretty common to space out before the match gets started in full.”

“Easy for you to say.” Dan muttered back. “Peter’s not going to let me live mistakes like that down.”

“Focus on the game, not Peter.” Ben said. “That’s the best thing you can do right now for yourself, and Peter.”

Dan nodded and turned his back towards Ben, so he could look across the court at Sophia. Now that Peter mentioned it, she really did look good in the tennis skirt she was wearing. As she tossed the ball up to serve, it traced up her legs ever so slightly, teasingly. Dan moved away from her legs, towards her face, and found himself frozen. For a moment, as her body uncoiled so to speak, as she tensed her body, leapt into the air, and began her swing, the world seemed to freeze in a picturesque, perfect moment. It was beautiful. He also couldn’t help but notice her hair, which she’d pulled back in a ponytail, had a single silver strand loose and to the side, which seemed to catch the light in a pleasant way.

Alright, maybe this was good. Peter was right. Dan needed to focus. He needed this, in order to push through these thoughts. That, or Peter’s poking and prodding Dan about his crush on Sophia had just made those thoughts and feelings rise to the surface, so he was now focusing on them more. Either way, Peter had a point. Dan needed to work on his mental game.

Sophia executed her serve with a slight audible sound effect, and Dan watched the ball sail past him and hit the service box to his side. It bounced, not as high as a kick serve, but decently, and he saw Ben prepare to return the shot. With practiced ease, he hit a powerful backhand with hit, and Dan’s abilities, which he’d activated during warmup, showed the trajectory. A down the line shot, set to go past Ashley and impact in the back left hand corner of the court.

At least, that was the plan. Ashely moved rapidly, her body suddenly shifting to the side as she seemed to hop, her racquet moving to intercept the shot, as if she’d expected it. Dan’s visual shifted, he saw where she was aiming, and he was moving even as she made contact with the ball. With quick reflexes, and the ability to predict where it was going, what should have been a winning shot by Ashley, was, at the very least, returned.

Granted, Dan may have toggled his auto-battle as he went for it, for a mere split second, to ensure the shot was returned. He’d been at an uncomfortable angle, the ball had been going towards his backhand, and he honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to return it otherwise. Which, was why he, and likely everyone on the court, was somewhat surprised when Auto-battle Dan decided to not hit a one-handed backhand slice, nor a two-handed shot with topspin.

Instead, his hand shifted, grabbing the racquet with his left hand as if he were two-handed backhanding, but his body contorted in a strange way. It twisted just enough to let him reach the incoming tennis ball, which was in a spot that would have been beyond awkward to hit with his two-hander. Then, holding the racquet in just his left hand, his left arm moved forward, wrist twisting the racquet upwards, to catch and seemingly carry the tennis ball upwards, sending it over the net, to hit in doubles alley on the right side of the court, to the right of the service box. It bounced for a moment, and then rolled towards the net, while everyone, including Dan, stood there, confused at what had just occurred.

After a brief moment, Peter started laughing, while everyone else remained stunned.

“Nice improvision there Danny boy.” Peter said, “though, rather sloppy if I do say so. It worked, but I’m going to add in left-handed practice to your strokes if you’re going to insist on doing things like that.”

Dan flexed his hands, knowing the only reason that had even happened, was because of his auto-battle. However, he could tell, at the very least, that it hadn’t really been a left-handed stroke. Not to the degree of his forehand. Instead, best he could tell, was his auto-battle system had taken his two-handed grip, and let go of it with his dominant hand, which normally would control the precision of the shot. Then, it used his left hand, and executed the stroke as if his right hand were still holding it. By doing so, auto-battle, amplifying his backhand stat, had guided the left hand as if he were still holding it with both hands. Something, Dan never would have tried, or even thought of.

But, at the same time, now that he’d done it once, he knew it was something he would try more later on. Whether by choice, or as Peter had just mentioned, through training from the Senior. After all, he knew all too well that Peter actually switched his grips and which hands he was holding the racquet in on the tennis courts quite often, just to mess with his opponents. Peter, Dan knew, was ambidextrous. Dan was not. But Dan did have magical powers, which meant, in theory, he could certainly become ambidextrous quiet quickly, if he put his mind to it.

“Nicely done.” Ben said as Dan moved back towards the baseline. “Tied us up, and in an awesome way too. Keep playing like that, and those two don’t have a chance. Just, you know, return this serve, yeah?”

Dan grinned and nodded, turning his full focus back to Sophia as she took up a spot behind the baseline, practically by the double’s alley lane diagonal to Dan.

“Fifteen-all.” She said, tossing the ball up. Dan tensed, his eyes focusing, his Skill Assist in full swing. He could do this. He and Ben could do this. He smiled, his confidence growing. All he needed to do, after all, was keep returning the ball over the net. That much, he could do.