"It's flying! It's really flying! Holy—amazing!"
"Completely independent of wind currents! This beats Wind Wings by a mile!"
The audience erupted in cheers as they watched Shen Qin ascend on his flying skateboard. The excitement only intensified when they saw him disregard the wind currents and head straight for the checkpoint.
At the start, Shen Qin didn't push the hoverboard to its full potential. If he unleashed its maximum capabilities right away, the competition would lose all suspense. What would keep the other participants motivated to finish the race?
After all, Shen Qin wasn't here to disrupt the race. He wanted the Flying Competition to serve as a grand showcase for his flying skateboard, not ruin the event entirely.
High in the air, Liben, perched in a hot air balloon, gave a play-by-play of the race.
"Alright! Shen Qin is taking the lead! The flying device under his feet is his latest invention—the hoverboard! But right behind him, Amber is accelerating! She's passed through one, two, three wind rings, maximizing her speed! Coming up in third is…"
"Oh! Stanley in third place has been overtaken! And it's a newcomer—Nikola! Nikola was one of the favorites even before the race started. Rumor has it he once leapt off Starcatcher Cliff and flew all the way to Windwatch Mountain using Wind Wings. Seems like the rumors were true! Nikola! Nikola!"
"Oh! Wait! What's going on at the back of the pack? Are those two contestants hugging? This is a race, not a date, go explode! Oh, it's two male contestants? Well, that's even stranger! I refuse to believe they just bumped into each other and started hugging. That's clearly premeditated!"
The crowd roared with laughter as Liben's exaggerated commentary filled the air. Meanwhile, the two entangled contestants stumbled their way through the first checkpoint—only to crash spectacularly moments later.
"All the racers have now passed the first checkpoint! They've formed three distinct groups: the first tier includes Shen Qin with hoverboard, Amber the Outrider, behind her, Nicola the rising star, Stanley the legendary adventurer, and Little Flyer from the Treasure Hoarders." (T/N: In the raw, Little Flyer is named PPan so…. Yep)
"In the second tier, we have our seasoned competitors, trailing just behind the leaders and ready to overtake at any moment."
"And in the third tier are the first-timers. These newcomers are still unfamiliar with the race, their movements less fluid than the veterans. But that's okay! By the next race, they'll be seasoned pros, climbing into the second tier. Who knows? Maybe we'll see a dark horse emerge from among them this time. Let's root for them to keep pushing forward!"
"Some of you might be wondering, how did a Treasure Hoarder like Little Flyer even get into this race? Well, he's still technically a prisoner in Mondstadt. But his lifelong dream has been to compete in the Gliding Competition, so the Knights of Favonius made an exception. After the race, he'll be heading back to prison… to sew clothes for everyone!"
Another wave of laughter erupted from the crowd.
Amber, oblivious to the noise around her, focused entirely on the figure ahead of her. Despite pushing her speed to the limit, there was always a gap between her and Shen Qin.
'Faster. I need to go faster!'
The Vision on her belt began to glow faintly.
Boom!
A burst of flame erupted beneath her feet, propelling her forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom…
Hearing the commotion behind him, Shen Qin turned his head out of curiosity. Seeing Amber's determined expression as she used elemental energy to accelerate, he nearly cursed aloud.
"Holy—" Catching himself, he immediately increased his speed, widening the gap once more.
"Go, Sister Amber! Brother Shen!" Klee cheered, bouncing up and down. She didn't care if they could hear her—everyone around her was doing the same, after all!
"Amber really lives up to her title as last year's champion! She's so much faster than Stanley and the others!"
"But that Shen Qin is even faster!"
"It must be the hoverboard! He doesn't have to rely on wind currents like Amber does. Look at her—she has to detour through wind rings to speed up. If it were a straight path, she might not lose!"
From his elevated position, Liben delivered his dramatic commentary: "Amber is accelerating again! She's closing in on Shen Qin—but wait, she's slowing down. It seems there's a sharp turn ahead! If she doesn't slow down, she'll miss the current entirely! But Shen Qin isn't slowing down! Does he not realize there's a sharp turn ahead? Beyond that turn, is the city wall!"
Shen Qin remained laser-focused, only decelerating at the last moment before the turn. With a swift maneuver, he executed a flawless drift, seamlessly transitioning to the new route.
Whoa!!!
The audience went wild. They had never seen anyone take a turn like that before!
"What the—did you all witness that?!" Liben shouted, over-the-top as always. "Shen Qin's speed barely dropped, yet he safely navigated that sharp turn! His flight path—it's a perfect arc! At this moment, I only have one word to describe it: phenomenal!"
"Holy cow! That flying board or the hoverboard is incredible! It can even pull off moves like that!"
"My mom asked why I was kneeling while watching the Gliding Competition…"
"This kind of flight? Not even ten wind rings could match it!"
Just as the audience was still reeling from the flying skateboard's stunning performance, Liben's voice rang out again: "Wait! What's Little Flyer doing? He's not slowing down either! But he's using Wind Glider, not the hoverboard! Does he intend to pull off Shen Qin's move!"
"He's heading straight for the wall—wait, a wind current! He's created a new wind current with a Windcatcher! He's flying over the wall —huh?! he's escaping!"
Gasp—
The crowd erupted in shock.
"The city wall is guarded by knights, but Little Flyer is too high up! They can't reach him! What now? Are we really going to let him escape?"
"Oh —Shen Qin just turned around! Is he chasing Little Flyer? Amber's turning around too! If anyone in the Knights can catch up to Little Flyer using the Wind Glider, it's Amber, the Outrider!"
"Shen Qin is accelerating! His speed is now at least twice as fast as before!" Liben adjusted his hot air balloon, heading toward the city wall. "Amber has landed on the wall. She's created a wind current with a Windcatcher and is preparing to pursue—but she's given up! Shen Qin has already caught up to Little Flyer! He seems to have destroyed Little Flyer's Wind Glider. Little Flyer has fallen into Dawn Winery Lake and is now completely trapped. The knights have already sent a boat to retrieve him!"
Whoa!!!
The audience burst into applause and cheers.
"Amber has now returned to the track, but she's fallen back to the third tier. Shen Qin is also heading back. Can they catch up to the front-runners? Let's wait and see!"
Meanwhile, Stanley and Nicola, now in first and second place, weren't happy at all. Though they were leading, all eyes were on the two who had briefly left the race.
Curse that Little Flyer!