"You're pretty quick, huh?"
Grass Wonder held the finish line sign, her eyes brimming with a longing to run.
If it weren't for her leg injury, she'd want to race alongside El Condor Pasa and the others. There wasn't a single Uma Musume who didn't yearn to run.
A 1600-meter mile race doesn't take very long for an Uma Musume.
She could already make out the figures of Seiun Sky and El Condor Pasa approaching the finish. El Condor Pasa had pulled up alongside Seiun Sky, their bodies nearly level.
Just 200 meters to go!
El Condor Pasa gradually began to overtake the front-running Seiun Sky.
Crossing the finish line, El Condor Pasa took first place by a margin of two lengths!
Neither of them showed signs of heavy panting after an all-out sprint; over 1600 meters, they hadn't even reached their limits.
"Where are B-chan and Urara?"
El Condor Pasa looked back, spotting the two about 400 meters from the finish, "speeding" along neck and neck!
This made a question mark slowly form above El Condor Pasa's head.
Any Uma Musume who could test into Tracen Academy might be worse than her, but the gap shouldn't be this big.
Seemingly reading her confusion, Grass Wonder, who was still holding the finish sign waiting for Haru Urara and Barbatos to cross the line, thought for a moment and said, "B-chan and Urara are from Kochi City."
"Most tracks in Kochi are dirt surfaces. They're probably just not used to turf tracks yet."
Compared to the others who had just enrolled, Grass Wonder was a bit more knowledgeable about these things. It wasn't unheard of for some Uma Musume to struggle adapting to the tracks at Tracen after arriving.
That was why many Uma Musume still hadn't entered their debut race even a year or two after enrollment—they were often busy adjusting to turf, training themselves to run at full strength on grass.
Of course, there were plenty of dirt track races too.
But for those dreaming of becoming a Triple Crown Uma Musume, they usually tried to adapt to turf before their debut.
All the Triple Crown races are on turf, and there are far more turf races than dirt races in the G-series. Being limited to dirt would be a pretty big setback for a career.
"Whew... Huff... huff..."
Haru Urara and Barbatos crossed the line almost simultaneously, both leaning on their knees and gasping for air.
Barbatos felt like that 1600 meters had been more exhausting than running ten kilometers.
The finish line had seemed so close, yet frustratingly out of reach, her legs feeling like lead—it reminded her of that saying, 'It looks close, but it'll run an Uma Musume ragged.'
Right now, she badly wanted to just flop down on the ground without a care for her image. She hadn't even felt like using her skills earlier.
Sure, she could refresh [Ghost] by passing other Uma Musume, but she'd only managed to pass Urara. With her current speed, even with [Ghost] and other skill boosts, catching Seiun Sky and El Condor Pasa was impossible.
She'd probably blast off for a few seconds only to slow back down to a crawl. That would just look weird.
"Have you two never run on turf before?" Seiun Sky asked from the side.
"N... no, that was our first time," Barbatos puffed, suddenly feeling like her future as a racehorse was looking bleak. Running on grass felt like it had cut her speed in half.
So, she had three options now.
First, cut down on time spent farming Blue Essence in League of Legends and spend as much time as possible running on turf to adapt, aiming to perform at 100% on grass.
Second, go crazy farming Blue Essence in League, buying champions with passive movement speed boosts to double her running speed. With that kind of offset, she might perform normally on grass despite the handicap.
The third option was the simplest, and a bit like giving up: only run in dirt track races, both for her debut and all future races.
Some Uma Musume did that.
While it would mean forfeiting any chance at the Triple Crown, she could aim to become an undefeated queen of the dirt, a 'Dirt Course Monarch.'
And after earning enough gold from dirt races, in a year or two, she should be able to run on turf despite the 'Debuff.'
"If you'd had some experience running on grass before, you might still need time to adjust at Tracen, but you'd at least be able to show your basic speed," Grass Wonder said, holding the sign and walking over to help analyze the situation. "So, B-chan and Urara, you'll need to run on turf as much as possible to adapt."
El Condor Pasa, however, looked like she hadn't had her fill. While Seiun Sky was a decent opponent, their race felt like just a two-person affair, leaving her a bit unsatisfied.
"Then let's go run again on the dirt track!" she suggested, pointing to the adjacent dirt track meant for training.
"Ah, I can't run anymore!" Haru Urara protested, even though she'd only run 1600 meters. Even on a dirt track, her boundless energy had its limits after running a mile on a surface she was so unused to; she needed a break.
"I feel the same way," Barbatos added. "And El probably isn't that comfortable on dirt either, right? We wouldn't really settle anything that way."
"That doesn't matter!" El Condor Pasa insisted.
"Then let's call an intermission. Whew, I really can't run anymore." Barbatos leaned against the nearby railing, feeling half-dead. If she was going to tackle turf tracks, it seemed a huge effort was in order.
She wished her system could grant her the unique traits from a champion's lore when she bought them.
Like, if she bought Ivern, who literally makes grass grow, surely she wouldn't have trouble with turf courses then? Too bad the system couldn't do that.
As for champion skills or item effects, she couldn't think of any that would directly solve her turf adaptation problem.
Was improving her track adaptability something that ultimately had to rely on her own hard work?
Wait, no. The strength she had now was also earned through her own step-by-step effort. Putting effort into cheating... was still a form of effort.
"If we're taking a break, I suggest we run next time," Seiun Sky said, checking the time on her phone with a smile.
"Why's that?"
"Because if we wait any longer, the dormitory will be locked."
It wasn't that they couldn't get in if it was locked—Tracen's dorm rules weren't that strict. Even if an Uma Musume stayed out all night, it wasn't a huge deal. But aside from Grass Wonder, they had all just arrived today. It wouldn't do to come back late on the very first day, would it?
Surely no Uma Musume would plan to be late or come back late on their first day of school?
--+--
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.