Everybody present at the drill was silent as the whistle blew, their eyes locked onto the tall figure who was sprinting towards the finish line like a freight train.
Ken exploded forward, his legs and arms pumping in sync. With each step, his cleats ripped into the turf beneath him, showing just how much power his muscles were generating.
By the time he reached halfway, his head had raised and he entered his full stride. As soon as this happened, his speed increased even further thanks to his long limbs propelling him forwards.
After he crossed the finish line, everybody turned to the sign which would display his time, their breaths held. It took a few moments, but 3 numbers were shown, causing a few gasps of shock and disbelief to ring out.
"5.95 seconds?"
"Isn't that a new record?"
Taylor blinked a few times, almost not believing his own eyes. He glanced at the coach's only to see a similar look of shock on their own faces. The previous record was 5.96 seconds and had been the same since he first started attending the showcases over 4 years ago.
Upon seeing the time, Ken nodded in satisfaction. He often incorporated sprinting into his workouts, but that was generally to finish off his runs. 'I should probably work on my acceleration, I might be able to shave off a few tenths of seconds.' He thought.
There was quite a difference sprinting from a stationary position as opposed to while mid-run. With the former, it put a large strain on the body and required explosive power, something that he needed to work on.
While he was evaluating himself, Ken returned to the pack, only to feel many sets of eyes on him. But Ken was used to this. Ever since acquiring the double-edged Charismatic Air skill, this scene was a daily occurrence for him.
"Congrats on getting the record." Taylor said, his face still looking a little flummoxed.
"Oh nice. When you said it was below 6 seconds, I wasn't sure how far." Ken replied. But it was clear that he didn't care too much about the record, as if it was merely a side quest.
After Ken's run, no one came close to his time, which wasn't too surprising. Once they had all finished, the middle-aged coach who had spoken to Ken earlier stepped up and addressed the players.
"Alright, Outfielders follow me. Infielders go with Coach Ray." He said, not wasting any time.
Taylor nudged Ken, "You should go with Coach Bishop, it's better than just waiting around for the batting drills."
Ken thought for a few moments before nodding his head. He had the capability to play outfield, so it made sense to participate in the drills even if he disliked the position as a whole.
"Alright, thanks."
With that, he nodded to both Taylor and Steve before jogging after Coach Bishop with around a third of the other players. Ken didn't know any other guys in this group, so he just decided to keep to himself.
For some reason, no one approached him like Taylor earlier, each already sticking to their own groups. However, that suited Ken, he didn't exactly come here to make friends.
"Listen up, we'll be testing your velocity throwing to the infield. I'll send you a grounder, all you need to do is throw it hard and fast to Randy over there." Coach Bishop said, pointing to a man standing some distance away.
The guy was decked out in protective gear, as if he was afraid of being hit. To top it off, when the coach pointed to him, he waved, wearing a brilliant smile.
A few chuckles rang out within the group of players, but they soon had no time to be so carefree.
"Alright, warm up your arms. The last thing we need is for one of you guys to get injured." The coach said in a no-nonsense tone.
After the warm ups, the coach proceeded to call the players up much like before.
"We want not only fast throws, but also accurate. As you can guess by Randy's gear, some people don't always take our advice. You'll get no more than two throws, so make it count." He said, wielding his bat.
WHACK
Coach Bishop expertly smacked the ball along the ground towards the outfielder, causing Ken to raise his eyebrow in surprise. Just from the casual action of the hit, it was clear that the coach had a lot of experience batting.
Ken debated using Identify on him, however there was no real point in doing so.
After the player collected the ball, he took a few steps forward and fired a throw to Randy. The throw was pretty accurate and had some heat, eliciting a nod of approval from Ken.
'I guess outfielders specialize in this kind of thing.' He thought inwardly.
Ken had expected to see a sign or something that would show the velocity of the throw, but there was nothing. Although it made things a little annoying, he didn't complain since he wasn't really an outfielder.
'Guess I'll just get this over and done with.'
Soon enough it was Ken's turn. He casually jogged over, rolling his shoulder to ensure it was ready. He turned to the coach and awaited the ground ball and wasn't disappointed.
WHACK
The ball came towards him, perfectly weighted. With relative ease, Ken bent down and casually collected the ball, taking a few steps towards the direction he would be throwing.
He threw the ball hard and fast, aiming for the outstretched glove of Randy. The ball sailed through the air, accurately arriving at its destination.
"Hmm, as expected of this kid…" Coach Bishop muttered, however his facial expression remained the same. While they were participating in the drills, he liked to remain neutral so everyone was on the same playing field.
Unless someone was completely out of line, he would not speak up.
He waited until Ken was ready and proceeded to send another grounder his way. Once again, Ken sent another accurate throw to Randy, completing his drill.