Chapter 61

"Ladies and gentlemen, the famous flying race of the Green Academy, the first Magic King Cup of this season, is about to start! I, Grid, a third-year Top Grade student, will be your commentator! And our commentator is the dashing masked favorite among the girls, Mr. Dumble!"

"Dumble here. Nice to meet you."

The deep voice, amplified by green magic, echoed through the venue, followed by high-pitched screams from the girls.

"Kyaa! Mr. Dumble!"

"Amazing! Marry me!"

"Mr. Dumble is already married! But I want to be held by him!"

As the race start approached, the audience's excitement grew.

"Please take your starting positions, all participants!"

Following the instructions, the race participants walked to the white line drawn on the training ground. The line was long enough for about a hundred people to stand in a straight line.

I was almost at the far left.

The starting positions were determined by the year of admission, and we first-year students were on the far left.

So Skyk was also nearby.

I glanced around.

Many of the participants had tools to assist their flight.

As long as they weren't magical devices, bringing tools was allowed.

For example, a long pole.

It seemed to make flying more stable when straddled.

Some were even riding brooms. Why brooms? Maybe they couldn't find a suitable pole.

There were those on surfboards, wearing capes, and even some with bird-like wings attached to their hands.

One young man was almost completely naked, presumably to reduce air resistance.

By the way, I had nothing.

I had always trained without any tools, so this was what I was most used to.

The starter appeared.

"Ready!"

—Boom!

The explosion magic signaled the start of the race.

The participants took off all at once.

The wind from their activated flight magic combined, creating a fierce storm behind them.

"Oh! Leading the pack right from the start is second-year Marco from the Second Grade! He's accelerating rapidly, pulling away from the others! Oh no, but without gaining enough altitude, he's crashed into the audience stands!"

The student named Marco, who had crashed into the audience stands, lost consciousness and was out of the race.

"He made the same mistake last year. He must lack learning ability," Dumble commented harshly.

While the commentator and analyst flew using their own flight magic, moving between various commentary stands set up around the course, the participants flew out of the training ground, with the audience stands below them.

The race route had been announced to the participants in advance.

First, they would circle the campus a few times before heading outside.

This meant they would be flying through the city for part of the race.

"One minute into the race! Although it's still the early stages, the group is already starting to spread out! The leading group is... about fifteen people!"

"Two of them are first-year students from the First Grade."

That's me and Skyk.

We were flying side by side, slightly behind the leading group.

Skyk, noticing me flying next to him, asked,

"What the hell are you doing keeping up with this speed?"

"This is nothing to me."

Flight magic uses both magic power and physical strength.

The leading group was flying at a moderate speed because the race was a long 20 kilometers, and if they went too fast in the first half, they would slow down in the second half.

"The leading group is about to leave the campus! And that's the first difficult section! Right after exiting the main gate, the participants must make a sharp right turn!"

"Making a sharp turn at this speed is difficult even for experienced flyers. It's even more challenging in a group. Positioning before the turn is crucial."

The main gate was in sight.

Everyone was jockeying for the best position.

If they were too far inside, they risked being thrown off the course by centrifugal force.

But if they were too far outside, they would cover more distance and fall behind.

So everyone aimed for the middle.

We passed through the main gate and turned right in unison.

Two participants couldn't make the turn and crashed into a house wall.

A few others, forced to take the outside, fell behind, and the group became elongated.

Skyk and I moved up to about the middle.

"The race has entered the city! The current leading group is thirteen people! Oh! Another one is falling behind! Will he drop out?"

"He looks in pain. It seems he was flying too fast for him."

"But the two rookies are still firmly in the group!"

We flew through the city.

From below, we heard cheers from the residents.

They had come out of their homes to watch the race.

By the time the race was halfway through, the leading group had been reduced to seven, including Skyk and me.

"We're almost at the halfway point! Last year's winner and other strong contenders are still in the race! And two rookies are holding their ground, making this a very exciting race!"