1070. The Race(2)
His decision was to hide in the cloud cover and make some distance here. Caleb was already used to the moisture of clouds soaking into his armor, and the cold that snuck in with it. His class gave him the resistance that made it more of a nuisance than a real problem.
Doubting anyone could compete with their altitude, the dragon knight decided to breach the cloud cover and continue above the clouds. He also thought the view would definitely rake in some point for him among the audience.
Like the other contestants, he was followed by a personal little golem eye and wore a body cam, both directly broadcasting his actions to the people at the stadium. And the scene he offered them was phenomenal.
The camera breached the blanket of clouds, showing a world of fluffy golden mountains, illuminated by the burning ball of fire that was the sun-
"Fuck!" interrupted by a curse of the cameraman, as the view panned to what he had just witnessed.
<Skyray lv.89> <Skyray lv.89> <Skyray Progenitor lv.98(Boss)> <Skyray lv.85><Skyray lv.79>...
A massive school of giant rays gliding through the clouds, blotting out the sun. While the audience was in awe at the majestic and terrifying sight, the man on the Wyvern was close to shitting his pants.
Caleb's level was not low, actually, it was a little higher than the progenitor's, but that didn't mean he could compete with a giant monster like that. He might have been able to fight a few normal ones together with his Wyvern, but there was a whole school!
Hurriedly, and as quietly as possible, he signaled his Wyvern to get back below the clouds. he rather took up the fight with the other runners, than with these guys.
...
In the booth, Seth leaned over to Mina and Fin.
"How did you manage to get those guys here?" he whispered with great curiosity. He could have understood it if they had the help of Puffles, Tatzel, or Ceres, but he knew those guys were up to other things.
"They came on their own when we herded their food," Fin said excitedly with a malicious smile.
Their food...? Oh, yeah
....
When Caleb breached the clouds on his way back down, he was greeted by the tragedy of airborne participants. A situation the audience had already been watching in great delight for minutes. Dozens if not hundreds of flying beasts had emerged from the surrounding mountains and viciously decimated their numbers.
People were ripped from their swords, down with their brooms, not many had the maneuverability to evade born birds of prey. Those flying in vehicles or on mountains were still lucky, as they had some advantages that allowed them to fend off one or two.
"Aren't there a bit too many?" Caleb mumbled, witnessing the mayhem unfold. Although mountains were the usual place to find great numbers of beasts capable of flight, their current number and strength had him doubt this was normal.
In a race where you wanted to place as few rules as possible on the participants, one obviously had to think of a way to balance out the unfairness that was flying mounts or flying in general. Minas Mar had solved this in a very simple manner. If you wanted to fly, you had to earn your speed by facing great dangers.
Seeing his competitors locked in battles with swarms of monster birds, giant bats, flying snakes, and winged lizards, Caleb decisively dove down. He wouldn't have any of that, he rather join the people on the ground than take part in this aerial battlefield. Not one moment too late.
Like a harbinger of destruction, he heralded the escalation of the battle. The next scene shown in the stadium was the gray cloud cover above breaking apart like smoke, as the massive skyrays descended, diving for their food.
Had the Wyvern rider lured them down? Did he do it on purpose? Or had the noise of battle attracted the attention of the beasts? Whatever it was, the situation in the skies took a drastic turn as the rays joined the fray, not distinguishing between mounted food and normal food.
Monsters and participants alike were caught by the rows of long barbles hanging from the bellies of the skyrays. These acted like tentacles, grabbing and squeezing pray from the air, before delivering it to their gaping maw at the underside of the monsters.
Minas Mar made the rule that participants were not allowed to kill each other, but at no point was their survival guaranteed. However, none of the participants were weak. Although many lost their mounts and fell from the sky, only a few truly ended up in the belly of monsters or the skyrays.
Like Caleb, they decided to flee to the ground, joining the mob of people, busy finding the fasted land way to the checkpoint of today's stage. They were luckier than the people who suffered a lethal blow or ended up in the bellies of the skyrays, as they found out the second use for the bodycam.
Although Minas Mar didn't guarantee their survival, it didn't mean there were no countermeasures at all. Unbeknownst to the participant, the bodycams were able to create a barrier and block a deadly blow. but this also went along with the camera stopping to work and immediate disqualification.
Having escaped death, loss, and disqualification, Caleb already landed and placed his Wyvern in the pet space, before vanishing taking cover in the dense pockets of coniferous trees that could be found in many of the valleys on the track.
Cursing, he checked the map. At least he had managed to cover a third of the way and was probably slightly ahead of the people who had been running from the start. He was trying to concentrate on his next steps when he heard a crack behind him.
When he turned around with his sword appearing in his hand, a shower of icicles was already upon him. He could barely react to cover his eyes in time before the cold spears struck his armor and arm. The air was pressed out of his lungs and the left arm he used to cover his eyes was pierced by the cutting ice.
<Hailspine Drake lv.87>
"Fuuu..."
Standing between the dense, dark trees stood the sleek snow-white figure of a Drake. It was not big, just two to three meters in height, but its back was covered in icy spikes. Unlike normal drakes, the Hailspine Drake was able to use powerful ice magic and even fire the spines on its back. This was what had just hit him.
The moment he realized what he faced, he ditched, weaving between trees for cover. These woods would hardly block any of the attacks. Even his epic armor was damaged and pierced by the attack, what could a few trees do? he wasn't in the state to fight this thing.
Running and dodging, he fumbled a potion from his inventory and downed it. His HP was quickly recovering and he felt relieved as the pain in his arm receded. He could face the drake on his own, but his chances didn't look as good as he would have liked. He had to get out of the dense forest and summon the Wyvern.
Waves of magic came flying from behind as the drake took chase, barreling through the wood like they were not even there. At least, with his arm healed, he was able to equip his shield and block the attacks that came from behind.
He ran and stumbled, disrupted by the impacts of icicles from the back. But the edge of the woods was so close, he would be able to make it! As long he made it-
He stumbled, he fell, he rolled, and- A deafening roar filled his ears as his Wyvern appeared above him and obliterated the small forest with its breath.
Caleb survived the encounter- this time.