Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 61

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.