Chapter 148: Race Track-1
\'There\'s no way they would accept this trade.\'
\'Yeah.\'
Indeed, the black wolf-man\'s eyes widened before he grunted with a severe expression.
"Impossible! Are you serious?"
Melissa curled her lips into a provocative smile as she replied, "Then what do you suggest?"
The four wolf beastfolks looked at each other. All of them had unlocked Spirit Sense, so they conversed via thought messages.
\'Let\'s just attack them, boss. Tier-4 legendary? We only have one item of that rank!\' the short-tempered one immediately shouted.
\'I\'ll make the proposal that won\'t end in loss if we reach the top 100,\' the black wolf woman said.
"One Tier-3 legendary grade items and two Tier-3 epic grade weapons for four Golden statues."
Melissa chuckled. "It looks like you have some boxes saved from events."
The four wolf beastfolk were unnerved hearing her as Melissa was right.
They had unopened reward boxes of Tier-3 grade. All people would have it and hoard it for various trades or when their current items get destroyed.
"One Tier-3 legendary grade bladed weapon, One Tier-4 Epic grade weapon, and two Tier-3 Epic grade one-time use items for four golden statues."
"We don\'t have Tier-4 weapons!" the brown wolf-man roared.
"Calm down, I am joking," Melissa rolled her eyes. "This guy is really an idiot. Replace that Tier-4 epic grade weapon with a Tier-3 legendary grade or any other item."
"You!"
After all, Tier-4 weapons were fundamentally different, with their method of creation evolving into the next realm, which only allowed Royal-order powerhouses to use their full powers. So, it was a waste for a Noble-order powerhouse to have a Tier-4 weapon of any grade.
The beastfolk discussed for half a minute before the black wolf-man nodded. "Alright, we accept your condition."
"I have a Tier-3 legendary bladed weapon of Wind attribute, so take it first," the white-wolf woman took out a longsword with emerald and green patterns on its sleek dark green crystal blade and threw it towards Melissa.
Melissa grabbed it and handed it to Rin.
"Noice," Rin chuckled and readily fed it to her Blade Eater since it was not digesting anything at the moment.
"As for the other items, we have boxes, so you can open them," the black wolf man took out three fancy boxes and moved them towards Melissa after wrapping them with his spirit force.
A Tier-3 Epic-grade random weapon box.
A Tier-3 Legendary-grade random item box.
A Tier-3 Epic-grade random one-time item box.
"This is slightly better than what you asked for," the black-wolf man snorted. "Now, hand over the golden statue."
Erix\'s eyes flashed with light as he suddenly said, "Wait."
"Take back the Tier-3 Epic-grade random weapon box and Tier-3 epic-grade random item box. In exchange, how about you work with us?"
"What do you mean?" the black-wolf man asked with narrowed eyes while others were startled.
Melissa and Rin got a thought message from Erix, so they let him handle it.
"It\'s very simple. We\'ll work together to reach that checkpoint gate before the next pillars of light shoot up," Erix said. "I\'m sure we\'ll have higher chances of passing this way, and you\'ll also save two reward boxes."
"With my Space powers and her Shadow powers, we can pass for sure, and no one can stop us," Erix added more timbers to invoke them. "You four have good teamwork and almost managed to catch us and also forced us to use some Chaos Gadgets. That\'s why we are proposing this to you."
\'Rin, I realized that we\'ll need some allies until the final race because others are also teaming up. If we want to have the first rank by beating other powerhouses, we\'ll have to use others.\'
Rin realized what Erix said was true after she recalled everything that happened so far.
\'You are right. Actually, this is a good idea if we choose people carefully...like these four! I can feel that these people, or rather, many people, are not here to take the first rank, but other rewards. Since they have no will take the first rank, we can make them help us!\'
\'Exactly. But this bitch Melissa surely wants the first rank, so we\'ll have to stay cautious around her.\'
\'Alright.\'
Meanwhile, the beastfolks also felt that Erix\'s proposal was good and accepted it.
"We will work together," the black wolf-man nodded. "With you, we have a chance to enter the top 50, and that\'s worth our trip for this event."
"Perfect," Melissa smiled. \'Nice move, Erix. I thought you wouldn\'t be willing to make allies after seeing how hard it took you to take me in.\'
\'You can say that we got a bit more confidence after fighting a bunch of people way above our levels,\' Erix cheekily smiled.
"We have three more golden statues to sell. How about you come with us for that?" Rin asked with a grin.
The beastfolk were speechless before they wryly smiled.
"You guys are cheating."
"Nah, it means you have a skill Issue in our world\'s terms," Erix laughed.
...
After selling three golden statues for three Tier-3 Legendary items, one being a bladed weapon for Rin so that her Blade Eater can finally evolve, the group flew towards the race track five kilometers above the island.
"Erix, Melissa. Do you think Lex and others with him are waiting for us there?" Rin asked with hesitation.
"From how he chased us like a rabid dog, I don\'t think he wants to let us go that easily," Erix sneered.
"Yep. That bastard should be waiting for us on the race track. He had more people by his side, so we\'ll have to pass through them quickly."
Melissa nodded. "We\'ve beaten him thrice and left him in dust, so he won\'t take this lying down."
"It\'s fine," the black wolf-man said. "We\'ll be fine as long as we remain careful because the landscape changes physically often in sections, so they won\'t be able to put traps for us there."
"Lara has a specialty in detection."
\'Yeah. Her nose is sharp,\' Erix said. \'She detected me twice, and I had to change places.\'
"I\'ll defend you both and help Lara evade, so focus on detecting enemies and their attacks," Melissa said before she turned to Erix. "Erix, you can probably detect better than her with your space mapping, but you have to stay cautious. Lex will mainly focus on you and me."
The group discussed a bit before they arrived at the Race Track.
So far, 43 people have passed, meaning many with golden wings were still within the race track and outside below.
"Get ready," Melissa said. She used her signature skill thrice, the Tenebrian Wooden Maw Shield.
One defending Erix, one the wolf-woman, and the other herself.
Rin stayed close to Erix, so she was also safe, as her job was to support Erix and let him use his teleport and wormholes to aid and defend.
Erix also had another thing in mind, but it was experimental, so he didn\'t mention it to anyone.
The group arrived at the Race Track and stopped for a second.
The scenery inside was of mountain areas but it changed again.
"Stick together, and be careful!"