2 months later...
The race was finally about to begin. Ben and the girls head to the capital to join it. He registered last week and today was the day of the Grand Magic Prix.
Ben modified his car to suit the race better. He removed the weapons on front because they're too low and would make it harder for off-road tracks. He also used air suspension now and also installed a booster like NOS.
He didn't go overboard and only changed a few parts. This was his first race, so he wanted to know how it worked. This race was free, so he could always rejoin it next year.
Team Ben went to meet up with Joseph. The girls would watch from the stands with Joseph while Ben raced alone. Racing was dangerous, so he wasn't going to bring the girls with him.
Bella was whining to participate, but Ben wouldn't change his mind. Joseph informed him that racers had died in the past due to accidents. His odds of survival would increase if he raced alone.
Bella finally agreed to let him compete alone after Ben bribed her with a lot of milk from the capital. He asked Joseph to buy all types of milk from the capital. With Joseph's power as a big merchant, he could get all kinds of milk for Bella.
So now, he could race without any worries. He went to his paddock garage to make his final preparations before the race started. Every racer got their own garage to park their vehicles in before the race.
Ben walked past other garages where racers were preparing their vehicles. Many of them are from guilds or have a professional team. Only a few came alone, like Ben.
He registered in the race as an independent racer, not a guild. Roubaul didn't allow him to join as a guild, so Ben joined as an independent racer.
He entered his garage and checked on his car. The other racers and teams were looking at him because he is still a kid. They wondered why a kid like him would participate in the race.
But there's no rule regarding age, so they can't complain. Besides, they also learned how to race at a young age. It's just that Ben was alone and without a team.
"Oi kid, where's your team?" One racer asked. This racer was a man with a professional team.
"There is no team. I'm competing alone." Ben answered.
"Alone? But you seem to be from a guild." Another racer pointed out after seeing the guild insignia on his forearm.
"My guild master didn't allow us to join the competition, so I'm participating independently. Besides, this is my car, so I can do what I want." Ben said lightly.
"You are quite a rebel, I like it. I'm Raymond Seina from the Bolt Racing Team." The man introduced himself while offering a handshake.
'Raymond from the Bolt Racing Team. That sounds familiar.' Ben thought.
"I'm Ben Cooper, a new racer." Ben shakes Raymond's hand.
"How old are you, little guy?" Raymond asked.
"I'm 12 and a half now." Ben answered.
"12 years old?! I just started learning about magic vehicles when I was 12 years old. I couldn't even drive it because my magic power was low back then. You must've gotten a lot of magic power to drive a magic vehicle at your age." Raymond praised him.
"You could say that." Ben responded.
"Have you raced before?" Raymond asked.
"No, this would be my first time." He admitted.
"Oh. Well, what should I say? Enjoy the race and be careful." Raymond said.
"Yeah, thanks for the reminder." Ben thanked him for the advice.
Raymond returned to his garage and let Ben continue his work. Ben did a few minor checks on his car to make sure it's ready for the race. He was done checking after 10 minutes.
Then Ben donned his safety gear like clothes, shoes, gloves and a helmet. Safety was his priority, so he designed and made this stuff. He even installed some safety mechanisms in his car like airbags and fire extinguishers.
The other teams looked at him strangely because of his safety gear. They had never seen this stuff before and they thought the designs were strange. They also had safety gear, but it wasn't as strange as Ben's.
Well, their standards are different. Ben watched racers on Earth and their safety gears was modeled after what he's wearing. So Ben doesn't consider it to be strange, but cool instead.
The race finally began after an hour. The racers head to the starting line with their vehicles. Now Ben can see the various vehicles, mainly cars and bikes. Their designs and sizes varied too.
Some racers also had a navigator in their vehicle. Their tracks will be a little difficult, so they need a navigator's help. But Ben doesn't have a navigator. It would just cause him to worry about the navigator's safety.
There's no qualification round to decide the starting position. It is based on the registration number. Ben gets number 24 from 33 racers, so he is in the back row.
The host announces the racer's names to the audience. Then when he announced Raymond's name, the audience started to cheer. The MC then says that Raymond won the race 5 years in a row.
Now Ben remembered him. He won 5 races in a row and several other races. Well, it didn't matter to him, because he knew other racers had more experience than him.
After the host finished announcing all the racers, the race would start. The host starts a countdown and the racers get ready. Ben also shifted his car's gear to first gear to start the race.
"3! 2! 1! Start!" The host starts the race.
Ben immediately hit the gas and so did the other racers. The starting track is still normal with a long straight line. Ben had a advantage because his car is really fast.
He drove fast and overtakes many racers in front of him. When the long straight line ended after 1 km, Ben had reached 5th position. His car's engine was the best among these vehicles, so he is the fastest in a straight line.
The track now followed the city's narrow road with many curves and intersections. Here, the racer's skill really came in handy. So now some racers behind Ben started to overtake him.
When they leave the city road, Ben is in 8th position. He successfully overtakes a few racers who overtook him. Now the race track was the wide highway, but the ground was soil.
"So it's a rally now." Ben said.
Ben drove his car fast and moved forward in position. He overtakes several racers and was now in 4th. But the 3 racers in front of him are really fast. They used an old model, but it can still drive fast. It meant their magic power is high and their vehicles are special.
Among the 3 racers was Raymond, who was in 1st position. Ben kept 4th position from his competitors. 3 people managed to keep up with his car's speed on the highway.
"They're really good." Ben said.
The track then moved to a open area without any road. The terrain was rocky with a lot of sandy areas, like a desert. There are no people here, and the racers were viewed through a lacrima vision held by a tamed flying wyvern.
On this rocky terrain, the race started to become barbaric. Some racers used their vehicles to hit the other's vehicles. Some weak vehicles were destroyed and those racers lost. This wasn't against the rules, so it was permitted.
"So these are the 'accidents', huh? Interesting." Ben said with a smirk on his face.