The sun was high in the sky, though not yet at its zenith. That allowed Kael to estimate the approximate time.

  He was walking alongside Jeff, heading toward what Jeff called a ‘gymnasium’, the large building where PE class took place.

  Jeff took out his phone.

  “It’s ten thirty. We’re on time.”

  The numbers on the phone displayed the time… good to know, Kael thought.

  They passed through the doors of the gymnasium. A wave of sweat hit him straight in the face.

  “Well, that’s something that reminds me a bit of the Broken Crown,” he said, nostalgically.

  Jeff turned to him, surprised.

  “Huh?”

  Realizing he’d spoken out loud, Kael pretended he hadn’t said anything. He followed Jeff into a room where other boys were standing around or sitting on benches. Most of them were in their underwear.

  What are they doing? he thought.

  Jeff sat down on an empty spot and started undressing.

  Kael froze.

  Jeff laughed and said:

  “What are you doing? Get changed!”

  “Get changed? What for?” Kael replied, genuinely lost.

  Jeff looked at him, a little confused.

  “Well… put on your sports outfit.”

  We have a special outfit for sports? Kael wondered.

  He rummaged through his bag and found a strange kind of white shirt, with no buttons or collar, and a pair of black trousers cut off above the knees. He laid them out in front of him, intrigued.

  “What a strange outfit…”

  The other boys stared at him like he was a circus animal. He took off his uniform, and comments immediately flew.

  “Wow man, you’re seriously built!”

  “How do you get abs that defined?”

  “Look at his back, it’s insanely ripped!”

  “And what are those scars…?”

  Jeff asked him:

  “It’s true, you’re really built. How did you do that?”

  Kael answered as if it were the most normal thing in the world:

  “It’s just my master. She’s completely insane. She insists that I have a body capable of easily handling weapon techniques… You should’ve seen what she made me do. Completely crazy!”

  The boys stared at him, incredulous… then burst out laughing.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  He put on his outfit and made a few movements.

  “Incredible, this fabric,” he said, amazed. “It feels like I’m wearing nothing at all.”

  He kept rummaging through his bag and found a pair of white shoes. The sole was thick and rigid, the design unusual, perforated with small holes all over.

  He hadn’t noticed before, but he was wearing short socks under his trousers, covering his feet and ankles. He couldn’t even feel them.

  He slipped on the shoes and took a few steps.

  “Incredible… These shoes are magical. I can’t even feel the ground!”

  He jumped in place, a wide smile on his face.

  Jeff looked at him and said:

  “They’re just sports shoes. Nothing extraordinary…”

  But Kael wasn’t even listening. He was completely fixated on his shoes.

  Jeff, done changing, stood up from the bench:

  “Come on, let’s go. You ready?”

  Kael nodded, smiling, and thought:

  It’s like walking on clouds.

  He left the changing room. Across from them, girls were coming out of a similar room. They wore the same outfit, except their short trousers were tight-fitting, hugging their curves.

  Kael swallowed and thought:

  This is going to be harder than expected, if I have to look at that for the whole class…

  They moved on and entered a vast hall. Walls rose in every direction, covered in stones of all colors.

  “What’s this for? And where’s the cliff we’re supposed to climb?”

  Jeff glanced at him sideways.

  “What cliff? This is the climbing gym. What we’re supposed to climb are these walls, with all the different-colored holds.”

  Kael studied the surfaces. Some were vertical, others slanted, others smooth or deliberately warped.

  “You call this a class… I’ve got nothing to learn here. Everything looks simple, with no real danger.”

  Jeff replied:

  “You won’t be so cocky once you’re actually climbing. Come on, let’s go sit down. Class is about to start.”

  The floor was made of mats covered in a strange material—shiny, cold, and blue.

  Other students were already seated.

  A middle-aged woman with short hair, an awful shade of blond, spoke up:

  “Today’s lesson is climbing. The rules are simple: don’t try to be clever, don’t climb without being belayed, and try to choose someone close to your size to rope up with.”

  Kael raised his hand.

  Everyone turned to look at him.

  “Is it really necessary to be belayed for climbs that easy?”

  The instructor shot him a glare. Around them, students snickered quietly—some watching him with curiosity, others with disdain.

  She replied, her tone heavy with irritation:

  “And here we have the first smartass. Do you really think I’d ask you to belay if it wasn’t necessary?”

  Kael shot back without hesitation:

  “Apparently, yes. I don’t really see where the danger is: the holds are close together, there’s no wind, no risk of the rock crumbling—and on top of that, the holds are color-coded so you can spot the routes from two kilometers away.”

  A vein bulged on the instructor’s forehead, already marred with scars and blemishes.

  “If you really believe what you’re saying… then climb that wall.”

  She pointed to a specific wall.

  At its base, a small inscription was engraved: “8A.”

  Kael didn’t really pay it any attention. He stood up without a word and walked toward it.

  The wall loomed before him—black, imposing, bristling with rough, asymmetrical holds. Fifteen meters high, maybe more. At first glance, it could have been intimidating.

  But not to Kael.

  He scanned it the way one might assess any ordinary obstacle on a training field. The holds, though small, were clear and visible. Some slippery, others poorly placed, but nothing fundamentally dangerous. Even the wall’s gradual overhang, which pushed the body backward, didn’t concern him. He had already climbed natural cliffs—wet ones—without equipment, with winds strong enough to tear a man from the side of a mountain.

  Here, no unstable rock.

  No rain.

  No extreme fatigue, no enemies lying in wait during the ascent.

  Just a training wall… dressed up as a challenge.

  He noted, amused, a rotating hold placed halfway up—a trap for those who climbed with their eyes shut. Higher up, a few sequences of nearly invisible holds traced a more technical route, but none of it was anything extraordinary.

  Everything was planned, controlled, secured.

  Kael lifted his gaze toward the top of the wall.

  He pointed at the thin strip of metal fixed right at the summit.

  “And that, up there… what is it?” he asked, curious.

  The instructor looked at him as if he had just asked whether one needed to breathe to stay alive.

  “What do you think it’s for?” she said, her tone sharp, heavy with contempt.

  “You touch the bar, you succeed. You fall before that, you fail. That’s it.”

  Kael shrugged slightly, indifferent.

  “That’s all? No need to make it back down alive, at least?”

  She narrowed her eyes, arms crossed, but said nothing.

  Kael stretched his arms, rolled his shoulders.

  This is what people here consider difficult?

  He smiled to himself.

  This will be over quickly.