by Jakob Tanner
Thanks to the phase-out ability, he was temporarily immaterial.
The ogre’s eyes bulged at his own futile and ineffective attack.
Max took the opportunity to roll forward and stab the monster’s stomach with his mana claws.
The monster quickly burst and disappeared.
Max caught his breath and continued with his hostile dance of destruction.
The monster-wave hadn’t died down in the slightest.
The horde just kept moving towards him.
Max wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up.
Did the challenge expect him to take out this entire monster-wave?
Something then dawned on Max.
The ogre hadn’t left behind a monster core. Neither had the werewolf or any of the harpies.
Suddenly, the purple sky of the realm felt instantly familiar.
It was like the realm inside his mana training box.
Did that mean then this entire realm was a simulation?
Max considered the words of the challenge once more.
Survive the monster-wave.
The key was survive.
This wasn’t a purely fighting-oriented challenge. It was a battle of endurance.
There wasn’t a timer because each contestant must be fighting in their own exact parallel realm like the one he was currently in.
The challenge would end when enough climbers had been defeated and bowed out of the fight.
This changes everything, Max thought.
He continued spinning around with his mana claws, stopping any of the lesser monsters from getting close.
He had to rethink his entire strategy.
He’d already used shadow blink, chain-lightning, and phase-out. Those would be knocks against his D-rank total of twenty-five trait uses a day.
He still had plenty left for sure, but he might need them in the next challenge or the one after that.
Meanwhile, the longer this survival challenge went, the more likely he’d need to keep relying on his trait abilities.
He was making an artificial rule for himself.
Win this challenge with only using the mana claws.
He also realized his current strategy of staying put wasn’t helping him either.
He had D-rank agility now. He could move faster than a car on a highway.
He kicked off the ground and started roving through the horde of monsters, dragging his mana claws in and out of as much monster flesh as he could.
By staying in the same place he was letting the monsters continuously come at him, but by moving constantly, he was creating greater confusion within the swarm of hostile creatures.
One second he was moving northwest along the field, then northeast.
He was playing the horde against itself.
They couldn’t pivot as quickly as he could.
They were a roaming mass of destruction, but Max was far more agile.
He glided through the gang of monstrous beasts tearing them to bits when suddenly they all burst into nothingness.
He was standing alone in the field once more, panting out of breath.
He grinned as a new message appeared in his retina.
Congratulations for completing challenge one. Please stand by for further instructions.
4
In the room behind the gymnasium, Sakura stood with the two elder council members looking over a plethora of screens.
On the screens were the different contestants, fighting through the monster-horde.
“This manatechnology is impressive,” said one of the elder council.
“It is,” smiled Sakura. “We were finally able to figure out the schematics of the mana training boxes designed by the Caesarians. Using it now on a larger scale, we can create simulated battle scenarios and environments. The plan will be to rejig a lot of the climber academy curriculum around this new manatech.”
“It will certainly save the lives of the weaker climbers,” said the old woman.
“Yes and no,” said Sakura. “The technology isn’t perfect; but it takes a lot for someone to die in it. So the death rates definitely will drop significantly.”
They engaged in this idle chatter as their eyes focused on one screen in particular.
Max was dealing with the horde of monsters with absolute aplomb.
Then on the screen the monsters vanished from all the different screens.
The elder council’s eyes bulged, impressed.
Max had exceeded their expectations, making it to the next challenge.
“Is that surprise on your face?” said Sakura, smirking at the two members of the elder council.
“It is indeed impressive that the boy has made it this far,” said the old man. “But I doubt your precious protégé will be able to succeed in the next challenge.”
Max caught his breath as he stood in the now empty field.
He blinked and flashes of the absurd amount of monsters that had surrounded him came back to him and made him want to puke.
That challenge was kind of insane, he thought to himself.
Max looked across the empty field. What were the next challenges going to be: more monster-waves continuously growing in strength and power?
A ripple of energy coursed across the field and sent Max’s hair back.
The next challenge was about to start.
A message appeared in Max’s retina.
Challenge Two: Defeat Another Contestant Within The Challenge Zone.
Max looked around with horror.
He couldn’t see anyone nearby.
He was going to lose this challenge because of where he’d been placed in the simulation.
In the distance, he saw a few more specks of figures than he had previously.
Perhaps that was what that wave of energy had been. The challenge had been running separate scenarios for the different climbers and now was combining them together.
Max started running towards the specks of people.
He didn’t have time to theorize.
This challenge was going to split the contestant pool in half and he needed to make sure he was in the fifty percent that would go on to the next challenge.
With his D-rank agility he raced across the field until the specks in the distance began to take on the shapes of other humans.
Other challengers.
Max slowed down and crept towards them.
It was true that they could see him approaching—the environment didn’t offer much in terms of camouflage or hiding spots—but they didn’t seem to heed his approach.
There was a group of them and they were all focused on something.
What were they up to?
Toby Greenstone shivered and trembled on the ground of the simulated environment.
He winced in pain as the group of five kicked him in the ribs.
Tears filled his eyes.
“Why are you crying,” laughed one of the men above him. “It’s all a simulation. What, you scared you’re going to die?”
All five men laughed as they continued to torture Toby on the ground.
Why are they doing this to me? he thought.
“Look at this little bitch squirm,” laughed a different man.
“What should we do next to him?” said another.
“Let’s kill him slowly,” said a fourth.
Toby squirmed and tried to escape their clutches, but there were too many of them.
“Stop trying to escape you wimp,” spat one and they continued to land hurtful blows all over his body.
Why is this happening to me?
He hadn’t been a climber for very long. He was only E-rank, but his mom had told him he had to be ambitious. He had to take strong steps forward and take challenges head on.
Well, that had clearly been a mistake, he thought.
These guys were D-rank and taking advantage of that fact.
They didn’t even seem that concerned with the challenge. They were just enjoying an opport
unity to pick on someone weaker than themselves with no consequences.
With the last of his strength, Toby screamed out, “SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASE HELP ME!”
Then, in a flash, shadowy smoke appeared behind one of the men.
Three bright beams of mana shot through the man’s head before he burst away—disappearing from the simulation.
“What the—” yelled a different man.
Someone’s come to help me, Toby thought with relief.
He was able to look up now that the men who had been torturing him were preoccupied.
A red-haired boy had emerged and was taking them on all at once.
Three of the remaining ran off.
The red-haired boy looked down to Toby.
“Those pricks don’t deserve to be called climbers,” said the boy. “Wanna let me help you get to the next challenge?”
Vernon Esquire ran across the simulated environment as fast as he could.
His two remaining accomplices were ahead of him. Both of their agility stats were higher than his.
“Wait you guys!”
They weren’t abandoning him, were they? He had only reluctantly agreed to torture that kid. Sure, it had been fun, but he had much rather have focused on the challenge itself.
Just keeping running, he said to himself.
His heart raced as he pushed himself forward across the strange simulated field area.
Then, out of nowhere, a burst of black smoke appeared right in front of him.
WHAM!
Vernon smacked right into something and fell back onto the ground.
Emerging from the black smoke ahead of him was that deadly red-haired climber boy.
That was who Vernon had just smashed into.
The boy had a menacing look on his face.
He glanced over Vernon lying on the ground towards someone else.
“C’mon,” said the red-haired boy. “Do the honors? Join me in the next challenge.”
Vernon leaned his head back and caught sight of the boy they had just been torturing.
“Oh no,” cried Vernon. “Please, we were only joking.”
The young boy approached, shaking his head.
The boy then lifted up his hand and triggered his slice skill.
An energy beam went right through Vernon’s head.
The boy wasn’t going to accept the man’s apology.
5
There were thirty seconds left to complete the challenge.
Max stood with his arms crossed, looking across the field, while the young boy shivered on the ground beside him.
“What kind of training exercise is this?” said the boy, clutching his knees and rocking back and forth.
Max looked to the kid with concern. Part of him wanted to tell him to not worry and point out that it was just a simulation; but then he remembered those were the exact words the bullies had said to him.
“Listen,” said Max. “Bullies and jerks exist everywhere you go, and that includes within the world of climbers. It’s a sad fact. Keep in mind though: being a climber is all about facing adversity and triumphing over it.”
The young climber mustered a smile up at Max.
He hoped he’d made the kid feel better.
“Stand up,” said Max. “We need to be ready for the next challenge.”
He helped the kid up while keeping an eye on the timer.
What’s the next challenge going to be? Max thought to himself with concern.
His fingers twitched, ready for the next monster-wave or hostile obstacle.
The timer ticked ever downward.
Five seconds.
Four seconds.
Three seconds.
Two seconds.
One second.
Congratulations for completing challenge two. Please stand by for further instructions.
Challenge Three: Form a team with another contestant. You have three minutes.
Max read through the challenge prompt quickly and turned to the E-rank kid beside him.
The kid’s face was growing pale.
“What’s the matter?” said Max. “This is good. We’re going to form a team, right?”
Max couldn’t believe his luck at this new challenge. It was an incredibly clever and excruciating twist on what they’d done so far. Presumably, most contestants would now have to form a team with the very person they may have been fighting.
The challenges are keeping us on our toes, that’s for sure, thought Max.
Max turned to the E-rank kid.
“So are we going to join up?” asked Max. “I think we make a good team.”
The boy didn’t say anything.
He just looked out in the distance with a dead look in his eye.
His eyes went glassy as they filled with water and tears began to roll down his cheeks.
Max put his hand on the boy’s back, trying to comfort him.
“Don’t worry,” said Max. “I’ll protect you and help us get through this.”
The boy started shaking his head, furiously.
“No,” he cried. “I want to go home. I GIVE UP! PLEASE LET ME GO!”
In a blip, the boy disappeared.
Max was staring down at empty air where the boy had just been.
Crap.
Max stood up and looked around the barren field.
The kid had been his ticket to the next challenge. Now he needed to find someone new to partner up with, but there wasn’t anybody in the vicinity.
Then he noticed two figures in the distance.
Of course, he thought. The two bullies who had gotten away.
Wendall and Brandon had finally stopped after running nonstop from that psychotically powerful red-haired climber.
Wendall kept his hands on his knees and caught his breath.
“They must have taken out Vernon,” said Brandon. “I guess that saves us the awkward trouble of betraying him now that we need to partner up.”
Wendall glanced up at Brandon and smirked.
What Brandon didn’t seem to know was that Wendall had actually made a side deal with Vernon to betray Brandon.
None of that mattered now.
They had to follow the challenge guidelines and improvise when necessary.
Wendall stood up straight and held out his hand to Brandon.
“Partners?”
They were about to shake on it when Wendall sensed something.
He dropped his arm and looked off in the distance.
“Someone’s co—”
He couldn’t even finish his sentence as the red-haired climber from before appeared right in front of them.
“Where’s the little pipsqueak?” sneered Brandon.
The red-haired climber wasn’t giving off as hostile an energy as before.
What was going on here? What did he want?
“Which one of you wants to partner up with me?” asked the red-haired climber.
Wendall turned to Brandon who had an astounded look on his face.
They then both guffawed with laughter.
“Why don’t you partner up with that little bitch you saved?” Brandon laughed. “Or what? Did you finish our dirty work for us?”
The red-haired boy’s eyes narrowed and he stared at them both intently.
“I wanted to partner with the kid,” he said. “But you guys tortured him so bad, he was traumatized and volunteered to quit the challenge early.”
Wendall shrugged. “What do you want us to do about it? The kid didn’t deserve to win these challenges if he couldn’t handle the heat.”
The red-haired climber placed his hand out in front of Wendall to gesture him to stop talking.
“Time is ticking,” he said. “One of you is going to be my partner in the next challenge. Do you want to decide or shall I?”
Wendall looked to Brandon and gave him a determined nod.
“Don’t be so cocky,” Wendall said. “It’s two against one. C’mon Brandon, let’s take this guy out!”
Brandon rushed ahead towards the red-haired climber.
Wendall had roughly two seconds to come to a decision he’d just recently been mulling over.
The boy had made an interesting proposition: “do you want to decide or shall I?”
He could fight this guy alongside Brandon and stick together. That said, this guy was more powerful than they realized. Taking him on would essentially be flipping a coin to see which one he’d defeat first.
If he turned on Brandon, he was guaranteeing a spot in the next challenge.
In which case, the decision was easy.
Before Brandon could even land a punch on the red-haired climber, the man was coated in bright flames.
Wendall had triggered his flamebringer trait on his former partner.
Brandon screamed to death until he faded from the simulation.
The red-haired boy looked at Wendall in shock.
“So much for honor among thieves, huh?” said the red-haired boy.
Wendall shrugged.
They had thirty seconds left to form a team.
“You ready to partner up?”
6
Max and the remaining bully agreed to be partners.
The man—Wendall he was called—had a deranged gleeful look on his face.
“Aw yeah,” he said. “I’m going to win this thing with this superstar climber on my side!”
Max mentally groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was help out this despicable climber, but the challenge had forced him into it. Part of him hoped the final challenge would be to face off against your partner. If that were the case, he could make quick work of this flamebringer who tortured weaker climbers and betrayed his allies at every turn.
“Save your energy,” said Max. “We don’t know what we’ll be facing next.”
The timer ticked down to the next challenge.
As he watched the seconds decrease, Max got more and more nervous. Only the best of the best were going to be remaining in the challenge at this point.
The timer hit zero.
Congratulations for completing challenge three. Please stand by for further instructions.