Special effects: Starting with Ultraman Tiga

Chapter 456 Paragliding: High-Altitude Flight and the Beauty of Nature

"Alright, we're here." Shen Yun parked the car in the parking lot outside the paragliding school, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to Washio Takeshi, saying, "Yellow, paragliding is simpler than skydiving, but you still need a paragliding license to fly solo. We came here mainly to bring you for paragliding training. You have skydiving experience, so you'll pick up paragliding quickly; you should be able to master it in just a few days."

"Yes!" Washio Gaku nodded, looking at the colorful paragliders circling in the sky, and immediately rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

He yearns to fly deep down, and paragliding gives him a better sense of flight than parachuting training in the Self-Defense Forces.

After getting out of the car, the three went straight into the paragliding school to register Washio for training.

"Alright, we'll come pick you up again at noon." Shen Yun paid the bill, said goodbye to Washio Gaku, patted his behind, turned around and left, leaving Washio Gaku alone at the paragliding school's training base.

"Shen Jun, so what should we do next...?" Tidom looked up at Shen Yun with anticipation in his eyes.

"Since we're already here, wouldn't it be a shame not to try paragliding?" Shen Yun chuckled and pinched Tidom's smooth cheek.

This girl is so easy to understand.

"Yay!" Tidom cheered, grabbed Shen Yun's wrist with a grin, and ran towards the shop in the school.

Paragliding is a dangerous sport that requires tourists to fill out application forms and insurance documents, and to have their blood pressure and heart rate measured. This high-altitude thrill activity does not accept guests with heart disease, acrophobia, high blood pressure, or other similar conditions.

In addition, the paragliding school also offers free windproof clothing rental.

Especially now that it's winter, we need to pay attention to keeping warm. Wear scarves, gloves, hats, and other protective clothing if necessary.

After paying for the rental of a paraglider and the safety management fee for the two of them, Shen Yun took the school's small train to the takeoff field located at an altitude of 1,000 meters.

The takeoff area is located at the top of a small hill, where there is a steep, man-made platform. In front of the platform is a cliff nearly a thousand meters above the ground. People with a fear of heights will feel dizzy and weak just by looking at it.

Near this man-made platform, many tourists who came to experience paragliding were waiting with great anticipation, and there were many paragliders flying in the sky, some for singles and some for tandems.

"Wow!" Tidom stepped out of the car, looked up at the paragliders soaring high in the sky, her pretty face full of excitement and anticipation, and asked impatiently, "Shen Jun, when will it be our turn?"

"Don't rush, let's change our clothes first. It's very cold out here." Shen Yun smiled gently, took out a white knitted hat with ear flaps from his backpack, and put it on Tidom. A fluffy little ball was hanging from the end of the thin string on both sides of the hat, which looked quite cute.

At the same time, Shen Yun pulled up the off-white scarf around Tidom's neck, so that the scarf almost covered half of Tidom's face.

Then, Shen Yun took out a helmet, put it on Tidom's head, and fastened the buckle for him.

"Put on the gloves too." Shen Yun handed a pair of light yellow wool gloves with a bow on the back to Tidom.

"Okay~" Tidom smiled and took the gloves from Shen Yun. While putting on the wool gloves, he looked at the other tourists who were preparing to take off on the platform with a curious gaze.

Many tourists who try tandem paragliding here are experiencing it for the first time, and while they are excited, they are also inevitably a little timid.

Some timid tourists back out before even taking off, but the pilots and staff here don't show them any mercy. The staff will lift the tourists up and run forward, while the pilots jog behind to keep up.

Once the paraglider is opened by the wind and the pilot's feet leave the ground, the staff will let go, allowing the paraglider to be lifted up by the rising air currents, eliciting screams from the tourists.

The screams of these tourists also bring a knowing smile to the faces of some seasoned travelers.

Hearing the screams of the tourists, Tidom was not afraid at all; on the contrary, he was even eager to try it out.

Soon, the tourists ahead of them in line were also taken into the blue sky by flight instructors.

It was finally their turn.

"It's our turn now, let's go over there too." Shen Yun, carrying a paraglider pack, pulled Tidom to the steep slope of the platform, reached out and hugged Tidom's slender waist, holding her in his arms.

"Shen Jun...?" Tidom was startled by Shen Yun's sudden movement and instinctively tried to struggle.

"Don't move, I'm connecting the safety lock, this is related to your safety." Shen Yun raised his hand and patted Tidom's waist, saying.

With his current psychic power, he could fly even with one person in tow.

Of course, there's no need to tell Tidom this.

"Hmm..." Tidom turned his head slightly, a faint blush appearing on his fair and jade-like cheeks. Fortunately, it was not noticeable because of the scarf.

Tidom placed his hand on his heart; his heart was pounding...

"Alright." After Shen Yun connected all the safety locks, he also released Tidom and waved to the safety operator next to him to indicate that he was ready.

The safety operator, who had already laid out the paraglider, came over to Shen Yun and Tidom after seeing Shen Yun waving to him. After checking the safety locks on the two and finding no problems, he nodded to Shen Yun, indicating that they could take off.

"Tidom, are you scared?" Shen Yun looked down at Tidom in front of him and asked with a smile.

"Don't be afraid." Tidom, who was leaning against Shen Yun, quickly shook his head and said.

For some reason, when she was with Shen Yun, she always felt a sense of comfort and security, as if she were immersed in honey.

Besides, she was just too shy to think about anything else, her mind was a mess, so how could she be thinking about being scared?

"As long as you're not afraid, I'll run away whenever I say I'm going, understand?" Shen Yun smiled and said.

Yes~

Shen Yun reached out to feel the air currents, then pulled the parachute line and shouted, "Run!"

Upon hearing this, Tidom did not hesitate and quickly ran towards the steep slope that resembled a cliff.

The moment Tidom started moving, Shen Yun also ran forward.

As the two ran quickly, the paraglider that Shen Yun was dragging behind was instantly opened by the airflow and hung high above their heads.

Just as they were about to plunge off the cliff, an invisible force suddenly struck, as if a giant hand had grabbed the paraglider and lifted Shen Yun and Tidom into the air.

"Wow!" Tidom exclaimed excitedly. The moment the paraglider took off was even more thrilling and exciting than a roller coaster!

Without the slightest jolt, the open paraglider, aided by the updraft, climbed steadily upwards.

Generally speaking, without the help of updrafts, paragliders will remain stranded at an altitude of 800-900 meters.

But Shen Yun timed it perfectly, and with the help of the updraft, the paraglider climbed all the way to an altitude of nearly two thousand meters.

At that moment, Tidom opened his beautiful eyes wide, stunned by the beautiful scenery before him.

The azure sky, the clouds that seem within reach, the vast and boundless Asakura Plateau, and the snow-covered Mount Fuji, standing like a silver pyramid between heaven and earth, all make one feel the grandeur and magnificence of nature.

Even for her, this was the first time she had ever seen such a sight.

"How's the view?" Shen Yun released the parachute lines, reached out and pinched Tidom's cheek, and laughed.

"It's so beautiful~" Tidom didn't pay attention to Shen Yun's actions. She looked at Mount Fuji in the distance, her face flushed with excitement.

As the Gorgon, her favorite thing is the sight of nature.

Although she had seen the view of Mount Fuji a thousand years ago, viewing it from such a height and perspective was an experience she had never had before.

After admiring the sights for a moment, Shen Yun looked down at Tidom and chuckled, "Tidom, wanna try something more exciting?"

"Exciting?" Tidom felt a mix of nervousness and excitement upon hearing this, but finally nodded slightly.

"Um!"

Shen Yun smiled slightly and pulled the paraglider brakes without any warning.

Without any warning, the paraglider suddenly tilted in the air, flipped 360 degrees, and spiraled downwards.

"Ah!" Tidom was caught off guard. Her body suddenly felt light, and her vision spun around. When she came to her senses, her vision returned to normal, leaving only the pounding of her heart echoing in her ears.

"Want to come again?" Shen Yun asked with a smile.

"Yes!" Tidom nodded excitedly; this was much more thrilling than a roller coaster.

"Get ready, here we come." Shen Yun smiled slightly and pulled the brakes on the paraglider.

At an altitude of 2,000 meters, the paraglider began a series of large flips and then rapidly spiraled downwards.

"Ah!" Tidom also let out an excited scream.

After rapidly descending nearly 500 meters, Shen Yun stopped and let the paraglider float quietly in the sky. After flying in the sky for nearly 20 minutes, Shen Yun returned to the ground with the now satisfied Tidom.

After returning the paraglider, Shen Yun, seeing that it was still early, drove Tidom to Jingjin Lake.

"Looks like we're pretty lucky." Shen Yun drove to Kawaguchiko Town, looked at Mount Fuji which was not obscured by clouds, and chuckled.

The weather was clear today, with no clouds obstructing their view, and the magnificent view of Mount Fuji holding its roost was presented before them.

At this moment, behind the lake, the snow-covered, towering Mount Fuji and the "petite" Mount Omuro form a straight line, as if the large mountain is embracing the small one. This is the spectacular sight of "Mount Fuji Embracing its Child," which can only be seen at Lake Shoji on a clear day.

"So this is Fuji with its baby! It's really beautiful..." Tidom said with delight, sitting in the back seat and gazing at the beautiful scenery outside the window.

"It's a pity the wind is a bit strong today, otherwise, we might have even seen the reversed Fuji with its 'baby' on it," Shen Yun said regretfully, looking at the lake surface that was rippling in the wind.

The two only enjoyed the beautiful scenery of "Fuji with a Baby" for a while before driving away from Kawaguchiko Town. After playing around in the vicinity, Shen Yun returned to Fujinomiya City and went to the paragliding school located in Asagiri Plateau again.

When they returned to the paragliding school in Asagiri Plateau, training at Washiodake was still ongoing.

The paragliding school's training base is located on a grassy slope, which is nearly 20 meters high and nearly 100 meters long.

On this slope, there are many students who have come to learn paragliding and are practicing ground control of their parachutes.

Mount Washio is among them.

Seeing Washio Takeshi's back as he flew with his parachute, Shen Yun wasn't too surprised.

Since Washio Dake already had skydiving experience, and paragliding is indeed easy to master, it's not surprising that he was able to practice in just one morning.

Besides the trainees taking certification exams, there are also some eleven or twelve-year-old children here, experiencing paragliding skimming the ground under the guidance of flight instructors.

With this slope, you only need to run a short distance while holding the parachute lines, and the resulting wind will open the paraglider and lift you into the air.

However, the altitude here is too low, so even if you can fly, the flight height will not exceed five meters, and you will fall from the sky after flying only a short distance.

Of course, it is sufficient to familiarize students with the operation of paragliding when they are taking the certification exam.

"Want to give it a try?" Shen Yun glanced at Tidom, noticing the slight hint of excitement on her pretty face, and asked.

"Hmm! I want to try it too!" Tidom watched the children take off from the gentle slope with the help of the flight instructor and fly slowly downhill, and he was eager to try it himself.

"How about we try it again after we finish lunch?" Shen Yun said with a smile.

"Great!" Tidom said happily.

When Washio Gaku finished training, Shen Yun and Tidom rushed to greet him.

Shen Yun tossed a bottle of water he'd bought to Washio Takeshi and asked with a smile, "Yellow, how's it going?"

"We should be able to try a test flight this afternoon," Washio Takeshi replied after taking a sip of the water Shen Yun tossed him.

"This afternoon?" Shen Yun wasn't too surprised when he heard this, and just smiled and said, "Then we'll watch you test fly this afternoon."

Paragliding is a very safe and recreational aviation sport that can be enjoyed by people as young as 14 or as old as 65.

"However, can simply flying with a paraglider really improve one's strength?" Washio Takeshi expressed his doubts about this method.

"Take it easy, don't worry about it too much. It's just a try, you won't lose anything." Shen Yun patted Washio Takeshi on the shoulder and laughed, "Let's go, I'll take you to eat eel rice. It's a specialty of Shizuoka Prefecture."

"Huh? Eel rice is a local specialty? Does that mean it's cheap here?" Tidom exclaimed in surprise.

She had eaten eel rice a few times, and although it was delicious, it was too expensive.

"Shizuoka Prefecture is a major producer of eels in Japan, so the price is indeed much cheaper than in Tokyo. I visited Shizuoka Prefecture once during a school trip and had eel rice here once," Washio Takeshi said with a smile, his interest piqued by the mention of eel rice.

The three chatted and laughed as they left the paragliding school and drove to downtown Fujinomiya.

(End of this chapter)