Chapter 101 - Flying Ship? No, It's Airship 2_2

"Listen carefully, piloting an Airship is not a game but an art, a task!" A man says that explanation seriously.

His name was Rach, he's a Dwarf, and he's an instructor. This short, muscular man has a dark brown beard and hair. His eyes filled with passion colored blue.

And yes, he's the man who over the past week taught us about how to drive an Airship. Not only that, but he also taught us about how to fix and to do maintenance on a small size Airship.

Us?

Right, us - me and five other people - became the man's students. The disciples here consisted of two merchant children, two Adventurers, and a noble young.

We may have different backgrounds but we learned the same thing. And yes, I studied hard and I do give everything I could. Because of that, I can drive an Airship now, even though I'm still not good at it.

But anyway...

Right now, we're gathered in a class inside the Seven Wings. And over the past few hours, we listened to Rach's explanation.

What did we learn?

I can say a lot of things. Some of them are predicting the weather, how to choose Magic Stones as the best fuel, various flying maneuvers, monsters that can threaten us in the sky, safety protocols, identifying good sphere parts sold in the market, and so on.

Such knowledge continues given to us nonstop.

And I'll say, all these new experiences have been a lot of fun. Especially when they say, there's a chance I can get a Skill, Pilot or Engineer.

"Okay, enough theory for today. Now, go to the Hangar, we'll do piloting practice as usual."

Here it is! This is the part I've been waiting for! I love the piloting practice more than theory lessons that last for hours.

So, after packing our things, we left the classroom. Our goal is the hangar. We had to walk for some time to get to the hangar that Rach was referring to.

This hangar is large, this place can accommodate five large Airships, some kind of an Airships that require fifty people to operate, and seven small size Airships, an Airship that can be operated by two people.

Unfortunately no...

I didn't learn to operate a large airship. I thought, I'm going to operate an Airship like that when I take this class but I'm wrong.

Regret? No, although I can't touch a large size Airship, I have no regrets. Being able to operate a small Airship is more than enough for me.

As for operating a large-size Airship, I need a Helmsman, someone who has more Skills than just a Pilot, and some Crew who are also experienced in handling Airships.

But yes, I didn't dream to buy an Airship that big. I wanted an Airship that could be operated by less than ten people.

Now, let's put that problem aside. I need to focus on piloting practice.

There are many Airships in this hangar. However, of all those Airships, we were only allowed to pilot Blue Fish, a small Airship with a capacity of two people.

As the name suggests, Blue Fish is shaped like a fish or more precisely like a tuna fish. However, the Airship has two two-meter-long fins, the tail is replaced by a large thruster, and at the top becomes the place for the two-seat cockpit.

"Are you ready, Miss Eclaite?" Rach asked.

"Please wait a minute," I replied.

Then, as fast as I could, I put on my flying gear, that is leather helmets, goggles, and gloves.

Once I was ready, I boarded the Blue Fish with Rach. As for the other students, they boarded another Blue Fish along with the other instructors.

"Turn the machine on," Rach began.

"All right," I replied, at the same time, I pressed a button.

Blue Fish shook for a while before its main engine turned on.

"Good, do a basic check."

"Of course."

I looked at how much fuel this Airship had, made sure some gauges showed the numbers they should, and last, I checked if the control stick was working properly.

"All clean," I made the report.

"In that case, fly this Airship."

"Eclaite, Blue Fish, take off!"

Thus, I pushed the throttle lever.

Blue Fish started moving, it accelerated through the track, and after we got enough speed, we flew into the sky.

"Should you say that phrase every time we take off?" Rach asked as I pressed a button to fold the Blue Fish wheel.

"No... but, don't those words sound cool?"

"... I don't understand, from which point of view that it can be said to be cool," Rach explained. "Now, concentrate on flying this Airship."

And... I concentrated as he said.

I'll say, I'm still impressed by this - flying in the sky piloting the Airship - even though I've done it four times.

This is one thing I never thought I do in real life.

My experience piloting the Airship at Ark Fantasy Online?

I can say that the two - operating airships in Ark Fantasy Online and this world - are extremely different. 

In the game, to fly an Airship, a Player only needs to use a simple controller. But here, there are many things to do before and when flying an Airship.

It's an extremely rewarding experience. And this included the moments where I saw the scenery of the city of Rishtonbell from the high in the sky.

The city is so wonderful and I smile every time I see it.

"Living in a fantasy world is truly fun," I whispered and we kept flying.

Minutes passed, my attention was drawn by the hundreds of people gathered in the plaza in front of the White Tower. They seemed to be waiting for something and I wondered: what they are waiting for.

"Why so many people? What happened?" I wondered.

"You don't know? Aren't you an adventurer?"

"That's right, but, does being an Adventurer have anything to do with that crowd?"

"It's shocking that you don't know. Let me remind you, it was a festival of homecoming for the expedition team. I heard, that group managed to open the gate to the eighth floor of the Foltian Great Dungeon."

"Ah! The expedition, it's plausible that crowd centered on the plaza in front of White Tower." I made a nod.

So, Vier and the others finally came back huh. Hmm... Maybe this is a good opportunity to repay their kindness. I want to leave, if I don't do it when I can, I feel like I'll never be able to do it.

It's not a bad idea to look for a gift for them after today's class is over.

< Acquired a skill! Pilot |Lvl 1 >

[Pilot | Lvl 1] [Passive]

[+ Increase proficiency in operating any type of Airship, give a little ability to predict the weather, and increase DEX plus AGI by 2 points permanently.]

"Yahoo!" Spontaneously, I shouted for a moment I got the notification.

I was so happy that I got the Skill I wanted that all this time just happened.

"What happen, Miss Eclaite? Why are you screaming and why did the control stick come off!?"

Rach who voiced those questions made me realize what I was doing.

"... I... I seem had tore off this control stick with all my might by accident."

"How did that happen! That control stick should be sturdy! Miss Eclaite, run the emergency landing protocol now."

"Of course, Instructor Rach."

As fast as I could, without panicking, I started pressing a few buttons and adjusting a few levers to make an emergency landing.

And unfortunately, before I finished making preparations, a strong wind pushed this Airship.

"It's bad," Rach said with unease. "If the emergency landing protocol is in place, hold to something, Miss Eclaite."

And I did what Rach said.

Emergency landing equipment is working properly. However, due to the strong wind gusts earlier, our Airship fell rapidly towards a building.

I can't change our path because this Airship control stick is broken. Therefore, "Prepare yourself, Instructor Rach, we're going to hit a building."

Crash! Bam! Bam!

This Airship landed so roughly. We were thrown inside of cockpit many times in a matter of seconds.

Smoke immediately came out of the engine while this Airship was lying on the ground. Therefore, immediately, I pulled Rach out of the Airship and took him away from it.

As I did that, I realized we were landed in the main street. And because of this episode, several people were injured.

"Please stay away from the Airship! There's a chance it will explode!" I shouted to warn those closest to the Airship.

After giving a warning and making sure Rach was okay, I immediately helped the other injured people, I joined some people who had good hearts to help.

For quite some time, I was busy helping people and giving them the first aid using the Healing Water Ball.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I learned that no one had died in this accident. Two people were seriously injured but they were good because I help them with my Healing Spell. And they would be perfect after receiving treatment from Priest.

And yes, the Patrol Knights showed themselves. Quickly, they took care of this accident.

Rach gets questions from them. And in the end, we had to wait here - under the watchful eye of the Patrol Knights - until higher-ups from Seven Wings came.

"Sorry, Instructor Rach. All this happened because I broke the control stick," I told Rach, who was checking Blue Fish's cockpit.

Rach didn't say anything and kept inspecting the cockpit. Then, a few moments later.

"It's not your fault, look at this." Rach showed me the bottom of the control stick. "This control stick lock was not properly installed. What's worse, the lock itself is already in a worthless state."

"Worthless?"

"Yes." Rach nodded. "The person who is in charge of maintenance this week seems to have made a mistake.. I have to report this matter."