"The rest of the track? Seriously?” Danny asked, frustrated.

  “Yeah, I am serious, Danny,” Cane answered. “You can hardly call a skill mastered if you can only do it once. And also…”

  Cane brought up Danny’s digital screen, and it showed how many times he had performed the drift skill.

  Beginner’s Edge: 1 out of 4.

  “Anytime you fail to perform the drift skill the number of times you have performed it will reset to zero,” Cane said.

  This made Danny’s eyes widen, and he began to chuckle.

  “Oh, come on! That’s totally unfair,” Danny protested.

  “Unfair? I don’t believe so. This will ensure that you master a vital skill in racing, and you will be able to perform the skill via voice command. Both of these advantages make me believe that you are in a rather fair situation,” Cane said.

  Danny thought about what Cane had just said, and he made some good points. Having his vehicle move on its own was an obvious cheat in the game—one that only he had.

  “Alright, fine. I’ve already done it once; I can do it again. No problem,” Danny said, motivated. He sped across the next section of the track, which was much longer than the first.

  The track was shaped into a rectangle, but not all sides of it were the same length. Danny readied himself. He had more time to prepare for a drift, but that didn’t mean he could take it easy.

  As his vehicle got closer and closer to the edge at an incredible speed, a reflex jerked his brain, forcing him to act. “Now!” Danny repeated the steps of the drift before the hologram could and managed to steer away from the edge.

  His digital screen appeared right in front of him as soon as he made his second drift.

  Beginner’s Edge: 2 out of 4.

  “Okay, two down, two to go,” Danny assured himself. He sped through a shorter track, approaching one of the edges.

  “Now!” He attempted to drift before the hologram, but his timing was all wrong. He acted too fast, causing his car to screech and cross over into the dead zone.

  Time slowed down, the countdown began, and he was teleported back to the start of the track. His digital screen appeared.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Beginner’s Edge: 0 out of 4.

  Danny, seeing this, banged both of his hands into the steering wheel.

  “Do not be discouraged, Danny. Remember, you have plenty of time to master the skill before your race starts,” Cane said.

  Danny, after hearing this, gripped his steering wheel tighter and put on a determined look on his face. He sped across the track and continued trying to master the drift no matter how long it would take.

  Beginner’s Edge: 1 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 2 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 1 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 1 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 2 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 3 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 2 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 1 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 1 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 2 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 2 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge: 3 out of 4.

  “Damn,” Danny muttered. He was on his dozenth try at mastering the drift. If he failed one more time, he might have to take a break or maybe just give up.

  He was quickly approaching one of the racing track edges. Sweat dripped from his face in the real world. He had to time this right. He just had to complete one more drift, and he would have mastered the skill.

  “Now!” He followed the steps of the hologram. He steered away from the edge. His muscle car screeched towards the edge. “Come on. Come on!”

  The muscle car got closer to the edge but stopped a few inches short as Danny stepped on the pedal and sped across the next section.

  His blue digital screen displayed a list of messages.

  Beginner’s Edge: 4 out of 4.

  Beginner’s Edge has been mastered.

  New skill: Beginner’s Edge has been unlocked.

  It navigated to a skills page where Beginner’s Edge was highlighted, while the rest of the skills weren’t. This indicated that it was unlocked.

  “Yes! Ha ha! Take that!” Danny exclaimed, lifting both of his clenched fists in the air.

  “Well done, Danny. You have unlocked your first skill. How are you feeling?” Cane asked.

  “Honestly, I feel pretty damn great!” Danny answered, grinning. “I was worried for a while. I was considering giving up, but when I did the fourth drift—I felt a rush of adrenaline I’ve never felt before. It was amazing.”

  “I am glad to see that your accomplishments have given you a sense of thrill. Would you like to try out your newly acquired skill?” Cane asked.

  “Hell yeah, I would!” Danny exclaimed.

  “Remind me again. How do I activate it?” Danny asked.

  “Check the statistics displayed on your windshield. On the bottom middle, there should be a box with five empty small boxes in it. You can use your digital screen to place your acquired skill in one of those boxes. Then you can activate the skill by saying its name out loud,” Cane explained.

  Danny did as Cane said. He checked the stats displayed on his windshield and noticed the skill box Cane talked about. It wasn’t there before, so Danny assumed it must’ve appeared after he unlocked the drifting skill.

  He opened his digital screen to the skills page and clicked on Beginner’s Edge. It brought out an option for Danny to move it to the skill box. Danny selected yes, and the Beginner’s Edge icon appeared in the first mini box out of the other four.

  “That’s it?” Danny asked.

  “Correct. All that remains is for you to call out the name of the skill,” Cane said.

  “Alright. Beginner’s Edge!” Danny exclaimed.

  As soon as he did, his muscle car zoomed towards one of the edges of the track without Danny having to step on the pedal.

  It performed the Beginner’s Edge drift swiftly and cleanly. No screeching. No struggle. It was far more efficient than when Danny had performed it manually.

  “Awesome!”