"Well, whatever it's called doesn't matter. The main point is, I'm gonna force your body to adapt to this running style in a week."
"How???" Avalon asked
"Simple."
Bzz-!
An electric buzzing sound came from Chris' arm. When Avalon looked down to see what it was she noticed Chris had a long metal rod with sparks coming out the end.
'A taser?! But those shouldn't exist yet…'
"This is a cattle rod. It emits 4,000 to 12,000 volts of electricity and is, as the name suggests, usually used to 'safely' guide stubborn livestock via electric shock."
Chris pointed the rod at Avalon and said, "The idea is simple. Run the way I want and you don't get shocked, too high or too low and…"
Crackle!
"Capiche?"
"..." Avalon stared at her in disbelief.
'Why is my trainer so evil…?'
"Uuu… yes trainer…"
And then, for the next 10 HOURS STRAIGHT, Avalon ran lap after lap, getting shocked each and every time. The only break they took was for breakfast and lunch. Each mistake was corrected, every muscle slowly aligned perfectly.
But it wasn't even close to what Chris wanted.
"WAAAH!!!"
"OWOWOWOW!!!"
"TAAAAHAAA!!!"
Only at 4pm did Chris let her trainee rest.
"Looks like that's all you can handle for now… You look terrible. Go back to the dorms, wash up, eat some dinner, then go to bed. We'll continue tomorrow." she sighed.
"Y-yez twainer…" Avalon's brain was completely fried. She got up and began to walk back to the dorms.
Watching her leave, Chris had begun to think,
'Why hasn't she given up yet… I know it's the first day but the things I'm doing can lead to future heavy injury, and she should know that too.' Chris had been trying to get Avalon to quit since the beginning.
She didn't want a single thing to do with this umamusume but she couldn't take back her word.
So what was her plan? Continually physically and mentally break the girl until she gives up. But she refused to ever go too far, she didn't want to be responsible for ending an umamusume's career.
"Tch."
—
The week passed without many changes but Avalon had improved rather drastically. She could now run, bent at the perfect angle, and moving at her fullest potential in terms of speed.
All that progress in just a week. Chris was more than shocked at the level of progress especially considering this "golden ratio" was a theoretical running style.
But from now the amount of training would be reduced quite a bit though. The scouting weeks were over and actual classes would begin starting now.
Avalon could only train in the afternoons, early in the morning, or if Chris got a permit to take her trainee out for training. Not that she minded as much, as long as she didn't get shocked every time she touched the track.
For some reason, her wit also managed to go up a little bit along with her guts and stamina. Looks like this training was really worth the trouble.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
[INSIGHT]
Name: Avalon
Title: King of kings
Condition: Normal
Running style: None
Speed: D (300)
Stamina: D (310)
Power: D (300)
Guts: D (335)
Wit: D (320)
Unique Skill:
★ Sword in stone (Lv. 1)
→Draw the sword from the stone and be recognised as a king of kings
Domain:
★ Userper (locked)
→Currently usurped domains: None
Injuries: None
Year: Junior
Description: still unoptimized but at least there's a small distinction now. Nevertheless these stats are terrible, do better!
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Avalon got a little ticked off by the description but she couldn't say anything back because its true, she was still stupidly weak. Looking back on it, she didn't know where all her confidence came from when she first met Don.
"Sigh~" Avalon sighed at her desk, an arm lazily propping up her head as she pretended to listen to the outdated lessons the professor was teaching the class. It was 1939, there wasn't a lot that Avalon didn't already know with her 21st century knowledge.
Just so you know, it was a math lesson. And of all the things a group of students aged over 10 could learn, Avalon wasn't expecting basic multiplication to be an advanced topic.
'Is this what people call culture shock?' she asked herself. She probably had the entire syllabus down in her head already, Avalon wasn't the smartest when it came to studies but she knows the bare minimum.
And considering the minimum in the 2020s is the maximum in the 40s, Avalon could technically be considered a genius.
The only subjects here that she was on and off on were probably sports science, performance arts and Equine history. But the third one was actually pretty interesting so Avalon was decent at that subject too.
Sports science was simple enough but learning about an umamusume's anatomy and other biological factors was a little world shattering. She already knew a little before coming here but she honestly thought they were rumours.
Performance arts on the other hand was absolute hell. Avalon always thought umamusme being idols was a cool concept but she only really cared about racing. Now she has to do vocal training, dance, and media & publicity research.
Thankfully, Violet was a pro at this kind of thing and helped a hand when she could, which made Avalon think she was an angel sent from umamusume heaven.
Ding Dong-!
The bell rang and Avalon was finally free from the torture that was pre-schooler maths, she was about to get up and pack her stuff when she was approached by someone.
"Hey."
"...?"
Avalon turned her head to see a chestnut brown, twin tailed umamusume with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. She looked a little annoyed with Avalon, her amber eyes burning holes into her.
"I was watching you during the lesson, do you not care about your studies or something?!" she exasperated while pointing at Avalon.
'...Who IS this?' Avalon hadn't really interacted with her classmates so this was a first.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
[INSIGHT]
Name: Sun Chariot
Title: The Wayward Solar Queen
Condition: Weirdly angry (Bipolar)
Running style: End-closer, Late-surger
Speed: D (200)
Stamina: D (250)
Power: D (400)
Guts: D (350)
Wit: D (400)
Unique Skill:
★ Behold: The Crown's Brilliant Eclipse! (Lv. 1)
→If in the bottom 20% at the final corner, massively increase speed and Overtaking Lane Width
Domain: Locked
Injuries: None
Year: Junior
Description: A bipolar menace. She's nice if you get to know her but she's very serious about her studies.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
'She's strong…' Avalon complemented.
"And you too…!" Sun Chariot pointed to the desk in front of Avalon, there was an umamusme curled up on her desk in a sleepy ball.
"...Hm…" she began to stir awake, she was much smaller in stature compared to the other two, with half lidded and dark circles under them, dark blue hair that screamed 'id rather be comfortable' and a lazy smile on her face, as if the world was nothing but a lazy river to her.
'She looks cozy.' Avalon commented.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
[INSIGHT]
Name: Point l'Eveque
Title: The uninvited champion
Condition: normal
Running style: End-closer, Late-surger
Speed: D+ (350)
Stamina: D (300)
Power: C+ (500)
Guts: E+ (250)
Wit: F (100)
Unique Skill:
★ Wartime Loophole (Lv. 1)
→ When running on an unfamiliar track, boost speed and power moderately, if the track is known, increases speed and power drastically
Domain: Locked
Injuries: none
Year: Junior
Description: the definition of a lazy genius.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
'Another monster…' Avalon's self esteem was in the negatives at this point. All she could do was helplessly smile.
"Well I already know most of the content for this topic." Avalon raised her hand and said to Sun Chariot.
"Hah! I refuse to believe it. You were daydreaming the whole time!"
"W-well… that was because…" Avalon stammered as she scratched her cheek and avoided eye contact, "It was so easy it was boring?"
"Wha-" Sun Chariot was flabbergasted, who is she to be so confident? "Prove it."
"Uh… How?" Avalon tilted her head.
"What's 2 x 9 ÷ 3?"
"It's six, did you even know that?" Avalon answered a beat later.
"A-already?!" Sun Chariot hadn't even done it herself, she assumed Avalon would be stuck for a while which gave her the time to solve the equation, "N-nope. Wrong!" She tried to save it by assuming Avalon guessed.
But the lazy uma in front debunked her theory, she was listening in and the conversation seemed entertaining enough, "2 x 9 = 18. Yawn~ 18 ÷ 3 = 6. She's right…" Point l'Eveque said with that same comfortable smile before curling back into her desk.
'She really is a lazy genius (considering the circumstances).' Avalon couldnt help but think, looking at the tiny uma.
—
END OF CHAPTER
Discord: discord.gg/rmPpXSkznr