B3 Chapter 372: Fog, pt. 3

“I hate you.”

Kaius grunted, holding on to the rope with a white-knuckle grip. Almost horizontal from how far he was leaning back, the only thing stopping him from flying over the edge of the cliff was a raised lip of stone that he’d braced his feet against.

Dipping low into his crouch for a moment, he hauled backwards — arms shaking as he pulled the rope in with his right and reached for more with his left.

Sweat poured from his forehead, as every muscle down his back and hamstrings burned with the heat of one of Ianmus’s overcharged rays.

Shaking as he held position for a moment, Kaius looked down.

Porkchop was swaying in the breeze, a crude rope harness wrapped around his chest and waist. Despondently staring at the ground far below, his head hung limp.

Kaius’s quaking intensified — though this time it was from suppressing laughter. Gods bless whoever designed this trial for giving him the opportunity to lord this one over Porkchop for the rest of time. He looked like a bloody trussed up chicken!

He took a long breath, swallowing his mirth — if he lost it now, it wouldn’t just be his laughter. He’d never hear the end of it if he dropped the bastard.

“I can feel you laughing! The rope shakes!”

Kaius grunted and heaved Porkchop another stride higher.

“I—”

By the bloody gods Porkchop was heavy. He dipped low again — it was easier when he built up a little momentum with his legs.

“Have—”

He was breathing through clenched teeth now. Stamina might have kept him at peak strength, but it didn’t lessen the burn. Normally he didn’t mind that. Normally, he wasn’t lugging some fat lump up a bloody cliff.

Kaius snickered again, before he yanked on the rope.

“No—”

“Yes, you do! You literally just did it again!”

Kaius ignored him.

“Idea—”

He was in the final stretch, just a dozen more strides! Digging deep, he yanked again and again, hoisting Porkchop towards the top.

“ —what you are talking about!”

Jade green claws dug into the lip of the cliff face, and Porkchop hauled himself over the edge like he had a dragon on his tail. Kaius fell onto his back, panting.

Porkchop plodded over, loose rope trailing behind him as he loomed over Kaius with his hackles raised. He growled.

“You’re going to keep this to yourself.”

Kaius couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he nodded, no matter how hard he tried.

“Uh huh, of course. I would never tell our friends that you nearly cut yourself loose because a few pebbles fell on you.”

“You said it was a swarm of bugs!”

“I said bits. Bits! As in, bits of stone.”

“Bastard. Now get this abomination off me so we can keep moving. Even going back through the fog will be better than this…travesty.”

Kaius laughed and jumped to his feet, working on the knots of the makeshift harness. They would have to return to the swirling blanket of white that swallowed the land — unfortunately. The first thing he’d done when he’d used Shunt to reach the top had been to scout ahead. There was another path right behind him that lead to the edge of the dome of clear air.

Of the other routes, there was no sign — only part of the hill had been cleared. He hoped they would see them again at the next crossroads, otherwise that meant if they were ever forced to split up…they might stay that way for the rest of the trial.

They’d just have to deal with that if they reached that point. It wasn’t like they would separate unless there was no other option.

Unfurling the last knot, Kaius quickly gathered the rope into a loop and stored it in his ring.

“Come on, let’s go.”

….

Kaius whistled at what waited for them at their next crossroads.

“That’s a doozy. Think you’re up for it?”

“It’s going to suck more than when the Siege Ogre nearly snapped me in half, but yes. Why me though? You’re the one who has resistance to storm affinity.” Porkchop groaned.

“Firstly, I’ve done, what, four of six obstacles we’ve passed? Second, you also have storm resistance thanks to my Sigil — and Spell Resistance, partially magic resistant armour, a Skill that makes you nigh invulnerable for a brief moment, nearly half again as much Constitution, nearly triple my health, and have the natural resilience of a greater beast.”

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“Hey now, we don’t know that those bolts are a spell! They could be natural magic phenomena!”