On the treadmill.
Barbatos was jogging while holding her phone in both hands, the weight of the cast on her left leg posing no hindrance to an Uma Musume.
It had been a month and a half since her first stream and receiving her first 'Captain'. Now, it was early August, the sunlight outside was exceptionally harsh, and there was only one day left until the second round of entrance exams for Tracen Academy.
Today was the day she was scheduled to have the cast removed at the hospital. As the saying goes, 'a bone injury takes a hundred days to heal'. A fracture usually takes over three months to recover from, and even after that, rehabilitation training is needed before one can truly run again.
However, her fracture had long since healed. For the past month and a half, she had been training on the treadmill. All that was left now was the hospital visit to get the cast taken off.
While healing a fracture completely in two months was unusual, it wasn't downright unbelievable—not enough to make a doctor overly suspicious. After all, the physique of an Uma Musume couldn't be compared to that of a regular human.
Boom!
The sound of a Nexus exploding came from her phone, followed by the word 'VICTORY' flashing across the screen.
Having no intention of continuing the battle in the Summoner's Rift just then, she exited the game to her phone's home screen and checked the time. Deciding it was about time to go, she stopped the treadmill.
'She should be here soon.'
Lately, she'd often played League on her phone while running on the treadmill, truly becoming a master of time management.
She went to the bathroom, splashed some water on her face, and changed into clothes suitable for going out.
Because of the cast on her left leg, she couldn't wear long pants. A simple T-shirt and shorts would have to do.
After a month of hard work, she now had nearly a hundred 'Captains' and a solid seven 'Fleet Admirals', bringing her monthly income close to 300,000 yen.
But that wasn't even the main point. With her latest victory, the amount of Blue Essence on her system interface had reached a whopping 5,796.
That much Blue Essence could buy plenty of champions. Master Yi for 450, Zilean for 450, Guardian Angel for 450, Janna for 1350, Sion for 1350, Dr. Mundo for 1350...
These six champions would cost roughly 5,400 Blue Essence in total, leaving her with a remainder of 396.
Master Yi's ultimate, [Highlander]; Zilean's E, [Time Warp]; Guardian Angel's W, [Holy Blessing]; Janna's W, [Zephyr]; Sion's ultimate, [Unstoppable Onslaught]...
These champions weren't just cheap; they all had skills that could increase movement speed. If she could just buy them, even with her mediocre Uma Musume pedigree, she'd be considered first-rate!
Then, combined with the items from the shop, it would be an absolute cakewalk.
Indulging in a brief fantasy, she opened the system interface, ready to experience the thrill of buying six champions all at once.
Knock, knock, knock~
Hearing the sound at the door, she closed the system interface and got up to answer it.
"Barbatos! Your leg! Is your leg really all better now?"
The door opened to reveal an incredibly energetic pink-haired Uma Musume, Urara, who looked Barbatos up and down, her eyes shining as they settled on the cast.
"Yeah, it's fine now," Barbatos replied. "I tried jogging on the treadmill. I feel like I can take the entrance exam tomorrow."
"That's great! Wahh, this means we can enroll together after all!"
Urara grabbed Barbatos by the shoulders, tears of excitement welling in her eyes. She was overjoyed that her friend, also from Kochi, would have the chance to enter Tracen Academy with her. In her excitement, she immediately pulled Barbatos into a tight hug.
Even though she'd already heard about it on chat, seeing it in person made the emotion feel fresh and overwhelming.
Knowing that Barbatos was going to the hospital today to have the cast removed, Urara had volunteered to "escort" her. Afterwards, they could even go for a run together to prepare for tomorrow's exam.
After two months without running outside, going into the exam cold would be a real disadvantage.
As for Barbatos, caught in the hug, she found herself locked in a fierce clash of mountainous proportions. She had to admit defeat in this particular topographical contest, a fleeting, wild thought crossing her mind about someday turning the tables...
But alas, that was just a flight of fancy.
(T/N: I don't think Urara had much... assets? So maybe it's just stating that Barbatos is flat asf)
--+--
Accompanied by Urara, Barbatos had already gotten the X-rays done on her left leg at the hospital.
The doctor examined the X-ray images on the computer and nodded slightly. "It's healed very well. The fracture in your left leg is no longer a problem."
He then skillfully removed the cast from her leg. "With some rehabilitation training, you should be able to run as usual before long."
"Okay, I understand. Thank you, doctor."
Freed from the constraint of the cast, Barbatos hopped lightly a few times, feeling much more agile.
The cast hadn't been terribly heavy, but it was uncomfortable.
Now, that feeling was gone. More importantly, when she got home today, she could finally enjoy a nice, long soak in the bathtub instead of the hassle of slowly wiping herself down with a towel.
Stepping out of the hospital, the two were met with blazing sunshine. There weren't many people moving about outside.
Urara's ears twitched. "Barbatos, the doctor just said you need rehabilitation training for a while."
She was about to point out that the Tracen entrance exam was tomorrow. Wouldn't that mean Barbatos would miss it? After Barbatos had worked so hard, trying so hard to heal her own leg, was she going to miss out after all?
Well, even if Barbatos missed this year's exam, she'd just do what she said before: wait until Barbatos got in next year, and then they'd enter their debut races together.
"It's fine. I'll definitely pass the exam tomorrow," Barbatos said.
"But you just told the doctor you understood..."
"Ehe~"
Barbatos attempted to dodge the question with a dose of cuteness, but ultimately chose to let actions speak louder than words, proving that she really was fine now.
The two Uma Musume started running at full speed along the path designated for their kind, under the scorching sun. Even without activating [Ghost] or Hecarim's E, [Devastating Charge], the two were neck and neck, an even match.
--+--
After having dinner with Urara and promising to meet up tomorrow to go to the Tracen exam location together, Barbatos returned home alone.
She kind of wanted to tell Urara, 'My place is pretty big, you know.'
But thinking about how she still wanted to try out the skills of her new champions tonight, she decided to save that invitation for another time.
Sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees, she opened the system interface and tapped on the champion store.
[[Master Yi (450 Blue Essence)]. Confirm purchase?]
"Yes."
[Alert: Insufficient Blue Essence.]
"?"
Barbatos slowly typed a question mark in her mind. How could her supposedly massive hoard of 5,796 Blue Essence not be enough to buy a single Master Yi?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 1 Chapter 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.1