"What's the rush? It'll be ready soon."
"Huh? Don't you have a plan? You call yourself a trainer?"
King Halo couldn't help worrying about her future. This guy was supposed to guide her racing career, and he didn't even have a training plan ready?
Hayato scribbled something down on a piece of paper, the pen scratching away. When he finally finished, he slid it across the table.
King Halo grabbed it, curious to see what kind of training regimen he'd come up with.
Her expression shifted as she read through it.
Jogging for one and a half hours.
Hill running for one and a half hours.
Swimming for one and a half hours.
Reading and studying for one and a half hours.
Tire-dragging runs for one and a half hours.
She stared at the schedule, trying to make sense of it. The exercises looked straightforward enough, almost too straightforward. And all that rest time scattered throughout? Most horse girls she knew trained way harder than this.
"All of it had to be done in one day. You could adjust the timing a bit if needed, but those five activities were set in stone. Whatever time was left over could go toward rest or food."
What King Halo didn't realize was that this setup could increase all five stats by a full point in a single day. Regular people would look at this and see nothing special, just another workout routine. But Hayato knew better. He understood something about how horse girls' bodies worked that went beyond common knowledge.
Every stat mattered. Different horse girls might need small tweaks here and there, but the core stayed the same. Speed was everything, obviously. Stamina separated champions from pretenders in long-distance races, though sprinters could get by with less. Power made all the difference when you needed that explosive burst, when you were fighting shoulder to shoulder for position in those crucial final moments.
Willpower was huge for long distance races and escape runners who had to hold their lead from start to finish. Zones put absolutely brutal strain on a horse girl's body and mind, just as demanding as running escape strategies. But without developing zones, there was zero chance of surviving the Golden Generation. Once they unlocked that ability, all he could do was manage it carefully and make sure they didn't waste it at the wrong moment.
Intelligence tied everything together. Certain skills needed intelligence checks before they'd activate, especially red skills that messed with opponents' positioning and pace. The smarter you were, the more tools you had available.
"What kind of training is this supposed to be?" King Halo waved the paper. "Are you serious right now? Look at all this rest time. Where's the actual work?"
She couldn't figure out how these random exercises would make her faster. Swimming? Studying? What did that have to do with racing?
Hayato kept his voice calm and steady. "Follow this schedule exactly, and I'll have you ready for your debut race next month."
Next month. That caught her attention.
"Trust me, I won't let you down." He leaned back slightly. "Besides what's written there, I'll personally teach you everything else when the time comes. The technical stuff, the strategy, all of it. I'll explain the details later."
Skill development was something he'd handle directly. Teaching her when to activate certain abilities, how to read a race, and when to make her move. Whether she could actually pull it off in competition, well, he'd find out soon enough.
King Halo studied his face for a moment, looking for any sign of doubt. She didn't find any. Just quiet confidence that made her want to believe him.
She let out a breath. "Fine. I'll give it a shot."
It was already past 1 PM. According to the schedule, that meant swimming time. The school pool was packed with horse girls, the air thick with chlorine and splashing water. Racing swimsuits clung to toned bodies as girls practiced their strokes. Some were working on diving techniques, launching themselves off the boards.
Hayato stood there watching for a moment. He didn't have anything else to do, and there was something he needed to test. He grabbed swim trunks from the facility locker and changed.
King Halo's eyes went wide when she saw him come out in swimming gear. "Trainer, you're not actually planning to get in with me, are you?"
"Hehe, gotta lead by example, right?" Hayato grinned. "Plus, I need to make sure this training actually works."
He walked to the edge and dove in smoothly.
Swimming was important, but diving was even more so. Pushing your body to manage oxygen under pressure, forcing your system to adapt and grow stronger.
King Halo hesitated at the pool's edge before slipping into the water. The cool temperature shocked her for a second before her body adjusted.
Hayato surfaced nearby, water dripping from his hair. "Listen. From now on, focus on the butterfly or breaststroke swimming style. Those'll give you the best results. Swim until your arms are dying. Dive until your lungs are screaming. If you haven't pushed to the breaking point, it doesn't count."
King Halo nodded. "Got it."
She watched his form, then tried copying his technique. Butterfly swimming-style was brutal. Her arms cut through the water, her core working with every movement. Within minutes, she'd swallowed enough pool water to make her cough. It burned in her nose and throat, but she kept going.
An hour passed. Hayato pulled himself out of the pool, breathing hard. Every muscle felt like it was on fire, but something had changed. His stamina had gone up by one point. His condition was good, so his training efficiency beat King Halo's by a decent amount. He'd swallowed so much water his stomach actually felt full. He kept burping as he sat on the deck, which wasn't exactly his proudest moment.
King Halo looked wrecked. Her strokes had gotten messy over the last twenty minutes, her movements sluggish. She grabbed the pool's edge and started pulling herself out.
"Where are you going?" Hayato called out.
She froze, one arm on the deck. "I thought we were done?"
"Not even close. Think about what you're chasing. Think about who you are." His voice stayed firm but not harsh. "Don't give up until the absolute last moment."
Something shifted in King Halo's expression. Her ears flattened against her head in determination.
"I won't give up." Her voice came out rough. "I'm King Halo. The word 'surrender' doesn't exist in my vocabulary."
She let go of the edge and dove back under.
Another ten minutes went by. Hayato watched her struggling, movements getting desperate. But she didn't stop. She kept pushing, kept diving, forcing her body past every limit.
Then Hayato felt it. Something changed in King Halo Stamina Stats. Hayato couldn't explain how he knew, but her stamina had increased by one point.
"Alright, you're done. Get out."
King Halo surfaced, gasping hard. "Already?" Water streamed from her hair and ears as she treaded water. "But the time's not up yet, is it?"
"Doesn't matter. You cleared the objective early."
"Huh?" She blinked water from her eyes. "How can you even tell?"
"I just can."
Still looking confused, King Halo dragged herself out of the pool. Water poured from her hair and tail, pooling around her feet. Her legs were shaking.
"Take a break. After this comes studying. Go sit in on a class and read the books."
King Halo's face scrunched up. "What does that have to do with training? I'm trying to get faster, not become a bookworm."
"Intelligence is power too." Hayato wasn't going to explain everything. Skills needed some intelligence to work properly. Managing stamina during a race required intelligence, being able to calculate and adapt on the field. Higher intelligence made learning new skills way easier. So yeah, studying mattered just as much as physical training.
After the study session came the afternoon tire-dragging run. No way in hell Hayato was doing that one, too. If someone could get results by watching the winning race instead of suffering, why would Hayato choose training so hard to upgrade his power stats? This training could only boost stats through the horse girls' own effort, grinding out those attribute points through sheer will.
When King Halo finally finished, she collapsed on the ground, gasping for air. Her whole body heaved as she tried to breathe. Sweat soaked through everything, turning her hair dark and sticking it to her neck. Her legs wouldn't stop shaking, muscles twitching from exhaustion.
Horse girls without trainers still had school instructors, but their training was never this intense.
The sky had gotten dark. Evening settled over the training grounds, the breeze carrying away the last bits of sunset. Shadows stretched across the field.
"Alright, that's it for today. Same thing tomorrow." Hayato stood up. "Head back and rest."
"No." King Halo's voice was muffled against the ground. She pushed her palms flat and tried getting up. Her arms shook hard, barely holding her weight. "I can keep going. A first-rate horse girl can handle way more than this."
Hayato could see everything. Her legs were trembling nonstop, threatening to give out. The exhaustion was written all over her. Even Goku would be relaxed after training this hard, right? In this condition, more training would do nothing. It'd probably cause more harm than good, risking real injury.
Hayato rolled his eyes. "Proper rest is training, too. Don't rush it. Destroying your body doesn't help you win the race."
King Halo went quiet, processing that. Her competitive side wanted to keep pushing, but she knew he was right. She nodded and stopped trying to stand. After catching her breath for another minute, she managed to get up on shaky legs and started limping toward the dorms. Every step looked painful, her whole body protesting.
"Oh, and one more thing." Hayato's voice turned serious. "No staying up late. I mean it."
King Halo's ears perked up. "Eh???"
She didn't argue though, just kept heading to her room.
Only after she was gone did Hayato stand up and start jogging around the track. His earlier swim had helped, but he needed to keep his own conditioning up.
King Halo glanced back over her shoulder as she reached the dorm entrance. She caught sight of Hayato running laps in the darkness.
"He tells me to rest, then goes and runs himself..." She shook her head with a small smile despite being exhausted. "What's up with that? Is my trainer seriously more dedicated than we horse girls?"
Later that evening, as the sky turned dark and stars came out, Hayato ran into Silence Suzuka again. She was running along the track, but way slower than before. Running freely and running while holding back were completely different. Suzuka was practicing stamina control right now. Learning to pace herself, to not burn everything at the start.
"You're... that trainer from before?" Silence Suzuka spotted Hayato and stopped, her breathing controlled and steady.