I'm not going to lie. As time goes by, I get more and more immersed in my new role... and more understanding of the poor uma I exploited like slaves in the game... Yes, I was one of those people who, even with a 60% chance of failure, I would still take my risk and complain when I failed; I have no excuses. Why wouldn't I? I gave big benefits and it was just a game...
'Heh... just a game...'
"Come on, Meek, work harder!" Aoi's voice rang in my ears.
"I... I.... I can't!!" I complained, but I still pushed onwards.
"Come on, Meek, make your best effort!" Flashy jumped from her seat full of energy.
I might be at an 80% chance of failure at this point; sweat covered my body from places I thought were impossible to sweat. And it wasn't just doing laps and squats. Since I got better at running over the next few days after declaring I wanted the triple tiara, I got a little cocky... what!? a poor girl can't brag about improving!? But my team is full of monsters!
'Damn these horseshoes are heavy!!' Every time I raised my legs, it was like dragging a house.
I got some heavy horseshoes that got attached under my shoes, it seems they are meant to train both my mind and my strength... It might be working, but I still had a long way to go... but I had some hope... after all, after this Spartan training week we will finally have some days off, it seems Aoi thinks getting involved with us in our free days is somewhat unethical, or something like that I can't fully grasp.
"Last hundred meters to go!" Claimed Aoi.
"Aaaaaaahhhh!!" I cried with all my might, or that sounded in my mind, the reality was more like a mild "ooooooooh...!" or somewhat.
Step by step... I feel like I would collapse onto the ground... I can't do this after all... yeah, I will just ask for forgiveness and quit, no one will notice my retirement, and I will make a living just by cleaning or something like that.
(Goal achieved: +5 stamina +10 guts +10 power, mood down (exhausted))
I collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Other umas running on another field looked at me with worry, but they were on their own training, so they couldn't stop to check on the drama queen who had collapsed to the ground.
"You were amazing Meek!" Flashy claimed.
I just raised one arm and gave a thumbs-up.
This was my first week. I... somehow survived. My body is in pain, damn it hurts, but I'm alive... and something warm spread on my chest, maybe I can look up as a human being now... well uma being, if somehow I can keep this up maybe I will be able to live with pride even if I don't win.
'If I don't win...' The thought felt sorrowful in my mind... 'Damn! I'm working so much for this, I can't think about losing!'
I sat down and gave myself some soft slaps on my face to turn away the negative thoughts, but now I can understand those feelings of frustration I saw on the anime, after so much training not winning would suck.
(First week report:
Turf: A Dirt: A
Speed: D Stamina: E Power: D Guts: E Wits: C
Sprint: A Mile: A Medium: A Long: A
Front Runner: F Pace Chaser: A Late Surger: A End Closer: A
Mood: Normal
Skills: -
Uma Coins: 200)
(If you keep working, you will eventually awaken your unique skill. Advice: Keep training! And make bonds so you can learn more skills!)
The first time I noticed the system reports, I noticed it's very ambiguous; it doesn't show the details of the stats. At least the passive things, like the Turf or the distances, were pretty good. When I asked why my front-runner aptitude sucked, I didn't really understand the answer, or so I told myself, but I clearly knew it... It seems it was a mental block because I believed I couldn't surpass Flashy.
'Haaa... Damn, of course I can win against Flashy! I can, can I?'
I was expecting to at least have C+ stats on everything, but no luck. I have to start from zero, but my base stats weren't bad at all. It seems Meek is some kind of genius, and I'm the one making her less competent.
Flashy offered me a hand, I looked at her for some moments, and then accepted. She helped me stand up again. Aoi got near us.
"Okay, girls, great work for the first week," She said while reading some notes on her notepad. "Flashy, next week we will work on controlled speed spikes, and we will push your resistance to the limits."
"Okaaay!" Said Flashy is fully motivated.
"And Meek, we will keep working on your resistance. I will try to get some help for more mock races."
"Y-Yes," I said, recovering my breath 'I won't lose on those!'
"That would be all, please enjoy your free days, and don't be reckless." Aoi looked at both of us; she seemed to have so many ideas on her mind running, like a maelstrom, which made me gulp.
Our trainer finally left for her office, and my friend touched my shoulder.
"Thinking about doing anything in particular this afternoon?" She asked, looking at me with a smile, she didn't look tired at all, she will probably debut soon.
"Uuuh... no." Well, originally I was thinking about lying down in my bed watching anime or something, yes, this world has anime too, which is amazing.
"Nice! I want to show you a place I discovered! Hehehe!" She looked cute but dangerous, as if she wanted to drag me to a gym or something.
"Oh, I just remembered I..."
"Come on! Come on!" She started to drag me towards the baths, after all, I won't go out sweating like this.
"Help..." I muttered sheepishly towards the other girls who were training, but they just ignored us.
...
...
After a well-earned and refreshing shower, I felt as if I was reborn. On the sides, I tried to take a cold shower but almost sprinted out of the bath as soon as water touched my skin, that's not for me.
Both Flashy and I were wearing our school uniforms when I started to follow her around. Luckily, the staff of Tracen doesn't cause any trouble for leaving the academy, it seems like something very common, especially for senior students who go out a lot for training or to contests. The place that Flashy Step wanted to show me wasn't that far away, just a couple of blocks downstreet, it was a neko cafe, no, no girls cosplaying, literally there were cats everywhere. They were very cute, fluffy, and docile.
"So... I found out about this place and wanted to share it with you," Flashy said as she was petting a cat while we waited for our orders. It seems she ain't low on money since she invited this time.
She recommended the carrot juice, so we both ordered some XL cups and some sweets to accompany it... and hey... It was fantastic! Umastic! Damn, the carrots of this world must be some different kind of breed.
'This tastes like victory after being exploited by Aoi!' I thought, "It's delicious!" I exclaimed, and Flashy laughed, a little surprised to see me so happy; maybe my face didn't show that much, but my ears were twitching happily.