I assume they are getting used to the speed of my serves. Fiona reasoned. In that case, it is time to mix things up a little.

  WHAM. Fiona struck the ball but she did her usual strength. Instead, she focused on teique. If the eeam were expeg yet araightforward serve, then they will be in for a surprise.

  At first, the ball traveled toward the edge of the court as usual. It was slower than previous serves, but it was still detly fast. At a gnone of the girls could tell Fiona slowed dowta purpose.

  Only ohe ball got closer, its erratients became more pronounced. It seemed to float and dan the air, defying the ws of physics.

  "G-Got it!" One of the girls stepped forth, fident she would be able to receive this slower serve. However...

  "Eh!? Wha-!?" The girl jerked as the wild ball approached her. A moment ago, she was 100% certai into the best possible position for receiving this serve. But, just then, the ball started drifting away all of a sudden!

  It was as if the ball had a will of its own. It saw the receiver and chose to avoid it at all costs.

  “W-Wait…!” The girl leapt after the fleeing ball and stretched her arms as far as humanly possible. She successfully made tact but this was not something one would call a recieve. Instead of going up, the ball only slipped off her arms.

  In the end, the ball hit the floor while leaving the girl bewildered.

  "Eh? But I... Huh?" The girl examined her own hands in fusion. It must have felt unbelievable for her sidering how straightforward the serve seemed at first.

  "Excuse me!?" elia was the first to excim, as usual. "Do you mind expining how in the world you mao mess up such a simple receive!? There is surely a limit to how much of a pleb a person be, and you have just passed that threshold!"

  "Now, now." Daepped in at the first opportunity and turo Fiona. "That was a floater, wasn't it? It was a little hard to tell because of the speed.”

  "Yes, it was a floater," Fiona firmed.

  "Whew. I haven't seen you do one of these in a while, but it was incredibly sharp!"

  "I am gd you think so," Fiona said. "I have been polishing my floaters for quite some time now, so this is a good opportunity to test them out in a real match."

  "Wow. You’re already such a strong pyer, but you're still getting ever better, huh."

  "Of course.” Fiona nodded. “Perpetual self-improvement is the essence of sports."

  "Yeah, I guess that's right." Daniel could only smile wryly at that grandiose statement.

  Teically, it was correct. For the pyers, sports were all about honing their skills to bee a better and stronger version of themselves.

  However, most pyers improved slowly over a prolonged period of time. A newbie usually grew up quickly at first, but at some point, they were bound to hit "the wall"; the point at which personal growth became sloractice stopped feeling rewarding.

  Everybody was bound to run into this wall at one point or another, except for the La Princess, apparently. The girl has been improving nonstop ever since she joihe club.

  At this point, she was already the best pyer in the club all around. A, she tinued evolving even further.

  Does her talent have no limits? Daniel wondered. Is this eople call a "genius"?

  As a senior, Daniel had mixed feelings about this. The 2.5 years she spent training in the club felt so meager pared to the progress Fiona made in half that time.

  Even though it was wrong to think of it that rodigies like Fiona sure made it feel as if some people were "chosen" to py sports. To borrow elia's nonsensical terms: few were the chosen "nobles" destihe rule the court, whereas the rest were "oners" who merely tagged along.

  That robably why elia was so obsessed with peting against Fiona. She reized the La Princess as ay from a higher pne of existence. So, by beating this supreme being, elia must’ve believed she’ll be able to asd to a higher pne as well.

  Where do I stand on that scale, I wonder? Daniel smiled wryly. Am I also just a regur “oner”? Or, am I at least a little above the average?

  Daniel was the captain of the team, so at least she had that going for her. However, she knew all too well she was far from being the “best” pyer oeam. She was just a sociable busybody, so the coach appointed her to keep the team in check. In other words, she didn’t get her position thanks to her skill in volleyball per se.

  Her sets were pretty good if she could say so herself, but that’s about her only skill that really stood out. Other than that, all she had to her name was the experience she has accumuted in the club as a senior.

  Frankly, it ressing topistead of drowning in this mud of self-deprecation, Daniel had to keep moving forward.

  "Let's cut her off in the one!" Daniel shouted, hoping to psych both the team and herself.

  "Yeah!" The team responded in a union. Nobody had lost heart yet despite the fact the enemy scored 4 points in a row. Everybody was ready to give their all in the round again!

  Yes, that's the spirit. Daniel nodded. We might be "oners" or whatever pared to a prodigy like Fiona, but that doesn't mean we're just gonna quit! We'll keep challenging her over and over until we break that demonic serve!

  Following Daniel's war cry, everybody's expressions ged. They were now even more focused than before on breaking Fiona’s serve. There was an intimidating aura radiating from them.

  That lendid boost of morale. Fiona praised. However, morale alone is not enough. Show me that you also have the necessary skill to pull through this.

  WHAM! The ball shot toward the enemy court. This time, Fiona aimed at the edges of the cain. Specifically, she aimed toward the right sideline.

  The oppo over there was a freshman who did not have a stelr record when it came to receiving, therefore this ball should be difficult for her to stop. And ihe girl seemed paralyzed as the girl approached her.

  "Isn't this an out...?" The girl mumbled. She wao get into a position to receive, but wouldn’t it be great if this ball just went out of bounds? Will save her lots of trouble and will finally put ao Fiona’s oppressive serves.

  But, this was exactly the rea the La Princess was hoping for. She is hesitating, as expected. She here is a big differeween being warned about potential danger and actually experieng it first-hand.

  Even though Daniel warned everybody about how accurate Fiona's serves were, it was difficult for such a message to sink in after only one example. Especially, not after Fiona showed them pletely different types of serves right after that.

  By now, they had no idea what to expeext and really wanted Fiona’s turn to be over. That bination of ay and impatience will certainly make them it errors.

  Perhaps it was a bit Spartan to test a freshman like this. However, this freshman art of the scrimmage because she showed promise and the team had great expectations of her. As such, there was no reason to pull any punches.

  "A-Ah!" The girl ultimately stepped forward to challehe ball. However, she was far too te and her form was a mess. The ball rammed into her sloppy stand bounced far outside the court.

  Windy, the libero, gave chase and slid forth in an attempt to rescue the esg ball. However, she was uo do so.

  And so, the score was now 5-2. Slowly but surely, despair was creeping up on the girls over there.

  But, they ought to be able to overe that much. Fiona asserted. The petition will be far more ruthless than this at the nationals.

  Difficult situations like this tested the team's leadership. Fortunately, this club had a dependable captain with a burning fighting spirit.

  "Alright, focus on the one!" Daniel said. "Remember to go after her serves without aation. Don’t even think about whether it’ll be in or out."

  "Got it!"

  Daniel did not waste any additional time lecturing the freshman for the mistake, as there was nothio say there. This was the right decision, as the team’s morale was already shaken enough. As such, it was terproductive to beat them down any further with criticism right now.

  As, as usual, oeammate did not get the memo...

  "'t you oners receive at all!?" elia raged. "You are feeding free points to the La household! Is this supposed to be your idea of paying taxes!?"

  As usual, Daniel had to step in to calm down the furious noble. Holy, it was a sorry sight.

  elia was certainly skilled on the meical level. However, her teampy and attitude left much to be desired. Everything she achieved for the team with her serves was overshadowed by how much she hurt the team’s morale with her stant pints.

  In particur, this time, the noble was more furious than ever. Even after Daniel deflected the girl's rants, elia was still not done.

  "Fiona La! Enough with the petty tricks!” elia called out. “These oners are not a petition for you. Aim all your serves at me instead! I shall hahem!"

  "Is that so?" Fiona asked. "Do you suggest you ly receive any of my serves without any trouble?"

  "Most definitely! After all, it takes a o test a noble!"

  "I shall keep ygestion in mind," Fiona gave a non-answer.

  elia would have tinued nagging about this if Fiona ht refused, so it was best to give her a dodgy answer.

  Ohe dust had settled, Fiona proceeded to the serve. WHAM. This time, it was a floater toward the front row.

  However, the floater eculiar serve that swayed randomly from side to side. As such, despite Fiona's numerous practice sessions, she did not have full trol over this wild beast.

  And so, the ball decided of its own volition to fly toward the ter this time. That gave the eeam a lot of time to respond.

  Unsurprisingly, the first to leap at the ball was her than elia. “Finally, you’ve decided to challenge me! Then, I shall respond in kind!”

  She dashed toward the swaying ball as if it were directed at her, even though she was not actually the closest pyer to it. There was anirl positioned closer and should have been the oo challehis ball.

  However, elia had enough. She was tired of seeing all these plebians mess up their receives over and ain. Therefore, this time, she will take matters into her own noble hands!

  “A-Ah!” The irl jumped away, startled by elia’s fierce dash. Her response was slow, but at least she knew her pd cleared the path for elia.

  BAM. The ball struck against elia’s hands. She made it just in time to execute the receive!

  However, it was a bit sloppy. Not so much because of elia’s own skill, but because the ball had irregur movement. Any noble would be stumped by supredictable behavior.

  elia did successfully stop the ball from falling to the floor, but the unruly pleb bounced away in an uncooperative manner. Instead of going high into the air, the ball slipped away and flew toward the edge of the court.

  In the end, this was going to be Fiona’s victory yet again. Or, so everybody thought.

  Not under my watch! Daniel blitzed in. This is the first real opportunity we’ve gotten in this game, so there’s no way I’m letting it slip away!

  Despite how lost that ball seemed, Daniel refused to give up. If there was a ce to save the ball, then she had to chase it, no matter what!

  At a g looked like a fool’s errand. However, the La Princess calcuted that the ball was salvage, at the very least.

  She probably make it in time. Fiona deduced. But, no matter how excellent her setting skills are, she ot possibly set the ball from that position. So, this will be a free ball.

  But, despite this estimation, Fiona refused to uimate her foes. After all, the pyers oher side of the court were part of her own club, and half of them were first-string pyers to boot. As such, she made sure to carefully analyze everybody’s movements and adjust her position accly.

  Volleyball was a fast-moving game, therefore Fiona had to make sure she was ready for anything in advance. If something surprisio happen here, it would be too te.

  And so, Fiona moved deeper into the court, preparing to intercept any ining shots as necessary. If there was the fai ce of a terattack happening, Fiona wao be ready to stop it.

  However, as expected, Daruggled to eveo the ball in time. As she got closer to it, she had already realized how difficult it would be to vert this into an attack.

  A set is probably impossible. Dahought. But, as long as I get the ball up, somebody should be able to hit it over the . So, even if it's just going to be a free ball…!

  "Set it for me!" elia shouted as she dashed toward the . "I shall score this!"

  Heh, seriously. This girl. Daniel found herself smiling. Talk about asking for the impossible.

  How was Daniel supposed to set a shanked ball like this? Seriously, expeg the impossible was so elia.

  But, why not? Dahought. It won’t be a great set, but I at least set something, right? Seriously, why did I give up on attag in the first pce?

  Why did she assume this had to be a free ball for the enemy? There was a ount an actual attack here!

  Somewhere deep down, maybe I’ve already accepted defeat against Fiona for this round. Daniel smiled wryly. Her serves just keep rag up points, so it’s mentally draining.

  Even Daniel, who was supposed to be the supp pilr of the team, was finding herself a little dejected. But, this was where she’ll mount a eback!

  Yeah, Fiona, you're a prodigy alright. Dahought as she reached toward the ball. But, everybody here practices hard too, you know? Maybe we "oners" 't domihe game as well as you do, but we sure retaliate! I’m not going to let you keep trolling the game all day!

  Instead of seg the ball with the back of her hands, Daniel blitzed past the ball and executed an improvised setting motion!

  It was aremely aosition. Her form was a total mess. But, she wasirely unfamiliar with situations like this. A setter had to be able to get the ball up for the spiker evehe circumstances weren't ideal.

  O-Okay! Daniel gulped as she finally got the ball up. It headed toward the , albeit very awkwardly. Holy, it retty terrible set all in all, but it assable given the dire circumstances.

  All in all, the ball went both high enough and close enough to the o alloike to happen. Now, it was just a question of what elia will make out of this clumsy opportunity.

  Maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to vert this into an actual terattack...! Daniel prayed that the loud troublemaker would be able to pull this off somehow despite the low odds of success...!

  DarkestCymore