Max smiled at the note, finished his breakfast, and then set off to the tower-zone’s main sports arena.

The tower-zone was fully alive and awake that morning as Max made his way downtown to the arena housing the tournament.

There were billboards and posters advertising the final exam. One even had his photograph on it. He saw everyone’s face from Casey to Cyrus to Sybil. People pointed at him as he went down the street.

It was like he had become a minor celebrity.

He eventually reached the tournament arena. It was a large coliseum-like sports venue. Throngs of people lined up, clogging the entrance to see the matches.

E-rank and D-rank climbers circled the whole arena, standing guard.

One guard approached Max as soon as he arrived.

“Max Rainhart?”

“That’s right,” he replied.

“Good. Please follow me,” said the man. “Contestants have their own special entry location.”

Max followed behind the man. He stared at the crowds and the size of the arena as he went forward. At the sight of it all, he was beginning to feel a sense of nervousness in his stomach.

But as soon as he felt a bit of nerves, he clenched his fists.

I shouldn’t be nervous, he thought. I’ve been training for this. This is just one step on my road to becoming one of the strongest climbers Zestiris has ever seen.

The man escorting Max eventually brought him to a smaller, less exciting looking entryway.

He opened the door and gestured for Max to go inside.

“The other contestants are all waiting down the hall,” said the man. “Further instructions will be given to you there.”

Max nodded and stepped into the passage. He went down the hall and found a room filled with the ten remaining contestants.

They all glanced at him with steely eyes before looking away and going quiet.

Casey’s face lit up as soon as she saw him.

She came up to him.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” she said. “It was so tense it was becoming hard to breathe.”

Toto poked his head out from her pocket and waved.

Max looked around the room and could see everyone was on edge.

There was a nervous, almost violent energy, filling the room.

Everyone—including the normally arrogant Cyrus Archer and Sybil Westley—looked as if they were feeling the nerves, the pressure of the upcoming tournament.

None of them knew who they might fight first, or if that fight was going to be their last.

* * *

Sakura stood in a glass box high up in the stands of the arena, staring down to where the fights would take place.

The battlefield was still currently empty.

“Another term of the climber academy comes to an end,” sighed the climber president. “It always goes by so fast. Don’t you think so too, Sakura?”

Sakura didn’t answer straightaway. She had an uneasy feeling.