The Climb

The trees beyond the inner core of the forest were nothing more than scary and amazing. The trees were a humble 20-40 metres high, unlike the outer core of the forest which was a kilometre(s) tall. 

"Wow…"

The leaves have a darker shade of colour and are much more petite compared to the trees outside. 

However, it feels different. As if the trees were calling for the two of them to get closer. 

"Every single tree is a biohazard."

Whilst all the things in here exceed the value of everything that could be gathered outside the inner core, they are so high risk. That's why not a lot of things in the inner core of the forest would be seen in the market. 

That's how risky it is to take a single object from this forest. Leonard looked at Jai and tapped her shoulder. 

"Careful. The trees call."

The trees in the core of the forest also have a name for them. The Garden of Malice. It was called that because it looked friendly till it wasn't. 

"Ah, yeah could you tether me to you?"

Leonard nodded, he would've teased her but this place was just that dangerous. He took a rope and tied Jai's wrist to his. 

"Alright, let's go."

Leonard could already see the Plateau. And it looks menacing. Jai could feel it as well. However, everything inside the forest couldn't be overlooked either. 

The simple yet normal-looking tree could release its spores and kill us by growing its sprouts inside them. Leonard was, of course, prepared. He took out a box inside Jai's luggage and took out two sets of masks. There are extras of course. 

Jai and Leonard wore them and started walking forward, trying to keep their distance from every single tree since they were just walking past them. 

"Leo, wait."

"Hm? Why?"

She pointed at a tree, a tree with teal leaves, it was so inconspicuous that Leonard completely ignored it. 

"That's the fruit where mana dew came from." Jai pointed out. 

"ah!" Leonard said in exclamation. "Should we get some?"

Leonard looked at Jai, she shrugged and nodded. That thing is quite valuable, an ingredient for the purple elixir. The two walked towards the tree. After a few minutes of trying to confirm that it isn't a hazard just being near it the two walk close and near it. 

"So how do we get the dew?"

"I don't know?"

Leonard looked at Jai blankly after hearing her words. Jai, noticing her mistake, blushed in embarrassment. She thought Leonard would have the idea to extract the dew. 

"I-i thought you would know!"

"Ha… Jai… Jai… Jai… I wouldn't know everything." Leonard admonished her playfully. 

"Ugh…"

"Anyways…"

Leonard looked back at the tree and inspected it a bit more. He tried to think of ways to extract a bit of value out of this tree. Till he saw a fruit, a teal fruit. Leonard blinked if it was actually a fruit. Eventually throwing a stone at it to see if it would move. 

"Jai, over there." Leonard pointed out. "Try and get that for me please."

"Okay!"

Jai climbed up the tree and went to where the fruit was. It was shaped like a peach. Jai looked around and saw another one, she went ahead and grabbed the other. 

"I have two Leo!"

"Yeah, that's enough just go down here."

Leonard doesn't want to waste more time gathering materials, sure it is profitable but he won't stay here enough to see value in these things in the long run. 

"Okay!"

After a while Leonard checked the fruits gathered by Lenneza, he thought it was way too valuable just to store them in the bag so he placed them on his shadow. 

Jai was curious but Leonard told her that he didn't know much about the fruit, so he hid it. Besides, they aren't here to look around. 

"Woah…"

A few minutes into their wall Jai and Leonard let out their words of awe at how the Grey Plateau looked, it felt like a giant wall and they had to bend their necks just to look up. 

"Everything that falls off from that will surely splat."

"Not some high-tier monsters, I mean, Razor centipede managed to escape once."

Jai nodded at Leonard's words, the culling of such a monster was made regularly thanks to a certain policy. It foretold the accident made by the Razor centipede and its damages once. 

"And… we have to climb… this…"

Leonard gulped, They would be damned if they ever fell, well Leonard has a backup plan when he falls, that being his shadow. But Jai doesn't have any. 

'These are the moments that teleport spell came in handy… '

Leonard could only lament about his helplessness. If these kinds of problems keep rising then what would happen once he reached the top?

He has plans to hunt the razor centipede but that wouldn't mean much if the razor centipede just shrugs it off. 

"Jai, let's camp for now. I'm going to think of a safe way to climb."

"Huh… okay."

Leonard looked at Jai for a moment, her eyes displaying helplessness as well. It seems Jai knew of their situation so he chuckled and placed a hand on her head. 

"???"

"I plan to look around and go at the edges of the plateau to see if there is a pathway. Don't mull over it."

Jai let out a defeated sigh and nodded, they set up camp and relaxed for a bit, Leonard made a thorough plan just in case he didn't find a path. Ways of climbing, materials used and so on. 

When he was checking his shadows for something he brought out a ruby. 

"..."

He went silent for a moment, he knew what this Ruby is, it's… it's his mother's last memento for him, her crystallised blood because of her fairy blood. Leonard chuckled and smiled weakly. 

Leonard had the memories of the previous Leonard, but not his personality. It felt like looking at a folder in a computer and seeing pictures you never knew existed just for you to feel the nostalgia that you never experienced. 

Leonard felt a longing, sorrow and regret. If he was transmigrated sooner, or for the better reincarnated, he could've saved his mother. Now it's a shame, Lorraine wouldn't have a single memory of her. 

"Leo?"

"Hm? Oh… oh nothing."

It was new to Jai, seeing Leonard with that expression, she felt that Leonard was way too joyful, as if he never received proper support so he had to take responsibility to do so. Even now he's doing all the brain work. 

"It's just lovely that Jai didn't have the urge to attack me… rather I felt she was adorable trying to make friends with me."

Leonard then made a rather embarrassing remark towards Jai, which made her face flush and left her unable to think, she waved her hands around out of embarrassment. 

"L-Leo! I… I! I was curious! B-besides you're harmless!"

Leonard laughed at Jai trying to make coherent words. He smiled at her cute actions, truthfully, the moment he was teleported to that cave he once called home he was ready to fight. 

Dungeon dwellers have the urge to fight surface dwellers, although not strongly as monsters. So Jai could've killed Leonard but she didn't, she befriended him instead. 

If he were teleported in the middle of the Jakari settlement he might not have survived. In the end, he shook his head, he had matters in hand to even think of something else. 

"You're really adorable."

"...!"

So in the meantime, Leonard would have fun teasing Jai, he could think fast anyways. 

***

Lenneza looked at her phone, she seemed indulged in the video that she was watching. She's been on her phone for a few hours now. 

Ever since Leonard called Yula to talk about the new application and site he was developing a new sensation emerged. 

[Whistler! A new site and app for all ages!]

[New app that is taking over the Human Continent!]

[A new sensation for all ages! Make videos! Make blogs! Make a Whis!]

It became a sensation thanks to Lenneza's marketing and Yula's excellent directing. The app and site that Leonard created were almost finished, though thanks to the attack he wasn't able to finish it. 

Yula, however, got her hands on it after Lorraine told her that she knows the password on Leonard's PC. 

"This is just amazing."

Lenneza watched multiple short videos by tapping the icon on the bar below the app. It was easily accessible and entertaining. She's watching the very first video on the app, it's Leonard playing with Lorraine on cube craft and losing, easily gaining thousands of views. 

[Poki123: Is that the heir of one of the 10 duchies?]

[John Doe: Wow, the heirs are surprisingly full of expressions]

[Jab Makir: What did you expect? The young master of Marchen is a human and a brother! It's sweet he is playing with his younger sister!]

[Cabbage Luke: He's trash at PvP]

The comments made are all about the red-haired young man that was on his PC, showing as he played with his sister. Lenneza chuckled, she would sometimes hang out in his room… 

She swiped up and a new video came up, it's about Cubecraft. The game came out of the Play store off mobile phones after its launch and advertisement. 

The Cubecraft game was said to be so enjoyable that it gained half a million downloads in a single month. And it's still rising day by day to this day. 

Two years have passed since Leonard vanished, yet what he left was still here. Lenneza shook her head. 

"He isn't dead yet… I knew it…"

Lenneza crumpled the hem of her shirt, she took deep breaths before calming down once again. It's been a couple of years, there's no clue where he has gone yet. 

But the third princess, Heidi Marcia Vinstead, the daughter of the Empress sent a letter with utmost secrecy to her and Yula. 

[Leonard is alive and well, the strands of fate have not let go of him… yet.]

The last part was menacing, Heidi's letter was reassuring and it confirmed that she is also a regressor, Lenneza has yet to confirm about Monica Weiss and the Saintess Neiya, but there is no hurry. 

Leonard's whereabouts are unknown as of yet, Lenneza has to confirm events from happening and follow through with the seeming plot from what Lenneza has read in Leonard's book and her memories. 

But things have changed. Leonard was supposed to be in the academy by now and by this year, a tournament was available to the sophomores, which Walter would join. 

The first battle that Walter would go through was to fight against Leonard who held a sword. Leonard mocked Walter so much that he got an ass whooping from Walter and the audience even cheered from it. 

Lenneza groaned, she remembered cheering as well though not as profound as the audience. Knowing that she smiled and told herself that Walter was "interesting" under her breath made her cringe. 

"Ugh…"

After remembering a dozen more memories where she did something embarrassing made her cringe. She weakly went back to her phone and started swiping on the Shorts and swiping up aggressively. 

She found peace when she saw lizard content. 

***

Yula watched as her business empire backed by the duchy started selling off, multiple sabotage attempts had been made but so far, thanks to her expertise, no sensitive data has been leaked. 

Several times rats tried to do espionage, one might think what's so special about Yula's business? Well, she has a backer of a Duke and her family is a douche. 

One might solve the puzzle with these pieces, her family wanted a piece of that too. Since Yula is Leonard's fiance she was staying in the Marchen estate. 

So the Hereon family couldn't touch nor force Yula to go back, or they'll arouse suspicion of the Duke, the Raging Tempest, Richard Heil Marchen. 

They cannot touch that man and his people. And Yula was happy to have such a Father in law. Lenneza and Yula were getting along well, an unwritten and unspoken rule not to talk about the past. 

"Though it seems not to stop them."

Another undercover operation, somehow, this time even though their repeated tries return a failure they kept coming. 

"Where do they get such people? Don't they have an underworld information network that says they keep failing!?"

Yula rubbed her throbbing temple, all she was having is a massive headache with these saboteurs, and there was the tournament from the academy in the upcoming months. 

She remembered at the first iteration, Leonard and Walter would fight in the first match or rather, the elimination round, but now it changed, Yula remembered that day. 

She was in a VIP room for participants, she cringed as she was reminded that she said 'interesting' like a mysterious character out of a book! She fanned her face, 

–Beep. 

A computer beep, in the office where no employee of lower access should be. Her work is not yet done. 

***

The vertical plateau is quite steep, Leonard scoured the whole place for a whole day but nothing came up. No pathway, no signs of intellectual signs of settlement, nothing. 

He sighed. 

"Why not… make something?"

Jai suggested in a hesitant tone. Leonard looked back at her and tilted his head, asking for detailed information.

"Go up there and then, throw down a rope?"

Leonard raised a brow and looked at the height of the plateau. He pursed his lips, there's not something that long to be used as a rope. 

"The vines."

Jai suggested. 

"Ah… no, it's dangerous… I don't even know if we can cut that thing."

"Hmm…"

Climbing the vertical slope of that plateau is akin to suicide, he gathered his remaining brain cells and did some thinking. 

"Ah, there's that part where there's a massive crack that goes to the top of the Plateau," Jai spoke as if having an idea. 

"What about it?"

"We could go up there, cover ourselves if need be."

What Jai said is right, it's the best decision if they need to rise from their position. The slit is wide enough for their bodies to go inside and climb. 

"Hmm… let's prepare a few things, we need to be careful around here."

"Mhmm!"

Leonard asked Jai to find some dead vines or rather drying vines, some fruits considered not to be dangerous and Leonard went to the crack beside the plateau. 

It was big and wide apart, Leonard would need to stretch his whole body so he could squeeze and not fall. Leonard took out a hammer, one simply about to pound a nail down a wood. 

He started hammering the stone that comprises the plateau, it might seem stupid but he was trying his luck. 

"I can hammer a nail in, nice…"

They would need occasional breaks climbing this plateau, especially due to its height. Leonard surmised they would stay here for a few more days. He got to work, storing the hammer and going for a short sword. 

"An axe would take a while…"

He looked at a specific tree, it was straight and its bark was probably stronger than steel. Leonard took a deep sigh, he started using mana and strengthened his limbs. 

"ugh… Time to work."

He raised his blade, mana enhancing its sharpness and strike. The gathering in total went on for hours, Jai managed to gather a long degree of dead vines and began helping Leonard. 

The bark was hard, and it got harder the more it got to the middle, even if they dug a chunk three-fourths in the tree it wouldn't bend. 

Leonard had to take several breaks from this exercise alone. However, thanks to both of their efforts they managed to take about… two trees worth of trees. 

That's no longer than 17 metres high. Though it was enough, Leonard's problem, however, is the processing. It already took a significant amount of time to chop down these two trees, the entire day cycle of the dungeon is already out. 

"Let's rest for today."

Jai spoke to Leonard to which he replied with a nod. But he has to set up camp, Jai just told him to rest and she set it up instead. It was clumsy but it's not that bad. 

She took her time setting up the wards and protective measures before sleeping. Just as Jai was laying down she looked down and looked at Leonard's tired face who was engulfed by his sleeping bag. 

She smiled softly. 

"Sweet dreams…"

She slept in her sleeping bag. They use sleeping bags instead of tents for the reason that they might get trapped if an attack happened. At least they can tear the sleeping bag open if the need comes to rise. 

Jai closed her eyes. There are times she wanted Leo for herself, if he leaves she would be lonely, but she can't see him sad, so she decided to help him. Once the centipede is defeated and processed. 

Leonard would progress in his study and would leave, Jai felt sad, truly. But she closed her eyes, ready for slumber to take her away. 

… 

On the second day, or day cycle, Leonard started processing the wood, a string doused with chalk was enough to give the precision he needed. He decided to be smart about how he should cut the steel hardwood because of the planks he needed to climb. 

"Ugh… I should've brought an axe…"

Leonard brainstormed, what could he use to cut the board? He looked back at the crack and the wood. His gaze went back again to the crack, he saw the nail he hammered earlier. 

His gaze stayed on the nail then he got a eureka moment, he pulled out all of his nails from his bag and started aligning them in the chalk he marked earlier. 

With those aligned Leonard started hammering. 

–Pang! Pang! Pang!

The noise was attractive, but considering what lurks in the forest it isn't that much of a big deal. Jai is watching Leonard's back as well, and when he gets tired they switch to hammering. 

The number of times the two had hidden was surprisingly low. Only twice, once when a predator was passing by, a coyote-like animal, and second when they saw a bird in the sky.  

Which isn't a lot, but still dangerous encounters. Nonetheless, Leonard finished processing the wood after a whole day cycle of the dungeon. Though he is yet to turn them into something usable. 

"130cm for each plank… and 8 to 12 140cm planks… that's what we need."

"How can you exactly measure them?"

Leonard lifted his head, his body looking straight at the planks, his eyes flashed with mana before disappearing as he looked at Jai with a smile. 

"I have very good eyes."

Leonard and Jai took a rest and on the third day, the two continued once again, Leonard finished up about a total of 60 planks, and his journey to the top of the Grey Plateau was set to the fourth day. 

"I never knew it would be this exhausting!"

Jai complained to which Leonard nodded, he then let out a soft laugh, they were laying on the floor inside their body bags. 

"What's funny?" Jai asked curiously. 

"It was fun! I have never had this much fun in years!"

"Years?"

Leonard looked at Jai with a smile, the number of times Leonard had fun was small. The first iteration was just hell he wanted to forget. 

"Yep! What about you Jai?"

"Well… it's always fun with you so I guess every day I have fun?"

"And you told me, no flirting…"

"H-hey! I wasn't flirting!" 

Jai spoke in denial, her face flushed. Leonard laughed at Jai's appearance, yes he was having fun, Jai was always a fun person to have around. 

"Oh, Jai… 'It's always fun with you' just propose already! Hahaha!"

"Ngh…!" Jai turned her face around and buried herself in the bed bag. "I hate you!"

"Gasp! I'm sorry Jai!"

"I'm not forgiving you till tomorrow!"

They slept soundly after such chatter, the fourth-day cycle, Leonard enacted his plans, Leonard checked the vines if they were strong, which they were, and climbed the steep crack in the edge of the plateau. 

After a hundred metres of his climb, Leonard started hammering nails on the wall, he made sure they were aligned properly at opposite sides to make sure what he planned would work. 

After making sure the nails are properly set he placed a plank on top of them, He sat down on such a plank and it held properly. It's just shaky because he didn't secure its position. 

"Phew…"

He checked his nails, he brought enough to fill a cookie box which Leonard was thankful that he did. He secured the plank by nailing it in place. Diagonally at the wall just in the mid-section of the plank. 

It stopped moving when he rocked back and forth. 

"Are you okay up there??"

Jai yelled and Leonard showed a thumbs up. He tied up the dead vines on the plank and made sure it was tight and secure before asking Jai to climb.

She sat along Leonard, thankfully the platform that Leonard created didn't topple once Jai grabbed the edge which made him sigh of relief. 

"Now we just do this all the way to the top…"

"Oh…  you do this every… hundred metres?"

"Yeah, there's…. 12 needed planks as it looks but as you can see, midway there's a slant, the crack went diagonally so those are extra work… we just need to watch out for birds."

"Hmm…"

Jai nodded slowly, Leonard continued in his work, the depths of the crack on the wall varied as he ascended. A hundred-metre checkpoint was his plan. He could get up there by imbuing mana and climbing up, but he would be exposed and with all his luggage, a pain in the ass. He also needs to descend and this was the best option. 

He climbed till he got midway, where the crack became slanted, he had to be creative on making the checkpoint planks or else it won't stay. 

After making another checkpoint at the beginning of the slant he started checking how he would make checkpoints through. It was not as steep as he could have imagined, he could crawl but the problem of balance remained. 

As a human in the Apprentice Bishop realm and rank, he could certainly balance properly in the slant, but it's not him who would be having a problem in terms of the problem. 

That would be Jai. She may be mobile and agile but that's only on the forest floor. She would certainly have a hard time when it comes to things like this. 

Leonard only had to make leverage for Jai, it's not that she is completely helpless. 

Once he checked which place to make a checkpoint he grabbed the plank in his back, he noticed that he ran out of planks. 

"Jai!"

He waved his hand just out the crack. When Jai saw this she went down to the ground through the vines and grabbed a few tied planks already, ready to be used. 

She went up to the latest checkpoint where Leonard was waiting and passed the planks. 

"Thank you."

"No problem!"

Leonard was about to climb again when he looked back at Jai. 

"Could you take the other planks and stack them in this checkpoint?"

"Uh, sure!"

"Thanks again."

Every checkpoint was wide enough to sit on, so placing a stack of planks wouldn't be a problem, the problem was the amount of rope they could use. 

It's impossible to find a vine so long it would extend a kilometre. Leonard had to be smart with his resources, from planks, nails, rope and patience he had to manage them all properly. 

Leonard carefully climbed the slanted surface and began hammering down nails and planks, making sure to tie a rope in each of them, but since the surface is inclined in a wall he had to secure the rope and tie them to the checkpoint down below. Making sure it won't be blown and hung down the edge. 

It took Leonard a few hours to climb up the slant. It was not steep, but it was slippery. The surface was slightly smooth. If Leonard's hands sweat he would slip, he had to dust his hands to have some friction going. 

"Jai you there?" Leonard Called. 

"Yeah!" An enthusiastic reply came back. 

"Let's eat! I'm starving!"

And so he went down, there is a river they found while walking around the plateau so they don't lack it. In fact, it's rich in mana that Leonard had to drink in moderation. 

Anyways, Leonard prepared food, soup would be the usual but today he cooked stew thanks to Jai's insistence. Leonard chose some warhog meat, it would be called warthog but that's on the surface. A warhog is exactly as it sounds. 

Nonetheless, the meat used was not as big as a slice of a steak. Leonard cooked well and shared it with Jai, well he only ate a humble amount, his stomach couldn't take a lot. 

"You should eat more…" Jai spoke in a depressed tone. 

"I would if I could. But I can't since the meat is filled with more nutrients than I could digest."

"Oh…"

Jai said dejectedly, but Leonard found a way to remove the emotion from her. 

"Seeing someone cute is enough to fill my stomach," Leonard spoke with a smirk. 

"No flirting!"

After their hearty meal, they took a rest for a few minutes and resumed their climb. Leonard took it easy, hiding when predators are nearby and continuing when there isn't any. 

It took them the 5th-day cycle to finally get on the top. 

"Phew…"

Leonard checked their resources, they still could go on and finish what they came for, Jai knew Leonard would wish to continue, so it came as a surprise when he told them to go back. 

"Let's go back. We can come back here later."

"Eh? W-why?"

"We might run out of food, we don't want that don't we?"

"O-oh… okay then!" 

Jai was happy that Leo would stay for another day. She went down first out of enthusiasm. 

"So, Leo before we go back are you going to sell—"

Before she could say anything a large shadow loomed over her, she looked up to see a giant glistening centipede. 

"Jai! Ru—

—Boom!