Aldred and the others continued their climb. A lot of people had been passing them because they had far better equipment.
"Haha. Look at those peasants! Did they expect to climb Mount Fargon with a pair of rods?!"
"What a fool! They won't reach the middle part with that."
They then climbed up with their magical instruments. Aldred thought everyone was already high enough, but he was wrong. At about 12 KM (7,4 Mile) Everyone started attacking each other.
"What is going on?" Aldred looked at them throwing spells and weapons. Some screamed as their equipment got knocked off the wall.
"You dare insult my magical device! You're courting death!"
"Humph! What an arrogant bastard! I simply said mine is better than you."
They both leaped at each other and clashed swords against gauntlets. The force blasted a powerful shock wave that made a bunch of people fall.
"Fucking bastard! Stop fighting! None of us want to die for your ego!"
"Yeah! Stop fighting!"
Everyone started screaming and shouting at them.
"Fuck you! What do you all know?"
"Hey, let's kill him so he won't bother us anymore."
"Yeah!" They then started rushing towards the both of them, their feet moved on the wall. The magicians threw out a water elemental spell that turned into a rope and wrapped around his leg.
"We got him!"
The crowd attacked, and kicked him off the wall. His scream reverberated until it was nonexistent. They did the same thing with the other man. When Aldred looked closer, they were actually one of the people who mocked him earlier.
'Wow, karma do their job really fast.'
After this incident, nobody tried to start a fight, and they kept silent as they climbed.
…
When Aldred and most people were already at high altitude, three men were still on the ground running to the village and arriving at the bottom of the mountain.
"We're late," Arthur said.
Jake rested on his knees and breathed exhaustedly. "I told you. Not to. Let. Hugo. Drive the carriage." He fell on the grass.
Hugo fell face first on the grass. "So tiring."
"Stand up. We have to climb this quickly." Arthur slowly moved his sword over them. "Energize!"
His sword shone in golden color and then it turned into a beam directed at them. Their sweat disappeared, and their stamina reached its peak.
They jumped off the ground with revitalized energy.
"How do we climb this thing?"
"We simply jump. Greater physique! Strengthening legs!"
The three of them smiled, and bent their knees before pushing off the ground, and then shot to the sky like an arrow released from its bow. Wind blew their hair as they rose to the sky. They saw a lot of people were climbing the wall, and that was when their speed slowed down.
"Grab the wall!"
They stab the rock with their fingers, stopping them from falling. Quickly, they climbed up until they were beside a group of people.
"Hello, good day to you," Arthur said. "Oh wow, you're still a boy and you're brave enough to join in this treasure hunt."
When Mary, Bartrem, and Mareona saw the man who spoke, they almost reached out to their swords and attacked. That was because the man in front of them was a hero. One would know at a single glance just by his appearance. All heroes looked handsome and wore the brightest clothes and armor of all.
When Mira saw this, she tried to hide her face. If the hero knew she was with them, they would take her away, and bring her back home.
Hugo noticed their expression. "Hey, don't be so defensive. There is more than one astrolabe, so we're not competitors. At least, for now. He glanced to the side. "Oh dear lord. The majority of you are females. And beautiful ones at that. Oh my god. Oh my lord. Uhh… Nice to meet you. The name's Hugo. I am a hero companion. I am single and a virgin. Gladly I would pick any of you. In fact, I would tolerate it if more than one of you wanted me too."
Jake hit his head. "Stop that, Hugo." He glanced at them apologetically. "I am sorry about that. Hugo is childish sometimes, but he's a good guy. Please don't hate on him."
"Who you call childish?"
Jake hit him again. "Shut up. It's because you destroyed the carriage that we have to run here."
Arthur bowed slightly to them. "I apologize for his behavior as well. I hope we can be friends and have a safe journey together."
Aldred and the others were confused. Why did they act all nice to them?
Jake glanced at them. "Don't mistake our intentions. We only want to make a lot of friends. The more friends you have, the less enemies you make."
"That doesn't make any sense," Aldred said.
Jake shrugged. "I know. But it's better to make more friends rather than enemies."
"In that case, let's be friends."
"Sure."
Mary tugged on Aldred' sleeve as they climbed up. "What are you doing?"
"Making friends."
"They're from Montcresia," Mary whispered.
"Mira is from Montcresia as well, and we already consider her as family."
"She's different."
Aldred blinked. "But… yeah, she's different." He didn't think anyone would gladly show their breasts just to test someone's conviction. Mira is different indeed.
When all the powerful and influential climbed the wall, some group of bandits took advantage and guarded the base of the mountain.
When people came and would like to climb, they were asked for a fee.
"That would be 5 gold coins."
"What! Who the fuck are you? Do you own this mountain?"
The man grabbed his neck, suffocating him. "If you cannot pay, then leave!" He threw the man to the ground.
The bandits grinned and looked at them with arrogance.
"Fuck! Fine, here's 5 gold coins."
"Nah. You just offend me, so that'll be 50 Gold coins."
"That's too unreasonable.'
"Then leave this place."
"Bastard!" He forked out a pouch of gold and gave it to them.
The bandits laughed.
"Have a safe trip. If you fall, we won't catch you."
They laughed again.
The climbers snorted and ignored them as they started climbing.
The bandits looked at each other and mocked the man.
"What a fool. Let them risk their life while we collect tax money here."
"That's the easiest 50 gold coins I have ever seen."
"We'll party hard tonight."
A man walked with thick arms and legs. His chest was bulging, and his back was solid. The bandits felt like the ground was shaking slightly for every step the man took.
"Greetings human. My name is Thinker."
