Chapter 153: Odd Encounter (1)

Later that day, Ken finished up at baseball practice and was now flanked by all of his teammates. His expression was his usual poker face, however inwardly he was smiling deeply.Out of the whole team that had been present during the extra training he'd been hosting, only Yusuke and Shiro had improvements to their potential. Of course that's if he ignored Hiroki who currently had an unknown potential.

However, this was still great news. Since Shiro and Yusuke had been present since around the time he started the training, it meant that it should only be a matter of time before everyone else increased their potential.

At least in theory.

Unfortunately for these guys, he would be pushing them even harder until Nationals started in August.

"Let's quickly pack up and head to the training site." Ken announced.

"Ah sorry Ken, I've got a date after club today." Tatsuya replied, a proud grin on his face.

Everyone remained quiet, saying a silent prayer for the daredevil twin who had spoken up against the Training Demon.

"Oh… I see." Ken replied quietly.

Yet Tatsuya felt a shiver run down his spine in the next moment, as if to warn him of his poor decision. He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, seeing the indiscernible expression on Ken's face.

"Ha ha ha, sorry I got my dates mixed up. I'll be at training…"

Everyone seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief once Tatsuya made the only correct decision available to him.

"Wonderful! Let's head there now then." Ken said, clapping his hands.

Unexpectedly, the training wasn't as crazy as they thought. Instead of joining them, Ken directed the training from the side, looking like a coach with his clipboard and pen.

However no one was complaining.

After just over an hour, Ken put a stop to the training and everyone let out a breath of relief. Once again the managers provided some afternoon tea for the players, sparking a harmonious atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Ken was looking intently at the clipboard in front of him, deep in thought.

Hiroki who was probably the only one not appreciative of the breezy training made his way over to Ken.

"Hey man, what's up with the clipboard?" he asked curiously.

"Hmm? Ah I'm just writing down some things." Ken mumbled.

Hiroki peeked over, only to see everyone's names and some grades written beneath them.

"Oh? You're giving us grades now?" he said smilingly. Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Ken merely nodded. In fact, he was trying to get a feel for how the team was graded physically. With the Identify function, he was able to get a total physical grade, but it was not broken down even further like his own system displayed for himself.

Therefore he tried to sit aside in practice and evaluate break down everyone's physical abilities, using his own grades as an example.

Strength, Agility, Balance and Coordination as well as Stamina.

All of these specifications made up the total Physical Fitness grade.

"Ooo, you've got me rated pretty high there boss."

Hiroki saw his S grades and couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction flow through him. It felt good for such a training junkie like Ken to evaluate him so highly, it meant that he appreciated his hard work.

Ken shook his head, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Just because I gave you a high evaluation, doesn't mean you can't improve." He said flatly.

He didn't want Hiroki to get comfortable with his current abilities. Since he currently had an uncapped potential, there was no telling how far he could improve if he kept up his work rate.

"Hehe yes boss!" He threw out a silly salute and retreated back to where the others were.

Ken smiled in response to the antics, before turning his attention back to the clipboard.

The plan was to use this information to segregate those who were lacking in the same areas, so they could move towards more specified training plans.

However, Ken wasn't so full of himself to think that he could create such a thing on his own. Therefore he planned to give all of this information to the coach and ask if he would be willing to take over.

He already trusted Coach Hanada greatly, especially since he once worked in the professional leagues. Even his father trusted the man to evaluate potential players that he'd scouted.

After a while, everyone began to go their separate ways.

Shiro was hanging back, planning on walking to the train station with Ken like he usually did, but he quickly changed his mind after seeing Ai talking to him.

"Ahem. I'll be heading off, good work you guys."

It seemed that Shiro had good situational awareness as he chose to loudly announce his departure before zooming away.

Ken couldn't help but laugh. The guy had gone and done something unnecessary.

Ai on the other hand couldn't help but inwardly give Shiro a thumbs up, happy that he was smart enough to know when to scram.

The two packed up the equipment and headed back to the club together. Ken felt much more at ease in her presence than he had before, making for a pleasant experience.

Just as he was leaving the club's store room, Ken caught the back of a person running away, causing him to frown.

'Who was that and what were they doing here?'

"Are we good to go?" Ai's sweet voice asked as she stepped out and locked the store room.

"Ah yeah sure." Ken replied, feeling a little distracted.

However, soon enough it flew out of his mind as they continued their conversation.

"Tch…"

A person clicked their tongue in frustration as he stared at the retreating figures of Ken and Ai.

***

The next day, Ken arrived at school a little earlier than usual. He wanted to have a chat to the coach and talk about possibly having him oversee the additional physical training directly after practice.

"Oh Ken, you're here early!"

A chirpy voice snapped him out of his thoughts, causing him to turn around to where the noise came from.