The training continued, and Shun showed excellent performance in every opportunity he had, thanks to his two skills. With Chase, he could quickly reach the ball's landing spot, and with Hunter Eyes, he could analyze the ball's trajectory and position his glove for the catch.
To Shun's delight, the system's voice sounded in his head again after the defensive training ended.
[DING]
[The user had a stat increase due to training]
[Fielding grade C -> C+]
"My grade really increased after just one day of training? If it continues at this rate, it won't take long for me to catch up with Kenta! No, no, what am I thinking? This grade is probably related to my skills. It must have increased because I improved my use of them, and it will probably get harder to increase. Hmm, I can't relax, this crazy system might make me catch a hundred thousand flyballs or something like that." - Shun still had a lot of training to do today, so he quickly forgot his thoughts.
After the defensive training, the coach had the players practice hitting with pitching machines. The school only had three machines, so the players had to take turns. Each player had ten pitches, then they would go back to the end of the line so the entire team could practice with the machines.
Shun needed to make 500 swings every day, and because of the rotation, it wouldn't be possible to hit 500 times with the pitching machines. So, while he was in line, he started his swings.
WOOSH
WOOSH
WOOSH
WOOSH
"This guy, he's really taking this position change seriously, huh?" - Ren was right in front of Shun in line, surprised by his friend's dedication.
"Isn't it time you took this seriously too?" - Kenta said as he prepared to hit, being just ahead of Ren in line and it was his turn to bat. Kenta was the only one who knew Ren's potential. They had known each other for a long time, and Ren always played well by doing just the minimum, so Kenta believed that if Ren put in more effort, he could be a great player.
Kenta stepped into the batter's box, and the first pitch came.
WOOSH
DONG
Kenta sent the ball to the outfield without difficulty.
The second pitch came.
WOOSH
DONG
Kenta saw the ball fly, this one went over the fence, a home run!
By the end of the ten pitches, Kenta had hit five to the outfield, two out of the park, one to the infield, and two to foul territory.
"Huh, who's not taking this seriously, you bastard!" - Ren was irritated seeing his loudmouth friend's performance.
As the machine threw its first pitch, the boy thought:
"Hmph! Watch this, you bastard, I'll hit this pitch to the moon!"
WOOSH
PAH
A full swing that didn't come close to making contact with the ball.
By the end of the ten pitches, Ren hit four balls to the outfield, two to the infield, and missed four times.
Shun stopped his swings when it was his turn to step into the batter's box. The first pitch came.
WOOSH
DING
A hit to foul territory.
The second pitch came.
WOOSH
DING
A hit to foul territory.
The third pitch came.
WOOSH
DING
A hit to foul territory.
By the end of the ten pitches, Shun made contact with all of them and sent all ten pitches to foul territory.
"So that's how this skill works, huh?" - Shun thought.
[Contact (A+)
Gives the user a high chance of making contact with the ball.]
Shun said nothing as he returned to the end of the line and continued his swings.
WOOSH
WOOSH
WOOSH
"This guy." - Ren wanted to talk to Shun after he returned to the line, but seeing his friend training silently made him feel a bit bad about himself.
"Ahh, whatever, I have nothing better to do anyway." - Ren was affected by seeing Shun's dedication, so he decided to start training too.
WOOSH
WOOSH
Kenta smiled, seeing his two friends putting in effort. He said nothing and also began swinging at the air.
WOOSH
WOOSH
WOOSH
During the training, the players using the machine with the three friends started getting tired. In the end, only the three of them continued hitting. None of them spoke, they hit the machine's pitches, returned to the line, swung at the air, stepped into the batter's box, and repeated the cycle.
"These three are working hard, huh?" - The coach let a smile slip, seeing the three friends like that.
Shun wasn't paying attention to his friends' actions. He was just focused on completing the 500 swings. Only when he heard the system's voice did he stop hitting and let out a sigh of relief.
[DING]
[Daily 500 swings completed]