"I can't believe the mechanical designs that were downloaded into this base," said Garrett with wonder. "Military grade, homemade, theoretical, designed but not built, engineered, jetpacks, hoverboards, hoverbikes, all the things people have tried."

"Aye, I couldna imagine these things be possible before seeing those veedeeohs ye showed me," nodded Golgarn.

"Yet, none of them had practical use before the [System]," pined Garrett.

"Even so, ye had the ingenuity but no the materials. With runes and inscriptions, it be so much easier."

"Yeah, the prototype we made seems impressive. Usually, we would have spent months on trial and error, crashing before we even got it to work. Using high level materials made it so we didn't need to rebuild from scratch each time. Even if we've only tested it a few feet off the ground, it seems quite promising."

"That be an inefficient way to build, but ye scientific method makes the process more reliable. Ye knowing large group of engineers also made deciding on it easier."

Garrett and Golgarn were stepping outside to head to the cafeteria when they saw a motorcycle coming towards them. Garrett had to blink a few times before he realized it was Adam. The slow speed he was moving at seemed unlike their leader.

However, his decreased speed made sense considering he was leading a line of trucks. There were more than six tow trucks and three semi-trailer trucks.

Adam arrived ahead of the trucks and skidded to a stop in front of them.

"Glad I caught you guys," said Adam. "I heard you build a jetpack for us."

"Aye. Was the most satisfying job I ever done," said Golgarn wistfully. "All ye apprentices were in awe over the ways I showed to enhance with materials and magic."

"Apprentices, huh?" asked Adam with a mischievous smile. "I guess you were promoted to a master?"

Golgarn looked at the ground, appearing embarrassed. "Truly, compared to me learning, all ye people be apprentice or lower."

Adam heavily patted his shoulders. "Glad I didn't kill you then."

Golgarn's eyes shot upwards, a slight tremble in his body as he remembered Adam's eyes when they met. Inadvertently, he touched the part of his beard that had ground back since Adam shaved it off.

"Anyway, Adam," interrupted Garrett. "Our attempts have been quite successful. We've tested the pack up to 15 feet high. Based on calculations, it should be able to go quite far and fast if the pilot can handle the altitude and wind pressure."

"Only 15 feet?" asked Adam with dismay. "We need to go waaay higher and faster than that, and with maneuverability too."

"Give us a break," complained Garrett. "New technology requires a lot of testing and iterations. If we were to get a test pilot and something were to go wrong…"

Garrett's words gave out as he saw Adam's expression.

"Sorry, but we don't have time. Go get it. I'll test it right now."

"No, Adam! That isn't safe!" insisted Garrett.

"Golgarn, is it safe?"

"Well, I no think the frame will break, and the mechanisms worked when they be tried. I no can think of where failure could occur."

"Good enough," said Adam. "Bring it."

"But…" started Garrett before he looked into Adam's eyes and froze.

"I said bring it!"

With a sigh, Garrett walked back into the workshop and began giving orders. Adam couldn't hear them thanks to the sound dampening that had been added to all the workshops. He watched the bustle of activity from other workers as Garrett came back out.

"By the way, Adam, what are all those trucks for?"

Garrett pointed to where all the trucks were trying to find parking space along the Rift built road. There wasn't a parking lot, but Jordan had added loading areas and turnarounds for the trucks. The spaces were now filled by the vehicles that had come with Adam.

Many people came out from the trucks. There were several strong men in the backs of the semis, and military men were there as well. They were all waiting by their vehicles and saluted Adam when he looked over.

"Part of the plan," said Adam. "We went and picked up large, industrial air powered rivet driving tools from the Smyrna car Assembly Plant, chains used for large cargo ships from the boat company in Vonore, and quite a few tow trucks. Plus, some of Carmichael's engineers are raiding firework warehouses in Memphis. Good thing they need so many for all the sporting events."

"For a plan, none of that makes sense," said Garrett. Golgarn looked confusion, not knowing what any of those items were.

"As far as plans go, it probably isn't bad but also isn't great," admitted Adam while making a so-so gesture. "It's what I came up with, and Davian agreed that it's better than anything they had. However, it all rides on you having made something to take us into the air. So, let's see it."

As Adam waited, a wagon was brought out. On it was a box. Or a box-ish like object. It had a straight back, with the top half sheet metal. The bottom half wasn't solid, but it had two 'leg' pieces that reached down to the ground. Tabs protruded for feet placement. Weird symbols were etched on every piece of it.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The top half had straps while the very top was a clear, slanted windshield. On the back were two cannister engines that looked slightly larger than thermoses, with a thinner but longer fuel tank in between. There were also two scalene triangular frames for the wing. The inside of the wing frame had a translucent membrane.

"Are those?" asked Adam.

"Yup, we actually used some of the parts from those dragons that were shot down. The outside metal had their hides attached and their wing leather was used for the jetpack's wings," explained Garrett. "We also used high strength materials that won't be damaged, especially for the fuel tank, so it will take a huge attack to rupture it. The Leputi alchemists have already been working on our fuel efficiency, and they were able to modify it to give extra thrust to these small engines.

"The whole thing is also loaded with runes and inscriptions. Golgarn already knew some of the ones we wanted, but he was quite pleased to be able to use the more advanced ones you got from the Red Clan. He's done a great job teaching our engineering corps how to use them."

"That all sounds great," said Adam as he stepped forward. He lifted the frame down from the wagon and put his back to it, pulling the shoulders and waist straps on.

"Adam, I really don't think this is a good idea," Garrett said nervously.

"Will it explode?" asked Adam.

"Unlikely with how strong the fuel tank and engines are," answered Garrett.

"I can probably survive crashing or falling, so I don't know what you're scared of."

"Habit? I'm not used to humans being able to walk away from a high-speed impact," expressed Garrett.

"I brought a cooler of blood just in case I get hurt," said Adam. "Now show me how to use this!"

Garrett showed Adam the controls. A leather tube extended from each side into palm sides controls. On the right was a joystick like toggle, and on the left was a button to start it and a lever to increase or decrease the amount of thrust.

"No reverse?" asked Adam, thinking it must be possible in airplanes so they could slow sooner.

"Ye gods, man!" burst out Garrett. "We've already done the impossible for you in a week. It'll take another week, at best, to change the engines to include a reversible gear and rotor."

Adam shrugged, barely noticeable while strapped in. "I'll make do then. Clear the area."

Giving everyone a moment to back away, Garrett still watched Adam nervously. Pushing the ignition button, the engines came to life. The whole frame vibrated slightly from them, but there was no roar or load noise. It seemed the materials dampened the sound, or maybe they had added runes. He had heard Garrett mention before that vibrations could cause extra wear on the parts, so it was probably intentional.

"Wait!" shouted someone from the people watching.

Adam could feel the jetpack wanting to move, but until he added the thrust, he was just standing there. If anything, he felt like he could carry it around while wearing it as long as he didn't stand on the footholds.

The man who shouted ran to him with a funky looking mask and goggles.

"It's too difficult to breath without this on," he said. The goggles were placed on Adam, and the mask connected to a small air tank that was buckled to Adam's arm. Apparently, that was so it would stay with Adam if he fell off the jetpack. The goggles had been made from the corneas of the flying geckos.

When the man was safely away, Adam slowly increased the thrust. He felt the pack lifting him off the ground. The whole thing hovered about two feet up. Adam slighting increased and decreased the switch as felt the jetpack rise and lower.

"Alright, Adam," yelled Garrett. "Next you will want to…"

Adam pushed on the lever. The jetpack shook as the engine spun faster. He ignored what Garrett said as he flew into the sky. The speed increase wasn't huge, but Adam could feel the power as it rose, moving him faster in just a few seconds.

The jetpack had a slightly right-side tilt to it, so he used the toggle to compensate. Otherwise, he flew straight into the air. When he was about three times the height of the Sentinel HQ, which he could easily see from this height, he gradually moved the joystick until he was flying parallel with the ground.

There was no way for him to see whether people on the ground were watching or pointing at him. The experience flying this wasn't as easy as picking up a new video game. With so many physical sensations, Adam believed most people without high stats or skills to compensate wouldn't be able to handle this.

As he flew forward, trying to acclimate to the feeling, and glad that his skin was durable enough to only sting from the wind shear instead of having his skin shredded off, he tried to get used to the controls.

Adam used the joystick to go up a few feet, then level off again. Then down a few feet before leveling off. Then he gently turned right and left. At the speed he was traveling, the pull of gravity and the air currently felt significant. It all required him to notice and adjust the controls.

Once he became used to it, he increased the thrust even more. Trying to loop around, back in the direction he came from, Adam frowned at how large a turn it was. The maneuverability would make fighting in these more like jousting than repeated clashes. He would be no match for the flying geckos if they dodged his first attack.

"Aerial combat is out," thought Adam sullenly.

He tried doing a spin but gave up halfway through. It was too disorienting, especially since he kept tilting, which further affected his orientation. Using his body, almost like how you shift on a swing, made doing a spin easy, but stopping the spin proved very difficult and time consuming to end with the ground below the pilot.

"With no reverse, I need to know how it will slow down."

Turning so that he was moving upwards into the air, Adam cut the engines. The wind resistance and gravity slowed him from this position, but he continued drifting upwards from the momentum for a bit.

As soon as his upwards movement stopped, Adam turned the engines back on. There was a whining noise. Something didn't catch.

"Well, that is a problem," muttered Adam as he began to fall.

***

Garrett watched Adam fly around. He was impressed at how quickly the boy got used to the controls, figuring that his enhanced stats and probably the physical conditioning from fighting allowed him to pick it up.

Binoculars were given to Garrett and Golgarn, who gave an impressed sound when he looked through them. Garrett almost laughed at the discontinued loop and the difficulty Adam had straightening out after trying a spin. However, the whole time Garrett's insides quivered with concern.

What really stopped his heart was seeing Adam cut the engines. Then the whole thing fell. It changed direction in the air, with the heavier top flipping Adam upside down. Then it was like a rock, dropping directly to Earth.

"Damn! What do we do?" cried one of the engineers.

"Does the steering work with the engine off?" yelled another.

"I knew we needed to add a parachute," shouted another.

Garrett could only watch helplessly as Adam and the jetpack fell. He had faith in Adam, having watched his videos and heard stories from people who fought with him, but he couldn't help but be terrified as the most important person on the base plummeted towards the ground.

Adam's fall picked up speed as he came down. He probably wouldn't even hit terminal velocity before crashing. Garrett's heart and breathing picked up speed along with Adam's fall, pounding inside him.

About halfway through his fall, a glow came from the back of the jetpack. The engines started up again. There was no way for Adam to turn or pick up enough thrust to level out.

With the engine on, the jetpack wings changed his descent, bringing Adam to the ground at more of an angle. Garrett's accelerated breathing stopped as he held his breath, waiting for the moment of impact. The velocity of the plummet was creating a war in Garrett's mind between what a lifetime of physics told him versus an ambiguous understanding of stats and magic.

"NOOOOOOOO!" he couldn't help but yell as Adam hit the ground like a missile causing a cloud of dirty and debris to explode outwards.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.