Among the Uma Musume at Tracen Academy, Nice Nature's talent was considered above average, exceptional even.
But perhaps because she came from the local circuit, or perhaps because she herself felt she didn't possess much ability, she never really had any strong feelings about her own talent.
She didn't even sign up for the mock race conducted in Tracen Academy back then.
In fact, she was the only one in her entire team who didn't participate in it, while both Ikuno Dictus and Twin Turbo did.
This was because Nice Nature knew very well that with her current level of strength, winning the mock race was an impossibility unless a miracle happened.
So many talented Uma Musume were vying for the title of "Best Uma Musume of Tracen Academy's new generation," and if she competed, she would just be filling the numbers.
Furthermore, there were no substantial rewards or prize money for this race, so Nice Nature couldn't find the motivation to join.
The end result was as expected: Mejiro McQueen, the genius of the Mejiro Family, won.
As for Nice Nature... she had no prestigious lineage, and her talent wasn't on par with these geniuses.
All she could do was work hard; there seemed to be no other way for her to reach the same level as those talented Uma Musume.
Especially... those talented Uma Musume from Team Miracle.
Nice Nature had never told anyone, but she actually greatly admired Team Miracle and had once fantasized about joining them to train alongside their many talented Uma Musume.
This idea persisted until the birth of Team Miracle's first Classic Triple Crown Uma Musume, T.M. Opera O, which made Nice Nature's longing to join Team Miracle reach an uncontrollable level.
Yet, it was also this same event that caused her to willingly extinguish her fantasy.
The reason was simple: she felt the gap between herself and the geniuses in the team was simply too vast.
Not even mentioning T.M. Opera O, who had already become the fourth Classic Triple Crown winner, she was no match for the other Uma Musume, such as Meisho Doto and Mejiro McQueen.
Not to mention a super genius like Tokai Teio; and Tokai Teio was merely the 'baseline' for joining Team Miracle; Nice Nature felt she could never catch up to her level of talent.
Thus, even though Nice Nature yearned to join, she had been slow to even try to submit an application because she always felt she wasn't qualified.
However, this thought slowly began to ease a bit when she, at Twin Turbo's urging, joined the current race against Orfevre and Tokai Teio.
Because Nice Nature discovered one thing—under Orfevre's Aura, even Tokai Teio would be afraid.
Even a genius was afraid, and although she was also incredibly afraid, didn't this mean that the gap between her and Tokai Teio, the standard for joining Team Miracle, wasn't as vast as she thought?
Could she, a mere mediocre Uma Musume, have a chance to challenge for a spot on Team Miracle?
Nice Nature didn't know.
She had never dared to even think about this question before, but now, watching Tokai Teio completely suppressed behind Orfevre, Nice Nature felt that she might actually not be that far behind this genius.
Even if this was just her own delusion caused by fear, she had to try! This might be her closest chance to her ideal!
"I'm going to try! Twin Turbo! I must try!"
"Try to move faster! To get closer, to surpass! We might—not be that far from them!"
"I'm going first, Twin Turbo, see you at the finish line!"
"—Wait, Nattie! Don't go there!"
Twin Turbo was startled by Nice Nature's words, but before she could react, she saw Nice Nature steadily increasing her speed, pushing through the pressure, and approaching Tokai Teio.
Twin Turbo, suddenly losing her support, was thrown into disarray.
In the end, fear took over, and she cried out, flailing her arms:
"aaaaaAHHHHHHH!!!! I hate it, hate it, hate it! I hate Nattie! Don't force me to get close to that monster!"
Even so, Twin Turbo still ran with all her might, though with a 'screw you' attitude, flailing her arms.
As expected, the gap between the two girls and Tokai Teio was actually shrinking. This stubborn, brainless running actually had a better effect in this situation.
"...Is this really a race, Onii-chan? Why do I feel like Orfevre gave them one of Tachyon's drugs?"
Curren Chan, watching this weird scene on the track, couldn't help but feel a bit of second-hand embarrassment.
However, she wasn't surprised why Twin Turbo, Nice Nature, and Tokai Teio all looked so uncomfortable. After all, they hadn't awakened their Aura or Zone yet.
Orfevre's Aura was capable of even affecting most Uma Musume who had mastered Aura, and for those weaker Uma Musume, it was even more effective.
If Curren Chan didn't already possess Aura, her performance in the Hakodate Stakes back then probably wouldn't have been much better than the other suppressed Uma Musume.
Whether or not one can access the two abilities of Aura and Zone represented a clear divide in realms for Uma Musume.
If one Uma Musume has mastered one aspect and another has not, then it was almost as if they weren't even the same species at all.
"But, they can actually keep going forward despite Orfevre's Aura... Onii-chan, do you think Teio and the others can last until the end?"
"...That depends on whether Orfevre intends to play with her food or hold back a bit."
From Ikezoe's perspective, Orfevre's Aura was not even near full output at this moment, and Ikezoe, who knew Orfevre's temperament well, probably guessed what she was trying to do.
Ikezoe could only say... that he hoped she would hold back a bit and not break the spirits of these kids...
...
"...So tired, how far are we now?"
Tokai Teio, however, didn't have time to pay attention to Nice Nature and Twin Turbo.
To be precise, the reason she didn't care about Nice Nature and Twin Turbo joining this race was that she never considered them her opponents.
Her singular opponent, from beginning to end, was only Orfevre.
Therefore, it didn't matter who else joined, as long as they weren't another member of her team, she didn't care.
And now, Tokai Teio, her body feeling incredibly heavy, caught a glimpse of the track's checkpoint out of the corner of her eye.
It clearly read, "1000 meters."
'Only 1000 meters?! That's impossible! Even running 2000 meters wouldn't be as tiring as today!'
However, before Tokai Teio could express her disbelief, an even more astonishing scene occurred.
—She noticed Nice Nature slowly approaching, and Twin Turbo, crying and wailing, catching up with a reckless sprint.
"You can't—leave me behind, TEIO!"
"Nattie, how—?!"
Tokai Teio was startled. She hadn't expected Nice Nature and Twin Turbo to catch up.
She had thought that given their level of strength, they should have been too scared to even move when the gates opened.
But now, not only had they caught up, but they were almost at her level of speed too. How was this possible?!
"Oh... this is quite amusing, isn't it?"
Orfevre felt the three Uma Musume chasing from behind. However, being in her element, and seeing that her Aura hadn't crushed them, a sinister smile appeared on her fierce face.
"But that's what makes it fun. If they were crushed right away, it wouldn't be fun at all."
"So—how about this?!"
With that, Orfevre briefly closed her eyes, and the moment she opened them, the Aura around her surged to another level!
Then, a four-legged phantom finally emerged around her!
Right then, the pressure Tokai Teio and the other two faced doubled!
Just as the three were about to catch up to Orfevre, the sudden rise in pressure made all three girls' faces turn pale, and their recently adapted leg strength felt several times heavier.
"Gah—wahhhhhh—!"
"Twin Turbo?!"
Under such a powerful presence, Twin Turbo finally couldn't withstand the oppressive force.
Panicked, she immediately did a 180° turn and ran away.
Nice Nature and Tokai Teio also had no time to react and could only watch Twin Turbo flee in a panic.
From Ikezoe's perspective, Twin Turbo didn't run far at all and soon collapsed onto the ground, like a dead fish after running 3600 meters, not moving at all, looking a bit traumatized.
But... because he knew it was Twin Turbo, Ikezoe wasn't too worried.
"Curren Chan, could you please go check on Twin Turbo?"
"No problem, Onii-chan~"
Curren Chan already knew what she should do and jogged towards where Twin Turbo had fallen.
Ikezoe, watching the race that was not even halfway through and things had already devolved into such a mess, silently shook his head and said:
"You're really not holding back at all, Orfevre. The difference between you on the track and off the track is just too great."
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Joseph Joestar: What stellar form! True Nigerundayo™! I had only achieved such a level in my late 10s!
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If you spot any errors, feel free to comment about it and I will fix it as soon as I can.