Chapter 451: Madman

Alex slowed after about an hour of climbing. The mountain’s pressure finally built to the point where he could no longer jog, though he still managed to continue onward at a steady pace. He’d already passed quite a few other people during his ascent. His eyes remained firmly fixed on his goal above.

The city.

But something felt a little off. While he was still on the same, wide path that he’d been on ever since passing the first rest point, he hadn’t seen anyone else in over an hour. Stranger still was the city above in the distance.

It didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

Am I just imagining it? I swear I’ve covered more ground than this.

Alex’s jaw clenched slightly. He wasn’t exactly tired yet, but the effects of the pressure were finally starting to grind him down. It didn’t help that the resistance gradually built with every step. Even if it wasn’t too unbearable right now, it would still eventually ramp up to be too much.

He let himself slow. Given the speeds of everyone he’d passed on the way up, Alex was pretty certain the mountain wouldn’t take any issue with that so long as he didn’t straight up stop or turn around. And he needed a bit of time to think.

Alex took another glance at the city. His eyes narrowed. It definitely wasn’t getting closer. He wasn’t just imagining things. It was exactly as far from him as it had been when he’d left the recovery area. Something else was going on.

Okay. I think that’s a pretty clear sign that I’m not approaching this whole thing the right way. Either that or the city is only available to people if they show up with a certain amount of Cracked Coins. Maybe its just sitting there to encourage me to get more.

But… nah. I don’t think that’s the case. At the very least, I should be able to get up to the gates. There’s a way up there. It just isn’t the one I’m doing.

He didn’t bother trying to come up with how the mountain was slowing him down. There were too many ways to answer that and none of them would have helped. Alex had no delusions about actually being stronger than the trial itself.

I’ve just got to figure out what it is I’m missing. Climbing like this clearly isn’t the way to go. So what is?

***

Mel blew out an exhausted, relieved breath as he stumbled into the second checkpoint. The pressure driving down onto his shoulders evaporated in an instant. Relief washed over him. He stumbled over to one of the crates arranged around the camp, plopping down on it without a word as he gasped for breath.

It was a minute before he mustered the energy to wipe the sweat coating his brow away with the back of his sleeve, and a minute longer before his thoughts had finished unscrambling.

“Tough climb?” a woman’s voice came, breaking through his weariness.

Mel glanced to the side. A small smile crossed his lips. Laid out across the ground just a few feet away from him was a climber he’d run into quite a few times in the past few years. It had been months since they’d last run into each other, but it was a bit hard not to recognize the pitch-black scales covering her entire body and the two yellow, reptilian eyes peering up at him.

“Yuria,” Mel said, inclining his head in a small greeting. “Climb treating you well?”

“No,” the draconian replied through a grunt. “I feel like I got stepped on by a herd of trompagi.”

Mel didn’t bother asking what a trompagi was. The System had more trouble translating Mel’s words than most other people, probably because her language seemed to use so many made-up words that even it couldn’t quite tell what they were saying half the time.

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Besides, he knew what she meant.

“I get that,” Mel said wearily. “The trip doesn’t get any easier, does it?”

“That’s the point,” Yuria replied. She pushed herself upright. “First two stages aren’t about power. They’re about will. It’s a test of your mind, not your body. Only once you have been pushed to your absolute limits and accepted the frailty of your form will the path allow you forward.”

“I’m aware,” Mel said. “But you’d think that we’d get a pass after proving it the first time.”

“The System strengthens our bodies. But our minds and souls are our own and as fallible today as they will be tomorrow,” Yuria said. “I am pleased to see that yours have not yet broken.”

“Yeah. You too,” Mel said. He wiped his brow again. It really wasn’t doing much. His whole body was soaked as if he’d jumped into an ocean at some point along the climb. All he was doing was smearing sweat around. “I need a shower.”

“Reward awaits us when we break,” Yuria said. “You can have your shower when your climb is complete. How far was your latest run?”

“Third checkpoint,” Mel replied. “The Guardian took me out. You?”

Yuria’s flicked out to taste the air. Her eyes shimmered in satisfaction. “Fourth. I defeated the Guardian.”

“You’re kidding,” Mel said, leaning forward in shock. “How? That damn thing is untouchable. I swear nothing I did even scratched it.”

“I was fortunate,” Yuria replied. “I arrived alongside three other climbers. They were talented. We were able to coordinate our efforts. Unfortunately, the Lower City turned me away. I was not strong enough to earn entry.”

“Damn.” Mel shook his head. “Were the rewards—”

“Oh, yes.” Yuria’s lips curled into a smile. “Very worth it. But I suspect they would have been even greater were I able to ascend on my own. But it will be a very long time before I am strong enough to do that.”

“That an offer?” Mel asked, cocking his head to the side. “Because I’ll take you up on it if it is. Us Crestless need to stick together.”

“It is,” Yuria said. “An alliance, then. Have you gotten much stronger since the last time we met?”

“I’ve gotten… stronger,” Mel said. The hesitation said more than his words.

Yuria’s tongue flicked out. “We will need another. The Guardian is powerful.”

“Oh, trust me,” Mel said with a grunt. “I know.”

The two of them glanced around the second checkpoint. There were a few other climbers there. Mel hadn’t seen the majority of them. The ones he did recognize weren’t the kind that he had any desire to link himself to.

Those who walked the Cracked Steps were rarely the kind that found themselves suited to teamwork. They were typically selfish and arrogant. Those traits simply lent themselves well to becoming powerful… but that only worked so long.

Everyone eventually met their limit.

The majority of the people that walked the mountain didn’t reach the second checkpoint. As for those who made it past… well, Mel wasn’t one of them yet. Today would hopefully change that.

It was fortunate that there was no limit to the number of times that one could climb the mountain. Death here was an inevitability, but this was the only place in the Infinium where it meant nothing.

“See anyone you like?” Mel asked. “Because I hate pretty much everyone else here.”

“No,” Yuria admitted. “I see none of my acquaintances here. It is rare enough that I ran into you. It has been months since we last met. To ask for a second to so fortunately be present may be a bit much.”

Mel sighed. “Yeah. I suppose it would. Then we’ve got two options. Head out as we are, or invite a few people we don’t know. Because I’m not inviting one of the arrogant asses that will run us through the back the moment the guardian is down to steal the rewards. I’ll not be a stepping stone on someone else’s path, even if it advances my own.”

“Nor would I,” Yuria said. “We should seek a newcomer. They will be more likely to be amiable than these other weathered sods.”

“Agreed,” Mel said. He glanced around the camp once more. Then he frowned. Everyone in the camp looked incredibly experienced, and he recognized the vast majority of them to be from Families from the crests they wore. Newcomers to the Cracked Steps weren’t really uncommon, but ones that made it this far… that was much more rare.

That was doubly true when they were looking for a Crestless. It wasn’t like a member of any family would ever want or need to align themselves with them — and the feeling was very mutual.

As for the Crestless currently here…

Mel grimaced. He knew one or two of them. There was no doubt that they were incredibly powerful. But those types weren’t the ones that would ever partner up with anyone at all. They’d have more luck asking one of the people from a Family.

“Shit pickings,” Yuria said. “I do not like the look of our…”

She trailed off, her gaze lingering on the path leading down the mountain.

“What?” Mel asked. He turned to look in the direction that she was staring. The path was empty. There was nobody on it.

“Look,” Yuria said.

“I’m looking,” Mel said.

“Not there,” she replied. “The mountain.”

Mel blinked. He looked away from the road and to the steep, craggy cliffs of the mountain itself. Then his eyes widened as he finally spotted what Yuria was looking at.

There was a young man on the side of the mountain wearing a suit — of all things — and sporting a wicked grin on his lips. But he wasn’t anywhere close to the path at all.

“What in all the gods names?” Mel breathed.

The man was climbing straight up the side of the mountain.