Chapter 73: Florida Man Attempts Time Travel by Ramming ATV into Mountain, Ends Up at Wizard School

After driving for an hour, Felix reached the foot of a mountain and stopped to admire the scenery.

The steep mountain was 80% stone, with no trees except for dead shrubs and desert plants. Felix estimated the mountain to be about 1,500-2,000 feet tall and noticed that the top was flat, reminiscent of Colorado's Flattop Mountain. Breezy wind scattered brown dust, which hit the ATV's barrier dome, making Felix's skin itch just by looking at the air pollution.

Facing a literal mountain wall, Felix checked the GPS map. His expression darkened when he saw a long mountain range spanning 300 miles from north to south, serving as a natural barricade between two provinces. If Felix needed to cross this place, he would have to take a 200-mile detour.

Not wanting to waste two hours on a detour, Felix wondered if the ATV could plow its way through with the barrier. He turned the vehicle around, preparing for a crazy stunt.

After backtracking 100 meters, Felix turned the vehicle around, facing the mountain. He pressed the accelerator button on the handle and sped toward the mountain foot.

"I might die for this," Felix snickered.

<You're nuts.>

"IDGAF! YEEHAW!!"

Felix sped his vehicle… and rammed into the mountain!

…

Law of Physics

When a car collides with a mountain, several laws of physics come into play, including Newton's laws of motion, the conservation of energy, and the principles of momentum.

Normally, the side with a bigger mass, density, gravity, and momentum comes out on top, while the weaker object deforms due to the kinetic energy and impact force.

In this case, there was an abnormal variable—the ATV's shield, which softened the impact force.

…

As soon as the barrier collided with the mountain, it generated five layers of sponge, softening the impact for the vehicle and the rider.

*BOOM*

The ATV slammed into the invisible sponge walls and came to a stop. Felix sensed an intense kinetic force, which almost ejected him off his vehicle. The G-force behind the momentum stunned him for a second.

*FWOOSH*

After the collision, the ATV's engine stalled and turned off by itself for self-protection. Felix panted for several seconds. He slowly got up and looked at the mountain's cliff wall, noticing a small dent on it.

The ATV couldn't dig through the mountain.

"Many YOLO. Such G-force. Very impact. So hi-tech. Much wow." Felix was being sarcasm. He was disappointed with the result.

Jessica shook her head. It seemed Felix had banged his head too hard that he started talking in doge meme language.

<Obviously. What do you expect from an ATV? A Star Trek industrial-grade planetary drill machine?>

"I thought an indestructible car could plow through a mountain."

<If an indestructible truck hit the mountain instead of this ATV, it would come to a stop or bounce back after the impact. Because the truck is indestructible, the vehicle cannot absorb the forces to protect the passengers. As a result, the passengers would still travel forward at the vehicle's previous speed before the impact and smash into whatever object inside the vehicle.

If you were inside that truck, you would have gotten severely injured, a concussion at the minimum.>

"…"

<No matter how hi-tech the system vehicles are, most of them can't defy the laws of physics. Well, except some expensive ones. You're lucky this vehicle is equipped with a kinetic neutralization function that helped you negate the momentum. Otherwise, you would have been flattened right there.>

Felix gulped. He stroked his chest and arms, relieved that he was not dead.

<Please do not attempt a similar stunt again. It's bad for my heart… my CPUs. Do you know what my current CPU temperature is?! I thought it was going to fry for a moment! Anyway, you should take a detour. It's only two hours away, and the road is better than this bumpy field.>

"…Okay."

…

In the end, Felix navigated the GPS to pick the detour route. Moving along the mountain range hillside, it took him two hours to reach the main road as calculated. After getting on a dirt road, the path was easier to navigate. Felix adjusted the barrier output and shrank its size so he wouldn't accidentally bump someone along the way with the ATV's huge dome.

*VROOM*

The machine still kicked up a lot of dust and dirt as it sped along the road. Felix started getting used to the vehicle. He began drifting and slightly lifted his butt as he cut corners and sharp chicanes. He treated it as a rally road and had fun with it.

After another hour of driving, Felix started seeing people. They gathered on the roadside and formed a long queue, waiting for something. Several groups of caravans and travelers camped there, as this place was a public gathering site and a provincial checkpoint. A military camp blockaded the road and scanned every traveler who wished to enter the Highland Province.

When Felix got closer, everyone turned to look at him because of the weird engine noise. A man peeked out from a horse wagon at the back to see the commotion. He was the first to see Felix's vehicle.

"What's that?" the man exclaimed. "Hey! There's a guy riding an iron monster!"

More travelers clamored, interested in the machine.

Felix noticed the crowd and the traffic. He parked the vehicle behind the last wagon and activated an anti-thief barrier around the ATV, preventing people from approaching him too close. Then, he checked the system map.

Lots of yellow dots filled the map. A couple of red dots mixed in, but they were at the front of the line. Felix wasn't worried about them.

"Hey, you there!" the man on the wagon shouted, pointing at the ATV. "What's that?"

Felix glanced at the man in linen clothes and shoulder belts. He shrugged and kept the conversation short. "My golem. I'm a mage."

"Wow!" The traveler was impressed. "Are you traveling alone? You're quite young. Are you trying to reach Big Zoot City before the exam?"

Felix frowned, disliking the extended conversation. He cut the chat short again. "Yeah."

"Hehe, you're cool, kid. Which noble house is your sponsor?"

"…"

Felix stopped talking to the guy, tired and annoyed. He also wanted a short nap or brief rest.

Seeing that Felix ignored him, the man clicked his tongue and complained, "Youngsters these days. They're so arrogant that they ignore elders. Go ahead and ignore me. You country bumpkin won't pass that exam anyway. Only those who live in the capital will claim those spots!"

After dropping a rude remark, the man went back into his wagon and rested. Felix glanced at the man, whose system map showed him as a yellow dot. It briefly turned red for a moment, but it went back to yellow.

Unfortunately, other nosy travelers surrounded Felix and ogled the vehicle. They also inspected Felix's modern clothes with interest.

"Hey, young man. Can you sell your clothes to me? Where did you get those? Did you make them?"

"You there. What is it that you're riding? It looks like a small iron bull."

"Where are you from? I'm escaping from Eel Village. I heard Lamias went on a rampage in Veria Belt. You must have fled from there as well, right?"

Noisy old men pestered Felix and tried to touch him. Fortunately, the barrier prevented everyone from grabbing his body. seaʀᴄh thё nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The crowd was taken aback when the barrier slightly zapped them. They pulled their arms away, realizing Felix was not a commoner like them. Several people stopped talking to Felix, wary of his temper.

Felix didn't bother talking to them either, not wanting to get too friendly with the local bystanders. After all, he was in a hurry.

While Felix wished he get through this blockade as soon as possible, the inspection was slower than a snail. The checkpoint security guards went through all wagons and belongings of every traveler, causing some commotions.

While Felix was crossing his arms and closing his eyes to rest, he faintly heard random shouts.

"GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY, YOU DAMN CROOK!"

*THUD*

Then, a nasty sound woke Felix up from his slumber. It was the sound of a sharp object cutting through flesh, like a butcher chopping meat on a board. A strong scent of blood hit his nose.

Someone had just committed a murder.