Contrary to popular belief, to be a nurse in Central Tracen Academy meant that you were at the very top. Just like being a trainer in Central Tracen, being a nurse requires you to have extensive knowledge in various fields, such as psychology, biology, and chemistry, at the very bare minimum. If you wanted to get hired, you would need to know Orthopaedic Sports Medicine, Primary Care Sports Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sports Cardiology, and more.
But that's not all: all nurses at Central Tracen Academy are required to take a test every 3 months to ensure their skills are up to standard and to protect the health and safety of the Umamusume.
That is why, when someone says they are working for the Central Tracen Academy as a nurse, it means they are the very best in the entire medical industry in Japan. Which is why, whenever there is an injury or accident, the Umamusume wouldn't go to the hospital; they would simply go to the infirmary for treatment.
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"How is she, doctor?" Sensei Rei asked nervously. Symboli Rudolf was kicked out of the infirmary and is currently being broody. The doctor lets out a deep exhale before glancing at Echo Eclipse, who is now peacefully sleeping on the bed, as if all the pain she had experienced never happened.
"She's perfectly fine, no injuries or internal damage," He glanced at her clipboard and used his pencil to mark down key information he had gotten from diagnosing Echo. It has an in-depth description of the density of her muscles, the metal-like bones, and even the tendons, which are more flexible and stronger than normal umamusume—basically, the overall state of her body.
"Then do you know why she collapsed at the end?" Rei asked, worried and slightly relieved that nothing was wrong with her student.
"Lack of oxygen."
"What?"
"Lack of oxygen, from what you said before. She ran faster than Symboli Rudolf and Mr C.B at the end before slowing down to 3rd place and collapsing. Correct?" The doctor replied, and Rei nodded.
"To put it simply, her body isn't capable of producing enough speed to surpass those two, yet she did." He rubbed the side of his neck with the end of his pencil.
"So when she ran at speed faster than she supposed to, her body was struggling to keep up and fuel her cells. I suppose it was fine until after a certain point, her body couldn't handle it anymore, and her lungs were the first to collapse as they struggled to take in more oxygen afterwards. Then her brain, and finally her entire body." He said, while trying to figure out how Echo Eclipse's body is capable of producing speed beyond what she is not capable of at the present, but then again. Umamusume are always known to be magical; there are even cases in the USA of Umamusume having extremely high recovery speed under no external influence, such as drugs.
"There wouldn't be any problem for Echo Eclipse if she trained her body normally, but her body still hasn't undergone second bloom yet. So I would advise that she limit the maximum speed she is allowed to go when running until her second bloom comes around."
"..." Rei nodded wistfully before glancing at the door, sighing. She hopes Symboli Rudolf wouldn't cause chaos.
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Thump!
"You…" Rage can be felt through Rudolf's voice as she pushes Mr C.B against the wall. None of this would've happened if she had never asked Echo to race with her! An intense oppressive aura pressed down on Mr C.B.
"Let me go." Mr C.B spoke with a grin.
"Why should I?" Despite being fueled by rage, she is still acting rationally and logically about this. If she were the type of girl who easily let her emotions shock her, then she shouldn't be racing.
"Because this will be beneficial to her. Would you rather have her suffer the same afterwards during an official race in the future, or have her learn about it now so she can set a limit on herself?"
"..."
"..."
"Tch." Rudolf pulled away, crossed her arms, and leaned against the wall. Despite letting her go, her eyes are focused on Mr C.B, her rage is slowly slimmering.
"Still, she managed to run faster than me, quite surprising. This never happened to her before because she was always in the lead, but since you and I were in the lead, she amped up her speed to 11 and here are the consequences."
"..."
Mr C.B smiled as she crossed her arms behind her head, and her ears twitched. "She is still in her 1st bloom. Can you imagine her future? The great Eclipse has been reborn! She will take over the world! Something like that, Haha!"
"..."
"Bleh! You're such a poor conversationalist. Stop staring daggers at me!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Mh." Symboli Rudolf huffed before turning her head away. If Echo happens to receive any permanent injuries that would affect her race, she will send Mr C.B to hell. She was sure that Mr C.B would be a great friend with Satan, with how much of a chatterbox she is.
After a certain amount of time had passed, the door opened, and the doctor walked out. "Echo Eclipse is in perfect condition, but she is required to take a long rest to ensure the strain on her body has disappeared."
Symboli Rudolf nodded seriously, and she started hearing footsteps approaching her. She turned to her right and saw her trainer approaching. Kazuo had sprinted toward her after learning that Echo Eclipse was in the infirmary.
"Rudolf, what happened?!"
"Trainer… I'll fill you in afterwards." She said before ignoring both Mr C.B and her trainer to enter the room.
While Rudolf enters the room, Echo Eclipse continues having a peaceful rest.
"How are you feeling?" A free-spirited, yet kind voice whispered against Echo's ear, startling her awake. She turned her head to the right and froze in shock. Her long red hair and white blaze on her bangs fluttered and shifted from the wind, those vibrant emerald eyes of hers. There was no way Echo would ever forget about her.
"G-Goddess?"
She grinned widely as she waved her hand at Echo. "That's me~" Then she tilted her head, staring deeply at Echo Eclipse.
"You may affectionately call me Darley Arabian~" She sat beside Echo and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. At this point, Echo realised that she is now sitting on an endless field of grass, it is cool to the touch and the warm breeze brushing against her felt amazing, like a paradise for Uma Musume.
"Um… What happened to me?" Echo asked meekly, completely different from her usual self. Her ear twitched before she glanced at her legs.
"You pushed your body beyond your limit." She said bluntly while smiling, Darley stood up and later pulled Echo Eclipse up to stand beside her. The grass shifted under their weight.
"Mrnnn…" Echo turned her away, like a guilty child who accidentally destroyed their parents' precious item. Now we know why Echo had been acting meekly.
"Hahahaha! Don't worry about it! Even without our blessing, your body wouldn't break so easily! But your career might've ended earlier."
"Eh?"
Darley Arabien ruffled and messed up Echo Eclipse's hair like she was the older sister. "Don't worry about how you use your unique skill. I completely support it, but all good things have a flaw." Her voice slowly faded into seriousness before Echo lifted her head at her, wondering what she meant.
"Don't use the skill recklessly, even with our blessings, your body can still break down beyond repair." She cupped Echo's cheeks with a worried gaze. She had seen and explored the abyss and was the only one to return intact. But all the other Uma Musume weren't so lucky; this is the reason why she became a goddess, because there weren't anybody else besides her capable of exploring such an uncharted world solely on bravery.
"Focus on training your body… And run within your limit, you're not even doing G1 races until winter…" She hugged her.
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be, we know how it was like wanting to run and surpass someone," She pulled away and started humming.
"I hope you don't overuse your unique skill beyond your limit very often, now then! Your special someone is waiting patiently for you outside!"
"Wha-" Darley pressed her index finger onto Echo Eclipse's forehead and sent her soul back to her body.
"Please do not break… for our sake…"
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