Chapter 62

Just after passing the halfway point, someone broke away from the leading group.

"Whoa! Here comes Dione, the 'Goddess of the Sky,' who won the Magic King Cup last year, no, who won all three major races last year and achieved a decades-old triple crown! She's made her move, flying out on her own!"

"Rather, it's surprising that she held back until now. With her skills, she could have pulled away from the others much earlier."

It's quite an exaggerated way of speaking, but 'Goddess of the Sky' is probably her nickname.

The girl called Dione had snow-white hair, a distinctive feature.

She was probably around my age.

With a cool expression, she steadily increased her speed.

"Am I going to let you go?!"

Skyk chased after her.

To avoid being left behind, he also suddenly increased his speed.

Of course, I followed him.

The other participants tried to keep up for a while, but gradually, one by one, they dropped out.

Before I knew it, only three of us were left: Dione in the lead, and Skyk and I right behind her.

"Amazingly, the two are keeping up with Dione's high pace! And both are first-year First Graders!"

The commentator shouted excitedly.

"If a first-year First Grader wins, it will be a remarkable achievement, the first in twenty-three years!"

Skyk turned to me, who was flying alongside him.

"You're not bad yourself!"

"Really?"

I was still holding back quite a bit.

"...I'm surprised. A rookie keeping up with me?"

A small voice, almost drowned out by the wind, came from the front. It was the first time Dione, who had been silent until then, spoke.

"Hah, of course! I'm going to win this race!"

Sweat was beading on Skyk's forehead, and he looked a bit strained, but he was still putting up a strong front, so he must have had some reserve left.

"If that's the case, how far can you keep up?"

"!"

Dione increased her speed even more.

The distance between us widened in an instant.

"Amazingly, Dione still had some reserve power! She's pulling away from the two rookies!"

"I'm not... going all out yet...!"

Skyk also accelerated and desperately tried to keep up.

"Amazingly, even so, the rookies are desperately hanging on!"

"Remarkable. They don't seem like first-year students at all."

"Still not? Then I'll go even faster."

But when Dione saw this, she accelerated again.

"What...!? No way!"

Skyk groaned in shock.

It seemed this was his limit pace, and he finally started to fall behind.

"I... I won't... lose...! Damn it!!"

With a roar of frustration, Skyk was quickly left behind.

"Skyk has finally dropped out of the race for the lead!"

"But it's impressive that he did so well in his first race. He has a bright future ahead."

"...One more is still left."

Dione glanced at me, who was flying beside her.

Her breathing was slightly heavier, but she still looked cool.

"I'm barely hanging on, though."

Even though I had been training every night without fail, I had only been using flight magic for a little over two months.

Dione, on the other hand, must have been doing it for many years, so the difference in experience was clear.

"Dione is increasing her pace and pulling away! Alar is trying to keep up, but he's gradually falling behind! The gap is five meters, no, ten meters!"

"Truly, Dione is impressive. Alar, despite being a rookie, has done well, but it will be difficult to catch up from here."

As the commentator said, Dione's back was gradually getting farther away.

Hmm.

This is tough.

I'm already flying at full speed, and if I keep this up, I'll only fall further behind.

"Can't help it. I'll have to use my trump card."

I suddenly accelerated.

"!? What's happening!? Alar has suddenly accelerated explosively!"

And again.

"Again, he's accelerated!? But just before that, I saw a strange movement...?"

"He... he kicked...! He created a block of air to use as a foothold and kicked it to accelerate!"

Dumbledore's calm commentary voice suddenly grew louder.

As expected of a commentator.

He immediately saw through what I was doing.

I created a block of air at my feet and kicked it with all my might.

This gave me a new burst of propulsion.

"Kicked the air...? Mr. Dumbledore, is that even possible?"

"...It's not impossible, but usually, people don't try it. Because the propulsion gained from it is limited."

"But Alar is accelerating incredibly!"

"That can only mean his leg strength is extraordinary..."

That's right.

Even though I'm using air as a foothold, it's not as solid as the ground, so most of the force is lost.

If not done correctly, the air resistance created by the kick could be greater, potentially even slowing you down.

To accelerate like I did, you need considerable leg strength.

Well, thanks to using my trump card, Dione's back is getting closer again.