Knight Of Pensylon: Rise Of The Cavalier
Chapter 4 - Shortcuts

Now it's the second round of three rounds. My position is still behind that cheat Norman. I hate him. No, I hate cheating.

Slowly but surely, the distance between me and Norman was getting closer. That's because my horse Spirit is naturally faster than Norman Snow.

I screamed at him instantly.

"HEY! BASIC CHEAT! WHY ARE YOU ADVANCING WHEN THE STONE HASN'T FALLEN?!" myrag.

Norman glanced at me for a moment, then resumed his race.

"HEY! ANSWER ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"I didn't know the stone hadn't fallen to the ground" he replied casually.

"HUH?! WHAT KIND OF REASON IS THAT?!"

I don't feel like I'm right next to Norman. Spirit, you are great. No wonder my family is so proud of you.

"I only saw you when the stone was bounced back. Therefore, when I saw your hand swinging your harness, I immediately spurred on my horse thinking that the sacred stone had fallen.

So, it's not entirely my fault, is it?" inexplicably.

Not entirely your fault? Not your fault from where?! All I know is the fact that you stole my start from me. To be seen from the point of view of an idiot, you are still a cheat!

Maybe I hate this idea of horse racing, but I hate being cheated like this.

"After all, why would I cheat against you. I'm not cheating, I'm definitely beating you, am I?" ledek.

Goddamn bum! He insulted me?! Just watch! After I win this race, I'll cut him a thousand times. And it seems, that's what's most likely to happen.

I was a little bit ahead of Norman. Hence, I spurred Spirit very quickly while saying "Then cheat as much as you can!"

...----------------...

I'm getting further away from him. There was no sign that Norman was able to catch up with me. There goes. The victory I will get in the next round!

I wonder how can the horse race between Spirit and Snow be a fair race considering Spirit is faster than Snow.

However, when I looked at the boy. He was squatting and started to stand on his horse saddle. What's he thinking?

"HEY, STUPID?! YOU WANT TO FALL AGAIN?! HEY!" I said.

Sure enough, Snow instead drove into the inner path of the forest. The forest in which there are many branches that can drop even the most reliable horse jockey.

I mean, that's where Norman went to shit until his left hand had two elbows. Want to be seen from the point of view of the brainless person even that place is clearly dangerous.

"HEY! NORMAN! THAT'S DANGEROUS! DO YOU WANT YOUR LEFT ARM TO HAVE TWO MORE ELBOWS?!" my yelling.

The boy did not listen, he jumped! Right, JUMP! THAT KID IS CRAZY!

However, that jump made him land on a branch. From one branch, Norman continued to step onto another branch. So it continued until he finally landed on Snow's saddle.

When he landed, he was suddenly far away in front of me. Not only that, he has now crossed our starting line before.

"Damn it! He cheated again!" myrag.

...----------------...

Now it's the third round. Last round, where I had to catch up with him. Which seems like it's going to be very difficult because I just remembered one thing...

Spirit was indeed faster than Snow, but his strength was not as strong as Snow. Thus, even though Spirit was faster, Snow remained superior due to his strength.

That's what makes this horse race fair. Unfortunately I forgot about that. Hence, I could only protest against Norman who seemed to have deliberately slowed down to taunt me.

"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHERE CAN I TAKE THE SHORTCUT?!" my protest.

"You told me to cheat as much as I could, didn't you? Now I've cheated. You satisfied now?" reply with a stupid smile.

However, his stupid smile still less bothered him than his gaze. His gaze seemed to say...

"My plan worked again, Kristoff..."

Damn, I just realized it.

He purposely infuriated me so that I forced Spirit to go as fast as he could. In other words, it forced me to drain Spirit's stamina quickly.

AH DAMN IT, HE'S VERY CLEVER! In this case, I will lose again...

Except...

I saw that road. The path that made Norman who was originally behind me was suddenly far ahead of me.

A dangerous path, but it will definitely turn things around if I make it through. But what if I fail?

Will my left arm also have two elbows? Or worse?

Ah, you fool! I want to win! Besides, if Norman could just get through it, I would too!

"Let's Spirit!" I drove my horse towards that shortcut.

The Norman in front of me realized what I was going to do. He yelled.

"KRISTOFF! DON´T! THAT'S DANGEROUS!"

Haah, at best that is just one of the tricks. He was afraid that I would succeed and that I could win from him.

"DUMB TIME! I WANT TO WIN!" reply me while starting to stand on Spirit's saddle.

"CHRISTOPHERS! DON'T DO THAT! I'M SERIOUS! THAT'S DANGEROUS!"

Huh huh? Whahuh? He called me by my name? Not with Kristoff? Is it that dangerous? Is he serious? Is he worried that I'm gonna get hurt?

I mean, I understand perfectly well that Norman was in this place where his left arm suddenly had two elbows. But...

Come on, it can't be that dangerous, can it?

I've been standing on Spirit's saddle. The shortcut is getting closer. This is my chance to win this race. Everything will be determined by my two feet.

I had to jump, step between the branches, and land on the Spirit saddle. Just like Norman did before.

"HEY! NO!" shouted Norman.

Wush!

I jumped off the Spirit saddle. Here goes! I managed to jump. I'm just staying now

Bugs!

"Ouch!" I said.

My leg hit the branch I wanted to jump over just now. My jump is less high. Dan, what happens next?

A mix-up between a 14-year-old boy speeding as fast as a horse and something stopping him all of a sudden is not going to end well.

My body slammed forward very hard and not only was my bad luck.

BUGS!

My head hit a tree branch after that. The swing of my body that was slammed so hard that the branch was broken because of my head.

As a result of the impact, my body turned to the left. When I looked down (on the ground, my left, not my bottom), a sharp-looking wooden branch approached my left eye.

It seems, Norman's worries make sense as well. Because he is right. This shortcut...

SREK!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" my moans.

"KRISTOFF!!!" exclaiming Norman in panic, he immediately jumped from Snow to approach me.

"CHUCK! CHRISTOPHER!" Victoria who was preparing to determine the winner of the horse race also called out and approached me.

This shortcut is very dangerous to pass. And I know it, in a painful way.

Very-very painful...

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