61 End of Training
Atticus reached the bottom of the cliff and observed how other trainees were climbing. Although he hadn't done it before, he knew it was a straightforward process: ensure you have a stable foothold before moving upwards.
'The traps here are obvious, the handholds,' Atticus realized. He knew that some of the handholds used by trainees to ascend would be traps. 'I'll have to be extra careful. They aren't so easy to spot,' he thought.
With this in mind, he placed one hand on a rock, raised his leg, and started climbing. Atticus decided to follow the same route as the other trainees, making it easier for him to navigate.
He kept his gaze fixed on a boy ahead of him, mimicking every hand and foothold the boy took.
After Atticus had covered a distance of 50 meters, the boy ahead of him reached out and placed his hand on what seemed to be a stable rock jutting from the wall. To his surprise, the rock dislodged, causing him to lose his balance momentarily.
Reacting quickly, he managed to catch himself by grabbing onto another rock with his free hand. Breathing a sigh of relief, the boy's momentary respite was abruptly interrupted as a hole materialized near his abdomen.
A stone projectile shot forth from the hole at remarkable speed, impacting his stomach with force and knocking the wind out of him.
Thankfully, the impact's momentum propelled him away from the cliff's edge, sparing him from falling onto Atticus, who was positioned below.
Atticus observed the boy's screaming descent toward the ground, his keen senses alert to any developments. Suddenly, the ground beneath the boy illuminated with intricate runes, casting a radiant glow. Before Atticus's eyes, the boy vanished into the brilliance of the light. 'Teleportation runes,' he realized. He turned and continued climbing.
As if not wanting him to rest, a trainee close to him triggered another trap, and a strong wind gushed out of the mountain, pushing the trainee and those near him away from the mountain.
Atticus was also slightly affected, but he had detected the trainee triggering the trap, and he quickly jumped away from him, landing on a hand and foothold another trainee had just climbed.
After a few minutes, and lots of screams, only a quarter of the trainees remained. Atticus and many others had stopped to rest when they reached a place where they could maintain their balance.
At this point, Nate couldn't feel his limbs anymore. He was resting on a slanted part of the mountain, sweat covering his body, huffing and puffing.
He was still amongst the leaders, but he just couldn't keep up anymore. Atticus had passed him a while back, but he didn't even look at him as he was focused on climbing.
After a few minutes of rest, they started moving up again. However, as Nate grabbed a handhold and was about to pull himself up, he lost the strength in his body and fell, thinking, 'I'm sorry, Lucas,' as he descended.
Atticus was currently in the lead. There were about three trainees remaining, and after a while, Atticus eventually reached the top. He got down and lay on the ground, his chest rising and falling as he took deep breaths and panted.
After a few minutes on the ground, he got up despite the screaming of his muscles and took deep breaths. No one had arrived at the top during that time, he turned his gaze and saw that he was in a flat clearing.
Catching his breath for a bit more, he started running. After a few moments, he reached a steep slope that dropped precipitously below. It was a single pathway cutting through a forest, with trees on both sides.
'Shit, I don't have any guinea pigs to test the waters for me this time,' he thought.
He took a step forward, inhaling deeply, and muttered to himself, "Looks like I'll have to rely on my perception for this."
With determination, Atticus started his descent down the slope, his senses on high alert, ready to react to any unexpected danger. After a minute of sprinting down the steep terrain, his keen senses detected multiple high-speed projectiles hurtling towards him.
Acting with lightning-fast reflexes, Atticus shifted his center of balance onto one leg and executed a precise spin, narrowly evading the projectiles that whizzed past him. As he landed, he wasted no time and continued his rapid descent down the slope.
In less than a minute, Atticus detected more projectiles closing in on him from both sides. With remarkable agility, he skillfully evaded them.
Dodging projectiles at his speed, without relying on mana, was a testament to his heightened perception.
After a few minutes of sprinting and dodging numerous projectiles, Atticus successfully reached the end of the slope. He couldn't help but notice that it felt relatively easier than the previous challenges, 'I'm really glad i awakened this perception,' he thought.
Upon reaching the bottom, he found himself once again navigating the forest, maintaining a vigilant stance as he spotted and carefully avoided traps. After a few more minutes, he finally returned to the starting point.
Coming out of the forest, Elias was absolutely shocked, but he quickly regained his composure. "Congrats! You made it on your first try and within the required time. 50 points!" he said to Atticus, who was panting on the floor.
But he couldn't help but think, 'What the hell.' He didn't expect anyone to make it down on their first try.
There was a reason every trainee had to build up stamina first before attempting this course. It was because of the hellish experience one would go through to complete it.
Before Atticus, no other trainee had ever made it to the finish line on the first try. 'Even that monster,' Elias remembered how much of a genius Avalon was, and even he was unable to perform this feat when he was 10.
'I'm excited,' Elias thought inwardly in exhilaration.
***
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