Chapter 73 - The Race "Hmm, I wanted to give you a chance but since you said you’re leaving then alright, bye," Gustav said and turned around. "Eh? When did I say that?" Angy said with a frantic look as she reached out to grab him. "I thought you were leaving?" Gustav turned around with a look of confusion. "No, I’m not leaving, please give me a chance," Angy said with a pleading look. Gustav chuckled internally after seeing her reaction. "Alright then," Gustav said with a solemn look. "Your Bloodline grants you speed right?" Gustav asked. Angy nodded in affirmation. "If you can beat me in a race, I’ll let you join me during the night patrols," Gustav proposed. Angy eyes slightly widened, "Beat you in a race?" she questioned with a doubt. "Yes, if you cannot do this then I’m afraid you can’t work with me," Gustav crossed his arms and leaned his back against his door while waiting for her response. "But... This is unfair, you’re obviously faster than I am," Angy said with a crestfallen look. "Then you won’t be of much help since I can do what you’re supposed to be good at, better than you can," Gustav said and proceeded to turn around once again. "Wait... I agree!" Angy quickly stopped him before he headed in. Gustav smirked while facing the door before turning around. His face had returned to its usual aloofness after turning to face Angy. "Good... Remember, if you lose, you mustn’t disturb me about joining me to observe the neighborhood," Gustav stated with a solemn voice. "Hnm," Angy nodded in response. "Good, let’s go!" Gustav said and proceeded to walk forward. "Where are we going?" Angy asked. "Just follow me!" Gustav said with a commanding tone. Angy complied and followed Gustav. - Some minutes later, Gustav and Angy had arrived at the sparse forest area behind the neighborhood. They stood in a particular spot where small trees could be seen scattered around. Gustav finally stopped walking when he arrived in between two trees that were spaced apart by fifty feet. "We will be racing to that tree over there!" Gustav pointed at a particular tree ahead that was more than fifteen meters tall. It was one of the tallest trees around here so even though it was a bit far, it could still be seen clearly. Their current distance from here to there was over two thousand meters. "The first to touch that tree wins!" Gustav exclaimed. "Alright," Angy answered and got into a running stance. Gustav had remembered that Angy’s speed before she got to the Zulu rank was around forty feet per second. So he believed that even though she had gotten to the Zulu rank she should at most have increased by two times. Which meant it would still take her more than a minute to get there while he only needed to activate dash and he would be able to arrive at the tree before one minute was up. [New Quest has been issued] [Race Angy without activating a speed-related ability] ’What the heck is this?’ Gustav stared at the notification with a puzzled look. ’Why now of all times? Is the system trying to shit on my head?’ Gustav couldn’t understand the reason behind this sudden quest even though he tried. If he decided to try completing the quest he would be using his normal speed and at the moment he had no idea about Angy’s current speed. There was no way to figure out if he was faster or not. ’I can’t lose this race and risk her coming along with me every night,’ Gustav pondered with a slightly worried look. "Is everything alright?" Angy asked from the side after noticing that Gustav kept staring forward weirdly. "Yes, are you ready?" Gustav asked. "Hnm," Angy replied with a small nod. "On the count of three," Gustav also got into a running stance. He crouched his knees a little as his face looked a bit more serious than it used to. "One!" He started counting. "Two!" He stared forward at the tree ahead with concentration. "Three!" Immediately Gustav called out the third number both their bodies bolted forward with extreme speed. Zwwosshh! Zwwosshh! Their bodies blurred slightly as they traveled across the sparse forest region. In one movement they had both crossed seventy feet, causing mild winds to generate from their body movement as they streaked past small trees. They streaked past trees like phantoms getting closer to the goal as seconds passed. Both of them were currently moving at the same amount of speed. Angy was surprised that she was able to keep up with Gustav as they raced. She moved slightly to the left as she ran, dodging a tree that was formerly in her path. Swerve! Swerve! Just like her, Gustav had to dodge several small trees on his path but even with that, no one had surpassed the other in distance after running for fifteen seconds. Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Their tapping footsteps could be heard as they fiercely ran across the forest causing small clouds of dust and leaves to gather in a straight line following their footsteps. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮 Gustav and Angy already knew they were at the same level of speed at this time so they both pushed themselves to move faster. As thirty seconds passed by they crossed one thousand meters. They were only about one thousand five hundred meters away from the tree now. They both kept pushing as their speed increased to eighty feet per second. Gustav was already thinking about using dash as they closed in on the tree. He noticed that Angy was getting faster as they ran. Gustav had already pushed his normal speed to the limit yet she was slowly surpassing him. He couldn’t let Angy win but he also didn’t want to lose the quest. This put him in a dilemma. As they were five hundred meters away from the tree Gustav was starting to catch up with Angy again. ’She seems to be running out of stamina,’ Gustav turned his head to the side to stare at Angy after noticing that she had slowed down.