Chapter 10: Benton's Hill

Teleportation. Something I’ve never experienced in either of my lives.

What does it feel it like?

It feels like you’re going over the first big drop of a roller coaster, or descending in a fast elevator.

Free fall. That’s the word I’m looking for. It feels like you’re in free fall.

As someone who loved going on roller coasters in my previous life, I have to say, getting teleported is kind of fun. In fact, I wouldn’t mind doing all my traveling via teleportation gate. It sure beats walking everywhere.

An instant after I step into the teleport gate, I find myself in the center of a grassy clearing.

A little ways away, Bridget, Samantha, and Wolf, stand in a group chatting with each other. I make my way over to them, and insert myself into their group.

“Where are we?” I ask, scanning my surroundings.

The clearing is filled with soft grass and a large variety of multicolored wild flowers. It’s surrounded by tall evergreen trees on all sides, and above it stands the imposing peak of a towering mountain.

The snowline is far above us, which means we are much closer to the base of the mountain than the top.

“This clearing is located on the opposite side of the mountain from the Guild,” Samantha says. She points at a spot a short distance below the snowline. “If you drilled a hole through the mountain, the Guild would be right about there.”

Samantha turns her back on the mountain, and gestures towards several other jagged peaks. “Those mountains are the Last Defense. The wall that separates us from the Lost Continent.”

The Lost Continent. A well known term in the Empire.

If you asked a preschooler what the Lost Continent was, they’d tell you exactly what I’m about to tell you now.

According to legend, the Lost Continent was once home to an advanced civilization.

How advanced?

Your guess is as good as mine. But one thing I can say for certain, is they were much more advanced then the Empire.

How do I know that?

Because, MSPDs came from the Lost Continent. MSPDs were the last invention the Empire received from the Lost Continent, before it was overrun by monsters.

A thousand years ago, an unprecedented wave of monsters swept across the Lost Continent, wiping out the entire civilization overnight.

No one knows where the monsters came from. Some say, the monster stampede was divine punishment. Others say, it was the result of an experiment gone wrong.

After destroying the lost continent, the monsters didn’t stop. They continued outwards, trampling everything in their path, and eventually arrived at the Empire’s border.

After a lengthy defensive battle, the Empire emerged victorious. However, the cost of victory wasn’t cheap. The Empire lost half of their land to the monsters and sustained heavy casualties.

In fact, the Empire was on the verge of losing the battle, until a group of magic users created the Last Defense, sacrificing themselves in the process.

Yup. That’s right. The mountain range, called the Last Defense, is man made. Created by a group of mages who selflessly sacrificed themselves for the greater good.

At this point in time, the Lost Continent is a big unknown. Only heroes and their parties have set foot there since it was formed a thousand years ago.

According to rumors, the Lost Continent is home to monsters that are so strong not even the hero stands a chance against them. But, no one has actually seen them and lived to tell the tale, so it’s impossible to determine whether the rumors are true.

I hope I never have to go to the Lost Continent. But now that I’ve said that, I’m sure I’ll end up having to go at some point.

“Sorry for the delay,” Denise says, stepping out of the teleportation gate. “I was stopped by some Adventurers who needed directions.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Samantha says, “that’s part of your job.” She claps her hands together. “Now that we’re all here, let’s get started.

“Today, you’re going to climb the Benton’s Hill trail.

“The Benton’s Hill trail was created by Benton, a man who wanted to become an Adventurer. However, at that point in time the Adventurer’s Guild had stricter acceptance standards than it does today, and Benton was rejected because he didn’t have the necessary fitness level.

“After careful research, Benton concluded that the fastest way for him to improve his fitness level was to repeatedly climb up a really steep hill. So, everyday for thirty years, Benton attempted to climb up what is now known as Benton’s Hill.

“For the first few years, Benton didn’t get very far. However, as time passed and his fitness improved, he got closer and closer to the top.

“On a side note, as you climb you’ll notice that the lower parts of the trail are more worn than the upper parts. This is because, Benton spent the majority of his time near the bottom of the trail.

“Finally, after thirty years of hard work, Benton made it to the top of the hill. As soon as his foot touched the summit, he turned around and set off towards the Adventurer Guild to register as an Adventurer.

“Unfortunately, the day Benton reached the summit was the same day the Lost Continent fell. Monsters streamed across the Empire, destroying everything in their path, and one of them happened to find poor old Benton.

“As I’m sure you can guess, Benton never got the chance to register as an Adventurer. However, after the monster stampede was defeated and the Empire’s border was secured, the Adventurer Guild registered him as an honorary Adventurer and named this subpeak in his honor.”

Aw, man. That was shaping up to be such an uplifting story. But, I suppose that’s the life of an Adventurer. You’re alive until you aren’t, and then you’re dead.

“Unlike Benton, who had thirty years to make it to the summit, you three only have until the start of Chloe’s lecture, which means you have about three hours to make it to the top.

“This trail is only 5 kilometers long, but it has an elevation gain of about 2000 meters, so don’t grow complacent.

“If, for whatever reason, you haven’t made it to the top by the time Chloe’s lecture starts, Denise or I will come down to pick you up. But, try your best to make it to the top on time, because you don’t want to see Chloe when she’s mad.

“Oh, I almost forgot. If you miss lunch, you won’t get a chance to eat until dinner. So, if you want to eat, you’d better be quick.

“Your score for this final stage of the assessment will be based on how long it takes you to reach the summit. Denise and I will be waiting for you at the top, so do your best to get there as fast as you can.”

From her words, I assume that Samantha and Denise will take a teleportation gate to the top of the hill. But, instead of heading back to the teleportation gate, Samantha gestures to Denise and the two of them start off up the trail at a run.

That’s high level Adventurers for you, always exercising. Now I feel like I understand why the Guild’s motto is, onward to death.

Wolf, Bridget, and I, form a single file line and start off up the trail at a light jog. Our marching order is as follows: Wolf in front, Bridget in the middle, and me bringing up the rear.

Leaving the clearing, we follow the trail into a dense forest.

The sun, which was bright in the clearing, is softened by the branches overhead. Dust filled shafts of light filter down through the foliage, giving the forest an ethereal glow.

The rough dirt trail meanders around the trunks of massive evergreen trees. The sound of insects fills the air. The undergrowth rustles with the movement of small animals.

The atmosphere is peaceful, yet unease blossoms in my heart.

So far, the trail has been relatively flat. Sure, there have been some ups and downs, but nothing close to the 2000 meters of elevation Samantha told us about during her explanation.

Memories of my hike to the Adventurer Guild flash through my mind.

Climbing up a one thousand foot rock wall with no equipment. Nearly falling for the thousandth time.

I shudder to myself. Please don’t make me free climb again. I’m much to young to die.

“Are you alright?” Bridget asks, glancing over her shoulder at me. “You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine. Just a little worried.”

“About the trail?”

“Yeah, I was wondering where all of the elevation is.”

“It’s right up ahead,” Wolf calls back over his shoulder. “Prepare yourselves.”

Right on cue, the trail begins to climb. It’s subtle at first, but rapidly becomes steep enough that I begin to use my hands to help steady myself as I climb.

As the trail climbs, the trees around us grow sparser and the trail becomes rockier. Harsh sunlight shines down around us, and a stiff breeze blows across the trail whipping my hair back and forth.

Loose rocks and exposed roots, combined with the increase in the incline, make climbing more difficult.

I feel my heart rate increase, and my breathing grow quicker and shallower. My legs to burn, and sweat pours down my face. We’ve barely started climbing, and I already feel like quitting.

The incline continues to increase, causing Bridget and I to slow down.

“Is it alright if I go on ahead?” Wolf asks, pausing a little ways up the trail and addressing the two of us. “When I was in the army we used this trail to train, so I’m already somewhat used to it.”

“Go ahead,” I gasp, trying to catch my breath.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Bridget says, wiping the sweat from her brow.

“Thanks,” Wolf says. “I’ll see the two of you at the top.”

The higher we climb, the steeper the trail gets.

At this point, the trail is closer to vertical than horizontal, which makes each step upwards a soul crushing experience.

This part of the trail is less like a trail and more like a kid’s rock climbing wall. The wall isn’t vertical, and there are plenty of hand and footholds, but many of them are broken or loose, making them entirely worthless.

I’m not out of shape, at least compared to my previous life. But in the world of Adventurers, I can only describe myself as pathetic. I mean, on a scale of 0 to 100 with Samantha’s fitness level being 100, my fitness level wouldn’t be a big fat 0.

As we climb, I glance around at the scenery to try and take my mind off of the immense suffering I am currently experiencing.

The trees, which were numerous at the beginning of the trail, have all but disappeared. The ones that remain are more like ground hugging shrubs than trees, their roots clinging desperately to the rocks, and their branches swept away from the slope by the mountain wind.

Speaking of wind. The wind here is strong.

Scarily strong.

When it blows, I have to flatten myself against the side of the mountain to avoid being blown away.

If I had gecko hands or a climbing harness, I’d feel a little safer. But, since I don’t have either of those, every time a gust of wind hits me I close my eyes and pray to the Goddess for salvation until it’s over.

Without warning, the foothold where Bridget is standing comes loose. As I watch in horror, the foothold, which is a rock the size of my head, breaks away from the trail and begins tumbling down the slope towards me.

Letting go of my right hand, I shift my body to the left, narrowly avoiding the oncoming rock. But my relief is short lived, because as Bridget scrabbles around for another foothold a strong gust of wind strikes her, knocking her back down the trail.

Bridget slams into me, tearing me away from the cliff and sending us both flying. The two of us tumble down the slope, slamming into rocks on the way, until we finally come to a stop on a small plateau several meters down the trail.

After determining I’m still alive, I carefully pull myself from underneath Bridget and roll onto my back.

I lie on the ground with my eyes closed, listening to the thundering of my heart and assessing how much damage I sustained.

My hip throbs, where I slammed it on a rock. I have several sharp pains in my legs and arms, probably where I cut them on something. Thankfully, it seems like I didn’t hit my head, so I probably don’t have any lasting brain trauma.

I carefully move my arms and legs, wincing at the pain. It doesn’t seem like any of them are broken, but I’m no medical expert.

I open my eyes and ease myself into a sitting position.

Bridget is sitting next to me, examining a deep gash on her elbow. She has a little blood running down her forehead, but otherwise seems to be okay.

When Bridget sees that I’m alive, she hugs her knees to her chest and says, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I say. “Don’t worry about it.

“The foothold I was standing on collapsed, and before I knew it I was falling. I didn’t…” She trails off, tears running down her cheeks.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m okay.

“Can you walk,” I ask, “or should we try to contact Samantha?”

“No, I’m fine. But, I’d like to rest here for a bit before I continue. You can go on ahead if you want.”

“No, that’s a good idea. I think I’ll rest a bit too.”

I shift my legs out in front of me and take a moment to check myself over.

Unfortunately, while my body seems to be fine except for several cuts and scrapes scattered here and there, the damage to my clothes is spectacular. The left side of my tunic is in tatters and the lower half of my right sleeve is missing. Both of the knees have been ripped out of my trousers, and there’s a long strip of missing fabric up one side.

In my previous life, people would pay hundreds of dollars for pants with holes in them, I wonder if that’s the case in this world too.

One pair of designer trousers with naturally formed holes, blood included. Maybe instead of becoming an Adventurer I should go into high fashion.

After resting for several minutes, the two of us stand up. Bridget turns to start off up the trail, but I grab her arm to stop her.

“Um, Bridget. Your shoelace is untied.”

“Ah. Thanks for catching that.”

“Let me tie it. After all, I am the Shoelace Master.”

“Sure,” Bridget says, smiling. “If you don’t mind.”

I bend down and quickly tie both of Bridget’s shoelaces, double knotting them just to be sure.

This simple action reminds me of my previous life when I helped out at one of my cousin’s birthday parties.

Being a first generation Asian household, my cousin’s parents had a no shoe policy in their house, so all of the kids who came to my cousin’s birthday party had to take off their shoes when they went inside.

At the time, my cousin and his friends were very young and several of them weren’t able to tie their own shoes. So, when it came time for everyone to go outside to play, I was the designated shoelace tier.

At the time, it was a major pain. But, looking back on it now, it’s one of my fondest memories from my previous life.

“All set,” I say, standing up. “How does that feel.”

“Great,” Bridget says. “Now, I won’t have to worry about tripping over my shoelaces, like I usually do.”

“Yeah, let’s not have another tumble. Are you ready to go?”

“Yup. Let’s see if we can make it to the top before lunch.”

“Unfortunately, at the pace we’re going, I highly doubt that’s going to happen.”

“True, but I need something to motivate me, and food is one of those things I can always look forward to.”