"Zone?" Seiun Sky's head suddenly snapped up, sothing clicking in her mind. Enlightennt dawned across her face. "What's that?"
King Halo's curiosity was equally piqued. Her gaze sharpened, focusing intently on Hayato.
"Well..." Hayato hesitated, his hand moving to scratch the back of his neck. He wasn't sure whether he should say anything about this.
Because Silence Suzuka had her ultimate skill, when she used it, a zone was directly replaced by her ultimate, so there were no complications. The system handled it for her, essentially.
Even if Seiun Sky and King Halo developed zones with the help of skills and ultimate abilities, they'd probably be fine at the basic level.
But if they continued refining their zones, opening them to stage two and stage three, the situation would no longer be the sa. That would cross into dangerous territory.
"In principle, you all aren't at the level to be dealing with zones yet." Hayato's tone beca more serious. "I don't plan to teach you how to develop them, and honestly, I couldn't teach it anyway. This depends purely on individual comprehension and experience. Additionally, zones cause significant bodily damage." Hayato paused, then turned to their gray-haired companion. "Right, Oguri?"
At the end, Hayato threw the question to Oguri Cap, who could actually use a zone.
"Mm!" Oguri Cap nodded firmly. Regarding zones, she'd learned a lot about them through painful firsthand experience when injured. Even she didn't dare open her zone too much, not anymore.
The consequences weren't worth it.
Actually, Hayato did have a thod to teach them zone developnt. Stack their guts as Rice Shower had done, push the body past its natural limits, and then win for one race.
But that would be truly insane. A zone developed that way could only be used for one race before the body broke down completely. What would be the point of that? One mont of glory before everything fell apart?
Everything still needed to progress naturally. Not only couldn't they rush the developnt, but they also needed to strengthen their bodies considerably first to ensure they could withstand a zone's strain.
"Trainer, what are these 'skills' and 'Ultimate skill' you ntioned earlier?" This ti, it was Oguri Cap's turn to ask, her head tilting slightly in curiosity.
"There are techniques that can improve speed or stamina temporarily. You should already know so of them, you just don't realize you're using them."
Oguri Cap's head tilted further, confusion clear on her face. "Hm?"
"For example, your uphill speed is exceptionally fast. Isn't that a thod an uma musu nad Belno Light helped you develop?" Hayato gestured as he explained. "That counts as one."
"Oh, I see!" Oguri Cap's ears perked up as understanding dawned. She nodded enthusiastically.
"I've been aning to ask you, where did Belno Light go?" Speaking of Belno Light, Hayato voiced the question that had been nagging at him. "Is she still around?"
If she didn't exist in this world, that was one thing. But if Oguri Cap knew her, then there was no mistake. Such an uma musu did indeed exist.
"She went to other countries." Oguri Cap's expression softened with nostalgia. "I heard she studies."
"I see." Hayato could only sigh about Belno Light, who'd already left the racing world behind. Another what-if that would remain unanswered.
Next, Hayato began teaching Oguri Cap how to utilize the skills she'd already learned instinctively, giving her the frawork to activate them consciously. Hayato also had Seiun Sky and the others pass on the skills they'd mastered over the past weeks.
Unexpectedly, skills that took the others several days to learn, Oguri Cap picked up imdiately. Not only that, her execution was even faster and smoother than theirs.
King Halo stared in disbelief, her jaw working but no sound coming out at first. "Why? Why can she learn it so fast?"
To avoid completely crushing her confidence, Hayato explained patiently, "She's been racing on the track for many years. Her foundation runs deeper than yours by a considerable margin. It's perfectly normal for her to learn quickly when she has that much experience to draw from."
"I see." King Halo seed to accept that explanation, though her ears drooped slightly in disappointnt.
After learning the thods for activating skills consciously, Oguri Cap had an incredible feeling wash over her. She felt like the heat in her body wasn't dispersing as quickly anymore, like sothing was keeping it contained.
Her fighting spirit was no longer overflowing outward wastefully but circulating around her body according to so kind of pattern.
That afternoon, two familiar figures appeared at the training grounds.
Super Creek and Tamamo Cross had arrived.
"Oguri Cap, are you planning to get back on the racetrack?" Super Creek looked around the training grounds with so nostalgia, her gaze distant. mories clearly playing behind her eyes.
She'd retired due to a leg injury that still hadn't fully healed, though that wasn't the main reason for her retirent. The injury was an excuse. Returning to racing wouldn't be too difficult if she genuinely wanted it.
She'd been sickly since childhood, yet sohow she'd been the best among their generation. The fragile one who'd outlasted so many stronger competitors.
After Inari One and Oguri Cap retired one after another, she'd decided to retire as well. There didn't seem to be much point in continuing alone.
Oguri Cap opened her mouth, then closed it again. She didn't know what to say. If she kept training every day without racing, people would find it very strange, wouldn't they?
Oguri Cap should be eating all day, then eating so more, and eating even more after that. Lounging around, enjoying retirent. That's what a retired uma musu should be doing.
Hayato stepped in to explain. "It's not really training in the competitive sense. It's just to solve the problem of having to attend classes even after retirent. If Oguri doesn't want to train, going out to play is fine too."
"Trainer, um, I..." Oguri Cap wanted to say sothing, but was interrupted by the loud gurgling sound from her stomach.
"We've already retired, right? Why train at all?" Tamamo Cross's tail swished dismissively. She clearly didn't support Oguri Cap training and wanted to go play with her instead. "Do what a retired uma musu should do. Have fun."
She'd retired two years earlier than Oguri Cap and had already beco thoroughly playful by nature. Racing felt like a distant mory to her now.
Oguri Cap was obviously starving, and there was no way she could focus on training in that state. With a helpless smile, Hayato waved them off and handed her so money for a big al with Super Creek and Tamamo Cross.
"It's fine. Go with them for now. Today's training is finished anyway."
"Okay." Oguri Cap perked up instantly, the dull look in her eyes gone as if it had never been there.
Oguri Cap leaving didn't make Seiun Sky and the others stop. Rather, it fueled them to train even harder, the bitter mory of that defeat refusing to fade.
Not long after that, Air Groove appeared at the edge of the training grounds and said.
"Trainer Hayato, the President wants to see you in the Student Council room."
"Rudolf wants to see ?" Hayato raised his eyebrows. He had a bad feeling about this.
With an uneasy feeling settling in his gut, Hayato quickly made his way to the Student Council room.
Air Groove had no interest in participating in whatever conversation was about to happen. After bringing him there, she left without a word, her footsteps echoing down the hallway.
The Student Council room was exceptionally spacious, almost intimidatingly so.
Symboli Rudolf was already waiting on the sofa, her posture immaculate. Behind her, Maruzensky rested an elbow on the sofa's back, her chin supported by her hand, watching him with an unreadable smile that made Hayato's skin prickle.
Symboli Rudolf was the first to break the silence, one hand gesturing invitingly toward the seat across from her. "Please, sit."
After settling into the chair, Hayato tried to keep his voice casual. "What can I do for you, President?"
"Hmm…" Rudolf rested her chin on one hand and exchanged a quiet, aningful glance with Maruzensky. Maruzensky, for her part, seed content to simply watch, offering no comnt as the curve of her smile deepened ever so slightly.
What's this old lady up to? Hayato's jaw tightened slightly.
"Let be direct." Rudolf's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I want to know how you eliminated the burden zones placed on an Uma Musu's body. And the acceleration Silence Suzuka showed in the final straight, what exactly was that?"
Symboli Rudolf finally stopped speaking in riddles and got straight to the point, her gaze never leaving Hayato's face.
She didn't think Hayato couldn't understand what she was asking about. Based on her observations and understanding over these past weeks, she felt Hayato was unfathomably deep. Like there were layers she hadn't even begun to uncover.
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