Lucen let the panel blink out, then muttered, "Why do I feel like the system’s mocking ."
Varik stepped past him, didn’t wait.
Just walked to the edge and dove in.
No splash. No theatrics. Just straight underwater in one clean motion.
Lucen hesitated.
Then stepped forward and sat on the edge first.
He dipped a foot.
The water hit like mana static, cool, buzzing slightly. Not freezing. Not warm.
He slid in.
Shivered once. "God, I hate this."
Varik surfaced at the far end and called, "Laps. Ten. No mana."
Lucen narrowed his eyes. "That’s abuse."
"It’s survival."
Lucen grumbled sothing inappropriate and kicked off.
The first stroke was sloppy.
The second, worse.
By the third, he’d found a rhythm. Not elegant. Not fast. But steady.
Halfway down the lane, his mind started wandering. The ripple sounds, the drag against his arms, the pull at his calves, everything felt slower, heavier.
’This isn’t about swimming. It’s pressure control.’
By the fifth lap, his system pinged:
[Dexterity 1]
[Endurance 2]
Lucen broke the surface at the end of the pool, breathing hard, hair sticking down across his forehead.
Varik was already crouched at the edge.
He handed Lucen a bottle.
Lucen took it and cracked the tab.
Tasted like nothing. Just hydration and a faint trace of mana salts.
Lucen exhaled. "You’re still the worst."
Varik nodded. "But effective."
Lucen set the bottle aside and rolled his shoulders. "What’s next, sparring underwater?"
Varik stood. "No. That’s tomorrow."
Lucen stared at him. "You’re joking."
Varik turned and walked toward the gear rack. "Get out. We’re doing weight runs."
Lucen groaned and let his head fall back against the tile.
’I’m gonna die. He’s gonna kill . And then I’ll respawn just so he can kill again.’
He climbed out anyway.
—
The van didn’t stop at the base.
It kept going.
Past the main trailhead. Past the ranger tower. Past the old glyph warning signs half-buried in moss.
Lucen watched out the side window, arms crossed, towel still damp from earlier, eyes narrowing as the road kept curving upward in tighter spirals.
Eventually, they stopped.
Not at a station.
Not at a lookout.
Just, dirt.
A patch of ground wide enough for the van to park, marked with a crumbling pillar and a half-faded rune that read [AUTHORIZED ASCENT ONLY].
Lucen opened the door, stepped out, and stared up.
The mountain didn’t stare back.
Because it didn’t care.
Cold air wrapped around him, sharp and biting, not winter, just altitude. Everything felt thinner. The air. The trees. Even sound.
He turned toward Varik, who was already unloading gear.
"What, we’re climbing now?"
Varik handed him a harness. "Correct."
Lucen didn’t move. "No elevator. No mana assist. No flying glyphs."
"Nope."
"Just... up."
"Yes."
Lucen exhaled through his nose. "’He’ll be fine,’ he says. ’Just a mountain,’ he says."
Varik passed him a small sealed packet. "Read this."
Lucen glanced at it.
[Mountain Trial Initiation — Class Attribute Scaling in Progression Mode. Voluntary.]
He frowned. "Wait. This is real?"
Varik t his eyes. "Yes."
Lucen squinted. "The hell kind of dungeon has a rock wall as the tutorial boss?"
"It’s not a dungeon. Just a mountain."
Lucen muttered, "Sa damn thing."
The first fifty ters were steep, but not brutal. The rock was rough. Solid. The kind of natural grip surface that pulled at your hands even through gloves.
By seventy ters, Lucen’s shoulders started to burn.
At a hundred, his system pinged.
[Endurance 1]
[Dexterity 1]
He kept going.
Didn’t complain.
Didn’t look down.
He wasn’t afraid of heights.
He was afraid of slipping.
Halfway up the second ridge, a narrow ledge gave him pause. Just wide enough to crouch on. Behind him, the wind picked up, cold, sharp, whispering through his ears.
Lucen leaned back against the rock and panted.
Varik was sowhere below.
Not struggling.
Just... cruising.
Lucen looked down.
"Still behind ?"
Varik’s voice floated up casually. "You slowing down?"
"No," Lucen lied.
He looked up again.
Still three sections to go.
His fingers were cramping now. He flexed once, shook his hand out.
The system chid again.
[Strength 1]
[Perception 1]
Lucen stared at that last one.
Then muttered, "Why perception?"
The wind shifted.
A small stone ca loose three feet above him and clicked off the wall.
Lucen’s head turned automatically, tracked it without thinking.
’Oh.’
He climbed higher.
No complaints now.
Only breathing. Reaching. Locking into movent.
Every five minutes, the system pinged.
1.
1.
1.
Strength. Endurance. Dexterity.
Like the mountain noticed.
The final climb was a vertical line broken by an old glyph marker that sparked faintly when Lucen’s hand grazed it. It buzzed like a dying light bulb.
Lucen pulled himself up.
Rolled onto the summit.
And just lay there for a second.
Breathing hard.
The sky was wide. Not clean, clouds rolled above like soone hadn’t finished rendering the weather, but it was open. Distant. Quiet.
Varik climbed over the edge a minute later and stood over him.
Lucen raised a hand, still lying on the rock. "So how many points did you farm?"
Varik offered him a water bottle instead of an answer.
Lucen took it, opened it, drank half, then said, "This counts as abuse."
Varik finally sat down beside him, silent for a mont.
Then:
"You’re adapting faster than expected."
Lucen groaned. "I’ll put that on my grave."
Varik just nodded. "Make sure it’s a reinforced headstone."
Lucen rolled onto his side and stared at the clouds.
’This guy is either trying to build up or break down. And I don’t think he knows which it is.’
—
They didn’t drive.
They descended.
Three levels below the comrcial ward, through a gated elevator with a voice scan, past a reinforced mana-sealed bulkhead with no naplate.
The air was different here. Cleaner sohow. Colder. It had that filtered, over-sterilized hum Lucen always associated with hospitals or old vaults.
Then the final door opened.
And the gym hit him like a war cri.
Rows of weighted mana rigs. Reinforcent tanks glowing pale blue. Tracks embedded with resistance glyphs.
Dummies that moved. Floors that shifted. A damn gravity chamber in the back, shaped like a half-cube and rippling with low pressure distortion.
Lucen didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
He just looked at Varik and said, "...Is this legal?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)