He gripped the airplane’s armrest with all his strength, to the point where the veins on the back of his hand bulged prominently. He was truly afraid, afraid of being thrown out of the airplane and plummeting thousands of meters to smash into the ground.
For him, this might be the most tragic death he could imagine. So he clung desperately to everything as if doing so would bring him a sense of safety.
Later on, with his eyes closed, he felt the slight jolt of the airplane landing. He could sense the velocity of the airplane decreasing, and the roaring wind around him gradually fading away.
Someone patted the back of his hand that was still tightly clutching the armrest unwilling to let go, until he regained consciousness and saw the ground crew’s face full of laughter through the gap left by the sticky fluid he had vomited.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he released his grip, removed his dirty goggles, and only then did he realize that his face had gone numb from the wind.
The ground crew helped him unbuckle his seatbelt, and two people dragged him out of the cockpit as if they were dragging a dead dog.
Only then did he notice that his clothes were covered in stomach acid and various crushed foods, which, having been in his stomach for a while, had mostly dissolved and looked even more disgusting.
When he finally managed to stand on his own, the two ground crew members let go of his hands. That’s when he also saw the vomit on his pants…
He felt like he might have just ’socially died’; he swore he had never been as disheveled as he was today in his entire life.
Dwarves standing in the distance, along with Elves and apprentice pilots from other countries, all laughed at him, mocking him and the dozen or so other unlucky fledglings who flew with him.
All the apprentices had vomited, it was just a matter of who vomited more, and whose was a little less. There was no real difference, everyone had their share in this embarrassment.
A massive ’social death’ event, and one that they had paid a hefty price to achieve, to add to the tragedy: according to the fee schedule, one real flight cost 25 Gold Coins for fuel, which couldn’t be considered cheap at all.
But apart from the ’social death’ that made one wish for the ground to swallow them up, he still felt the trip was worth it. The feeling of flying was simply too great, everything was just too thrilling.
For someone who had never left the ground before, soaring through the sky was definitely one of the ultimate dreams. That feeling just couldn’t be described; it was wonderful and full of unknowns.
And as one of the better-performing apprentices in the first group sent by Shireck to learn flying, he had another mission: to write a letter describing his feelings here and his own recommendations to the high-level officials of Shireck.
His letter was very important; it was a critical reference for Shireck to decide whether or not to continue training pilots.
So later that night, during the apprentice pilots’ precious private time, he unfolded a piece of stationery and began to write about his feelings for the day and his opinions:
"Respected Lady Sofia and other Nobles, the first batch of apprentice pilots to arrive on Dragon Island, Jason, greets you with the utmost respect."
"Today, we experienced flying for the first time. We got on the airplane and felt what it’s like to fly, controlled by the instructors!"
"I swear, this is a skill worth learning! Without Tang Country’s instructors’ training, we might never truly master flying."
"It’s completely different from driving a car. It’s a three-dimensional, much more complex process. We can hop up and down, the feeling is just too... wonderful! If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I wouldn’t believe such a feeling was possible."
"My suggestion is to immediately send more people to learn how to control and pilot airplanes. Without a sufficient reserve of personnel, we will miss out on many opportunities in the future."
"We should at least replenish the number of those who are eliminated, and if possible, select some new trainees."
"That includes those who have studied in Brunas. Their theories are too profound; many of us simply can’t understand them."
"I can only grasp the basics, those complex mathematical formulas and geometric drawing, I barely understand; this seriously affects my theoretical knowledge."
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"Jack looked really wretched yesterday; he vomited out his entire breakfast. When the plane landed, you could still see the remains of his vomit sticking to the fuselage."
"Okay, I admit I vomited too. When the ground and sky kept appearing before my eyes, I felt my head was about to be thrown off. I vomited continuously, the dizziness was unstoppable, and by the time everything was back to normal, I had been dragged out of the airplane by the ground crew like a dead dog."
"Those Dwarves laughed at us, and then they got on too. I was by the runway, vomiting stomach acid, while watching the airplane roll in the sky."
"It was only then that I realized what I had just gone through... Gods above, from a distance, I realized that I had been rolling so dramatically in the sky, soaring through the heavens, like a real bird!"
"Isn’t this why I came here to learn? Such flying is simply too enviable! Each movement is so graceful, it’s beautiful enough to make one envy."
"Stop talking about airships; those things can only be called ascending, they don’t compare to flying! They’re leagues apart from airplanes!"
"After those Dwarves landed, I had a good laugh at their expense. The stuff they threw up was hanging from their beards, and I heard one Dwarf nearly killed himself when his vomit went up his nose."
"So, we joined the Elves in laughing at the Dwarves... and later, we all laughed at the Elves, too."
"In any case, everyone’s breakfast was wasted this morning. By lunchtime, we saw that many hadn’t regained an appetite. They were so listless, they even spoke without vigor."
"Nevertheless, I could still sense everyone’s determination. No one dropped out, we all want to learn how to fly. It’s an opportunity we’re not willing to miss."
"There you have it, my direct impressions from today. I’ve recorded them to send back to the consortium, hoping they might serve as a useful reference for you lords."
Having written the last sentence, this young man, part of the first group who had suffered a social death that morning and then watched as everyone else did the same, folded the letter twice and slipped it into an envelope.
Sending telegrams from Dragon Island is far too expensive, and coded messages are forbidden, so letter writing has become the most feasible means of communication.
Not that there’s any secret information—nothing will come up even if it’s inspected—regarding timeliness, well, that cannot be helped.
If there’s something urgent, it’s not that telegrams cannot be sent; just say less, picking the most important things to share.
About two-thirds of the international apprentice pilots who first arrived at Dragon Island have already been eliminated. Many failed the cultural classes and were sent back home.
There’s no helping it—the literacy rate in this world is quite low, and typically only the Nobility have the privilege of receiving higher education.
But old-world education in literacy isn’t enough; students must also quickly catch up with the new curriculum, which is admittedly asking a lot. Many feel quite frustrated at being eliminated at this stage.
When each country conducted its selections, according to Tang Country’s requirements, they gathered the physically fittest elites, which was already one in a hundred, a hundred times stricter than selecting gunners!
Now, after eliminating yet another portion for still not meeting the physical standards, what’s left are truly one in ten thousand talents.
"Where on earth are we going to find replacements?" his companion, who had been watching him write the letter, spoke up, "You know as well as I do how we were chosen. A new selection? Good people aren’t that easy to find."
"I’m just fulfilling my duty!" He sealed his own letter and, holding it, walked out of his dormitory.
He crossed the corridor, passed by the exercise yard, and followed a path through the woods until he reached the office specifically for sending and receiving mail.
"Sending a letter?" The guard sitting inside the office gave a polite smile and greeted him warmly.
Service with a smile, after all. The foreign apprentices studying here are all big sponsors. Each one of them has paid a substantial tuition fee. It’s said a Shireck apprentice could support three pilots from Tang Country, so a bit of enthusiasm is only proper.
"Yes, sending a letter!" The apprentice handed over his mail obediently, and the recipient placed it in a basket designated for student correspondence.
Inside the basket, there were already a few envelopes. Judging by the handwriting and addresses, there were those from the Ice Empire as well as the Laines Empire and Dorne Empire.
As the Shireck apprentice turned to leave, he saw a Dahua Empire pilot trainee holding an envelope, looking somewhat embarrassed.
As they passed by each other, they saw the purpose in each other’s actions.
It seemed everyone had the same task, to uncover the truth about whether being a pilot had a future, and to report their findings back to their own countries.
What made them even more embarrassed was that today they had all socially died in front of one another. Except for a few whose constitution was unusually strong and who hadn’t vomited, the rest were quite bedraggled.
"Have you had dinner?" The Shireck apprentice couldn’t help but ask.
The Dahua Empire trainee nodded, then shook his head, "I had a few bites, but it made me feel uncomfortable, so I gave up."
"I didn’t eat either," sighed the Shireck apprentice. "Hopefully, we’ll get used to the training the day after tomorrow."
The Dahua Empire apprentice, who in some sense shared the same trench, nodded, "We have to work hard to catch up with the instructors!"
"Right! We must be even stronger than them! If not, when we go back, the gap between us and them will mean the apprentices we train will have an even greater gap!" The Shireck apprentice said with a nod.