Birth Of The Crafts-God-Chapter 229 Drift Racing 2

After taking a seat, Lucas proceeded to wait for the first race of the day to begin. The races usually began later into the evening, when most individuals are done with their jobs so they could attend it on time.

For Lucas, he could open and close the shop whenever he wanted, so he left a bit earlier today, leaving behind only Melissa. He wasn't worried about her as the shop was the safest place she could be. At the same time, Lucas wanted to cultivate a sense of independence within her, which was why he left her behind.

While waiting in his seat with his eyes closed in meditation, Lucas sensed a person walk towards him before taking a seat beside him. Guessing it was his seat neighbour, Lucas ignored the person and didn't open his eyes. However, the individual suddenly spoke to Lucas,

"Hmm? I guess you're my neighbour for today. Hi, my name is Luka." The young man beside Lucas said as he extended his hand towards the latter. Read exclusive chapters at novelbuddy.com

Lucas opened his eyes and glanced at him. He was a young man with yellow spiky hair and brown eyes. He appeared like one of those weird anime archetype main characters Lucas had seen on a show back on Earth.

At a mere glance, Luka looked to be the same age as Lucas, but of course, one couldn't be so sure. Not only was Lucas' real age something else, hyumans didn't necessarily look their age. Some could appear to be in their thirties but be in their fifties. However, this was when judging based on an Earthling's point of view. To the hyumans on Eretre, they could easily guess their ages at a glance, but Lucas wasn't good at this yet.

Based on the young man's outfit, he wasn't one of those rich kids that came to spectate the race. Furthermore, if he was, he would at least attend those second tier races and not the third tier K1.

Sensing no malice, Lucas decided to befriend the fellow. He proceeded to shake hands with the young man as he introduced himself.

"I'm Lucas Saunters."

That's right. After moving from Baylands city-state to Belfargos city-state, Lucas still retained the same name. He wasn't worried that he would get tracked all the way here as he had cleared his name. At the same time, the surname Saunters wasn't exactly unique in Eretre, neither was the name Lucas.

Even if by some miracle, his enemies in Baylands city-state found his location, they couldn't do anything to Lucas in Trundel City. On the contrary, making a move on him would raise suspicions and they could even get in trouble.

"Oh, we have similar names. Nice to meet you." Luka smiled.

"You look kinda new here, am I right?"

Lucas froze, surprised that Luka had guessed that.

"Why do you say so?"

"Hehe. After attending so many races, I can remember the faces of the majority of spectators here." Luka puffed his chest as if he was stating a magnificent achievement.

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Lucas' lips twitched at the response. That was something only someone with a lot of money to spend would boast about. But then again, it was still impressive. The number of attendees for every K1 race day was somewhere around five hundred to two thousand (500-2000) people since it was a third tier league. To be able to recall the appearances of every one of them, one's memory would have to be impressive.

"Well, you're correct. It's my first time attending a drift racing league to be exact." Lucas nodded.

"Oh. Then I guess I'll take the liberty of being your guide for today."

Luka was clearly a chatty type, but Lucas didn't mind. He actually did need someone to help explain the extreme sport to him.

Seeing Lucas not refuse his offer, Luka explained,

"Drift racing is an official racing sport performed using distinctive sare shuttles. It is recognised by official bodies as an actual sport. However, there are two types of drift racing; the official and unofficial, or as some would say, the safe and the extreme.

"For the official race, there are a bunch of regulations and other stuff like that to make it a bit more complicated. But the one you should care the most about is the engine specification limit. Yep, the official regulatory body for drift racing set an engine specification limit for sare shuttles used in races. As a result, most shuttles don't exceed a speed between four hundred and fifty to four hundred and seventy kilometres per hour (450-470 km/hr, 279.6-292 mph).

"The limit is actually in place to prevent drivers from having a light-speed engine or something similar used on their shuttle as the official body called those 'unsafe for racing within a planetary environment'. This is why we call official drift races 'safe'."

Lucas was slightly surprised by this regulation but felt it made sense.

The whole point of drift racing was to race. However, with the current technology, racing was difficult to be able to pull off unless the track was very large. Even with a large track, some manufacturers could go crazy with their designs.

There were technologies such as the engineers of light-rail trains that could reach insane speeds, albeit still below the speed light. There were even some that exceeded it, for instance, the space shuttles used for inter-planetary travels, the warp-drive engines used for inter-solar system travels, and so many more. If these technologies were added onto a sare shuttle, the speed it could reach would be absurd.

Although there were issues such as design values, engineering faults and so on, that prevented most powerful engines from being used in a sare shuttle, there was no saying whether someone could pull it off. There was also the risks involved as driving at such high speeds within a planet was very dangerous and could create large incidents and accidents. All these reasons and more made it such that the official drift racing body placed regulations on engine specifications and designs for official races.

"The unofficial races, even though they're called that, are actually approved. They also follow drift racing regulations, but not so much otherwise how would it be fun for the young masters and people like me?" Luka chuckled.

"The engine specification regulations are a bit lax here. And the best part? Gambling is allowed, and unique rules can be added in. Overall, it's a bit more competitive, dangerous and also fun than the official races, which is why we call it an extreme sport."

"Dangerous, how?" Lucas asked with interest.

From how Luka had phrased it, it seemed like the dangers came from the unique rules added in. As such, he was interested to know what they are.

"Well, for one, some leagues allow drivers to attack each other. They do restrict the methods and means of attacks otherwise heavy casualties would be common and no one would want to race. Some other leagues carry out races in special tracks with obstacles or bizarre terrains, like a desolate beast domain. Needless to say, those leagues are dangerous." Luka explained.

For a second, Lucas didn't know how to react. He had heard of risk-takers who explored ruins and danger zones, or people who took crazy bets, but not those risking their lives in a race like this.

"Ignoring the risks, the payout in unofficial leagues can sometimes be higher. Like wayyy high." Luka spread his hands out in an exaggerated manner.

"Base pay is roughly the same, but they get bonuses and other stuff, so their pay becomes a lot. Take for instance, the K1 offers a higher reward for drivers than third tier official leagues. It's also quite safe as it shares similar regulations. Part of this payment is the form of bonuses from gambling results and stuff like that. But of course, they can't fix results otherwise people would find out and be pissed. Even the city's government would sanction them.

"Well, from this, you can pretty much guess that the K1 is more popular than the third tier official leagues. Being popular as a third tier league, the K1 gets a lot of fresh blood and sponsorships even for a third tier league. Most of the teams participating are drivers who want to build their career, or vestige-smithing companies who want to stand out."

Since the sare shuttles used for drift racing needed to be exceedingly powerful and fast, it was unavoidable that vestige-smiths would enter the picture. However, these vestige-smiths weren't of the weapons branch, but other branches. Whether it was the stellar processors used on the shuttles, the engines, or the boosters, they all needed to use stellar energy to reach the limits. As such, vestige-smiths played an important role in drift races.

Unlike vestige-smith companies in the weapons industry who would always find customers one way or the other, those in the shuttle and hover car industry had it harder and more competitive. In order to stand out, they created teams to participate in drift races and win glory for them. While victory in a race depended on the driver, the factor the quality of the vehicle used played was equally as important as the driver's skill.

In summary, vestige-smith companies in the hover car and sare shuttle industries could gain both game, glory, and even reward money from drift races. Naturally, they all signed up for them. Even individual vestige-smiths who wanted to become renowned would apply as a private vestige-smith for a team or a driver, aiding them in modifying their vehicles.

This was the reason why Lucas actually came to the K1 drift racing league. He already knew of the value of the sport to vestige-smiths, and he wanted to be a part of it.