Chapter 90

As much as Dan wanted to put his new racquet to use in a match, in order to maximize his experience gain, sadly, the week had other things in mind.

First and foremost, the school’s tennis teams had matches set for that Thursday. And, while Coach generally seemed content to let the players do their own self run practices, that apparently was only applicable during the first month. Now, with matches coming up, Dan saw more and more of Coach pushing the players, his watchful eye monitoring those who were going to be competing in the upcoming matches.

This meant all of the good courts were being used for nonstop matches, with the Varsity and JV players conducting a round robin style system of Sets, to practice against as many different play styles as possible, in preparation of what they would face on Thursday. The other reason, apparently, that Coach was pushing the players so hard, was this was to be one of the first home matches of the season. According to Peter, Coach didn’t need money, considering he had, apparently, had a rather successful career up to his appointment as the head coach. What he did care about though, was prestige. Coach took pride in being the best and producing the best players. Furthermore, from what Dan could glean, Coach just didn’t like to lose. The whole reason Peter was even able to do what he did, and avoid ‘normal’ practice, was because Coach knew Peter wouldn’t lose. Ever.

That being said, even Peter was being utilized by Coach in preparation of the upcoming match. Which meant, Dan didn’t have access to not only Peter, who would normally help him accelerate his growth in the sport, but also couldn’t rely on Ben, or even some of the JV players, such as Jason, who was the JV player he’d been forced to play during his past hazing event.

Meanwhile, the girls were practicing just as hard, though their upcoming match was an away one. Which not only meant Dan wouldn’t have any easy way to watch Sophie and Ashley play, but also that they couldn’t skirt practice anymore to help him out. If not for the fact Peter had given them special training on Monday at Maddie’s club, the two would have been in extreme trouble with their coach.

That left Dan to his own devices on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that meant he spent a lot of time with the ball machine. Both days he just worked himself, nonstop, on his ground strokes, as well as his movement. He’d learned from playing against Maddie that he couldn’t just rely on explosive speed. He also found the quicker he could recover after each shot, and position himself properly on the court, the less stamina he would burn when it came to moving to the next shot.

To practice this, Dan set the ball machine up to randomize its shot pattern, with a potential trajectory covering the entire width of the singles court. Each shot, in increments of roughly 5 to 6 seconds, would launch from the machine at probably thirty miles per hour with decent top spin on them. Something that normally would have been impossible at his level to handle appropriately, but with his special skills, was manageable.

The main reason that was the case, was because of how his Skill Assist worked. As much as he tried to ‘randomize’ the machine, his magical powers said otherwise. Unlike a human, who could adjust their shot pattern even as the ball hit their racquet, the machine was just that, a machine. After it fired each shot, Dan was able to see a ‘zone’ for where the next shot would be fired from the machine. The closer it got to releasing the ball, the smaller the zone would become, giving him the ability to cheat, if he wanted to, in order to get to the ball quicker.

However, Dan was intent on getting the best out of his practice, and he did his best to resist the urge to move prior to the ball launching. Furthermore, after each shot, Dan tried to make sure he returned to the center of the baseline after every shot, preparing himself for what was to come. In theory, this would work on his footwork, recovery, and help him out for singles matches. In reality, he simply did it to keep himself moving and work on his stamina even more.

Between working on his footwork and focusing on hitting consistent shots down the line and cross court, Dan was able to lose himself to the practice. It may have been solo, but he knew it was just as important as running through drills with Peter or the others. Dan also wanted to really push his skills during the practice with the ball machine, so he could show even more progress to Peter when they next hit together.

That was the other reason why Dan was focusing on hitting ‘perfect’ shots each time. Those shots gave him the most experience per hit when it came to improving his individual skills, and also, in theory, would work his muscle memory the best to help his skills naturally. Because while he definitely had a magical system giving him an edge, just as he’d learned during soccer, the natural skills and feel would still carry over. Meaning in theory, he could improve himself even more if he gained the natural experience and feelings that players would normally learn and adopt after days, weeks, and years of playing the sport.

Dan may have had a magical system helping him, but he was definitely putting in the time and effort to improve himself. No matter what anyone could say about him, he wasn’t a slacker, and he wanted what was at the end of his goal. He wanted to stand as an equal with his new friends, and idols. And to do so, he would use and abuse the magical powers he’d been given, in order to hone his body, and skills, to become a tennis player to be reckoned with.

Or, at least, those were the thoughts that kept him going as he hit ball after ball after ball. For probably four hours each day, easily, he swung the racquet, connecting with tennis balls, and burning through his stamina.

Even the crisp fall air couldn’t stop him from sweating as he practiced. When his legs grew leaden, he would move on to practicing his serves. When his arms finally gave way, he’d grab a drink and snack, waiting to trigger his short rest bonus, to push at it even more. It wasn’t until his stamina was nearly at 25 percent, each day, that he’d finally call it quits. Meaning, most days, he was the last one to leave the courts, and most days, the first one on them. For the days leading up to the home matches, no one could say Dan was slacking. No one, could say he only improved because of the special treatment Peter had been giving him.

Everyone on the team, over those couple of days, could see that Dan, was putting his all into the game. And that, he could tell, was spurring the others on.

Of course, try as they might, Dan knew they’d never improve as fast as he could. After all, just two days of practice had gained him another 240 experience towards leveling his racquet, as well as pushed all his skills even closer to the 40 range. Additionally, his daily runs, along with the intense cardio on the court, bumped his constitution and stamina up to 21, while his strength lagged behind at 20. If he wanted that stat to grow at the same rate, he knew he’d need to incorporate strength training into his training routine. But that was something he’d already figured out, and planned to ask his dad about, when his dad returned.

Which was another reason he was pushing himself so much on his training. His dad was set to return in October, and team placement matches would be held at the end of September. Dan wanted to have something to show his dad, when the man returned. And that something, was a spot on the tennis team. He wanted to show his dad how hard he’d worked, and that even though his dad hadn’t been there, Dan hadn’t been wasting his time. Dan pushed himself for himself, but there was a part of his mind, that wanted to make his dad proud. And the thought of seeing his dad’s surprise, and perhaps even more rare, a look of pride on his father’s face, pushed him all the harder.

At least, that’s what Dan told himself. In reality, and deep down, he knew he was lonely. He was pushing himself so hard and for so long, not only because he really, truly wanted to improve, but because he’d realized, quite quickly, how small his friend group was. Outside of Peter, Sophia, Ashley, and other members of the tennis team, Dan didn’t have many people to interact with. And sitting at home, alone, wasn’t something he was keen to do. It left him with just his thoughts, and maybe the occasional peep from Syn. And Dan had found that if one thing was worse than being left alone with his thoughts, it was being left alone with intrusive thoughts reminding him that Syn could, and probably was, watching him at any given time of the day.