Socrates climbed this mountain with ease at first but when he passed the 200-meter mark, things started getting pretty tough, the cold wind growing harsher the higher he went.
The stone edges where he placed his hands and legs suddenly started getting sharper as every grapple led to a cut in his palm or foot, thin streaks of blood marking his path along the rough rock face..
Socrates had no other choice but to endure the excruciating pain as he tried to climb forward, his blood splashing on the stone surface and staining the pale gray rocks beneath him..
He leaned closer to the mountain as he dragged himself up while looking carefully for where to place his legs, his breathing turning heavy and uneven..
He found an edge and placed his leg there... Unfortunately, the edge was as sharp as a blade as the stone tore through his feet before he could remove it, slicing deep into the flesh.
His HP bar went down the drain as he tried his best to pull harder while enduring the pain.. He raised his left hand to pull on an edge when the edge fell off and he lost his balance and fell to the ground instantly.
He fell from a 200-meter height in a crazy speed that crushed his body instantly as his HP bar finally hit 0, his body smashing violently into the rocky ground below.
...
[Total death — 301/1000]
Socrates blinked twice after respawning....
"I thought this will be very easy but it seems my suffering just began."
Without hesitation, he climbed again.. This time trying hard not to place his hands on sharp edges but it seemed most of the edges were sharp, leaving him with little choice but to endure.
Socrates had to endure the excruciating pain and continue... He stopped at a point to catch his breath when the edges he rested on suddenly cracked and he fell to the ground and died again..
That was how Socrates days and nights went by... Trying to climb the mountain which had nothing but sharp edges while bearing through the pain and advancing forward..
Socrates endured till he got to the 300-meter mark, there was just 100 meters left for him to reach a sloped edge where he could stay and rest, a narrow ledge barely visible above him.
When suddenly it started falling from the slope... Stones... Shrapnel of stones as they fell down to the basement tearing through Socrates skin, striking him from above like a rain of blades..
Socrates couldn't land a dozen hits before he fell off the mountain and died again..
He cursed his luck heavily and cursed whoever placed him in this situation, anger mixing with exhaustion deep within his chest..
He climbed again and it was still the same thing.. Even when he tried to dodge the stones, he would still end up jumping into sharp edges...
The first two stages Socrates had bypassed, he had died instantly with little pain.. But while climbing the mountain, his death hadn't come any way easy.
Not only was he facing the sharp edges but the shrapnel that came from the sloped edge and also the pain of dying after falling from 300 meters high..
Each pain had a stronger effect than the last and it had almost driven Socrates to the realm of insanity, his mind trembling under the endless cycle of suffering..
But he still persisted...
"I must meet Senior.. No matter what.. I'll endure it... I'll endure everything.."
After dying for about 40 times, Socrates finally climbed to the slope where he collapsed on the ground to relax with his HP bar tethering below 40%, his chest rising and falling heavily.
He was lying on his chest when he rolled to his back and then his gaze came face to face with that of the red-headed Vulture, its sharp crimson eyes staring directly into his soul..
"Screech.."
"What the..."
Socrates mouth didn't open fully when the bird struck him with its talons..
The bird tore its talons straight into his neck as the force pushed him out of the slope and forced him flying out of the mountain and falling to the basement..
With his esophagus ripped out and a great excruciating pain enveloping his neck... Socrates HP decreased drastically but he didn't die.
He felt every single bit of pain.. Every excruciating one as he watched himself fall back to the basement, the cold wind screaming past his ears.
BOOM!
He crashed hard with great force that destroyed both his bones and even the ground beneath him..
His HP went from yellow to critical red but Socrates didn't die instantly.
He prayed for death at that moment but it didn't come... It was as if something was preventing him from dying...
He wanted to cry but no way... He couldn't even open his mouth...
'What's happening?' He tried to control his body.. No way..
He bore with the pain and after what seemed like forever, he finally died...
...
[Total death — 353/1000]
...
"Not again..." Socrates cried as he woke up in the basement of the mountain, the cold rocky ground pressing against his palms as he steadied himself.
"I've to climb again.." Socrates heart shook drastically as the thoughts settled down on him, dread crawling slowly into his chest like a living thing.
"What on earth is that Vulture doing up there?"
"Do I have to fight the Vulture? How am I going to win? How am I supposed to win?"
Socrates didn't want to move but he still willed himself to move...
He feared that if he didn't go forward.. Maybe something from somewhere would come give him another instant death or painful death..
With that notion in mind, he moved as fast as he could with all his might as he resumed climbing the mountain but this time with great precision, his eyes scanning every edge carefully.
He didn't just climb but jumped over the edges... Using his previous challenges to help himself as he jumped with great precision while grabbing on the edges and propelling himself forward, his body moving with improved rhythm.
When he got to the point where the debris was falling, Socrates grabbed the mountain edge tighter and then he threw himself up with one swift motion, ignoring the burning pain in his torn palms.
He jumped as if his life depended on it and landed on the slope edge catching the Vulture off guard...
The red-headed bird was surprised to see Socrates suddenly at the top of the mountain and before it could even move, Socrates turned around with great agility, force combined with precision... He slammed all his body into the Vulture...
The sudden impact created a dull thud as flesh collided with feathers.
Before the Vulture could even react, it fell from the mountain edge with great force and crashed on the basement of the mountain with a loud, heavy thud that echoed across the rocky walls...
The HP bar of the Vulture turned from green to yellow but that was it... It didn't pass the yellow mark..
"That should give me enough time to reach the next basement..." Socrates thought as he didn't hesitate but started going forward..
Fortunately, there's a path here as he started walking upward, climbing the mountain with ease when he heard a rolling sound, low at first but growing louder by the second..
He looked up just to see a large boulder rolling from another cliff of the mountain down to where he stood, gathering speed as it tore across the rocky surface.
There was no other path apart from this one... No way to go back...
Only forward...
"What am I going to do now?" Socrates asked himself as one thing he feared the most was dying and going back to the basement..
The rumbling sound of the boulder grew deafening as dust and pebbles scattered wildly around it.
"I've to hold off the boulder..." Socrates raised both his hands to catch the boulder but his hands couldn't even be stretched when the boulder crashed into his body killing him instantly.
The impact was brutal and absolute, crushing bone and flesh in a single overwhelming moment before darkness swallowed everything.