"That's absolutely ruthless."
Watching Green Grass clinging tightly to Narita Brian's wake, Symboli Rudolf couldn't help but murmur.
If Narita Brian was a warrior who relied purely on her formidable raw power from start to finish, then Green Grass was a master who regarded technique as everything.
Using every trick in the book during a race to reach the finish line.
One could say she was the polar opposite of Narita Brian.
Green Grass's physical stamina wasn't remarkable among Uma Musume. Compared to her contemporaries like Ten Point, Tosho Boy, or Maruzensky, her endurance was arguably the weakest.
Yet, with that very body, through relentless honing of cornering techniques and straightaway skills, Green Grass had developed her own unique style of running.
Minimizing unnecessary energy expenditure, channeling every ounce of her strength into the run itself.
Never think that running is a simple thing.
It embodies centuries of Uma Musume wisdom.
Breathing methods, movement techniques, psychological warfare, strategic battles—just like human martial arts, a mere touch of limbs can manifest in infinite variations.
So it is with running.
From the simplest tactics like front-running, stalking, or chasing, gradually ascending to higher concepts like momentum, spirit, and state of mind.
Like martial arts, each element interlinks.
And in martial arts, there are always those whose stamina is inferior to their opponent's, yet they can thoroughly overwhelm them.
Compensating for power with skill.
Green Grass was like that, polishing her craft to its peak, using the weak to defeat the strong, suppleness to overcome rigidity.
The scene unfolding before them was the perfect explanation.
Rudolf's eyes were fixed on the track.
Wind—the key element hindering an Uma Musume's progress.
When an Uma Musume accelerates, she creates immense wind resistance. To overcome this drag, they often need to expend tremendous effort to break through.
This is especially pronounced when running into a headwind.
An Uma Musume sprinting at high speed can feel as if the whole world is resisting her advance, her entire body sinking into a swamp of air, struggling to move.
So when accelerating, Uma Musume try to lower their bodies as much as possible, reducing contact with the wind, letting themselves pierce through like a bullet.
Narita Brian's running style, pressed close to the ground, was in a sense a posture adopted to combat wind resistance during acceleration.
Especially with her superhuman acceleration, the resulting drag far exceeded that of other Uma Musume.
And besides methods like Narita Brian's, which minimized contact with the air, there was another way to fight resistance.
Green Grass had demonstrated it once during the practice race with Maruzensky and the others.
That's right—clinging closely behind Ten Point, using the opponent to break the air resistance, placing her body in the low-pressure pocket where less effort was needed, thereby conserving stamina.
To pass through this wall called 'wind,' the simplest method is to follow the trail left by someone else.
However, this method, simple in theory, is extremely difficult in practice.
Their movements must outpace the flow of the air.
That is, to act the instant the other moves.
Clearly, with Narita Brian's acceleration, starting after observing her would already be too late.
So Green Grass had to anticipate.
Guess where Narita Brian would begin her acceleration, and act a step ahead.
Foresight.
An ability achieved through experience summed up on the track, judging the current situation and guessing the opponent's thoughts.
Every step Narita Brian took was within Green Grass's calculations.
Because of this, the moment Narita Brian accelerated, Green Grass could follow the trail she left in the wind, expending far less effort, matching Narita Brian's speed.
And precisely because of this, Narita Brian was so shocked.
The power she had just displayed surpassed that of the vast majority of Uma Musume. Given Green Grass's physique, by all accounts she shouldn't be able to reach such a level.
How on earth did she do it?
Based on Narita Brian's experience, it was utterly incomprehensible.
'That's absolutely ruthless.'
This phrase was exactly Rudolf's sentiment—an exclamation at how Green Grass had seen completely through Narita Brian, treating her like a plaything in the palm of her hand.
It was also praise for her terrifying skill.
Throughout all of Tracen Academy, how many Uma Musume could reach this level?
Brian, whether you accept it or not, your opponent is a powerhouse worthy of leaving her name in history, a true senior among seniors.
The reason the younger generation finds Green Grass's running style hard to accept isn't because she's weak.
Quite the opposite.
It's because Green Grass's ability is simply too formidable, so strong they can't comprehend it, let alone learn it.
Who can seize these fleeting opportunities in the tension of a race?
Who can rely on experience to achieve such foresight?
I hope you can learn something from her, Brian.
Technique is by no means an impure thing.
For this future Triple Crown Uma Musume, Rudolf sincerely hoped.
--+--
All three of them are so fast!
Following at the rear of the group, Admire Vega was gradually feeling the strain.
She was experiencing the gap in ability firsthand.
Originally maintaining a distance of one length behind Green Grass, the moment Narita Brian and Green Grass accelerated simultaneously, she instantly fell back another three lengths. And with Silence Suzuka accelerating at the front, this gap was slowly widening.
Her lack of experience and stamina was beginning to show.
She didn't know whether she should accelerate now to catch up, or maintain her original rhythm and wait for a pivotal moment in the race.
As an Uma Musume skilled in the chase-running style, Admire Vega's advantage lay in her final straight-line sprint, relying on her powerful late kick to overtake opponents.
But in the current situation, with the others pulling further and further away, even her prized late kick would struggle to be effective.
Yet, disrupting her rhythm would create problems with stamina allocation.
What should she do?
In a normal race, her trainer would have long since provided a solution for such a situation.
But unfortunately, this was just an impromptu race, a sudden, spur-of-the-moment where she could only rely on herself.
No... that's not right.
Even with a trainer's help, most of the time, she still solved problems on her own.
Admire Vega rarely depended on others.
Is it time to gamble?
Just as Admire Vega was hesitating, Gold Ship's voice rang out again.
"Now, let's hear some words from our fellow student, Manhattan Cafe! Seeing these hard-working participants, what would you like to say to them?"
Huh?
In the commentary booth, Manhattan Cafe blinked.
Why are you so capricious! Can't I just be a mascot here?
"What's this? Don't you see Admire Vega falling behind? As the person closest to her, surely you should say something to encourage her now."
Gold Ship put on a righteously indignant face. "Saying some lovey-dovey words to motivate her, to make her run faster—isn't that a partner's duty!"
What partner? We're not in that kind of relationship...
Staring at the microphone being forcibly shoved into her hand by Gold Ship, Manhattan Cafe frowned deeply.
The other gave her no room for refusal.
"Anyway, helping someone run faster is a great deed."Gold Ship said to her with a grin.
Sigh...
Manhattan Cafe couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
Fine then, I'll say something as a fellow student.
What should I say...
Manhattan Cafe thought for a moment, and finally had an idea.
"Admire Vega."
She began slowly, her voice carrying across the entire training field, reaching Admire Vega's ears.
"Do you know of the star Pollux in the sky..."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.