"I'll explain."
"First, your condition. Although it hasn't been long since Tachyon's Satsuki Sho either, she's had slightly more time to rest than you have since your race ended two or three days ago."
Symboli Rudolf chuckled and looked toward the petite Platinum, who had finally arrived at Tracen Academy, taking the lead in explaining.
"Second, when comparing the strength of Uma Musume, aside from their condition, you look at their physique, skill, and aura. These are also called Heart, Skill, and Body."
"Body refers to physique and physical fitness, covering overall explosive power, strength, speed, and stamina. Tachyon may not be much stronger than you in this regard. She might even be slightly weaker."
"Skill refers to experience, stride, and awareness—the techniques that come from them. Among veteran seniors, the difference across the board is negligible, but you're still far too inexperienced."
"Heart is the most important—and where the biggest difference lies: aura!"
"As everyone knows, Uma Musume go through a specific Full Bloom, which is essentially like compressing the several years of adolescence humans experience into just a few short months."
"Along with growing and improving physically, Full Bloom unlocks a whole new possibility for Uma Musume—aura!"
Symboli Rudolf's explanation made Platinum perk up her ears and listen intently.
"Usually, once an Uma Musume is well into Full Bloom, her aura gradually sharpens through grueling training and the unyielding struggle of competition. In the end, she can use certain skills on the racetrack to slightly extend her advantage."
"And those who master their aura to the utmost can even wield the legendary... Domain! A Domain lets them use many times more skills, giving them an absolutely overwhelming advantage."
"Uma Musume with a Domain are usually extremely close to world-class, if not already world-class. Over the past several decades in Japan, you could count on your fingers the Uma Musume who mastered a Domain."
"People like our senior God Praise, me, Oguri Cap, Tamamo Cross, El Condor Pasa, and others..."
"And Tachyon has mastered one too, right? She mastered hers even faster than us seniors. That's what makes her so frightening."
At last, Symboli Rudolf stopped speaking and studied Platinum's expression.
To her relief, however, Miss Heavenly Horse showed no sign of being intimidated.
Heart, Skill, Body. Put simply, they were physique, experience, and aura. But in terms of physique alone, Platinum, a super rookie, could hold her own.
So, on the surface, it was a contest between a stat monster and an all-round monster with both stats and special mechanics!
Could Platinum really defeat the all-rounder Tachyon by relying on her one advantage—her physique?!
But Miss Heavenly Horse was looking at her system panel.
Current Full Bloom Progress: 5%
26. Then Come On, Little Heavenly Horse!
Miss Heavenly Horse was lost in thought.
So that was it...
While running on the track, she had felt as though there was something she could release.
After the race, she had watched the footage again and noticed that right after she released it, every Uma Musume on the track had slowed down slightly...
Was that aura?
Using it for too long took a considerable toll on both her mind and stamina, so she should save it for the most crucial moment of a race. Hadn't she wasted it a little by using it the way she did in her last race?
Oh, well. She'd won anyway.
Though laid-back, Platinum was quick on the uptake. She immediately realized that her Full Bloom progress was too low, so her aura was indeed still underdeveloped. She hadn't reached the level of a Domain like Agnes Tachyon and Symboli Rudolf.
She immediately opened her personal panel.
Real Name: Centaurea Codename: Platinum Race: Kulantta Current Full Bloom Progress: 5% Track Aptitude: Turf (A), Dirt (B) Distance Aptitude: Sprint (B), Mile (A), Mid-distance (A), Long-distance (B) Running Style Aptitude: Escape Horse (B), Leader (A), Mid-runner (A), Late-runner (A) Inherent Skill: ??
Platinum's gaze immediately settled on two lines of information.
Full Bloom and Inherent Skill—those were what she was interested in.
Since Symboli Rudolf had said that a higher level of Full Bloom would raise her aura's limits and gradually let her master skills...
Did that mean she'd have to wait a while before her Inherent Skill unlocked?
Was it sealed, and would it unlock automatically once she reached Full Bloom, like getting a character to Ascension 1 or 2 in a game?
Or would she have to learn and train it from scratch?
As someone who wasn't exactly a standard Uma Musume, and whose race was Kulantta, what kind of Inherent Skill and Domain could she master?
Platinum found herself intrigued for once, but the situation didn't leave her time to think about it.
After all, two of Tracen Academy's most prominent Uma Musume, Symboli Rudolf and Agnes Tachyon, were still watching her.
"You understand now, right? You aren't lacking in any particular area. You're simply... at a disadvantage because you only debuted so recently."
"In a few more months, once your Full Bloom gradually reaches its peak and you climb ever closer to your prime, you'll surely have the chance to face Agnes Tachyon—and even the possibility of winning. For now... don't rush things."
For some reason, Symboli Rudolf was always especially patient and concerned when it came to grey Uma Musume.
And Platinum in front of her was obviously grey too, wasn't she? "Heavenly Horse" was just a nickname she'd earned for her dominant performances on the track, right?
Symboli Rudolf patiently tried to persuade her, subtly driving home the point in the hope that this adorable little filly—who should count as a grey Uma Musume—would finally come to her senses and give up on the completely unreasonable, hell-difficulty Triple Crown of Transformation.
Then—
Platinum gave a slight nod to show that she understood.
"Since we haven't had a Training Race, let's call it here."
"Teio, where should we go next?"
Miss Heavenly Horse indicated that they could leave; there was no need to keep wandering around.
Tokai Teio came back to her senses and nodded repeatedly at once.
"Oh, right! Let's go."
Now that the student council president had already met Platinum, they probably wouldn't have to pass by the student council room. They could head in a different direction and keep looking around, right?
Clever Tokai Teio was already eager to throw herself into the task at hand, ready to take Platinum on a tour of the rest of the academy.
As Tokai Teio and Platinum started walking away, Symboli Rudolf raised her voice slightly and offered one last clear hint.
"Platinum. Have you truly made up your mind about your race schedule?"
"Do you think—"
"You'll win?"
The silver-white Heavenly Horse kept walking at an unhurried pace. After a few seconds, she finally turned back, her exquisite, cool face utterly composed.
Strongest versus strongest!
Platinum versus Agnes Tachyon!
A bid for the Triple Crown of Transformation versus a bid for the Undefeated Triple Crown!
Even if it wasn't a clash between the strongest in history and the strongest of the present, it was still destined to leave a vivid mark on the century-long history of Japan's Triple Crown races.
In a breezy tone, Platinum gave her answer.
"I'll win!"
That was her answer.
That was the choice of Heavenly Horse Platinum.
"This..."
On the other side, Symboli Rudolf headed back toward the student council room, no longer able to maintain her earlier calm.
The waves stirring in her heart also refused to settle.
Symboli Rudolf hadn't wielded her authority and dignity as the Emperor to forcibly forbid Platinum from entering this year's Triple Crown races. In the end, she had accepted the situation with good grace.
Perhaps—
A miracle might really happen.
"This is going to be an unprecedented Classic season!"
"Then Tachyon and Platinum will clash like two tigers... and once they've decided the winner, they'll come for the throne we seniors hold."
"Then it'll be Teio and McQueen's turn to feel the pressure and shock! Who will become Japan's strongest?!"
At the training grounds.
The mad Uma Musume scientist Agnes Tachyon sat down on a bench beside the track, her expression shifting unpredictably.
For the first time in a long while, Agnes Tachyon had sensed mystery and uncertainty in an Uma Musume she'd thought she had thoroughly examined and understood.
This frighteningly clever monster had seen right through something from just a few words from Symboli Rudolf.
"The president reminded her about her race schedule more than once..."
"She's only racing in the Baby Cup, and there are still several months to go. There's no way the president would warn Platinum over that."
A moment later, Agnes Tachyon crossed her legs, her expression turning relaxed and unhurried. She murmured to herself.
"So that means... this girl wants to challenge me?! That's why the president hurried over—she wanted to stop our Training Race and get Platinum to give up on the Classic Triple Crown?"
The next moment, Agnes Tachyon opened her eyes again. The faint madness in her crimson eyes had stirred a rare spark of fighting spirit.
Her leg had been a little uncomfortable during training these past two days, but it surely wasn't a big deal!
She still had three weeks. There was plenty of time to recover.
Against Platinum, whose only strong point in Heart, Skill, and Body was "Body," the well-rounded Agnes Tachyon was confident she could seize an opening and crush her!
If Platinum really entered the Japanese Derby, she would teach her the most brutal lesson of her life!
"Then come on, Little Heavenly Horse!"
27. Secretariat Debuts! Wait, What?!
Two hours later!
As a tour guide, Tokai Teio had been exceptionally conscientious. After showing Platinum around a large part of the academy, she even walked her all the way to the entrance.
"Thanks. I enjoyed the tour."
At the entrance, Platinum gave a satisfied smile and thanked the petite Tokai Teio, her former sponsor.
They'd spent two whole hours walking around, and still hadn't seen the entire Tracen Academy. After all, it was one of Asia's top schools, with a population of tens of thousands.
Even so, the tour had left Platinum feeling happy and relaxed. It hadn't counted as work, after all—it was practically a leisurely stroll after her shift, like a vacation.
Still... although she'd gotten a good impression of Tracen Academy, and had sensed that Symboli Rudolf and the others wanted to invite her to join, Platinum hadn't been tempted.
After all, dropping by occasionally was like taking a vacation. If she enrolled and had to come to school every day, wouldn't that be no different from working overtime without pay?
Miss Heavenly Horse had always hated overtime, let alone unpaid overtime. And if she joined a team of trainers too, even part of her prize money would be taken away!
Before you continue