The race has reached its halfway point. Besides the intense race, out here things might have gone overboard.
When we were at the 15 km mark all the students agreed to use the overhead screen. It was a large tv screen that is only used for movies when large numbers of people are watching.
This allowed everyone in the room to come watch the tight race.
To make it worse, several older kids were part of the journalist club and wrote the news for the school. They called their members and were now acting as commentator for this game.
Things have seriously gone overboard.
"This is the journalist club’s Idol reporter speaking. Currently we are in the dormitory of the top 20 of the school. Specifically the gaming hall were the most unexpected phenomenon is going on. The ranks 2, 3,4 and 5 of this years first graders have just turned the game Monster karts War: Battle for the Throne into a real warzone. All of them have already surpassed the games highest recorded speed of 145 km/h and are already breaching the 200s. In first place is the prince of Elunia, Prince Asher with his skeleton in the Death kart. Following close behind is the mysteriously powerful fifth rank Kuroko Ginshiro in her unorthodox slime speedstar. After her is the elf princess, princess Stephanie with her sapling in Nature’s Wheels. Finally in last place is the demon prince, prince Owen who is using an imp in his kart, the Buggy Buggy. They have just passed the halfway mark and are approach the asphalt." The girl narrated.
Like she said, the second half will be on asphalt and the kart's forms and wheels will need to change to work correctly. Unlike the forest that had many twists and turns the proper roads were straighter and cuts through the mountains.
I was looking through my mind to find the appropriate racing car form. What was in my mind was the Lamborghini and the traditional F1 race car.
For now I haven't had to constantly feed mana into the kart to fuel it but that will change. Any faster will surpass the slimes mana regeneration and will spend more.
Everyone was on each others tail with me in second place.
This is bad because...I WILL NOT DO BELLADONA-SENSEI'S TRAINING WITH HER BEING SERIOUS!
With my sudden burst in rage two slime tentacles appear from the side on the slimes body.
"Ah, it seems Kuroko-chan is about to attack, slimes that have no physical strength can't damage the others except with traps, I wonder what she will do?!" The journalist girl shouting making the crowd cheer.
By the way, this is being broadcast. Seems they got special permission to do so since our race is beyond a simple game now.
I look around and finally spot that I want. With one tentacle I shot forward to grab a rock on the road and rip it out of the ground, then pulling it close while spinning it.
"AMAZING!! Using a slime's elasticity the mysterious silver beauty has made a flail with a rock or even a sling!" She shouted.
It was similar to that. Any good mario karts fan should know what I am doing.
I set the tentacle to spin around my kart automatically while I take controls of the other one and grab another rock and set it up the same way. Finally I make one last tentacle and grab a thick rock and have it spin.
Yep, I copied the mario kart turtle shell attack.
Shield while spinning around me but something I can launch.
The spinning keeps the two behind me from approaching carelessly.
"Hahah, Kuroko, what are you doing, aren't you slowing yourself down by holding those rocks?!" Asher laughed while bit by bit he got further from me.
"Only if you can dodge this!" I said with a grin and gave the order.
On que the rock that was spinning forward was released at its max strength and tossed forward and smashed into the back of the skeleton car.
"Amazing!! Using the rocks to block the others while attacking her opponent in front!! Is she smart or is this just some trick by chance?!!" The narrator shouted railing the crowd.
"OI OI!! THAT's DANGEROUS!! Let's stop that!" He said and pushed mana in.
Instantly the flames in his wheels blared and began to leave a fire field behind him. It quickly affected Stephanie but that ended quickly because she countered.
"stop that Asher!!" She shouted and attacked. What she did was control the trees around the track and make them swing at the burning kart.
We swerved around the incoming tree trunks making us slow down allowing her to close in, but I wasn't about to let her.
I aimed and when the rock was right at the peak to shoot at her I let it go and it slammed right into her left front wheel. Her wheel was smashed and the kart's front hit the ground and flipped violently allowing Owen to pass while she had to flip back the kart.
"OHH! The elf princess took a huge hit! She might not recover from that at this speed. That destruction rock-sling-of-doom from rank five was devastating to no end." The shout came and the crowd responded.
With the trees stopped hindering the road I grabbed three more rocks and spun all three before tossing all at max speed at Asher. He dodged two but the last one hit his skeleton on the back of the head making the kart swerve and making him lose enough speed for me to pass.
"Hahaha, a petting huggy and no intense training, this is nice!" I said out loud.
"Don't forget about me now. Let's pull out my guns now." Owen said as he pushed mana in.
His car suddenly shook as the body rose a bit and the axis pushed the wheels out from under the kart.
The wheels were made from demon bug carapace and was made from six folded in sections of round carapace.
The mana flows into the wheels and these folded sections opened up making a perfectly round bug carapace wheel.
He quickly gained speed because the bigger wheels had more area. He passed Asher and got to second place.
At that moment we broke through the forest and right into asphalt heading towards the coastal area.
"Ehehehe, time for asphalt mode." I said.
"Not letting you!!" Owen shouted and rammed his kart into mine making me spin out of control and the two boys passing.
"OH!! And both girls are out! With the speed there is no way to catch up! Its a shame but the bet they made has been sealed!!" The girl shouted but I was far from done...
The big tires on the slime spun violently as the slime spun and raced off towards the two leaving burn marks behind.
As I reached max speed of 190 km/h I activated the transformation.
The front axis spread out again and the wheels inflated until it was half the size of the back ones which shrank to the same size. The body then changed to that of an F1 race car and formed a small wing on the back.
As soon as the wing was formed a message appeared on my screen and the large overview.
Form has surpassed Slime's max mana regeneration. Gear 8 achieved. Requires constant flow of mana as fuel. Please load mana now.
I quickly pull my hand back and form a constant flow to my hand and touch the controller.
Behind me was an uproar.
"G-G-Gear 8!!! The legendary gear 8 has appeared!!!" The girl shouted at the top of her lungs. "For those who don't know. Gear 8 is the fastest anyone will ever get in this race. It's not stuck to the monster but the rider. In other words, what we will see is Kuroko's MAX SPEED!!! Also just know that it's monstrously rare to achieve Gear 8 and the previous record holder was one that achieved it." The girl explained and when she finished the yells of the crowd was deafening.
The extreme boost eat up at my mana but even with all we used, it didn't pass 500 mp since it was small boosts to shift gears.
If I had to say it properly the game was sucking up about 2 mp/s but the return is massive.
Reaching 280 km/h I cut through the asphalt and rapidly approach the two idiots.
In a hurry I send out three tentacles that quickly grab some rocks and start spinning them.
I don't throw them. I have no need to because as soon as I get in range the rocks slam with scary force into Owen's side making him lose control for a moment. Closing the distance just as fast the second and third rock hit Asher's rear right wheel and the right side of the boner kart.
He instantly lost control and spun around until the momentum took its course and the kart began flipping. To make it worst for him, this was near a turn so as he's flipping about, the kart fell off the cliff to the depths of who knows where.
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"I-INCREDIBLE!! THE POWER OF THIS YEARS FIRST GRADER RANK 5 IS INCREDIBLE!!" the journalist girl shouted bringing a roar from the crowd.
The two boys have completely lost, both cars were made from specific materials that they didn't have access to here unlike me and Stephanie.
Speaking of her…
BOOM
I should have watched out. From the underbrush next to the road the sapling burst out a wooden kart. The thorny vines that make up the wheels fall off and smooth ones take its place as it falls on the road and turns to race.
The kart had a new model now that seem to mimic my own.
"Copy cat!" I yelled at the elf princess that was grinning.
"There is no copying, I am just putting into practice what I just learned." She replied with a smug look. The speed was similar and it was the curves that slowed us down.
Still, she copied the look but not the design. I bet her wing doesn't have the proper function of helping speeding her up.
We raced along the coastal highways until finally the roads head inland. Far in the distance we could see a small town and the finish line.
I increase the mana output as does Stephanie.
We are pretty much neck to neck but I grin.
"It was a good game but I won't lose" I said.
The next second I change the angle of the wing and my speed increases like during the straight road dashes in F1 Races.
Because we are using so much mana we can't attack so all she could do was pump more mana but in the end I finish first with her just a quarter of a second behind me.
There was a huge roar and applause for the game. Those from our grade came over and started complimenting us.
It was then that I saw a pointy eared princess sneaking away. In moments I was behind her and I grabbed her shoulder while grinning like the devil.
"Where do you think you're going, hug pillow, hehehe." I said while giggling.
She slowly looked back with a forced smile and her face covered in sweat.
"Hehe...I...was going to...the bathroom. he...he." She replied while trying to flee.
"But everyone wants to thank us for the fun match. Come on." I said while pulling her back into the crowd.
"And this ends the greatest game of Monster Kart Wars. We hope to see it some other time, thanks for watching and have a great Sunday!" The journal girl finished up and cheered with the rest.
"Hey, that was awesome, when you guys play again make sure to call us because it's a major scoop for such an awesome game." She said after coming over to us and thanking us.
"It's no biggie. I never thought a video game would make such a big ruckus though?" I replied.
"Monster Kart Wars is one of the most popular because you use your own mana to boost some features. It's a fun game that can help you grow your mana capacity when you use it. Also, you can learn a few monster rank ups from it so even the monster studies teacher would suggest playing a few times." She said. "Also, it's really awesome to see monsters fighting it out on karts. The simple fact that it seems so unlikely makes it so much fun." She continued.
"But, if this game is something that would be based off what is possible in real life then can't this game be made into a real sport that tamers could participate in?" I asked curiously.
At my words the room fell into a silence as everyone looks at me with their jaws hanging.
"What?" I asked?
"YOU GUYS GO FIND THE 14 YEAR OLD TAMERS AND THE DUNGEONEERS! WE HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR THIS YEAR's PROJECT!!!" The journalist yelled making several kids run out.
"W-wait, w-what project?" I asked.
"The year project is something everyone helps with. It can be small stuff or it could be something big. The idea you just said is huge. Tamers don't have a real place besides taming pets to sell or catching monsters for heavy work force. This is the first time someone suggested a sport for this class. Many people have pets but it's mostly for combat. If this game catches on then it's possible we could make a real sport from this." Owen said
My jaw drops to the ground and to make it worse this suddenly popped up.
You have gained a new titleSlime ManipulatorBy playing a game you have unlocked the true potential of a slime and by showed it to the world. Your skills at manipulating them is so vast that even they would recognize you as a being that would make them stronger and could use them to their full potential.
From now on, all slimes are friendly towards you and will follow your order without resistance or with the need of taming.
You can now easily teach even wild slimes as if they were tamed and should you order it, they will serve someone you choose.
I couldn't help it, to gain a title for something like this.
When I looked, the other three had similar expressions. Because everyone was talking about the project we would do.
"Hey, it's not just me right? One who got a title ?!" I asked urgently.
"I got one as well" Owen said.
The other two nodded as well.
"What kind of title makes you so liked by monsters that even skeletons would be nice to me just to get stronger." Asher said with an expression showing his confusion.
"Doesn't your royal dungeon deal with a lot of them. Then that means we just gained the title for the creatures that best represent our dungeons. My families dungeon's main smartest monster are plant based and most are born as Saplings." Stephanie said.
"So we got a title that makes it easy for us to manipulate the creature that is the base of our knowledge as a whole. Wow!" Asher said with surprise. Suddenly a grin appeared on his face which showed he was planning something. "Hey while they plan out their project, lets focus on our dungeons when they are finally placed and create the creature we have the title for." He said with a wide grin.
"So I will make a slime dungeon...thats a bit..." I said with a frown.
"Really, I would have thought it would end up one of the strongest. Especially when you use mimic slimes. With organic race mimics you can have all the races while still only using slimes. Also I have been wondering but, don't mimics split?" Stephanie asked.
My eyes widened a bit and I thought a long while.
"I don't think they split since if the nucleus is to be split then the intelligence is also cut which is probably why slimes don't naturally have it. Once I have a dungeon I will test it out." I said with a nod.
They nodded in agreement.
Just as we were about to split up. The grim reaper of the boys appeared behind them.
"So you kids were so interested in training seriously with me that you played a game to decide who would do so first. My my, I don't know if I should be happy or angry." A sudden voice suddenly interrupted their talk.
We slowly looked behind while shivering.
In front of us was a seriously pissed off amazon with the veins on her forehead popping out and her face in a scowl that would make even an elder dragon cower.
"The only reason I won't drag you all is because you are too young and all of you would die from my serious training regime. But let me tell you this. You three will be joining Kuroko in reinforced PE and once I know you all will survive you will all see what an amazon warrior goes through to gain our power." Belladona-sensei said in an absolute zero tone that froze everyone in place.
The normal view of the gentle teacher was utterly destroyed and only a being worse than the devil himself was left.
After she said that she left the room, most likely heading to the headmaster's office to condemn them but before that a certain lizard brained being said.
"Hey hey, Sensei! I want to join too! I don't want to be left behind!!!." Said the dragonoid princess with sparkling eyes.
Sensei only looked at her before nodding and leaving.
Everyone was in disbelief at the girl but soon the looks of pity were all aimed at us.
We could only sit down lifeless as our lives were forfeited to the demonic creature that would probably take us to hell and back.