Of course, it was all theory.
No one could guarantee its practicality. On paper, Air Shakur's method seemed feasible—but executing it would be undeniably challenging.
Garden Gale listened intently, lost in deep thought, her fingers unconsciously tapping the bench's railing as she furrowed her brow.
If she followed Air Shakur's advice, the key would be using Tokai Teio's running style with Air Shakur's techniques. By gradually adjusting her body's rhythm, breaking the full transition into countless tiny increments, she could avoid the sudden loss of speed.
The core idea was treating running styles like music—shifting pitch, tempo, and rhythm fluidly rather than rigidly.
That was how she'd master the transition!
Garden Gale's eyes lit up, realization dawning as she abruptly stood, eager to test this new theory. If she solved this, who could stop her now? She couldn't help feeling a bit smug.
"GG-san…" Tokai Teio spoke softly, surprised at being completely ignored.
Weren't they supposed to be close friends? Yet now, Garden acted as if she didn't exist at all.
In reality, Garden Gale was simply engrossed in thoughts of improving herself. But from Teio's viewpoint, it looked as though Garden was deliberately favoring Air Shakur. She bit her lip lightly, irritation bubbling up inside her.
Hearing Teio's voice, Garden Gale snapped out of her thoughts, smiling warmly. "Ah, Teio-san. Did you need something? If it's not urgent… could you let me test out this new running rhythm first?"
"No, it's nothing urgent. Go ahead," Teio replied lightly, her voice airy.
Garden Gale turned away.
Women only slow me down!
With that, she ignored Teio's sullen expression, jogging excitedly onto the training grounds. She stretched and warmed up meticulously, loosening every joint and muscle until her body settled into its ideal state.
"One-two-three-four…"
She counted off beats like a kid at morning exercises, looking more than a little ridiculous.
Once warmed up—Garden Gale took her stance, adopting a low posture. Her eyes turned sharp with absolute seriousness. Drawing in a deep breath of cold night air, clarity flooded her mind.
Then—she dashed forward!
Instantly, she lowered her center of gravity, swaying like a wobbling doll and leveraging that momentum for explosive acceleration.
Fun fact:
Swaying does enhance acceleration.
Sprinters often look comical when they start running—not from poor control, but from intentionally swaying their bodies to maximize speed.
This was Garden Gale's enhancement of Tokai Teio's style. Since Teio specialized in precise balance control, Garden figured she could manage if she didn't perform overly complex movements. While it appeared silly, her strength was genuinely absurd—maintaining such extreme balance and sway without tumbling was no ordinary feat.
Air Shakur watched admiringly. "Incredible… Honestly, you're probably stronger now than I was when I won my Classic Double Crown. Being ranked twelfth favorite is seriously underestimating you."
Simultaneously, a mischievous delight rose within her.
What if, by some hilarious twist of fate, the winner wasn't the top favorite Admire Vega, nor even the second favorite Narita Top Road, but Garden Gale, currently sitting at twelfth? She imagined the stunned expressions of the audience and felt gleeful anticipation—this scenario was actually very possible.
Give the world a nice Black Flash.
Tokai Teio said nothing, silently watching the figure sprinting away from her.
...
On the track, Garden Gale confidently demonstrated mastery of Tokai Teio's style. Aside from the [Sky-High Teio Step] she had yet to unlock, there wasn't much room for improvement—now it was about incremental gains in raw speed, rather than style.
But tonight was different.
Now Garden Gale consciously blended Air Shakur's acceleration techniques into Teio's running style.
—And instantly, she felt uncomfortable.
It was awkward—like forcing together incompatible elements. Every running style had its own distinct rhythm; forcibly blending another racer's technique naturally resulted in discomfort, like exercising previously unused muscles, bringing soreness and unnatural strain.
Endure it!
Fortunately, Garden Gale excelled at endurance.
She pushed forward stubbornly, persevering through the discomfort of forcing the two styles together.
It was just like muscle training. Initially painful and unnatural, but eventually the body adapted and grew stronger. Garden Gale clearly felt her discomfort lessen, replaced by increasing smoothness and control.
Yet, her speed dropped dramatically.
…Well, maybe not dramatically—definitely noticeable, though. Using Teio's style combined with Air Shakur's technique meant neither was performed at peak. Instead of ninety-nine percent, she hovered around eighty. Her speed inevitably suffered since she couldn't fully optimize either style. But this was acceptable.
Because—st that instant, Garden Gale shifted her power application pattern and cleanly switched to Air Shakur's acceleration style!
Her aura surged and released explosively!
In mere fractions of a second, she completed the transition without completely losing speed—there was still a slight reduction, but not the severe drop she'd suffered before. This was crucial. Her fatal flaw was gradually being resolved.
The entire key was one simple word:
Transition.
Yes, transition—sacrificing a small bit of peak performance in each running style to create a seamless shift.
A joyful smile broke across Garden Gale's face.
Success, baby!
The terrifying chameleon evolved once again.
She wouldn't stop until she became the ultimate monster, devouring everything in her path.
---
A/N: I mistakenly recalled the Sky-High Teio Step unlocking at 600 instead of 500 previously—my bad. 800 stats in year one would've been insane, basically cheating, right? The Chapter 28 bug is getting fixed too. If you find other bugs, leave them here and I'll fix them.
T/N: heh when i read this i went back and changed it heh im so cool