Max was out of breath, but filled with joy that they’d made it back and had passed the test.

The instructor smiled and congratulated them for making it back.

“Seriously,” he said, taking a drag of his cigarette. “I thought you two might be dead.”

“They bloody should be,” shouted a voice.

It was Cyrus coming up to the three of them.

“They must’ve cheated,” he cried. “How could they have survived out there for so long and then made it back? Impossible!”

“Do you want tell us how you got back?” asked the instructor. “Or should I take a guess?”

“I’ll explain,” said Max. “We were really lost and I thought we were done for. We both did. However, then I started to think: all the different ranks and branches of climbers go through this floor from the arrival teleporter to the departure teleporter. There must be some kind of system of signs to mark locations throughout this labyrinthine woods. So we started looking at the trees and we discovered signs carved into the trunks near the bottom of the tree.”

“Bullshit,” yelled Cyrus. “I didn’t see any signs.”

“They were easy to miss if you weren’t looking for them,” admitted Casey. “But once we started looking for signs other climbers would’ve left for each other, we found the markings in no time.”

Cyrus’ face was flush with anger. “Fine, you found out how to get home, but I still haven’t seen you guys present your monster cores. I doubt you would’ve been able to get lost, find your way back, and defeat four monsters each.”

Both Max and Casey materialized each of their own set of four copper monster cores and presented them to Cyrus.

The blond boy fumed and strutted away.

Max suspected Cyrus must have had something to do with all the nearby monsters being killed off. Why else would he be so frustrated that they had completed the test?

“All I can say is, well done,” said the instructor. “It was very clever of you to figure out that the climber’s guild has set up a series of signs in the trees as a way of communicating the different locations of the endless forest. You’re a couple of lessons ahead of the class. Keep up the good work.”

Max and Casey smiled at each other.

“I guess we make a good team,” said Casey, cheerfully.

“Yeah,” said Max in agreement.

“Alright, class,” sighed the instructor. “Gather around. Today’s lessons are over. We’ll take the teleporter back to the ground floor of the tower. Classes will resume tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. sharp.”

“What about the monster cores we collected?” said Max.

The instructor smiled. “They’re yours to keep. In fact, they’re more than that. They’re tonight’s homework.”

32

By the time Max got back to the apartment, he was absolutely exhausted.