"Yuki-chan, are you busy?"
Grass Wonder found Shirayuki in the woods. Shirayuki was sitting cross-legged, almost as if she were meditating.
"Concentration, concentration…" Shirayuki muttered.
Is she training right now?
What a strange training method.
Afraid of disturbing her, Grass Wonder quietly crouched beside her. Ten minutes passed before Shirayuki opened her eyes. Her azure gaze pierced into Grass Wonder's heart like a blade. However, it quickly returned to its usual softness.
"Still no good, huh? Does it have to be while moving…? But if that's the case, why would Trainer Hideto have his Uma Musume do zazen?"
"Yuki-chan, I brought tea and some sweets." Grass Wonder lifted her small cloth bag.
"Thanks, Grass."
Shirayuki had been sitting in the woods all morning, all for the sake of mastering the ability Air Groove had spoken about. Originally, Shirayuki had thought that the more she trained, the more strength she would gain to compete against Mejiro Dober. But Air Groove had said that the earlier she mastered this technique, the better it would be for her growth.
Being able to control her concentration meant it would be easier to enter an Uma Musume's zone. And entering that state meant standing on a different level as an Uma Musume.
Shirayuki had already experienced it firsthand. Even if Air Groove gave her a head start, Shirayuki might not be able to outrun her. That was not only because Air Groove had debuted earlier than she had, but also because Air Groove, who had participated in several major races, could already enter a special state and use her entire body for acceleration.
Of course, because of the special nature of the zone, Air Groove might not be able to use it whenever she wanted. But that seed had already been planted inside her body. Once she was pushed to her limit, it would take root and sprout.
Shirayuki wanted that ability too. But this was something trainers did not know how to do. They had not even heard of it. Only Uma Musume could come into contact with this layer of existence, and even then, it was something that could only be understood intuitively, not fully explained in words. Air Groove had already done her best to express it through language.
Willpower, spirit, concentration, and confidence. When those points fused together, the result was presence.
And presence was the foundation that led to the zone.
Shirayuki ate the sweets while thinking about what Air Groove had said. In order to let Shirayuki calm down and train, Chiya had even entered nap mode on his side, allowing Shirayuki to use all of their focus alone.
"I added a little tea powder to the sweets. How do they taste?"
"They're great."
"That's good."
Grass Wonder sat beside Shirayuki with a gentle smile, watching as she ate all of the sweets and feeling Shirayuki draw in her flavor through the food.
"Are you going to continue training?"
"The race is close, so I want to practice a little longer."
"Am I getting in the way here?"
"No, you're not. I'm practicing concentration anyway. But if you watch from the side, it'll be really boring."
"That's fine. I want to watch Yuki-chan train."
"All right."
Shirayuki crossed her legs and sat on the ground again, gathering her spirit and focus into a single point. Air Groove had described it before. When that feeling gathered, everything around her would become very slow, and the movement paths of all objects would become traceable.
She did not know how much time had passed.
Then Shirayuki's heart gave a thump. In the next instant, she opened her eyes. A falling leaf drifted past her vision, and suddenly, the world seemed to freeze. The leaf moved before her frame by frame. Not only could she see its movement, Shirayuki could already predict where it would be in the next frame, and a faint afterimage appeared before her eyes.
When her gaze passed over the falling leaf and landed on Grass Wonder, Shirayuki suddenly felt as if she had sliced through paper. She saw Grass Wonder slowly clutch her chest, a pained expression appearing on her face. At the same time, Shirayuki's transcendent feeling disappeared.
After returning to normal, Shirayuki walked over to Grass Wonder.
"Grass, what's wrong?"
"Yuki-chan…"
Grass Wonder panted heavily.
When Shirayuki had looked at her just now, Grass Wonder felt as if she had been stared down by a large predator. That dangerous aura made her body tense uncontrollably. Although it had lasted less than a second, cold sweat had already formed on her back.
"What was that just now?"
"If I have to describe it, I guess it was the Empress's presence."
"Presence?" Grass Wonder did not understand.
Clearly, she had never heard of such a thing.
"That's amazing," Grass Wonder praised.
Although it did not directly improve Shirayuki's own ability, if she could make her opponents feel that during a race, they definitely would not be able to bring out their original strength.
Imagine someone suddenly pressing a blade against your back in the middle of a race. Any normal person would panic, right? That would be enough to disrupt their rhythm.
Who is Yuki-chan learning this move to deal with?
It can't be me, can it?
"If I can fully master it, I'll have another trump card for the Triple Tiara."
So it isn't me…
Grass Wonder felt a little disappointed. She had thought Shirayuki had regarded her as her most important opponent and started sharpening a killing move for her sake.
Still, that was fine. Once Shirayuki won the Triple Tiara, Grass could take victory from her afterward. If Shirayuki lost and felt upset, Grass could comfort her until she became happy again.
Because both Yuki-chan and victory are things I want.
That was what Grass Wonder thought.
"Are you going to keep going?"
"That's enough for today. I don't have enough mental energy left."
Shirayuki felt a little drowsy.
But she could not stop. Next came physical training. If her mental energy was exhausted, she would use her stamina instead. Either way, before the race, Shirayuki intended to wring herself dry.
She could not allow Mejiro Dober to be the only one moving forward. If Dober had already gone all in, then Shirayuki had to go all in as well. Besides, this was not just a race between her and Mejiro Dober. There was also Kyoei March, who belonged to a senior trainer, and the somewhat eccentric Seeking the Pearl.
The former's ability was beyond doubt. As for the latter, Shirayuki could not read her depth at all.
The good news was that neither of them would participate in the Tulip Sho. They had entered other races instead… Actually, that was not exactly good news either. If they did not enter the trial race, then Shirayuki would have no way to probe their true strength. She could only wait until the Oka Sho to settle things.
Like the Derby, the Oka Sho was also a race an Uma Musume could only participate in once. If she failed there, she would never have another chance to run it.
Shirayuki's heart beat heavily. For the first time in a long while, she felt nervous before a race.
"Yuki-chan…"
Grass Wonder hugged her and raised a hand to stroke Shirayuki's ear.
"I'll go watch. I'll remember Yuki-chan's figure as you cross the finish line forever, just like before. So there's no need to be nervous. Yuki-chan is strong. All you need to do is step onto the racecourse and run toward the finish line."
"Thanks, Grass."
Hearing her comfort, Shirayuki's heart relaxed as well.
Hugs really did have a strange kind of magic. In the past, whenever she was nervous, Spe-chan had also calmed her down like this.
"You really are reassuring. Just like Spe-chan."
"Hah??"
Grass Wonder, still in her arms, suddenly erupted with intense killing intent, startling Shirayuki.
What's going on?
Grass Wonder's presence is even stronger than mine!