For the first time since the start of all this, a large genuine smile painted Kifeda’s dark features. His eyes were closed. His shoulders burned lightly with his exertions. His fingers gripped the cliff face tightly. The surface was rough and completely unyielding.

He tensed momentarily, opening his eyes and making the leap to the next hold.

He pulled himself over the ledge and sighed happily. After a moment he peeked out to check the progress of the other competitors. Instantly, he was forced to use [Arrest].

A spear stared him in the eye from less than an inch away.

He rolled away from it like it was a viper mid-lunge.

A second or two it clattered off the cliff behind and above him. It began to fall back down below before disappearing as its owner unequipped it.

After a moment Kifeda mustered his courage and rolled back to the lip. Far, far below him a battle raged. Most of the competitors had no experience with climbing. Those who did had been mired in combat.

In the Nine Realms, Players could use their stats to overcome most trials. The landscape was less of an obstacle and more of a mere annoyance. High enough strength could punch through metal. Leap over hills.

Some magic-based classes had fly skills as early as E-Tier, though they generally had very limited durations.

Here, the World Tree had eliminated all of these factors.

The mountain’s surface was beyond the strength of even the strongest D-Tier. The gravity increased dramatically after your feet left the ground by more than a few feet. Fly spells fizzled after even less distance. Every fifty feet, the handholds grew fewer and farther apart.

Only pure, trained climbing skills could aid you here.

Kifeda had years and years of that. Not to mention how much he loved it.

The competitors below him had turned the base of the mountain into a battlefield very quickly after discovering the nature of this trial. One or two of the others had made it up to one or two hundred feet below him. No one else was even close to him.

Smiling to himself again, Kifeda resumed his climb.

Just a few seconds before the end of the first round, Kifeda rolled over the top of the cliff. He heaved like a bellows with his back flat on the ground. Sweat drenched him like he’d been standing in the rain. His eyes were clouded with the effort of his exertion.

The thrill of accomplishment ran through him in a torrent of joy.

A shadow passed over him. A figure glowing faintly green stood above him. When it spoke its voice was wispy and ethereal.

“Congratulations,” it said. “You triumphed over an obstacle never meant to be passed. Your reward will demonstrate how momentous this was.”

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’ve been watching you since the beginning,” the shadowy figure said. “You give me hope for the future of the system. You will achieve what you seek if you follow the system. Be well, warrior.”

The round ended.

Round two beginning now.

Kifeda had never felt more disoriented when a round started. His head was swimming, and even the full restoration that happened between rounds couldn’t heal that. His confusion and the words of the shadowy stranger lingered.

It cost him.

Some of the other competitors recognized him from the last round. They attacked as soon as the second round started. Kifeda was not equipped to deal with groups.

[Arrest] stopped a spear as it streaked towards him. [Sprint] evaded blades that quested for his heart. He equipped the [Twin Fangs of the Viper] and parried a blow that would have left him hamstrung. He had nothing else left for the situation.

Arrows thudded into his side, piercing his armor like it was paper. Before he even had a chance to react to the pain, an axe cleaved into his shoulder. Next, a sword skewered him from behind.

Less than ten seconds into the second round, Kifeda was dead.

Halina was quickly growing tired of this trial.

She was not a climber. The highest she had ever been off the ground had almost definitely when she’d been struck by a boss monster in a dungeon and hurled through the air.

Still, given the opportunity, she would gladly choose the climb over the brawl the trial had devolved into.

Her shield was up and active. Her sword was used more for parrying and defense than anything. These people were significantly more powerful than her. She counted herself lucky for that.

It meant she was mostly ignored.

A man wielding a weapon she had never seen before was laying waste to most of the competitors. He was clad in golden svartstal armor, which would have stood out by itself. Even in C-Tier, seeing that metal was exceedingly rare. The strange weapon was made of the same material as well.

It was firing beams of light that nearly obliterated everyone they collided with, and he was laughing as he did it.

Halina was slowly working her way through the rest of the fighters and moving behind him. The blows on her shield were strong enough to leave her barely able to keep standing. Finally, her moment arrived. She activated her two new skills and rushed the man in the golden armor.

He didn’t even budge under the weight of her assault.

His laughter echoed in her ears as he turned to her. Halina was certain she would die. Instead, he brushed her off like a nuisance. She staggered away from him in shock, and nearly died for it.

A blade, thankfully missing its mark, whistled past her ear. Her surprise evaporated. Battle senses returned. Her shield was up and ready.

Her opponent never registered in her senses consciously. Her sword swung, and she knew it would kill. Her mind had already moved on to the next threat.

An arrow was streaking towards her. Her shield blocked it. An axe cleaved down at her. Her sword intercepted, parried and countered.

This was her battlefield now. Despite earlier fears and setbacks, she was now in control.

She moved forward like the face of a storm, darkening the ground before her with the blood of her enemies.

Despite her level, stat, and skill disadvantages, Halina was in her ultimate element.

She stepped forward and her foes rose up to meet her.

Each blow, she met or avoided. Each thrust of hers landed true.

Eventually, the only ones left alive were her and the man in the golden armor. He stood across from her, an appraising look in his eye. His strange weapon was now gone, but a deadly menace radiated still from him. Halina’s resolve was unshaken.

“Maxton, D-Tier chosen of Tyr,” he said. “And you?”

“Halina, E-Tier chosen of Frigga,” she replied. Her body remained coiled like a spring, ready to be unleashed.

“That was a good strike earlier,” he said. “Even with all my advantages, I didn’t see you coming. Then you tore through the fight like a woman possessed by the spirit of battle. Even now I see it lurking there. The death behind your eyes.”

“Why are we talking like this?” she asked. “Why didn’t you kill me when my ambush failed?”

“Partially because you wouldn’t be worth it,” he said honestly. “Partially because of curiosity. You were one of the rare ones who could actually surprise me. Then you rewarded me with a show. Such investments often pay off, I find.”

“So your curiosity and generosity are what I have to thank for my life?” she asked hotly, adopting a more aggressive stance. “Do you want me to grovel for this favor?”

Halina felt the shock of surprise once more when he merely laughed. Not the bloodthirsty, half-crazed laughter of before, but a genuine and deep chuckle.

“You owe me nothing,” he said. “But if you want to see why I make investments like this, you could help me at the beginning of the next round.”

Halina was silent for a moment. She considered this strange interaction, wondering where this would lead. She could not fathom it. But fear of the unknown had never held her back before.

“What do you want to do?” she asked.

“Save a life,” he said.

The third round started, and this time Kifeda was better prepared. He had observed the carnage of the melee from the last round after his death. He knew if he were to manage to climb once more, he would have to move quickly.

He activated his skills instantly. He was almost at the cliff face when he was forced to stop and defend himself.

Arrows streaked towards him, and he dropped completely prone. A man stood above him a moment later, sword poised.

The next moment, he was vaporized.

“Get up,” a woman’s voice told him harshly. “We’ve got you covered for now.”

“We?” Kifeda asked as he rose to his feet. “Who are you?”

“Halina of Frigga,” she said. “Maxton of Tyr said you were a worthy investment. Time for you to prove it.”

“Well met, Halina,” he said. “Let’s thin the herd.”