At that point I almost give up, only the fact that I have to destroy the temple prevents it. Besides, telling Lizzy I wasted all this time would not be a pleasant experience. So I force myself to stand up and start walking up the stairs again.
As soon as I leave the platform the boulders start coming again every two minutes. I have learned the trick to them by now, but they are still really annoying. The fact that I won't get another break until I reach five thousand steps is also depressing.
While the other tests have all tested physical endurance, this test seems to be more about mental endurance. Sure the gravity and the boulders are physical problems, but the mental challenge is worse. Having to force myself to take each step has nothing to do with the physical strain.
In fact at this point, since the gravity isn't increasing anymore, I am actually getting used to it. Knowing how many more steps I have left to go is much harder to deal with. No matter what I do, I can't stop myself from counting each step and cursing each one.
Eventually, I stop deflecting the boulders and instead start destroying them. This allows me to vent my frustrations and manages to make me feel a bit better. Once I feel better I am able to advance faster, at least until I reach three thousand steps.
Once I pass three thousand blades start randomly slashing out from the wall. However, the boulders don't stop, so now I have two things to worry about. I quickly learn that it is best to dodge the blades, nothing I have will stop them.
Luckily, I have my healing spells and regen, otherwise I would really be in trouble. I will just have to be careful so I don't run out of power before reaching the next rest area. Come to think of it, I have no idea if I am even able to recover my divine power while I am in a test.
After all, can my prayers actually reach the goddesses from here or am I on my own? There is no way to know until I reach the next platform and try it. If I can't then it will make this trial a lot more complicated, especially if it gets harder.
The blades are the main thing hurting me, the boulders are just annoying. I have figured out that there is a very quiet click right before a blade appears. The problem is I can only hear that click if I am concentrating and there isn't a boulder coming.
The blades don't move once they pop out, so I have started only climbing the stairs between boulders. This way I can listen for the click and avoid the blade if there is one. When I hear the rumble of a boulder I simply stop and wait for it to come to me.
This way I only have to deal with one thing at a time, it just means I am going up slower. However, at this point I consider conserving my power more important than moving faster. After all, there is no time limit that I know of, so rushing would just be stupid.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Having to focus on listening for the click also prevents me from counting steps. That does wonders for my mental state, at least until I reach the half-way point. Actually, I reach the five thousand steps without even realizing it, until I actually step on the platform.
As soon as I realize I am safe the first thing I do is kneel down and pray. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, I am unable to recharge my divine power inside the test. I can however meditate to recover my sacred power, so I am not completely screwed.
From this point on I am going to try and avoid using any of my spells, my divine power will be for emergencies. Instead I will try to only use abilities that use sacred power since I can recharge it. Since I have a healing ability that uses sacred power it shouldn't inconvenience me too much.
Once my sacred power is full I eat some food and then get some real sleep. The main reason is to help restore my mental strength, only real sleep can do that. Once I wake up I eat again and then move to start climbing the stairs again.
Only when I move to leave the platform do I find out that there aren't any more stairs. On the other side of the platform is a ramp instead of stairs. When I step onto the ramp I find that it is fairly slick and does not provide good footing.
It would seem this is the next difficulty of the test, which is even worse than I expected. Not only is the footing bad, but now the boulders aren't bouncing down the stairs. Instead they are rolling down the ramp, not only do they move faster but they are quieter.
While I can still hear them coming, there is less time between hearing them and them arriving. The slick footing also makes dealing with the boulders harder. Even when I manage to hit them and deflect them I end up sliding tens of feet down the ramp.
Thanks to the random blades making progress is hard, so getting knocked back is extremely frustrating. In the end the answer I end up coming up with has me laughing so hard my sides hurt. Before when it was stairs the boulders bounced all over the place, but now they stick close to the ramp.
This is the only reason that my new method works, to avoid dealing with the boulders I just have to jump over them. Each time I hear a boulder coming I stop moving until it arrives and then jump straight up. Once it has passed under me I can continue moving while listening for the blades.
Stopping for each boulder may cost me a bit of time, but not as much as being knocked backwards by them. Instead of being frustrated, now I am enjoying myself, since it is like a video game. Although, if there is a giant monkey at the top of the tower he is definitely going to die!
That thought keeps me in a good mood for quite a while, even when the number of boulders increases. Since I can't count the steps, I can only guess I am halfway to the next rest point when the boulders become more numerous. This simply means I have to jump more, which in six times gravity is still tiring.
However, I have learned that my healing touch actually will restore my stamina as well. So even if I get worn out I can restore myself and keep going as long as I have sacred power. Thanks to that, even though it is still hard, my mood stays fairly positive.
At seven thousand five hundred steps I reach the next rest stop, three quarters of the way to the top. This time when I reach the rest platform I am in much better condition. As I stop to rest, I am feeling fairly confident about being able to finish climbing the tower.