58 Sweating Buckets
The sound of deep breathing could be heard resonating through the entire forest as some cadets were breathing hard like dead dogs.
It was almost one hour into the race and it just seemed as if the mountain was getting farther and farther. Some would tumble and fall but none extended a helping hand as they'll just pass by them.
At the foremost front, Zeras was running at a regular pace. Not too fast and not too slow as running too fast and he'll quickly be exhausted and if he also ran slowly, then he'll fail the time and end up being sent back to start again so he was more of jugging although even that was still pretty fast due to his high stats.
He couldn't even count how many students he already passed by who were on their knees trying to catch their breath but some cadets deeply surprised him.
One of them was a humanoid alien with golden hair and eyes. He was the boy Quinn pointed out to him that he was a dragon and easily sensed them the first time they met.
The boy was running extremely fast through the mountains and it didn't even seem like he was tired at all as not a single sweat could be seen on his face and a smile could even be seen on his face as he ran ahead of all the other cadets leaving them in the dust.
The second person was strangely Quinn who also kept up at the front and was running at the foremost front too catching up with the draconic boy.
A smile couldn't help but sneak its way toward Zera's face as one thing was sure about Quinn, he was a monster.
He could also see Gaia who kept jogging, close to meeting up with Quinn making him also give a nod. Seeing her reminded him of Commander Shiron's strange request to protect her as Zeras couldn't see anything happening to her right now. She even managed to rank in the top ten rankings of New cadets and was pretty powerful on her own.
There were other races, who were born to run as they moved with speed, their physiology making them more suited to this aspect of the trial.
-- -- --
1hr later...
Zeras finally arrived before the mountain as he rested on it trying to catch his breath.
On his forehead, sweat could be seen dripping down his face as the run took some of his energy away.
Looking around the place were some students just arriving, most of them immediately collapsing on the ground as their cadet uniform seemed to have been dipped inside water.
Nobody has yet to begin climbing the mountains yet as if they were all waiting for some signal.
Zetas looked at the mountain as his eyes narrowed.
"Tall. It is tall." The mountain almost reached 500 kilometers in height and he felt all his muscles screaming to him in defeat, not wanting to move again but seeing the time passing made him ignore them.
He had never climbed a mountain before making his work even harder but thankfully they were footholds emerging from the mountains acting like some type of holdings to climb up the mountains.
Most of those in the top ten rankings immediately began climbing after taking enough rest as Zeras also took hold of the hold using it to slowly drag himself up.
The mountain climbing seemed a little easy as Zetas arrived at around half the distance breathing like an almost dead hog.
His neat and well-ironed uniform was already dirty from sweat and covered in dust but he ignored it as he kept climbing.
Taking a small rest to catch his breath, he looked at the top where a strange alien guy could be seen. His body seemed to be made of some type of sticky glue that made him easily attach himself to the mountain without falling.
With its natural physiology, it immediately passed by the other students as it screamed out to those below him:
"See you later, losers..."
With a sinister laugh that made Zeras feel like punching him in the nose, the big rapidly clung to the mountain as he disappeared far away from their sight...
"Tch, lucky bastard..." One guy dressed like a joker said to him as he struggled to move up the mountains.
Zeras gave a nod too, agreeing in his mind. Some of the trials are easy for some races due to their strange constitution while some are harder for others.
All in all. It looks kinda unfair.
He tried to continue moving ignoring that when a shrill scream echoed from above him.
Zeras immediately raised his head as he saw one human pummeling from above with a broken stronghold in his hands.
Zeras immediately swerved to the side avoiding the guy as he landed on the person below Zeras both of them pummeling downwards and dragging around four other cadets with them.
A drone-like robot immediately caught them before they landed on the ground making them avoid breaking some bones as the drones dropped them to the bottom of the mountain.
Now all four will have to start again from the beginning.
Zeras took a deep breath shining his teeth as he didn't know what he would have done if he was to start again.
The four students immediately entered into a heated argument as they repeatedly caused the guy who fell on them.
"Damn it, are you blind or what..." An angry human asked with eyes that could kill. He was already so close to finishing it, but then the stupid guy just had to run him down.
"I'm sorry. It wasn't my fault. I grabbed the foothold but suddenly it got removed and that's why I fell.
Not all the footholds hold tightly to the mountain. Some are fake..." The boy said as Zera's eyes narrowed.
Not all the footholds are rigged to the mountain!!!
The mountain climbing trial just got harder as the students slowly moved up the mountains checking well if the foothold was stable before using them.
Not only that, but they also have to watch above them to make sure they don't accidentally get pushed down by other fallen students.
Zeras kept climbing as the occasional shrill scream of students falling and taking a few down with them rang out continuously, but he ignored it as he focused on climbing.
-- -- --
40 minutes later...
Zeras finally arrived at the top of the mountain as he breathed out his lungs, laughing happily when suddenly a heavy body landed on his suffocating him...
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Supreme_IQ