As Max slowly crawled his way toward the 300-meter mark, those beyond it found themselves at a standstill. Only a few were still climbing, while the rest were barely holding on.
"Damn, I can’t hold on much longer!"
"Me too! The longer I stay here, the more I feel the pressure acting on me. It’s like it’s stacking up if I don’t climb."
"This is the worst. The monolith is 1000 meters tall, yet our limits only stretch to around 300 meters. Just thinking about it makes me feel humiliated."
"Well, we’re here to test our potential. There will be those with higher potential, and then there are those like us with lower potential."
Eventually, many of the geniuses began to fall one after another from the monolith. Some gave up, unable to withstand the pressure, while others were forced down by its overwhelming weight.
In the end, only a handful remained above the 300-meter mark. Six of them were from the East Region, with Alex from the Phoenix Order guild, while each of the other guilds had only one member—except for the Black Lotus guild, which had two.
Two more remained from the West Region: Princess Aveline and Mikale. The duo of Drake brothers from the South were also present, along with a lady with deep red hair and a young man with scars from the North.
"This pressure is increasing with every meter we climb," Alex muttered under his breath, feeling burdened. He was around the 340-meter mark and was feeling exhausted.
"As expected, those from the East Region are truly trash," Nathan sneered, hearing Alex, as he slowly made his way toward the 350-meter mark.
Though several geniuses had already reached the 350-meter mark, they included Princess Aveline and her subordinate Mikale, the young woman with deep red hair from the North, and the young man with scars on his face.
Also present was Tom Drake, who had reached the 350-meter mark and was resting.
"Princess Aveline, you’re as strong as the rumors say," Tom praised the golden-haired lady beside him.
Aveline glanced at him, her expression sharp. "You’re also strong to make it this far, but I wonder which of the seven ’Crown’ you belong to from the South."
Tom smiled back in response. "Well, I can’t say, but know that I’m one of the good guys here." He said this with an innocent tone. Explore more adventures at freewebnovel
"The good guy?" The lady with deep red hair from the North Region sneered. "If you’re the good guy, doesn’t that automatically make us the worst of the worst, the evil ones?"
Tom smiled and turned to her. "But aren’t you already that, Evlin?" he added with a mocking tone. "Last I heard, you were taken as a disciple by the infamous Witch of the North… doesn’t that make you the worst of us all?"
"You people from the other regions are annoying." Just then, someone interrupted. The four of them turned their heads to see the duo from the Black Lotus guild, who had managed to climb to the 350-meter mark.
"What’s with that look?" one of the young men in a mask shrugged.
Another sneered behind his mask. "They think just because they reached the 350-meter mark they’re above others, but little do they know they’re just stepping stones for someone else."
"Do you two have a death wish?" The young man with scars on his face glared at the two masked young men from the Black Lotus guild.
"You see that young man with white hair?" one of the masked young men pointed at Max. "He’ll reach here in a few minutes, and when he does, he won’t even bother to look at you trashes. He’ll just ignore you and continue to climb, unlike some who don’t dare move past the 350-meter mark."
"HAHAHAHA!" Nathan, who had just reached the 350-meter mark, laughed wildly. Tears streamed from his eyes. "Damn, that was too funny!"
Glancing at the duo from the Black Lotus guild, he sneered. "Are you telling me a guy at the 4th level of Apprentice Rank, who couldn’t even handle the pressure below us, will surpass us?" He laughed. "I always thought the people from the East Region were trash, but this is the first time I’ve seen they’re also fools."
Tom laughed too. "True, brother, they’re fools."
Only Princess Aveline frowned, sensing something off. She found their tone extremely calm. ’Could he really surpass us with that level of strength?’ she wondered, glancing toward Max, only to see that he had crossed the 300-meter mark and was marching toward them.
"Look, he crossed the 300-meter mark," she said lightly, attracting everyone’s attention toward Max.
Nathan frowned but still wore a sneer on his face. "He’s slow like a snail but persistent. I’ll give him that."
He added, glancing at the duo from the Black Lotus guild. "But that’s his limit. He won’t reach the 350-meter mark."
"Brother, are you sure?" Tom’s voice trembled in shock pointing down.
Nathan frowned, hearing him, and looked down. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "How could this be? He just reached the 300-meter mark, and now he’s about to reach us?" His voice trembled.
He had seen how slow Max had been on the lower parts of the monolith. However, the speed at which Max was ascending in the 300-meter range gave him the shock of his life.
"How is he doing it?" Evlin asked, her eyes wide with shock as she watched Max climb toward them. "He was obviously the slowest one, yet he seems like a completely different person now."
"Was he playing with us by giving us a head start?" Tom muttered, astonished.
Princess Aveline glanced at Max, her expression strange. She, like the others, was shocked. Knowing herself the pressure at the 300-meter range, they were barely moving up. Yet, someone weaker than them was ascending far faster than they were.
"Told you, haha, you guys are nothing but stepping stones for him." One of the masked young men from the Black Lotus guild mocked.
Nathan’s fierce eyes turned to them, his face filled with rage. "So what? A trash from the East Region can’t be more powerful than me."
His face twisted cruelly. "If I can’t surpass him normally, I’ll use my own means to surpass him."
"Surpass who? Me?" Max asked, smiling as he reached the 350-meter mark.
Nathan turned his eyes to Max, his face contorted with rage. "How dare you cheat on the monolith? What treasure are you using to suppress the pressure?"
Max blinked blankly, then turned to the others. "Who’s this retard?" he asked casually.
Everyone was stunned, unable to imagine someone at level 4 of Apprentice Rank speaking to them like that.
"What’s with the shocked faces?" Max asked, glancing at them. "Also, what are you all doing here? Why aren’t you moving up?" he asked, seeing that they were all stuck at the same place.
Everyone blinked, unable to come up with any answers.
"I asked you a question!" Nathan shouted, his face filled with rage.
Max glanced at him and smiled slightly. "I am indeed using a cheat… wanna know what it is?"
"Spit it out," Nathan demanded.
Max shrugged and said, "I’m just better than you."
Nathan trembled at his words. "A trash from the East Region better than me? Are you kidding me?" he laughed bitterly.
Max blinked again, turning to the others. "I’m telling you guys, there’s definitely something wrong with this guy."