A guard inserted the hand crank into the engine, vigorously rotating it several times before forcefully depressing the valve. A violent tremor instantly spread from the engine to the tail. Amidst the shaking, the engine emitted a series of popping sounds, driving the propeller to spin rapidly.

As the roar transformed into a continuous hum, Goode, following the manual's instructions, slowly pushed the throttle lever. The aircraft, as if drawn by something, began to slide down the runway.

"Wow..." A wave of exclamations rose from the crowd.

It actually worked! Goode was equally encouraged. It was acting on his commands, and he was mastering this behemoth!

He couldn't help but turn his head to glance at the princess perched on the left side of the wing. Her gray hair fluttered in the wind, and her eyes seemed to hold a smile. The princess... was she praising him? Goode's confidence grew. Next, he just needed to follow her instructions, and taking off shouldn't be a problem!

However, after more than ten breaths, no instructions came from her side.

Goode frequently looked at Tilly, but was only met with that ambiguous smile. As the aircraft crossed the runway's line, he suddenly realized a fact: he wouldn't receive any instructions.

"Considering this is your first time in the sky, I will fly near the pilot's seat as a guide, reminding you step by step what to do."

That sentence didn't include him. The princess was taking care of the ordinary students, not him, who had violated the regulations and made a mistake.

Like other students who failed, they would have another chance, but he only had one.

Goode instantly felt his hands and feet turn cold. The sense of loss and regret from yesterday flooded his heart again.

"The best performance would be if I don't have to say anything."

He vaguely guessed the princess's thoughts—if he couldn't take off on his own, if he couldn't achieve the best results, then the academy wouldn't keep him. This was the price of making a mistake. Only by demonstrating enough talent would he have the value to stay here.

But could he really make this aircraft fly?

At this moment, only a third of the runway remained, and at the end was a field of grass, and beyond that was the airfield fence—if he crashed straight into it, even Nana Waxiaojie probably wouldn't be able to help.

No... it was too late.

Goode subconsciously wanted to pull the throttle lever. This seemed to be the only way to save his life, to reduce the speed and avoid a head-on collision—when facing an unavoidable high wall, this was almost a human instinct.

But the next moment, he felt a hand placed on the top of his head.

"Do... you like flying?"

Rachel's voice seemed to echo in his ears.

Flying—

That's right, if he were a bird, there would still be a way out.

That was to fly, to cross the obstacle from the top of the wall.

Now, if he folded his wings, he would have nothing.

As if in an instant, or as if a long time had passed, Goode's hand, which had been tightly gripping the handle, moved again—but not to retract, but to push it hard.

The engine roared.

The wall seemed to crash towards him!

Only in the last ten meters did he suddenly pull up the nose. As the aircraft swayed, the runway suddenly disappeared from his sight, replaced by the rapidly passing grass—for a moment, he felt weightless, as light as a swallow. The ground fell downwards, and he was rising into the air!

Faster, faster! Goode stared wide-eyed, staring at the approaching edge of the wall, and even prepared his body to meet the impact.

But that moment did not come.

The aircraft almost brushed past the top of the wall, rushing into the blue sky. When the obstacles in front of him completely disappeared, an unprecedented sight appeared in Goode's eyes. The outline of the academy, the shape of the coast, and the distant Neverwinter City all came into view, rotating with his movements. The morning wind filling the last gap in his senses, and the day-to-day practice had found its benchmark at this moment.

Such a free experience made him want to shout

out loud.

It was so good that humans could fly.

...

After the aircraft landed, Goode knelt before the princess.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity. You have shown me a scene that I could only see in my dreams in the past."

During the nearly half-hour test flight, he basically completed several standard maneuvers in the manual, such as ascent and circling. Although the process was a bit bumpy, he managed to do them one by one.

As for how many points he would get in the end, he could only leave it to fate.

Even if he still didn't meet her requirements, he at least left a memorable memory. In the future, as long as he closed his eyes, this world would suddenly expand a lot.

"Why did you join the Air Knight Academy?"

Tilly's voice came from above.

Goode hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell the truth, "Your Highness, at first it was to earn more rewards, then it was to stand out, and now... it's flying itself."

"Whether it's rewards, fame, or flying, I can give you all—as long as you can kill enough demons." The princess's statement was unwavering, like solid ice, "Fight for Graycastle, pilot the aircraft to kill every demon that appears in sight, and exchange everything with their blood. This is the duty of the Air Knights, and also the purpose of establishing the academy. If you can do it, report to Eagle Face."

Goode raised his head excitedly and said, "Your Highness, do you mean—"

"You passed." Tilly walked towards the formation without looking back.

...

It was not until 5:00 pm that the first round of test flights came to an end. Two of the sixteen people were eliminated, but fortunately, they all survived.

Finjin and Heinz passed the assessment after Goode.

When they were dismissed, the two grabbed Goode and dragged him to the side, "Are you crazy? Tilly said that successfully flying counts as passing, but you were hesitant to speed up, almost crashed into the wall, and even flew out of the academy area later, circling in the sea, not afraid of falling into the sea and drowning?"

It was an accident. Goode rolled his eyes, "Didn't Your Highness tell everyone to do their best and go all out before taking off? How would I know that completing the lift and landing counts as passing? I was just thinking that the score of several actions combined would be higher."

"Consider yourself lucky." Finjin shook his head helplessly.

"You guys aren't bad either," he curled his lips, "Taking off so decisively without guidance."

"What? What do you mean by no guidance? Didn't Your Highness tell you the timing to pull the lever?"

"Yeah, it's just that the guidance was less than others," Heinz echoed, "After all, we all made mistakes."

Goode couldn't help but be stunned. Was he the only one who didn't receive a single instruction?

With confusion and incomprehension along the way, the three returned to the dormitory area.

As soon as he entered the gate, Goode saw Eagle Face standing on the playground with a frosty expression.

The three of them shivered in unison. In a sense, the probationary students feared this instructor even more than the long princess, especially Eagle Face's eyes, when stared at, it was like an inescapable prey.

"L-Lord..."

"You're quite capable. You managed to cause trouble for me even on a rare day off." He coldly swept over Goode and his group, "You should be glad that you haven't joined the army yet, and this is not the jurisdiction of the First Army, otherwise..."

"Lord, we were wrong!" The three quickly reflected in the most sincere tone.

"Since Your Highness has already dealt with it, I won't say much, but as long as you want to become Air Knights, you will eventually be a member of the army." Eagle Face put away his sneer and said sternly, "To deepen your impression and avoid making the same mistakes again, you will be responsible for cleaning the toilets for the next month, understand?"

"Ah?" Finjin and Heinz immediately showed bitter faces.

Only Goode

raised his hand excitedly and saluted.

"Yes, sir!"