Volume Two: The North-A Race Against Death A Trial of Skill

The engine made a steady sound as the Sirius sped over gullies. We had been traveling through mixed forests for quite some time, and the once relatively flat, wide road had turned into a bumpy dirt track. However, I hardly felt any shaking while sitting in the car, which shows that the Sirius's shock absorbers are indeed quite advanced. It was only because we were speeding and flying at high speed that it was so bumpy.

"If you take the left path at the fork ahead, you'll encounter a flock of Blood-Eating Birds. Choose the right path."

"Um."

"There's a pile of rocks ahead, slow down."

"Um."

"Ah, a car is catching up about a kilometer behind us. Let's speed up after we get past the rocky area."

"Hmm."... So idle.

Well, it's been almost an hour since the race started, and compared to the tension and excitement at the beginning, the atmosphere now can only be described as dull. Thanks to the reliable Givinia, we perfectly avoided all the dangerous monsters and difficult sections of road along the way. Occasionally, when a car approached from behind, it could only admit defeat in the face of Ally's superb driving skills.

So, I'm incredibly bored right now.

Ally was focused on driving, while Givinia, with her eyes slightly closed, scanned the road conditions within a few kilometers using her scattered Consciousness Projection. Ailin tirelessly checked the car for any damage... Only I, as a combatant, had nothing to do. At first, I remained vigilant against external enemies, but now I was completely relaxed. With Givinia around, there was nothing to worry about...

"Ally, how far are we from the first supply point?"

"Don't rush, it won't arrive until at least tomorrow."

"Really... How boring."

"It's supposed to be boring. Rally racing, especially long-distance off-road rally racing like this, mostly tests not driving skills, but mentality and perseverance. You have to be able to endure loneliness."

I sighed and looked up at the sky through the skylight. The sky was clear and cloudless. At first, there were more than one airship tracking us overhead, but now there were none left. They had probably all joined the larger force that was fighting more intensely later on...

"Sister Ye, if you're bored, why don't you look at the scenery?" Ailin said to me.

"We've been walking for over an hour and it's still just this patch of mixed woods. There's nothing to see here at all."

"It's another twenty minutes or so to get out of the mixed forest, and then it's the Black Sand Plain," Givinia said.

"Black Sand Plains? That sounds really cool, I'm kind of looking forward to it."

"However, we'll be spending the next few days on the Black Sand Plains."

"... hehe."

When we first entered the mixed forest, Ally explained her superpower to us—creating Jet Point.

She can create any number of "Jet Point" at any point on any object she touches Jet Point can spray airflow-like energy under her control, launching objects like missiles. They can range from launching dust and gravel to making race cars fly. They are also quite powerful in combat. It's truly an amazing superpower.

It's practically a carbon copy of the photon abilities gained after marriage.

"By the way, what do you think about that 'bonus points system'?" Givinia suddenly asked.

"To be honest, I don't quite understand... What? Is this system strange?" I asked.

"It is a bit strange," Ally said thoughtfully. "We have to find bonus points on the selected route, and we can't be ranked if we don't find two... There have been racing competitions that have incorporated 'exploration' elements before, but linking exploration with the qualification for ranking like this is truly unprecedented. It's practically forcing people to find those so-called 'bonus points'!"

"Then what do we do? It won't work if we can't find it... At least this thing hasn't reacted at all yet." Givinia said, shaking the pendant in her hand.

The pendant, made of what appears to be crystal, is shaped like a name tag. The front displays the team's number and name, while the back features the Gray Starling Group's logo—a bird spreading its wings as if about to take flight amidst flowers. These pendants are distributed by the organizers, five to each team, and serve as detectors for bonus points. Once a team is very close to a bonus point, the pendant will glow and heat up. Finding a bonus point and placing a pendant there completes the task; the bonus point only recognizes the first pendant, and subsequent pendants will not be detected.

Searching aimlessly is out of the question; that would only waste time. All we can do right now is stick to the plan. As for whether we can find it... well, that's up to luck for now.

"--Eh!?"

... Am I just imagining things?

"What's wrong A Ye?"

"Uh... did you guys feel the ground shaking just now?"

"Shaking? No, it's probably just the car shaking."

"Oh, that's probably just my imagination..."

I just breathed a sigh of relief--

"Hey everyone, I suddenly remembered that my ability has a weakness, which I forgot to tell you." Givinia's expression changed slightly.

"Shortcoming?"

"Yes... my detection, in the end, is nothing more than 'investigating the situation through the five senses projected onto a distant consciousness.' Although it is flexible and has a long range, it is still done through the medium of 'my five senses.' If the consciousness is projected onto a place where the five senses are ineffective, then I am powerless to help."

"For example?"

"For example, the underground—where there is neither light nor sound!"

The words had barely left his mouth--

Boom!!!!!!

"What happened?"

There's something underground!

The road ahead suddenly cracked open, Ally drifted to avoid the fissure. Earth and rocks flew everywhere, and a huge cylindrical creature emerged from the crack! This creature resembled a combination of an earthworm and a snake, with a smooth, segmented body covered in slippery slime. A large mouth split open on its ugly head, with two small holes on either side of it, seemingly vestigial eyes.

"This is... Earth Dragon!?"

"Dragon!?"

Although I had heard that the dragon race only ranked eighth among the ten major races of monsters, I never expected them to look so bad! They didn't have any of the majesty and beauty described in myths and legends!

"Earth Dragon are merely a very low-ranking branch of the dragon race, a hybrid of a dragon and a giant earthworm! But don't underestimate them; these beasts are notoriously agile!"

"Chirp chirp~~~~~~~~~!!!"

The Earth Dragon let out a piercing scream and lunged at us with its mouth wide open. Despite its slender build, its mouth was large enough to swallow the entire car!

"Don't even think about it!"

Ally, Alice stomped her right foot down hard, and Sirius shot out like an arrow, dodging the Earth Dragon's attack. However, in the instant it missed, the Earth Dragon's supple body suddenly retracted, and under the strain of its muscles, Earth Dragon changed direction in mid-air and lunged at us again!

"There's no other way, watch me spray!"

"There's no need!"

"A Ye!?"

As soon as I opened the sunroof, I jumped out of the car roof. In the blink of an eye, the Earth Dragon's foul-smelling mouth was right in front of me!

"Danger!" "Come back quickly, A Ye!" Ailin's tearful cries and Ally's anxious commands came from inside the car. Let's ignore them for now.

You know, I've been bored all day, and now I'm really itching to play!

"You think--"

A large amount of blood gushed from his body, congealing into a fist the size of an Earth Dragon's head.

"Who do you think you are?!"

There was no need for the Condense Blood into Crystal; the giant fist slammed directly into the filthy maw! With a crackling sound, the Earth Dragon's head turned into splattered blood, flesh, and bone fragments, like shattered tofu. The headless cylindrical body convulsed violently before crashing to the ground, lifeless.

I landed steadily, looking at the headless dragon corpse, feeling the Blood Energy emanating from it...

"Got it!"

With a flash of Blood Blade, the corpse was split in two, and a small red bead fell out from the cut—its essence.

Humming a little tune, I pocketed the essence. Not bad, not bad.

Turning around, I saw that Ally and Ailin were both staring at me in disbelief.

"What's wrong?" I asked, puzzled.

"You... you're amazing!"

"Uh... is this really that amazing?"

"Of course! One hit! He took down the Earth Dragon with just one hit!"

"I know, but... it's not a big deal, is it?"

"That's amazing, isn't it!"

Even if you say that...

I scratched my head helplessly. Taking down Earth Dragon in one hit should be a piece of cake for people like Si Nan Ying, Si Nan Xiao I·B, right? Or is it... because Tianyuan Kingdom was the first place I encountered after transmigrating, so I subconsciously treated it like a beginner's village in a game... Could it actually be an advanced map?

"Alright, let's not dwell on this! Let's get going!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monthly Votes /(ㄒoㄒ)/