Chapter 122: Two Hitters Are Chosen

"Brilliant move," she commended before stopping all of sudden and throwing a backward kick towards his back, "but don't be so relaxed after doing so."

Just as she moved her leg, he jumped a couple of steps forward letting her kick hit nothing but the air. "I'm not relaxed," he laughed before looking around and throwing the ball towards the empty decoy on the other side.

"Not keeping the ball… you've a nice mind for the game," she smiled in relief, "now we have ourselves the first hitter in the main team."

Her words succeeded in litting up the fire inside everyone's soul. They all glanced in envy towards Lan while their minds started to spin fast.

Those who were familiar with the game had a better advantage than others, at least their minds were filled with tactics and cool moves they always saw those pro players pull in the matches.

And now they had the chance to do the same, except they had to succeed like Lan did.

"Wrong decision," she hit Deno with an elbow, sending him instantly flying far off the ball.

"Wrong timing," she jumped in the air before throwing a backward slash of her sword towards one of the Colders, making him lose balance and also the ball.

"Nice trick," she said after Kro feigned a retreat before advancing all of sudden, "yet you need to watch out for your legs," she added before ducking all of sudden and slashing the sword over his leg.

Yet Kro seemed to anticipate her actions the moment she did so he jumped in the air while moving to the front, creating a nice gap with her and then threw the ball to the decoy.

"Good moves," she said, "but you don't have to throw the ball every time to the decoy. He is too nearby and surrounded by all the opponent members. You better threw it to Roo as he was the only free one here."

"Thanks ma'am," Kro said with a big smile over his face, "am I the next hitter then?"

"Hard to say," she laughed while leaving him hanging like this while aiming fast towards Roo.

"They are getting better," Jim noticed from afar how the team was getting in shape compared to the first time they trained. "Sigh, I shouldn't slack either."

He started to totally focus on his training. In fact the silver wings on his back never ceased to amaze him. The speed buff he got was something really exceptional, yet it came with a price.

"Damn!"

He cursed as he stood up from the ground, "trying to stop or change trajectory fast with such speed is really impossible."

'There is a trick for that,' the old man suddenly said after a long time of silence.

'Finally decided to give me some help here,' Jim rolled up his eyes before adding, 'C'mon, tell me the secret.'

'It's not that big of a secret,' the old man said, 'you try to stop abruptly like the way you do when you normally run. However, to do that with such speed you need to use another way.'

'I already know that,' Jim kept rolling his eyes, 'stop this useless intro and just tell me what to do.'

'Slide,' the old man suddenly said, 'don't think of stopping, think as if you were skating on ice.'

'Slide… Can I do that?' Jim glanced at the hard ground filled with short grass. 'Can my shoes handle this?' he couldn't help but check his boots which he took from Rana.

'Your boots can handle anything,' the old man laughed, 'you only need to adjust your body and timing, that's all.'

Jim closed his eyes and took deep breaths while imagining himself doing so. Just before he could try this out, a sudden shout came from the entrance, startling him.

"So sorry," Lim ran with entire body soaked in sweat, "I kept running and checking every single pitch here until I found you."

"Who the hell are you?" Rana knew exactly who he was, but she wanted to punish him for being late.

"Sorry ma'am," Lim leaned over his knees while struggling for a breath, "no one tried to help me to get here. It seems like many are already cheering against us."

"Us?" Rana raised one brow before she asked, "what position do you play at?"

"A hitter ma'am."

"Alright," she turned around and shouted, "Lan, you are already chosen. Give him your gears and step aside."

"Will I play now?" Lim was speechless while Rana sneered.

"You come late and expect me to give you the same treatment as them?" she said while pointing towards the ground a couple of meters away from her, "hurry and come here right now or else forget everything about joining even the second team."

"Right away ma'am," his face changed as he hurriedly moved to Lan and took the gears of him.

The moment Lan took out the gears they ejected hot steam from god knew where. "What the…" Lim and Lan weren't the only surprised two here, but everyone else was.

"What? Do you think I make a shit gear or something?" Rana laughed while being much amused with their shocked reactions, "I should have done this a long time ago," she laughed louder while regretting not asking them to do that.

"I'm ready ma'am," Lim got on the pitch and held the large stick that he got from Lan. "Good, now take the ball and try not to lose it," she evilly said while everyone else felt pity on this Rancee kid.

"Start," Rana said before suddenly running towards Lim. She waved her sword and aimed directly over his chest in a move that seemed impossible to dodge.

Lim was panting, racing to catch his breaths yet the moment she moved, a couple of two blue eyes opened and he could instantly see her moves a lot clearer.

"Don't think they can give you any help," she landed her sword heavily in a strike that could truly hurt him.

Yet he simply took a couple of steps backwards, evading the incoming sword.

"Stop right there, monkey," she laughed while turning around herself and directed a direct kick to his belly.

Yet she only hit emptiness there where he instantly vanished from her sight.

"This…" he laughs choked inside her throat while glancing right and left for him. Yet her mark vanished and she couldn't find a target to hit.

"Swoosh!"

Just as she was looking for him, he glided fast underneath her raised leg, bypassing her body in an instant before standing up swiftly and threw the ball to the far away Roo.

"I'm tired, but not blind," he didn't let this moment pass without saying a word to her.

"Humph, sometimes being humble isn't bad," she hit his head before walking back to the center of the team, "we found another hitter boys," she shouted and everyone around, literally everyone glanced at him in envious eyes.

"Damn lucky Rancee," Rick couldn't help but comment from the side while Lim smiled widely and said nothing.

"Don't stare like you can't get there," she shouted while clapping her hands together, "C'mon, I didn't find any tankers yet. Try harder and stop daydreaming."