Chapter 72: Grand Prix – Part 3

Chapter 72: Grand Prix – Part 3

"Would you look at that, Ririmu!" Hukarere exclaims and nearly jumps out of her seat. "Wolf Ryder blasts off the very moment that the 'go' signal is given. The Four try to keep up, but the difference in skill between them is clear."

"The Duo isn't even trying; you can see that they're just observing how the others are flying," Ririmu calmly analyzes.

"Since they're the most inexperienced of them all; you can certainly say that they've made a smart choice. There's no time limit, so they can take as long as they want to finish those Free Laps."

Ririmu nods, making his ears bob. "But they're still using up their mana to stay afloat."

Hukarere nods, but her straightened ears don't bob. "Hovering is the least mana-intensive action they could take."

"Hopefully, they're taking their mana pools into consideration."

"Let's check up on them before they start their race, then."

Ririmu smiles, showing his small white fangs. "Sounds like a great idea, Hukarere."

Hukarere's ears twitch as something catches her attention. "Look at that, Ririmu, Wolf is using the plane at half-power."

Ririmu crosses his arms, looking pleased. "So, he immediately realized the advantage of the Wasp?! Incredible! I can say that he isn't someone who should be lightly challenged to a race."

Hukarere's leathery lizard tail sways lazily, showing satisfaction. "It seems that his talents go deeper than we thought!"

"You can say that again, Hukarere. Of all people, you can say that again..." Ririmu says in a teasing tone.

Her voice gains an edge from her annoyance as she asks, "What ever do you mean by that, Ririmu?"

Ririmu laughs out loud and exclaims, "Nothing at all!" -He suddenly jumps in his seat and points forward- "Now, look! The Four are managing to catch up to Wolf!"

Hukarere regains her composure and becomes serious again. "It seems that Wolf isn't the only fast learner. They may simply be copying his maneuvers, but they're doing excellently for first-timers."

Ririmu also regains his composure and mirrors her serious demeanor. "The Devil and The Beast are wing and wing, boldly trying to fly at full speed. Their flying may seem sloppy, but you can't deny that it's effective."

Her angled eyes suddenly open wide. "Incredible! They switched to plane mode and are now gliding at low power. Not even Wolf went for such a bold maneuver."

Ririmu slaps his forehead with his hand, but his fluffy fur prevents it from making any sound. "Oh...! Maybe that was for a good reason; they missed the ring!"

She hums in understanding and nods. "Hm. Lesson learned, I believe. If you don't fly boldly during the Free Laps, are you even trying?"

He glances at her, giving her a gentle smile. "Indeed, Hukarere. Bold is the way to go, but The Angel and the Demon have caught up now. They even switched to plane mode, too. The Four's flying skills are improving by the second!"

Her face instantly shifts into one of deep concern. "Watch out for that takeover! These ships aren't made of wood or metal, they will break if you bump against someone else."

"The Angel and the Demon are spending the most time in inertial mode, but at least they have the most stable flight. Unfortunately for them, if the Beast and the Devil manage to get their planes under control, they'll be left behind during the real race."

Hukarere nods and crosses her arms, pushing up her pale breasts. "Being too bold can be a bad idea, but right now, it's exactly what they should focus on." Then she leans forward, suddenly very excited. "Oh, my Gods! He's doing it again! Wolf Ryder has gone full throttle!"

Ririmu claps in excitement. "This is what boldness should look like! He has no fear of blacking out; he's doing the corkscrew like a Chamebirb dodging its hunter, and then he follows it up with diving like a Dragolite going for its prey."

She excitedly points to the Four. "Look at the flames, Ririmu! The Beast is angry, and it's chasing after the Devil like a rampaging Tarakona! And what is that gaze?! The Angel and the Demon certainly aren't happy about being left behind. It looks like they've switched tactics and are now blazing down the track in plane mode."

He snorts and asks, "Has the competition already started? I haven't seen so much emotion in the Free laps before!"

Hukarere suddenly shifts her focus to something that catches her attention. "The Fox and the Princess have finally started to move! They're going quite fast for beginners; they seem confident in their ability to fly."Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

Ririmu becomes serious again as he begins his analysis, "I can see that, Hukarere. Their skills are much sloppier than the Four, but they aren't shying away from using either the medium power or low power modes of the planes. They've realized that their understanding of flight mechanics is poor and are flying solely with their intuition and grit."

She smiles warmly as she says, "Such innocent flying! It's like watching Dragolite hatchlings play-fighting, except that they have the intelligence and cunning of adults!"

"The tellers must be quite happy with today's event; there's no clear favorite."

"Having a well-defined divide in skills certainly allows for a wider variety of styles, but once in a while, an exciting and unpredictable match-up like this one is perfect to break up the monotony."

Ririmu nods emphatically. "You can say that again, Hukarere."

"Would you look at that, the Duo is behaving quite competitively already."

"Yet you can see how different their styles are. The Fox seems to be making quite a lot of quick maneuvers. I wonder what her 'Dexterity' and 'Speed' are."

She glances at him and gives him a smile. "She's a werefox, Ririmu. The fox-type Chimeras are certainly the nimblest of our soldiers."

Ririmu nods repeatedly. "Yes, yes, and they're also the most sly. Now, the Princess is betting on a harmonious flight. Her Wasp may seem sluggish and slow to turn, but she's using the aerodynamics of her plane quite well."

"Back to the Four, it seems like the Devil is going to finish first, followed by the Angel, who is closely followed by the now much calmer Beast, and lastly the Demon."

"The Angel is finishing in an unexpected position. I must say that she seems like the safest bet right now," Ririmu analyzes.

"The Fox wins the Free Laps, but it seems that their competitive spirit took a hit once Wolf went full throttle."

"They didn't let rivalries get in the way and used their time to explore the capabilities of their airplanes."

"Certainly the wisest of Wolf's wives."

Ririmu grins. "Fans of the Dark Angel would strongly disagree with that."

"Fans of any wife would disagree with that."

He grins. "Except for the Devil's. Anyway, the wives are lining up for the Honor Lap. It should start at any moment, now."

"Let's give a round of applause to Little Lina, Wolf's dwarven slave, who, despite her great fear of heights, still took control of his ship and flew a lap by her-..."

"Oh! Is that a penis?!" Ririmu interrupts her and lets his mouth hang open in disbelief.

Hukarere's dragon tail perks up in alertness as her pointy ears twitch. "Yes! And what a mighty penis it is!"

"Ooh...! They're doing it while flying!"

She laughs out loud. "Hahah! Now that's a way to celebrate Little Lina."

"Well, this is what makes Honor Laps so interesting, you never know how the eccentric pilots would choose to 'honor' something."

"I can say that I'm thoroughly impressed with this Honor Lap."

"Now, tell me, Hukarere, considering her small size, is her expression one of pain or pleasure?"

"Why not both?" She asks innocently.

"Why not both, indeed." Ririmu laughs.

"And would you look at that: six envious pairs of eyes are following Wolf."

"You can add a seventh," he casually comments.

"What?" She tilts her head and looks at him.

"What?" He mimics her, then grins.

She narrows her eyes dangerously and growls lowly, displaying her dangerous fangs. "Your teasing will come back to bite you in the ass one day."

Ririmu gently smiles. "If it comes from someone as beautiful as you, then I'll be quite happy."

"Enough of that. Look, they're about to finish."

"Finish, indeed."

"A healthy amount of rope is sent flying. Too bad nobody is there to receive it."

"They don't probably don't know about Supreme Divine Waimarie because they're foreigners, so let us follow his ritual ourselves."

They close their eyes and pay in unison, "O Dark Void, we offer this semen to help your insatiable hunger abate. Please accept this refuse and save us from having it come back upon our heads one day."

They open their eyes, and Hukarere announces with a beautiful smile, "And now that the Honor Lap is complete, let's get ready for the first race: the Sly Fox versus the Golden Princess."

"You're too arrogant, Golden Princess," the Sly Fox solemnly says.

"Hohoh! How presumptuous of you, Sly Fox," the Golden Princess responds with a sneer, then gives her a smug smile. "You have no harmony within your heart; you don't have the talent to fly."

The Fox's beautiful orange eyes narrow dangerously. "I've flown with Master for days on end. If I didn't have the talent within me, I wouldn't be able to synchronize with him so perfectly."

The slalom comes up again, and they fly close to each other.

The Devil sees something coming towards her. Her [Battlefield Perception] triggers, and she pulls back on the speed lever.

A dagger-like tail passes by, close to her face. The way it cuts through the air causes a dangerous-sounding whistle.

"RAAAAH! I'LL FUCK YOU UP, BITCH!" The Devil grows red with anger and lets her wings grow.

"HEEEY! NO WINGS!" The Angel complains as she struggles to not get left behind.

"FUCK YOU!" The Devil responds and flaps her wings.

She suddenly feels a dull pain in the bones of her wings, then she feels the mana of a spell hit her. Someone just cast [Wind Hammer] on her wing, and she won't be having any of that.

She pulls back on the speed lever, slowing down. The Beast passes by, grinning from scale to scale. Then The Red Devil hears a yelp, and a blur passes by the corner of her eye.

"Gotcha!" She exclaims happily, then flaps her wings again.

A [Fire Arrow] flies towards the Beast. She catches it with her hand, then crushes the mana construct as she growls in anger.

"NAHAHAHA! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH U-...!" The Laughing Demon's taunt is interrupted by her [Battlefield Perception] triggering again.

She dodges to the side and misses her ring at the hairpin, then The Beast passes by, missing her by a hair. She grumbles, feeling angry at someone using her maneuver against her, but then gloats as she predicts how her opponent will shoot off the course.

The Laughing Demon's predictions are shattered as The Beast turns her plane vertical, greatly reducing its speed. Then she switches to airplane mode and effortlessly completes the extremely tight curve.

The Demon grumbles and returns to the course. She looks back and sees the Devil and The Angel trying to slam against each other while preserving their planes.

The Demon laughs, then throws a [Fireball] between both planes, making them catch fire.

"BIIIIIITCH!" The Devil yells in anger and spews fire, but it never reaches the Demon.

"BOTH OF YOU! CHEA~~~~TE~RS!" The Angel bellows, incensed.

They lose precious seconds extinguishing the flames on their wings, allowing the Demon to gain some distance again.

Suddenly, both The Devil and The Demon stop their aircraft as they're blinded by The Angel's divine light.

"Ohohoh! Now look who's cheating!" The Demon taunts, but no response comes.

When their eyesight recovers, they notice that the Angel has long since flown past them.

"NOOO~!" They scream in unison and push their planes to the max again.

The Devil continues cheating and uses her wings to boost her speed again. She starts to gain on the others, passing the Demon, then the Angel, and finally The Beast, reaching the leading position.

She slows down for a hairpin, then she feels a magical breeze pass by, followed by the heat of flames, then she's blinded again, and finally, she hears an ominous sound: a snap.

Her eyesight recovers, only for her to see her ship in taters as it burns.

"Cheater, no cheating!" The Angel taunts as she passes by.

The race ends soon after. First place goes to The Azurite Beast, then The Dark Angel, then The Laughing Demon, and last place goes to The Red Devil.

"Gentlemen and Gentlewomen! We have the two winners of the first Grand Prix of Whakamutu Mutu! The Sly Fox and The Azurite Beast!" Ririmu announces.

"Let's give them the applause they deserve while they complete their victory lap!"

Ririmu claps and makes his final analysis, "An incredible victory for the Azurite Beast. Seemingly ignored by the rest of the pilots that were too busy flinging spells at one another, she quietly sneaked past them all and stole the victory from under The Demon's and The Angel's nose. This was their race to lose, so they only have themselves to blame, unfortunately."

"The Devil did as predicted and sowed chaos, but her miscalculation proved fatal as all the other pilots then targeted her. She certainly did make things much more interesting, though."

"Indeed, Hukarere. I've never seen a dragonkin use their own wings to help them fly a Wasp. Truly a novel tactic that I feel will soon be banned in the following Grand Prix's because it is simply too advantageous for certain races with wings."

"Perhaps a new class of racers will emerge, one focused on a balance between combat and flight."

"An interesting idea. Hopefully, someone will leave here today with the inspiration to revolutionize air racing!"

"We can only hope... Anyway, I am Hukarere, and this is my co-host, Ririmu. It's with a heavy heart that I announce that this event has now come to an end. I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as we did."

"I certainly did. Until next time."

"Bye!"

Announcement

Hall of Fame of Patrons

The patrons who support Rupegia shall have their names sung by the bards for they deserve the glory and honor. Their names are:

Oracle Maximillian Hübner.

Prince PreownedFIN.

Lord Andrew Meyers.

Lord Hope.

Lord Samuel Lim.

Lord Bill.

Lord Novgarod.

Lord DJ.

Lord Ashadun.

Lord Michale Erwin.

Lord Enrique Peña Gomez.

Lord Braidborn.

Lord Bakerdea.

Lord Yeeteris Dedmeem.

Lord D4rk Sheep.

Lord Nathan Vanbrunt.

Lord Markus.

Lord Maurice.

Lord Badger.

Lord Krawn.

Lord Remco.

Lord Empyrean.

Lord Asakurà.

Lord Cidant.

Noble Salty Panda.

Noble Yamibomb112.

Noble Mild Fracas.

Noble EESDESESESRDT.

Noble Aclys.

Noble Tyler Mills.

Noble Samuel Steinike.