For what amounts as a basic pair of pants, the mender sure did everything in her power to make it hard to get them huh? I mean, what was the point of putting them up a goddamn cliff? Actually, what was the point of making puzzles like this to hide her clothes? Fun?

  Did she think it was funny?

  And what's even worse is that you can only use one path upward because you wouldn't be able to enter the cave otherwise. The mender designed this cliff so that anyone scaling it would be forced to grab all the "keys" scattered throughout the cliff to open the cave entrance.

  Jumping around from place to place like some kind of monkey would have never been part of my plans but I knew this was unavoidable, getting the full mender's set is an investment, and I've already done so much to get the first two, what's a few more puzzles?

  Figuring out where to shoot my grappling hook wasn't easy, usually, I would just walk to the base of the cliff, jump on the first platform, and then slowly work my way up. It's a decent strategy that uses the "slow and steady wins the race" kind of wisdom.

  This wouldn't work in my current situation because one: it's too slow and two, in the game, the consequences for failing your climb is falling. Which doesn't matter if you're a game character but this is real life.

  Falling down means I break my legs, and broken legs won't just make it harder for me to climb, it can stop me from progressing for weeks or outright cripple me if the fall is high enough.

  With that being said, the grappling hook will act as an anchor for me while climbing, slipping off won't kill me if I have a rope to hold me up.

  So where do I fire this thing?

  Looking around, I can see that there are at least three different spots that will work: one is on the right side of the cliff, where a tall, jagged rock collides with a bulkier one, the gap between them should allow the hook to hold onto it.

  Next is the center of the cliff where the flat platform that acts as a safe spot— and also allows the player to save their game. — is at, and the last place is just slightly below that, where the fern-like root that players used as a ladder to climb the cliff is growing.

  Obviously, the best option isn't the loose pair of rocks that may or may not collapse the moment I put my weight against them.

  The mouth of my grappling hook faces forward as I tilt my arms to point it at the center of the cliff, my thoughts at this very moment are full of regret. I should have gotten my hands on a sub class that helps me aim, forgetting something so useful was stupid of me.

  My ears pick up the snap of wood from within the device, then the book shoots forward, it travels high into the air despite its weight— well, it's pretty light given that it's made of transmuted wood. — and lands on top of the platform, the device then pulls it back.

  Relief came over me when I felt a tug of resistance, the hook actually managed to hold onto something on top of that thing? I hoped for the best and wanted it to but the platform is flatter than a pancake and also made of stone; it wouldn't make sense for the book to dig itself up there.

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  Giving the rope a few pulls and even riding it with my full weight for a minute was my way of testing if it'll hold on during my climb, if it loosens then I would have just tried again and repeated the test until it works.

  Once the rope is comfortably tied around my waist, I start making my way to the lower platforms.

  These ones aren't flat and are more angular/circular, a good few have a dome-shaped top, making it hard to find a foothold. This doesn't stop me and I press my boots against the rocks, a single slip won't be the end of me, I'm safe, I have a high enough dexterity that I can comfortably scale this cliff with ease.

  My hands find a grip in even the smallest ledge and thanks to my increased strength, I'm able to hold my body weight with ease. I've seen rock climbers do their thing on TV before, I vaguely remember that a few of them were guests on some late night reality show.

  Seeing them on my phone while scrolling through social media is also pretty common, I know that they have a lot of upper body strength and some of them are so good that they can circle a table without making it fall.

  Am I good enough to be comparable to that? Nah, I only make up for it with stats, I'm climbing fairly easily but if I had the skills of a mountain climber, maybe even a competitive one, I'd scale this mountain in less than a few minutes.

  I hop onto the fourth platform, my gloves making it easier for me to latch onto the rock. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have gotten the boots first? The order of how I get the mender's set doesn't really matter all that much.

  Eh, who cares, I'm already here so I might as well grab it.

  After I held myself steady, I walked across the fourth platform, steadily passing the rocky surface. There are four cracks big enough to eat my feet and I treated them like a land mine that will break my ankle instead of exploding.

  Being an adult— or at least the size and height of the main characters during canon. — would have made this entire thing easier.

  The rope holds me steady as I jump off the fourth platform and hold onto the rocky wall, my fingers slide into a crevice and I pull myself up. I make a binding around my arms and use that to further go upward, my feet pressed against the rock and I start walking up.

  My eyes were hyper focused on my next goal: a small gap in the cliff that looks like a branch, I reach for it and my fingers go over the edge, I muster my strength and go forward.

  The tip of one of my boots found the ledge of the crack and I lifted myself up, squeezing into the gap was made easier thanks to my size. "That's one thing made easier."

  Climbing up had been exhausting so I took a break and while doing that, I checked my system, "huh."

  A new class. A single climb somehow gave me a new sub class, that's neat, if not a little weird. Then again, I guess my system has been acting up lately, I wouldn't be surprised if it's somehow starting to change. Somehow.

  *Harsh Mountain Climber

  +10 Physical

  +5 Dexterity

  +Climbing

  +Wind Resistance

  -Rock Damage

  -Projectile Damage

  -Falling Damage

  I mean, it's not a bad class? The whole wind resistance perk will probably make it harder for me to fly or go faster but the three "negative" perks make up for it by reducing the damage I take from some pretty important stuff.

  Rock damage? What does that mean? No idea, stones can't hurt me? What kind of stone? There are different types out there and since it's so vague, I'm gonna go ahead and guess it's all of them.

  With this sub class, the rest of my climb will be easier, so at the thought of that, I stopped resting and got up.

  The key to the entrance at the top of the cliff isn't actually a key, not in the literal sense, it's a modified monster core who's essence has somehow become a magical element instead of just pure mana.

  How the mender accomplished this is another mystery to her existence so I added to my mental checklist of the things I need to learn about her.

  "Seriously, what the hell is she doing in this place? What was she researching?" I took the glowing blue orb from its socket on the wall and made my way back to the entrance.

  Knowing more about the mender can wait, I'm grabbing the rest of the clothes she left behind first.