Several days have passed since their little victory party.
"Listen up, I planned for you girls to debut starting next week. First of all, Tokai Teio. Then Mejiro McQueen. Then the next week will be Haru Urara. And the last one will be Silence Suzuka."
"Eh? We won't be debuting at the same race?"
"No. I want to see how you fare compared to other Umas. I have seen you girls go against each other during training and mock races. I won't get new data if I keep doing the same thing."
"I understand!"
"But what about Goldship?"
"She is debuting right now."
"EEEEHHH!?!?! You didn't tell us!!"
"That's because it was a surprise. I doubt I can tell her to do anything without doing it in a very roundabout way, so I hire a kidnapping service for Uma and then ship her to Hanshin Race Course."
"I suppose that's the only way you could tell Goldship to do anything."
"As for the rest of you, I'll recheck all your basics from getting out of the gate to crossing the finish line. Make sure to prepare yourself because I'm going to activate my OCD for this."
"You have OCD?"
"No. It's a triggerable option for me."
"How…? How confusing is the wiring of your brain?"
"I'm not only built different, McQueen. I'm built wrong."
XxX-XxX
"Three… Two… One…"
*BAM*
"HAAAAAAH!!!"
With the loud sound of the ball being kicked, the 4 Umas burst forward. 3 was on Turf while Urara was on dirt. Suzuka quickly gained speed and became the leader of the pack with McQueen, Teio, and Urara behind her. 1 Front Runner, 2 Pace Chaser, and 1 Late Surger. If Goldship were here, then that would add 1 End Closer to the race.
"Alright, good job, everyone."
The young man waved his tablet to signal for the girl to stop after a single lap.
"McQueen, you didn't lift your heel high enough. You need at least a millisecond to lift your heel before actually moving forward. I want you to train again on that."
"I understand."
"Teio, use your flexible ankle to its fullest. Your running posture is too high, try bending more to minimize air resistance."
"Okay!"
"Suzuka, focus. You were looking around too much to gauge your surroundings. You want to be in the lead, right? Stop caring about others and have your eyes focus on the front."
"Yes. I will do my best."
"Urara, you're cute."
"EEEHHH!?! What's my advice?!?!"
"Ehehe~~ Sorry. Tighten your shoes. Either that or buy a new pair. It'll not only slow you down, but you're running on dirt, particles might enter your shoes and make it uncomfortable."
"GOT IT!!"
"We'll test that again! Line up and get ready!"
XxX-XxX
"Urara, your footing still needs work. I still saw you wiggle and almost trip over there. Dirt isn't as packed as turf, so it'll likely shift when your feet land on it."
"AYE!!"
"Suzuka, your form is already good. Take a break and then focus on your acceleration. You need to be able to be the leader as soon as possible, and you can't do that if someone is faster than you."
Even if Suzuka has a top speed of 100 km/s, it won't help her be the leader, as no one is using 100% of their top speed right from the get-go, and top speed is more useful at keeping the lead, rather than getting the lead. If you want the lead, acceleration is the answer. If someone can reach 60 km/s before Suzuka, then they'll be the leader of the pack.
"I understand."
"McQueen, you need to increase your top speed so you'll be able to keep up with the front runner."
Uma usually cruises at 70% of their top speed during the endurance part of the race. They do that as a way to reserve stamina for the last spurt. Using 100% of their top speed for the entirety of the race will deplete more stamina, especially in longer-distance races. The lower the percentage a chaser needs to keep up with the front runner, the more stamina they will have for the last spurt.
"I don't doubt your stamina for the debut, but for the future, your current predicament might not be future-proof."
"I'll do my best."
"For you, Teio, run zigzag. When you try to overtake, most of your force is used to move to the side, which makes you lose some speed. Make sure your angle of movement is forty-five degrees to the front, so the spread of force is equal. This is also to train your power."
"Got it!"
"Now, while you are resting, listen to me. I'm going to teach you about slipstream."
"Slipstream?"
"Indeed. It's a physical phenomenon that has something to do with air resistance."
The young man flipped his tablet and showed his girls an illustration of slipstream.
"When an object moves, it pushes air around, which causes air resistance. When you run forward, you create a sort of vacuum behind you. The faster you go, the longer the vacuum."
"And this vacuum can be used to lessen the air resistance of any object running behind the first object."
"Indeed, McQueen. The second object will experience less air resistance, which, in Uma's case, will make it easier for them to run. They will use less stamina."
*Ding*
[Slipstream] gains 1 level of hint.
For Teio, this is her second hint, so she should be able to learn this skill sooner.
The young man watches his trainees' status boards using his eyes. A darkened [Slipstream] just pops up in all of them, which means that they now have a chance of learning it.
However, the one that caught his attention the most wasn't that, but McQueen's front-runner aptitude. It's on B level, but after the mock race, a small part of it is filled up as if it were an XP bar.
If my intuition of game UI is right, when the bar is full, McQueen's aptitude for a front runner will level up to be an A class.
He scans through to the other. Urara's aptitude for medium-length races is also filling up too, and so is all of his trainees, but since Urara's aptitude is G level, her bar fills up more than Teio, McQueen, and Suzuka's.
So if I told them to run in a long race using a chaser strategy, those bars would fill up according to their original aptitude. The higher the aptitude, the smaller the gain.
"Trainer?"
"Ah… Sorry… Cough… In theory, this might be easy, but in practice, not so much. You need to learn to read others' pace and synchronize your pace with them. This also poses a risk of you being blocked. I don't recommend this for you, Urara. And of course, you can't use it, Suzuka. I teach you this so you'll be more aware when someone is using you to gain an advantage."
"Is there a way to stop them?"
"Hmm… You can run so fast that the person couldn't keep up and use you. The second option is to try to shake them off by moving left and right. The third one is to bend forward more than them, so you'll create a smaller slipstream."
"I see… Mhh… I suppose the first option is more to my liking."
"As for both Teio and McQueen, this might be a good skill to learn for you. I saw Teio use this during the mock race with McQueen in front of you. The reason you lost that time is because you were too late to exit McQueen's shadow."
"Ah!! I see!"
"You need a good understanding of your own acceleration and top speed to be able to use this phenomenon effectively. Prepare yourself, there will be little rest until you finish your debut."