Chapter 86

As tempted as he was to use the skill right away, Dan resisted. He took a steadying breath as he stood across from Maddie, watching the tennis club owner bounce the ball a few times on the court, as she prepared her first serve of their match. He’d seen her serves, both in warmups, and when she’d played against Peter. They were strong, reliable serves. Nothing, of course, compared to Peter’s aggressive, powerful serves. But she still hit serves beyond what he was capable of without jacking up his auto-battle, and he doubted anyone on the team could serve like her, outside of Peter.

Because of that, he knew he was going to be struggling to just return the balls. With skill assist, sure, he could see where it was roughly going to land. But, that skill only proc’d whenever the ball was hit. He’d have to wait for the toss up, and for her to make connection with the ball, before he’d have a trajectory to gauge. And depending on how fast the ball was, that would give him little time to react. Meaning, it was going to take everything he had, just to get the ball back over the net to her.

From there, he had no doubt she’d be working him around the court like she had been. That was a given. And he knew, because of that, he needed to be conservative with his stamina usage. Triggering Auto-Battle, even just to return each shot, still took a point of stamina to use. His stamina, wasn’t infinite, and doing that on every single volley back towards Maddie, was definitely not a viable plan. From just the first game, he was down over 30 points in stamina. Between opting to do his 300 percent serve earlier, and then relying heavily on auto-battle to just send consistent forehands back to Maddie, he was going to run himself ragged before the first Set was even over.

Which, meant he needed to lean a little more on his actual skills and practice, and less on triggering his magical abilities. All of this match, was about understanding where he was as a tennis player, and what he could do, here and now. This, was as good a time as any, to really get a feel for what his skills were like, and to start figuring out what he would need to work on for the future. Already, he knew, getting his stamina higher was important, but that wasn’t all. Dan needed to be more comfortable in using the skills and abilities he’d been learning himself, without triggering Auto-battle for every hit.

Auto-battle, he could tell, was more a tool to use in clutch situations, rather than for ever swing. Even if he was still learning, even if he’d just broke possibly into the 3.0 level of tennis, he still needed to have faith in his own skills. Besides, with his skill assist on, he still had an advantage against the average player. He could, at least, see where the ball was going to go.

“One Zero, Love All,” Maddie called out, giving Dan a smile as she finished bouncing the ball. She leaned slightly forward, arms low, like a cat, preparing itself to pounce. Then, with an ease gained from thousands upon thousands of repetitions, she tossed the ball up. Dan watched it gently rise into the air, his eyes torn between watching the ball, and Maddie. Her form shifted, muscles tightening and preparing themselves, racquet moving up behind her head, as she leapt. Her powerful legs launched her high into the air, her form seeming to freeze for a moment, before her racquet smashed into the tennis ball at the peak of its ascent.

Immediately on contact, Dan saw where the ball was heading. Deep in the service box, near the center line. She’d decided to target his backhand with her first serve, and that, was definitely his weaker shot. Still, he saw it, saw the trajectory, which appeared just a second or two, perhaps, in advance of the actual ball.

It was enough time though, and Dan shifted himself. Just before she’d made contact, he’d remembered to split step. The moment his feet touched the ground, lightly, the motion giving him a little extra pep to his step, per say, he was able to react. He turned himself sideways, and got the racquet down to block the ball, using a modified, quick version of his one-handed back hand slice, just as Peter had taught him. With a serve that powerful, it wasn’t about returning it with a strong swing. Instead, he just needed to get a racquet in the way, and the ball’s own momentum would send it back over the net.

Dan grinned as the ball connected with his racquet. The ball went over the net, nowhere near as deep and aggressive as he wanted, but still, it had been returned. Without relying on auto-battle, he’d returned the ball. And he knew, from just regular practice, he would burn stamina much slower just playing normally, if he could avoid using Auto-battle.

His smile was short lived as Maddie moved towards the ball he’d returned. She had cocky smile on her face, as she approached his ball. His return had been in a high arc over the net, the ball landing in ‘no mans’ land’ on the court, the middle portion between the baseline and the service line. Maddie approached it calmly and confidently, and as the ball bounced upwards, nearly towards her shoulder height, she took action.

With more force than any shot she’d used so far during their match, she unleashed a powerful forehand, coming over on top of the ball to send it, just barely, over the net. This time, being able to see where the ball was going, was completely pointless. Because, the trajectory that appeared before his eyes, as she made contact, showed a line heading straight for him. Well, more importantly, his feet. And even as he tried to react, he simply couldn’t. His reflexes may have been fast, but this, was faster. He wasn’t prepared. He’d been caught by surprise and joy that he’d even returned her serve, and as such, was standing, flat footed, as the tennis ball rocketed towards him. It impacted just before the baseline, and bounced between his legs, to connect with the fence around the court.

“That was a warning shot Dan.” Maddie said with a chuckle. “Give me another easy one like that, and I’ll show you Peter’s not the only one with deadly accuracy.” She chuckled and walked back towards the baseline. Dan was shaking, but not from anger. What she’d just done, had been amazing to watch. She was a professional, no doubt about it, and getting to play against her, was invigorating. Her comment had just added a little more excitement to the match. Because he knew now exactly what he needed to do. After a comment like that, it was only appropriate, after all.

“If it had been Peter,” Dan quipped as he tossed her the ball back. It had hit the fence with enough force that it had actually rolled back towards him, pretty close to the baseline. “He would have hit my shoe as a statement.”

Maddie caught the ball, flashing Dan a smile. She was enjoying this. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a laugh, “though, you’ll have to return this serve first, before I can make you regret that comment.”

Dan felt his smile widened, as he took up his position on the court. Maddie was serving the second point of the game, meaning she was on right hand side, and Dan was receiving from the back left side of his court, or ad side as Peter called it. If Maddie did another serve close to the center of the court, it would be in line with his forehand. If she shot wide and out to the corner, he’d be forced to return with his backhand again.

Those were of course, the normal thoughts for such a position. This time around though, he didn’t have to think.

“Fifteen, love.” Maddie called out, preparing to serve.

“Chip and Charge.” Dan muttered to himself, mentally activating the skill on his racquet. As before, it began to warm, a vibrating, tingling feeling running from it, all through his body. Similar to auto-battle, he felt the magic take over, as if he were just a bystander, watching a scene unfold before him.

The racquet implied it was an auto combo, whatever that meant. All he knew, was it was a return of serve skill only, meaning it could only be used when his opponent was serving. Which, meant, only in an instance like now.

Oh boy, Syn’s voice popped into his head, as Maddie tossed the ball up high. Seriously, you play dirty buddy. Syn was laughing as Maddie launched a serve his way. It was out wide, targeting his backhand. She was definitely picking on his weaker stroke.

Antagonize your opponent, and then use magic to back up your comments. Against people who don’t even have the ability to use magic. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re learning from me, and I like it. Syn’s chuckling echoed in Dan’s mind, and Dan’s own smile widened.

His body moved on its own. Even as Maddie’s serve was flying over the net, his body was moving. Just as the ball hit inside the service box, he was already nearly on it, and the ball lifted probably all of a foot, if that, off the court before his racquet was there, slicing down at it with a nasty swing. The one-handed backhand slice stole the momentum from the ball and redirected it. The ball cleared over the net, heading down the line from Dan, just barely staying inside the singles line boundaries.

Even after he connected the shot, his tingling body was moving. The ball landed somewhat deep on Maddie’s side of the court, the slice keeping it low, and his racquet’s magic positioned him somewhat center in the service box before him, a little closer towards the middle of the court. Even as Maddie moved to return the shot, he realized what the combo was setting up. With how low the ball was, and where he was, aggressively at the net, Maddie’s shot choice was limited.

She still managed to get a racquet on the return, the moment of surprise on her face now one of determination, and somewhat admiration, as she sent back a down the line shot. It didn’t have the low clearance he’d seen her use that made such shots hard to volley. Nor was it a high, overhead lob. She’d not had time to do much, given how quickly he’d hit the ball after her serve, and how low the ball had stayed, thanks to the ‘chip’ nature of it.

Because of that, the ball, roughly chest height for Dan, was easy to intercept. Still tingling, and under control of the magical skill, his racquet was up, and he hit a sharp angle volley back. It didn’t quite have the angle, nor spin on it, that Maddie had used on him previously, but it was still a powerful play.

Maddie’s bewilderment flashed once more on her face, before she was moving. Dan’s, bewilderment, stayed a bit longer on his face. Mainly because, the elation he felt at that combo, kept him from realizing one dangerous flaw of this particular skill.

With impressive reaction speed, Maddie managed to rush the court, and get a racquet on his volley. With a flick of her wrist, and perhaps a hope or prayer, the ball weakly returned over the court. It was a shot even Dan could have returned. It was a shot… Dan should have returned.

However, he was still standing at the net on the left side of the court. Because, he’d not realized, with that first volley following his chip, that the ‘combo’ was over. Meaning, he was back in charge of his body. And, of course, that meant Maddie’s desperate run and return of his volley, that weakly cleared the net, that should have easily been returned by Dan, instead, bounced a second time on his court.

“Well,” Maddie said, her breathing accelerated from her recent sprint. “Aren’t you full of surprises.”

Dan looked at the ball, then her, then his racquet. “I,” he shook his head. He’d messed up.

“Don’t feel bad about not moving.” She said with a laugh. Taking his lack of a response likely for embarrassment. “Really, that chip and charge was executed extremely well. I got lucky predicting where it was going. And even luckier, that I was able to get there in time. You’re definitely rough around the edges,” she was closer to him now, a smile on her face, “but I can already see the greatness that Peter’s recognized in you. I’m looking forward to seeing how our Sets play out. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

“Who knows.” Dan said, still mentally beating himself up. At least now he knew what to expect from that skill. It also showed him, that magical skills alone, wouldn’t be enough to win a point. He figured that skill, in particular, wasn’t meant to completely win a point. It was meant to put him in position to win a point. The return of serve, and that immediate volley after, were the difficult parts. From there, it should have been easy to win the point, if he’d been aware of what was going on.

Something, that was definitely worth learning now, and not at an important time later on. Something like that, especially if it were a combat skill, and not in tennis, could get someone killed on the battlefield. Still, he couldn’t help but feel foolish, having stood there, unmoving, as an easy ball made it past him. He needed to redeem himself, and, he was going to be keeping an eye out for the perfect chance. After all, he still had one magical skill left to try out, and a few uses of the other two, still remaining. All he needed now, were good shots to use them on.