CHAPTER 6 - THE TUTORIAL RACES - PART 3

Juluis found himself back in the racing nexus garage. Only to be suspended in the air five feet off the ground. The clown car came crashing with a thud as it hit the ground. The right front fell off from the impact.

“Well there goes the last wheel,” Juluis signed to himself.

He climbed out of the destroyed clown car looking at it in frustration. The car was a junk pile.

Sighing Juluis wasted no time pulling up the nexus garage menu. He scrolled through the screen a bit looking for the repair option. He eventually found it.

“Repair to 100% durability. Y/N?” A message said in front of him. He hit Y.

“Repair cost will be 5,000 credits or you can use the free repair from rewards.”

Juluis chose the second option for the reward. The clown car glowed brightly as it repaired all the damage and replaced every broken part. He was amazed at how fast the process lasted.

After selecting the choice he was reminded he should check his other notifications for achievements and rewards. He pulled up the notification menu to see the new rewards and achievements.

Juluis first checked his notifications. He had a look of shock from the amount of credits he had earned. He had gained 10,000 credits for finishing first, another 7,000 for clean racing, and another 5,000 for finishing the race. He also was awarded a 2x credit bonus from the “Mr Curtuois” title for clean racing

He was a little surprised at getting the 5,000 credit bonus for finishing the race. He wasn't sure how his rear axle counted.

The total credit count came out to 44,000 credits. His total credit count now was 75,000.

A few other notifications told him he failed the objectives for this race for the xp bonus. He had failed to finish the race without totaling his car. He was disappointed at that.

He only gained 1xp for the win at least.

Juluis next scrolled through the achievements.

Checkers or Wreckers - achievement awarded for winning a race with a damaged car.

Reward - 1xp

Redlining - achievement awarded for redlining for more than a minute

Reward - 1xp

A “part” of winning - achievement awarded for winning a race with a car part crossing the finish line first

Reward - If a player gets totalled in a normal race. They have the option to have their car fully repaired with all stats cut by half.

The last achievement made Juluis raise his brows. Well this is good i can continue a race, even if i have only half the power for the car….

After accepting the achievements and rewards. Juluis decided he needed a break as he began to yawn. He was getting tired and needed some rest. He got up and made his way over the bedroom in his racing nexus for a quick power nap.

Julius woke up and gathered some food as he prepared for the next race. He ate as he sat next to the terminal looking at the next event. He debated if he should buy the big lemon for the next event. He ended up talking himself out of it after deciding to save what credits he had for better options later.

Juluis looked at the new event and found he would be facing off in a point to point normal race where the environment changed from land, sea, and then to air. The race was set to be easy with each section lasting ten miles each.

Juiuis had a concerned look after reading the event. He had briefly looked into the event when looking around at all the possible options, but paid no attention to it. He wasn’t sure how he was going to drive on water or fly into the air. He decided to look into the event under more helpful information. He was surprised to see he could see what the transformations of the vehicles would look like. The clown car would turn into a blimp and boat respectfully.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

The boat version had the front end turned into a small bow with the pie cannon attached on top. While the driver's compartment nearly tte same with just a flat roof. The rear had pulled back with tge windup key sticking in the water. Finally the wheels had all been replaced with rudders.

The blimp was just as confusing with the top having the pie cannon fused into the center of the blimp head. The driver's compartment and rear were all in one section turned into a gondola with the wind up key as the propeller.

Juluis got into the clown car as he selected the next event as he was portalled away…

Honestly this one should be more fun. I can’t wait to use the clown car as a boat and blimp.

Juluis found himself sitting at another starting grid with the same vehicles from the previous two races. He was starting in eighth again. He scanned the surrounding environment and there wasn't much to look at. The land part of the race drove through a densely packed forest on a four lane highway with bumps and obstacles in the way.

So much for a hard challenge. I wonder what the sea part will be like as well as the air? Juluis thought to himself.

He was interrupted with a warning message saying he had a minute to get ready, along with his vehicle bonus. Looking at the message he was disappointed the random stat choice was the weight. The clown car’s weight was dropped from light to very light.

Well hopefully the weight can give me an advantage flying or boating.

The timer ticked away as Juluis did his last minute checks before the race started. The lights on the starting grid turned from red to green as he floored it with the others. Juluis was quick to overtake the others as he pulled his way up into third as the land segment went on.

Not much occurred for Juluis as he navigated his way in the jungle highway. He had a few close calls with obstacles and bumps. A few times he had to let off the gas as he collided with barriers or bumps. The car took minimal damage, leaving it at 95% as he pulled up to the sea part of the race.

Juluis pulled off the gas as he was reaching the next portion of the race. The jungle highway turned into a wide river as he approached. He marveled at the site but was scared to drive onto the water. He quickly ignored his fear as he saw one of his opponent’s vehicles turn into a boat as it drove right onto the water. The result was instantaneous.

Screw this. I can’t be chickening out if I want to get out of this racing sim.

Juluis floored it as he drove from the asphalt onto the water. The clown car immediately turned into a boat. The car transformed before his eyes in a flash.

The front of the car stretched into a small bow. The rear of the car extented with tge wind up key into the water. It spun as Juluis hit the gas. The wheels all transformed into different rudders for steering.

The change was so sudden, Juluis almost lost control as the controls also switched. He still had the steering wheel, but there was now a boat throttle on his right of the wheel. He was able to gain control over the clown car boat, after messing with it a bit, but it had cost him two positions as he was now driving down the river. Things got more hazardous as the river went. The current first started off slow and steady in a straight path, only getting faster and narrower winding its way around bends as the miles dragged on. The river was clear of any obstacles, only to have more things get in the way. Such as rocks, trees, fallen logs, etc.

Juluis had to go slow and make split second choices as he had to thread the needle multiple times. About three fourths of the way, he unfortunately ended up doing major damage doing one such attempt. The clown car’s top speed, acceleration, and durability had taken a major decrease from the hit. He was trying to dodge a tree and ended up hitting a rock head-on with the boat car.

The resulting damage dropped the top speed to 75 mph, with the acceleration too slow. His durability had taken the worst. Dropping it to 75% from the head on collision.

Julius had more close calls with a few hits as well as the tenth mile approached. The water only got faster as the river continued to narrow. A few spots had rapids that Juiluis had to jump over with timing.

Juluis was getting tired of the river as he hung on. He was alerted to a noise that was deafening as he got closer to the ten mile mark. It got louder as he tried to make it out. Juluis glanced around for the noise as he kept on rounding a few corners with the river. Finally, he could see what the noise was coming from after going around the final bend. To his horror, the river ended at a cliff base with a ramp. Juluis tried to hit the brakes on the boat as it went over the ramp. The clown car boat flew into the air sending Juluis falling torwards the endless abyss below…

Juluis could only scream as the clown car boat plummeted, but for only a second as it began to change.

The bow of the clown car shifted skywards, growing bigger and bigger, turning into a football shape, with tge pie cannon sticking out from the middle. At the same time the rear of the boat and driver’s compartment shifted together to form a gondola. The windup key now acted as the propeller as Juluis could only gawk, finding himself in a blimp.

Julius had to fiddle with the new changes to the clown car blimp. The steering wheel remained as he was able to control the path of the blimp. The throttle to boat was still there, but it now had a new purpose. Instead of decreasing and increasing speed. It lowered his ascent and descent. Deducting all the changes he hit the gas pedal that was still on the floor and the blimp sped up.

Juluis let out a sigh after getting adjusted. He looked over the current condition of the clown car as a blimp. The top speed had been nicked down to 65 mph, with acceleration still stuck at slow. The durability was at 60% from taming the river.

Now he had to deal with the sky part of the race. He flew towards a giant square box thing in the sky that had to be a mile across. The edges of the box had what looked to Juluis like some sort of black hole surrounding it. Things were randomly getting sucked into the outer part of the square while the inside remained unchanged.

Juluis sighed as he approached the box wondering what he would face as he looked back to see the river behind him flow into an endless abyss. The farther he flew, he could see more of the landscape from behind. It was an outline of the jungle stretching across an endless cliff face.

He looked one last time before flying into the box. The air race was even more difficult as the winds ended up picking up the further he went. Weather was also thrown into the mix making it a challenge as the box also narrowed in with the remaining miles.

Juluis managed to deal with the air part easier as nothing damaged the blimp. Although there had been times he was rocked violently side to side. Once he hit his head, from the turbulence. He managed to pass everyone up to second before crossing the finish line in the sky. He was frustrated he didn’t win. He just sighed as he waited for the race to end as a timer counted to three before he was teleported back to the nexus.

If I hadn’t taken that head on collision with that stupid rock I could have won. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. Juluis thought stepping out of the clown car,

He looked at the battered car as he pulled up the terminal to fix it. He hit yes as he had to pay 5,000 credits to repair it. It left him with 70,000 in credits. He watched as it repaired itself quickly of missing parts and removed all the damage. After fixing the car he checked his notifications and achievements.