Chapter 218: Super Speed.
Leo was standing under the podium with the rest of the people, when Dallas, who finished his speech, picked up the huge trophy, which was made like a 1F race car pinned to the asphalt in a slant shape, and walked over to Leo. He extended the trophy to the man and said, "All my life, the one thing that obsessed me was racing, and gradually I discovered that I had yet to become a proper racer. Today, you showed me what it means to be a racer. This trophy should belong to you."
Leo was surprised, and the people around him began to clap and cheer. The young wanted to deny but then he realized that the system has not pinged him about the mission clearance. He reached out and accepted the trophy and said, "Thank you."
Dallas shook his head and replied, "Thanks to you, Rony is a good kid, he is just starting in the racing world and he is a dear friend to me, thank you for what you did."
Leo realized why Dallas was being so kind, and the host of the ceremony suddenly said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a word for you all. the drivers all applied for reverting the decision of Mister Dallas being given the first place. The Racing Association has agreed and decided that Mister Cardinal is the official winner of the race."
The crowd cheered loudly, and Lily jumped in the air as well. After a few moments, three huge Champagne bottles were brough over, and the ceremony was held for the second time. Leo received the trophy and then he took a opened one bottle and took a sip as Dallas and Terence sprayed the contents of his bottle over him. Leo covered his face, as the people cheered and then he returned the favor to them.
Boys will be boys, and as the ceremony came to an end, and the system pinged, 'Pinged: Congratulations host, you have earned the title of the Speed King. Reward, ten speed attribute points will be assimilated in your status, you can lock and unlock them for full use as you wish.'
Leo returned to the paddock and then he went to the bathroom to clean himself up. As the water poured down on him, he asked, 'System, bring up the attribute panel.'
Name : Leo Cardinal
Age : 24
Level : Intermediate Father
Strength :12
Stamina : 14 (Permanent Augmentation)
Intelligence : 10
Speed : 11.5 + 10 (Locked)
Talent : Ceramic Artisan. Hairstyling, Nurti-Chef, Piano Maester.
Items : Tears Of Athena.
Buffs: Horse Stamina, Calm In Chaos and Brave In Need, Three Vital Recovery chances, Danger Perception.
Leo thought for a bit and said, "System add two points to the status."
'Ping: Adding two points.'
Name : Leo Cardinal
Age : 24
Level : Intermediate Father
Strength :12
Stamina : 14 (Permanent Augmentation)
Intelligence : 10
Speed : 13.5 + 8 (Locked)
Talent : Ceramic Artisan. Hairstyling, Nurti-Chef, Piano Maester.
Items : Tears Of Athena.
Buffs: Horse Stamina, Calm In Chaos and Brave In Need, Three Vital Recovery chances, Danger Perception.
Leo nodded and said, "That will do for now."
After he cleaned up, the young man came out dressed in his casual clothes and Lily jumped in his arms before kissing his cheek and she said, "You were so cool on the track Baba, hehehe, I saw those people from other teams turn pale when you overtook their drivers."
Leo smiled although he had a higher level of stamina, he was still feeling tired, well that was normal after driving one of the fastest vehicles in the world for a straight two hours and witnessing a crash at the end. Snow saw the exhaustion on his face, and took Lily in her arms before she said, "Let Baba rest, he is tired."
Leo smiled and shook his head but before he could deny anything, the glare from his wife made him fall silent. The young man took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, we should head to the hotel and get some sleep before we take off to head back home."
Lily nodded and they all got in a car, Kevin drove them back to the hotel where Leo hit the bed as soon as he saw it. He was out cold, and Lily and Snow looked at each other and then they smiled. The mother and daughter directly decided to have a meal by themselves like they used to in the past. As they were finishing the meal, as they were getting ready to go to bed, the door of the suite was knocked.
Snow was surprised, they had the security team standing outside. How can someone come to find them at this hour? Zeenat appeared from another room and said, "I will check it."
Snow nodded and her hand sub-consciously clenched into a fist as she watched Zeenat reach the door and then open it to see who had come. They saw a young man with curly ginger hair, his right arm was hanging in a sling, and Kyle was standing beside him. The latter said, "This is Mister Rony Maestro, he came to thank Mister Cardinal for saving his life."
The young man took a deep breath and said, "Hello, I apologize that I have appeared at your doorstep so late in the night, but I would be leaving for Pasacrossa in a few minutes, and I didn't wish to go without thanking Mister Cardinal for what he did. May I see him?"
Snow saw that the young man was just out of his teens, he was one of the youngest racers in the 1F world at the moment. His gaze was sincere, and he appeared to be grateful. She said, "Well, come inside, Leo is sleeping, because he got very tired. Your presence here is enough thanks and I will inform him to call you once he wakes up. If you don't mind, you can leave your number with me."
Lily didn't speak, she just watched the interaction between the two people. Rony realized that Leo was sleeping and it would be rude to wake him up to thank him. So, he honestly wrote down his number, and Lily picked up a black phone on the table and gave him a call. She said, "This is Leo's personal number, you can call him if he forgets to. I am sure, you two would be good friends."
Rony thanked her and then he left. Zeenat looked at Kyle and said, "Next time inform us first before you bring over a guest."
Kyle nodded and said, "That kid had been sweating under our gazes, I didn't wish to intimidate him more than that, I will inform the hotel desk to inform us if someone is coming up."
Zeenat nodded and then closed the door, as the guards took the night shift. Lily and Snow moved to the room and they found that Leo was fast asleep. Lily snuggled closer to her father, while Snow covered them both in under the sheets, as she lay on the side to get some rest as well.
...
In the morning, Leo woke up all refreshed and he felt a soft small thing in his arms. He looked at his darling daughter sleeping with a smile on her face, and a foot coiled around his waist like a koala. He smiled and gently brushed her hair away.
He wanted to sleep in but realized that he needed to check his speed improvement. The young man gently slipped out of the bed, grabbed some juice from the kitchen and then headed to the Gym. Lily sensed his movements and dashed after him, Leo turned at the door and said, "How about you come with Sister Zee after you dress up?"
Lily nodded and pecked his cheek as she dashed back to get ready. Zeenat was awake and she nodded to Leo, acknowledging that she would bring her over to the gym. The young man came to the gym, did a light warm up and then he got on the treadmill. He turned it on and began to jog, gradually the speed increased and after a minute he was basically sprinting but his breath appeared to be stable and composed.
Then Leo increased the degree of incline and dashed on that as well. The speed stayed the same and now he could reach up to forty five kilometers per hour. This was a fraction above the fastest man on the planet, and Leo still had 8 points left. When he stopped he realized a slightly burnt smell coming from the motor of the treadmill. He seemed to have overworked the motor of this machine.
He turned around and found Lily standing behind him, she was wearing her small boxing gloves, and was skipping on the spot. Leo picked up the training mittens from Zeenat and asked, "Remember what we practiced about the other day?"
Lily nodded and then she stepped in to deliver a combination of punches on the mittens. The sounds were crisp but they were jabs and not real punches. Leo had forbidden her from dealing hard punches, he was afraid that her bones might not be able to handle the counter impact of the hard blow.
They were practicing and some reporters staying in the same hotel saw the sight and quickly clicked a few pictures, as this was great content for them.