As soon as Tatsuo stepped off the field, Ken felt his body relax a little. The earlier hot sensation seemed to have disappeared, hinting that the showdown skill had now lost its effect.
Ken let out a hollow chuckle. Despite only pitching 3 times, he felt as if he'd been out under the morning sun for at least an hour. Sweat trickled down his face and he felt a certain sense of accomplishment.
Yet his job was far from over.
"Batting Second, Left Outfield, Chiharu"
The next Shinjuku batter was now up. Surprisingly, he seemed timid, almost as if he'd lost his confidence before heading onto the field.
This didn't escape Yuta's perception, as the Smiling Buddha called for a nasty inside fastball without hesitation.
Ken tried his best not to show any emotion in front of the batter, however inwardly he was cursing the guy. Since Daichi had taken over his spot in his previous life, he never got to know this side of his Senpai.
'To think I once thought he was a warm and approachable person…'
But the thing was, despicable or not, Yuta seemed to always get the job done. So without further ado, he nodded and got into position.
"Eek"
The ball dug inside, scaring off the timid batter who almost fell on his backside from the fright of the fastball.
"Strike"
"Nice pitch~"
Ken received the ball from Yuta and felt gratified. Since his pitching increased 2 grades, he felt a lot more confident and relaxed.
It was a weird sensation, especially since he'd gotten used to pitching at the S- grade.
He had wondered what would change as his pitching grade increased. Would it be speed? Power? Or something else entirely.
However, now that he'd experienced the leap from showdown, he was able to intuitively realize the difference.
In essence, pitching now required less effort to control and manipulate the ball. He was able to reach higher speeds more regularly, while also putting less strain on his body and in particular, his shoulder and arm.
It would be like comparing a high school kid to a veteran Major League player. Sure the former might be able to throw at the same speed once or twice, but the latter had years and years of experience to perfect their techniques.
Suddenly, Ken began to understand the gradings of the system a little better.
Despite being a game-like system, the increase in grades were a result of insights rather than things like experience points. This also explained why he was stuck at A- pitching for so long, yet was able to leap into the S grade after having a breakthrough.
Of course this didn't include his Physical Fitness which was a directly correlated to his muscles and overall fitness. It would be rather ironic if one could increase their fitness by simply meditating without exercise.
As these thoughts swirled around in his mind, he suddenly had an epiphany.
'If my Pitching, Fielding and Game intelligence are based on my insights… Wouldn't they improve quicker if I upgrade my Mental grade?'
*DING*
As if to answer his question, he heard a notification from the system followed by a familiar monotonous voice.
[Congratulations, user has broken through to S-Grade Mental]
He heard Mika's voice in his mind, giving him a fright. However in the next moment he felt as if a fog had lifted from his brain, allowing him to think clearly.
As Ken turned his head to Yuta, he saw everything with such clarity.
The sweat droplet dripping down his friend's brow, the worried expression on the batters face as he gripped his bat tightly. He could even see the look of impatience that the umpire was wearing as he waited for Ken to throw the ball.
'Ah crap.'
As if suddenly realizing where he was, Ken quickly got into position and agreed to the first call he saw from Yuta. They were in an important game, now was not the time to be daydreaming.
PAH
"Strike!"
PAH
"Strikeout!"
The next two pitches were on target as they blitzed their way into Yuta's glove, promptly dispatching the 2nd batter for Shinjuku.
A couple of minutes later…
"Strikeout! 3 outs, changeover."
The Yokohama team triumphantly made their way back to the dugout after a successful defense, their mood joyful.
"Keep it up Ace."
"Man I can't believe you pitched at 160…"
Yuta was the most shocked out of everyone, since he'd been the one to catch Ken's pitches more than anyone. The craziest part was that all of the growth had happened after winning the Kanagawa tournament only a couple of weeks ago.
There was a part of him that couldn't believe it, yet his hand was still feeling numb from the pitching earlier.
The coach gave him a knowing smile as Yuta entered the dugout. It seemed he was well aware of what it was like to be on the end of one of Ken's surprises.
"Alright nice work everyone, or should I say Ken and Yuta." He said with a wry smile.
Since no one had done anything except for the aforementioned two, the others chuckled in response. It was a world of difference from when Akira pitched, since he usually pitched to contact.
Even though the match may be a little boring while they were fielding, most didn't care as long as they were able to advance.
"Naoki, you're up next."
"Yes coach!"
Before he could walk up the stairs to the field, he felt a weight on his left shoulder.
"We're counting on you Naoki."
Naoki stared through his fringe at the muscular figure who was trying to appear stoic. Instead of answering, he turned around and ignored the big fellow, not giving him the satisfaction of an answer.
A few chuckles rang out in the dugout from the usual suspects.
"Look at the crappy Captain, trying to be all cool." Tatsuya said under his breath to Hiroki, his expression the picture of amusement.
"I mean, the guy hasn't had a hit in the past 2 games. Hehehe"
This time, no one joined in on the laughter.
"OOOOOFF"