21 Amidst The Storm?

Lance woke up early and started his daily routine. It is still raining outside but it is a lot weaker than yesterday. Also, the sky is a lot brighter.

Push-ups, curl-ups, squats, and pull-ups. Lance took his time as he increased his repetitions since there isn't any school today. The storm signal is still up so he has all the time in the day.

When he finished he continued on with other routines and jogged in place. This time he had ankle weights on.

He wiped off his sweat and drunk water to hydrate himself. He looked outside and did not see any change in the weather.

"Is the first week of school going to pass by without classes?"

After he rested, he took his ankle weights off and stretched his body again.

"Let's see today. 20 jumps, start!"

Just like his usual routine, he crouched as fast as he can to generate momentum before redirecting all his weight upwards when he jumps. With two feet off the ground, he once again soared and tapped the wall.

When he landed he looked up anticipatingly and felt like he jumped a little higher than before. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a new mark and forgot that he did not apply any powder on his hand.

"Oh, I forgot."

He quickly walked towards the storage room and picked up the powder he used yesterday.

When he finished applying the powder he took the notebook and opened it up. The last records were listed there and out of the 40 jumps he did, the jump he reached 41-inches is the highest of them all.

'Day 2'

After writing those two words he placed the notebook down and readied to jump. He checked if he applied powder properly before jumping.

Then, he once again bent his knees at the best angle possible and swung his arms along with the momentum of his jump. His feet simultaneously left the ground and he brought his right arm up and stretched it out as high as he can! When he felt like reached the highest point, he slapped the wall letting the powdered palm mark the wall.

After a crisp sound resounded, he landed and quickly took the notebook and looked up.

"10-foot 6 inches (3.2 m), that is a little low."

He wrote it down and subtracted it to his standing reach. When he wrote the vertical jump height Lance felt unsatisfied and prepared for another jump.

35 inches (88.9 cm)

He jumped again but this time he raised and used his left hand.

!?

When he landed he felt his knee hurt and clutched down.

"Ouch! That hurts."

He tried to stand and sat on a chair. Who would have thought that he'd get injured after jumping for too long?

Lance looked up at the wall to see what happened to his jump, he found the palm mark below the 10-foot line.

Actually, although he came from the future and had memories of the future he doesn't really know how to train himself. This something he forgot to address during the summer.

That is why he had been considering getting a professional train him.

"I think I should train in moderation and start to consult a trainer. I have to take care of my self."

When the pain subsided Lance rested for a while before taking a shower and preparing his breakfast.

He moved quickly and efficiently. The lifestyle of an independent man can be seen in his movements.

After eating his phone rang and saw that it is his aunt calling.

"Good morning, Aunt Liza."

[Good morning to you too! How are you now? I heard in the news that the storm hasn't stopped yet.]

"I am alright. It is still pouring outside but felt none of it."

[Good. Just worried... Take care of yourself, I won't be able to call you in the next few days because we are going to get busy. Also, don't stress your body. You can't get injured for the 4th time!]

"-Geh!"

[What you did?]

"Ah! No, I just choked while drinking."

[Thank God. Alright, gonna hang now. Goodbye!]

"Goodbye!"

Lance smiled and remembered how his Aunt is the only one who really took care of him both in this new life of his and his previous life. He can only imagine how he can repay her of her benevolence.

He began to wash the dishes and clean his apartment.

He saw the ball beside the couch and took it holding it in his hands. He bounced the ball to the ground and started to casually dribble the ball.

'Handling'

Out of everything in basketball, this is one of the most important skills needed other than score making. A scoring probability is depended on a lot of factors like defenders contesting the shot, distance, and position. If we look at the distance, the closer you are to the hoop, the higher the chance to make a score is and to get inside the perimeter, you have to have the ability to take the ball past the defenders or make a space with the ball.

This is the skillset that is the hardest. You can easily learn how to shoot, lay-up or dunk but it will never be easy to learn how to make space, drive past defenders and trick defenders with handling.

Even if one does not have the build to become unstoppable, he can use strong handling skills to become unstoppable.

This has been proven a lot of times and a lot of times you can't just rely on others passing the ball unto you so handling skills are a must.

Lance began to increase his pace and move around with the ball. Every time the ball leaves his hands, it would hit the ground and bounce towards his other hand magically. Talking about handling, it one of Lance's strong suit but it is not good enough to be compared to Fin's handling which is abnormally perverse or his father's handling.

Suddenly, Lance instantly switched the pace from fast to slow and then pause and go. It is a hard skill and barely executed it.

Sweat began to run down his forehead. After moving a lot with the ball in his hands he began to feel tired. He huffed while dribbling and remembered the performance highlight of Levi on the TV yesterday.

"I have to practice more..."

He thought that he can't lag behind especially if he wanted to become like his father, no, for the sports he loved and the passion he has for it.

One again he picked up the pace and began to move in an instantaneous manner. He kept doing it until he felt really tired.

After training his handling, he felt his body ache a little especially his joints.

He looked at himself and felt somewhat sticky because of the sweat so he took a bath once again and decided to go out afterward.

He noticed that the rain has weakened a lot compared yesterday and that it is safe to go outside.

Finally, for the first time in a while, he stepped out of his apartment and pondered on what to do.

"As far as I remember, there is a fitness gym near this building. Maybe I should check it out and get a trainer."

Just as he was about to step out of the building he noticed the someone familiar who in turn also looked at him.

It was Allan who was on his way to somewhere. But stopped when he saw Lance coming out of the building.

Lance looked at Allan and just nodded as a greeting. It was a coincidence that they met.

Lance raised his hands and tried to greet Allan.

"Eyyyyy... Fancy meeting you here?"

"..."

As usual, there is no change in Allan's facial expression. He wore the same cold look on his face as he always did.

"You..."

Allan suddenly spoke while looking down on Lance.

Lance heard him and looked at him in the eye.

"Come with me."

Lance was somewhat confused but he complied and followed Allan.

He does not know where Allan will lead him to but feels like he had an inkling of what they will do.

The road is not busy and only a few people are walking by the roadside because of the bad weather. Although it is much brighter than before it is still raining.

Lance looked up and peeked at the sky for a while and felt the raindrop on his face. It was cold but he continued to look at the sky.

"The weather seems to be going to get worse later..."

Suddenly, he noticed Allan take a turn to the right and enter a narrow street. Lance stopped for a moment and frowned before continuing forward. He looked around and saw that it is one of the underdeveloped districts of the First City.

And then after a few moments, they arrived in front of the warehouse building.

Allan stood in front of the metal door and ignored Lance who is constantly looking around. He knocked on the door three times with his fist and waited for a response.

Suddenly, the sound of metal rustling from inside resonated out until the door hinged open. A tall middle-aged man with a thick beard revealed himself and looked at Allan up and down.

"Wow, you are quite tall! How old are you kid?"

When the man looked at Allan's face and tried to see past his hair he found the boy quite familiar.

"Weird, you resemble Michelle... Wait! Aren't you Michelle's son!?"

Allan ignored the man and went inside. Lance did not go inside yet and waited.

"Hey, it's been a long time now. You have gotten so big! Isn't rude to ignore your uncle?"

Allan finally face the man and said, "Is there anyone playing?"

"No one, the weather is so bad that no one dared to go out." The man scratched his and continued, "Wait, are you gonna play?"

Allan did not reply and left the man in the doorway.

The man sighed and noticed Lance still standing outside.

"You're with Allan?"

Lance just nodded when the man asked. He does not know who the man is but he seemed acquainted with Allan.

"Come on, you may go in."

The man closed the door and led Lance towards the court.

There are 2 full-length courts in the building. The venue is brightly lit and clean. It seems to be a private covered court that is established for renting.

"You can change there."

The man pointed at the changing room and told Lance to change his clothes.

Lance looked at his outfit and remembered that he didn't bring any basketball jersey with him. He looked at the man and the man noticed.

"What?"

"I didn't bring any."

"You mean you are going to play with that attire?"

"..."

Lance did not respond because he does not know what to say. He Did not really intend to play today and just went out because he wanted to check out a gym and apply for a membership there.

"Wait, do you want to buy, no, I mean rent one?"

"You have one?"

"Follow me."

Lance followed the man and walked towards the storage room where a lot of new balls, old balls, hoops, and nets are stored. The man walked to the end of the storage room and took a box with him.

"We don't usually rent jerseys here but since you're my nephew's friend I'll rent you one."

"Thank you."

The man gave him the white jersey which is surprisingly his size.

Lance paid for the jersey and took it towards the changing room after thanking the man again.

When Lance came out of the Changing room he heard the sound of a basketball being dribbled coming from the court along with the sound of the ball hitting or going through the hoop and its net.

When he heard it he knows Allan is waiting for him. He crouched down and tightened his shoelaces before walking towards the hall.

When he looked at the court he saw Allan warming up and laying up the ball. While picking up the ball Allan noticed Lance and said,

"I thought you chickened out."

Lance just shrugged it off and walked slowly. He looked at the rack filled with balls and took a ball from it and started dribbling too.

"Just let me warm-up and we'll play."

Allan ignored him and continued on warming up.

'one on one... This is going to be tough.' Lance mumbled to himself before focusing on warming up.

The man who owned the place just sat in a corner and begun to watch. He does not know if Lance is even good at basketball but he is certain that his nephew is strong even though he hadn't seen him for years until now, after all, Allan's mother, Michelle, is a professional women's basketball herself.

"Allan has become so tall, taller than his mother now. I wonder how much has he improved..."