Section 50 downhill

Although this period of time is not very long, in the sense of Hoshimi, it almost feels like a long wait for a whole century.

A white steed led the way out of the woods, and the white cloak on the rider fluttered like a flag. The crowd of spectators on the hill erupted in cheers for the rider who had taken the lead.

"Ashrufat!" Hoshimi couldn't help but call out his name. "It's him, he's the first to run!" she grabbed Ace's sleeve in excitement, and the force was so great that she almost tore it off.

"Ah, dear!" said Ace, too, excited. "He's a capable lad!" In her excitement, she turned her head, hugged Hoshimi, and kissed her fiercely. This would have been a very outrageous action, but at this moment, people were all filled with an inexplicable excitement, and no one cared about such a trivial matter.

After a short moment of Ashrufat's rush out, the other horses rushed out of the woods one by one. The situation at this point looked very favorable for Ashrufat, as he was separated by dozens of horses from the second place.

After leaving the woods, there is a relatively flat and easy road ahead. This is also the last barrier-free part of the whole race.

"Ah, our leader has been born!" a voice rang out from above. The sound came from a high shelf where a loud commentator stood in such a position that he could see the details of the game better than the average spectator. It's a service to the game that makes it possible for spectators who are not in a good position (who often have a hard time seeing the full picture, only one part of the fixture) to understand what's going on.

"Well, it is Mr. Ashrufat of this city, and although he was not the first to rush into the woods, he was the first to rush out. It is well known that his mount is none other than Sir Dicks' Swift, who once belonged to Sir Dicks!

Although the surroundings were empty, the passionate voice of the loud-voiced narrator was audible to most people.

"Wait! It looks like Mr. Ishrufat isn't fast, they're catching up......!

The narrator's observations are indeed correct. Ashrufat had a big advantage when he rushed out of the woods, but as time went on, the horses behind him caught up.

The excitement of Ashrufat's lead just now has faded. Hoshimi unconsciously twisted his hands together uneasily. Although Ashrufat still held the first position, the black horse with four snow-white hooves behind him, "Treading Snow", followed by "Red Lightning" and "Gray Fur", and had narrowed the distance little by little but very steadily. All of these horses have distanced themselves from the riders who choose to take the detour.

"Strange, why are they going to catch up?" Hoshimi heard someone next to him ask. It was a noble woman from out of town, and she was accompanied by a man.

This location is a great viewing spot and is specially circled for ladies. But in reality, there are still some men mixed in. All of them disguised themselves as accompanying female companions - this is always the case in this world, and there are always some people who ignore the contemptuous gaze of others in order to take advantage of a small advantage.

"Oh dear, it's so easy. The man replied. "That's the technical side of things. ”

"Technique?"

"I've heard that this Ishrufat is a soldier. The man said. "He can ride a horse, and he rides well. But the equestrianism of a military man cannot be compared with that of a professional rider after all. ”

"There are also experts in horseback riding? I thought it was very simple, and any man could ride it. ”

"My dear, there is a big difference in this area. Soldiers who fight on horseback do not actually pursue the maximum speed of horses. What they really seek is consistency in discipline and speed. But horse racing is different, the rider is about being one with the horse, and every move must not affect the horse's movement – or even assist the horse's movements rather than hinder them. This is a professional advanced technique, which can only be achieved through professional guidance and good training. For example, this Ashrufat, although he can also ride horses, may be good in the army, but compared to these professions, he only masters the running style that the countrymen can do. ”

Although it wasn't intentional, Hoshimi did hear it completely without leakage. This made her even more uneasy. She continued to look at the racetrack, where the smoothest part of the course was nearing completion, and the horses behind her had caught up. At this moment, Ashrufat was still ahead, but his lead was no longer the big lead he had just now, but a slight lead in a group. He could be caught up or even overtaken by those behind him at any time.

The game is still ongoing. Among the horses starting from the starting point, there is a very clear distinction between the leading group, the middle group and the laggard group. The lead group is made up of six or seven of the best (and pre-race favourites) horses, with the middle group and the lead group at some distance, but not too far apart. The group behind is made up entirely of riders who have chosen to go around the woods, and they have fallen so far behind those in front that much of the audience has given up on them.

Now almost everyone's eyes are focused on the horses that are in the lead. As we all know, this is a cross-country race, and now the riders have come to the real "off-road" section. And the narrator in the high place is shouting and agitating people's emotions.

The man and woman who were chatting just now continued to speak. The man sounded like a man who had studied horse racing in depth, at least that way.

"Actually, it's only a halfway point past the schedule. The man said. "There's still a chance for everyone. ”

"Are those who are lagging behind?" the woman asked suspiciously.

"Of course. The man replied. "Don't look at them falling behind by a big margin now, but the cross-country race is very physically demanding on the horses. Just now they were taking advantage of shortening the path by walking through the woods. But this shortcut is not easy to take. In addition to the extremely high risk of injury, horses use a lot of extra energy in order to traverse the woods. It's a lucrative gamble in a normal race, but in a cross-country race...... Once a horse is physically weak, it is far more likely to be injured than normal, and even unable to overcome obstacles that could otherwise be crossed. ”

"Behold, spectators, our brave riders have begun to attempt to traverse the first obstacle course! This is the bush! Look, it is Ashrufar and his mount 'Swift' that leads the way. But if you remember correctly, it was here that last year's 'Swiftness', which belonged to Sir Dix, was lost!

The horses, which had been moving in a straight line, had dispersed. The so-called shrub is actually a rocky wasteland. As a result, no big trees grow here, only short shrubs that are pervasive and pervasive can emerge from the cracks in the stones. The area of shrub is quite large, enough for all the horses to stand shoulder to shoulder. There are two ways to traverse the bush, one is a straight line – skipping all the bushes and rubble along the way. The other is to follow an irregular route and find a way to get around the shrubs that stand in your way. The pros and cons of both approaches are clear. The first is fast and dangerous, the second is slow and safe.

Hoshimi felt his heart rise to his throat. She was here last year – and she actually saw Dix break his mount here last year. But last year and this year, her mood was completely different. Although it was also tense and exciting last year, this year it made her whole heart beat uncontrollably. It wasn't because of the bounty of 10,000 gold coins - in fact, she had completely forgotten about it at this point. At least at this moment, she didn't think about the 10,000 gold coins in her heart at all. Her hands clenched into fists so tight that her nails dug deep into her flesh.

The leading group rushed into the bushes. None of the competitors chose to bypass the bushes, and everyone did not hesitate to choose to go straight.

The white figure jumped under Hoshimi's gaze, over clumps of obstructive bushes, as light as carps jumping out of the water. Although this is true for every horse, Hoshimi's eyes don't see any other horses at all. Her eyes followed the white figure closely, and she prayed in her heart to something she didn't know about.

The schedule kept her out of breath. However, the white figure managed to run through half of the bushes. In the middle, in a relatively small and open position, Ashrufar suddenly turned to face the spectators on the top of the mountain in the distance—in Hoshimi's view, he was raising his hand towards her.

This gesture immediately drew a chorus of cheers from the audience.

"Behold, Mr. Aeshurufar actually greeted the spectators during the nervous race. Oh my God, should I say he was too relaxed or too careless?" "Oh, by the way, he's supposed to be a compliment to his fiancée, is that really the case? We'll have to wait until the game is over to find out! Wait! Look, someone has fallen!"

The audience's attention had already been drawn to this sudden accident. One of the leading groups, a zebra stumbled and fell while jumping over a bush. The horse fell to the ground, and the rider flew off his mount and fell forward. Seeing the accident happen, all the audience couldn't help but gasp.

But it seems that this unlucky guy is not too unlucky. Because everyone saw him quickly get up and walk towards the mount. But the zebra couldn't stand up. It was clear that the horse could no longer race. There is one less member of the leading group forever.

But that's not the only loss. By this time, the second group had already rushed into the bush, and most of them decisively adopted the method of moving in a straight line and jumping over obstacles. This keeps the unlucky ones coming. Horse after horse fell. Only a few of them are able to get up and move on. Not only horses, but also riders. A significant number of riders fall and never get up again.

However, unlike just now, these wounded cannot be rescued in a short time. It was not until the backward group also ran past that the ceremonial officer in charge of this dangerous journey ran into the bush with his subordinates to carry out first aid.

However, this is also something that is bound to happen in this off-road race. In fact, very few people failed to cross this bush, and all of them together were only seven or eight people. All the other riders made their way through the bush and onwards.

"Oh oh, folks, now there's a downhill section of the valley in front of you! It's a long downhill, and then an equidistant uphill. The trail looks simple and there are no obstacles on the way, but remember, at least half of the eliminators appear on this section of the road every year!" the narrator's voice echoed in Hoshimi's ears. "What will happen this year, please wait and see!"