Update Schedule: Twice Monthly
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[Choose One:]
[Definetly Not Collateral Damage]
[Easily Triggered Caffeine Addict]
[Fingers Crossed Behind The Back]
Charlus really had no words. The achievement in itself was pretty weird. He definitely acknowledged it, the whole situation made sense. 1529 was most likely irritated with him after getting kicked off the mountain. Any sane person would, and Charlus felt that it was extremely understandable. So the creature might be on his tail at any moment...
He swallowed some saliva. The Foundation was probably panicking at the moment. Hopefully, they would come to evacuate everyone before the Mountain King decided to rush in. This could become worse if he made the wrong choice. Or if he stayed on Everest for too long.
Every single option seemed a little ambiguous, but from just a first look, Charlus had crossed out the second option. Easily Triggered Caffeine Addict. It seemed to possess a more negative connotation than the rest of them.
Definitely Not Collateral Damage… Was that referring to him as collateral damage? This whole thing was quite the gamble….. The most "innocent" seemed to be "Fingers Crossed Behind The Back", which seemed to be related to…. Deception?
The expression was mostly related to lying after all. In the end, after a few minutes of blatantly unorganized deduction, he felt like the third choice was the most suitable. Fingers Crossed Behind The Back….
His finger reached out and tapped.
[Ding!]
[Fingers Crossed Behind The Back]
[Description: Allows one to embrace their backstabbing and untrustworthy side. Your tongue will be as slippy as that of a snake and your alibis many. A trait partially possessed by many of the Foundation's lazier exploitive bunch to get out of certain situations. Most notably, paperwork. Don't worry though, you definitely didn't get the short end of the stick….]
As the virtual screen appeared before him, Charlus felt a slippery uneasy sensation enter his brain. Information flooded in with no end in sight, as he felt himself mentally hardening….
Clutching his head, sweat dripped down his face once more as he felt something devious in him awaken. It wasn't a change in personality or anything. It was different. Like if he were to pull something stupid off, he would get away with it. Like everything was within his control.
"Dang…." Charlus said out loud, yawning. He hadn't expected to gain so much in a single day. Coming to Everest truly was an unexpectedly genius idea. Things would get a lot spicier from now on, and he was definitely looking forward to it. He was a daredevil of some sort, so his interactions with the anomalous from now on would truly be many…
Of course, he didn't fully trust the "screen" still. Next time, if something suspicious or negative were to happen courtesy of this "system", Charlus would keep caution and try to deal with it. But something inside of him was denying that this "golden finger" of his was actively going to backstab him.
Snapping his fingers, he heard the sound echo across the tent. Iron Grip Of The Mountain seemed to have something to do with finger strength too. Reaching over, he drank a bit of water, the lukewarm liquid washing down his throat. To the side, he reached into a bag, crunching on some shrimp crackers in genuine enjoyment.
They were hard albeit a bit soggy, with the combined scent of shrimp and thyme. He stared down at the golden-white cracker, nodding. It tasted pretty good actually. The handsome young man stuffed more of them into his mouth, washing it all down with some water. Maybe tomorrow he would have some hot chocolate before he descended.
Charlus shrugged, before continuing on on his small "feast". Satisfaction was written all over his face as he chomped down. Climbing Mt. Everest solo was no small feat, and he was quite happy with the experience. It made him feel victorious and satisfied.
He recklessly decided to stay in the camp for the night. There were only a few here, and if the Mountain King was to show up, he'd gladly take the bastard of an anomaly. His tent was on the far side of the camp, nearest to a sloping cliff's edge that was a prime area for the creature to attack. If it really was the king of the Mountain, then it would know where he was.
With his newfound strength, he was somewhat confident that he could take it. Charlus's most reasonable plan if SCP-1529 were to strike, was to grab the anomaly and tussle around, beating it up, before judo-throwing it off the cliff.
Was it arrogant? Definitely. But Charlus really believed in himself. While the Mountain King would probably be prepared if they were to fight, he would most likely be at an advantage. Firstly, it was probably angry, and even if its guard was up, the anomaly obviously had no fighting experience. As long as he didn't peer into its eyes, he was good.
In the previous and first encounter, the Mountain King had obviously been in a state of confusion, leading it to not use its full strength to fight. While dumb and inexperienced in fighting, it was obviously a physical brute. But what it didn't know, was that he had also gained its strength in a sense.
He had already set a standard in strength and such in their first fight, so it would most likely try to restrain him before forcing Charlus to look it in the eye. It wouldn't expect someone to have strength similar to itself.
Of course, there was also that unknown variable that caught him off guard before then or possessed some unknown ability that hadn't been documented or had been [Redacted] by the Foundation. Then, Charlus would have to wing it.
And then, there was also the possibility that the Mountain King would not pursue him any further, or had something that blocked it from going down too low. If that was the case, then Charlus was good.
Of course, the young man had also calculated about a dozen other scenarios. If the Mountain King were to climb back up after being Judo thrown, he had many bizarre and borderline torturous ways to deal with it. Charlus was determined. If it took a thousand punches and kicks to kick the crown off the Mountain King and stop him from being irritating, then he would.
He was ready.
"Don't depend on the enemy not coming; Depend rather on being ready for him" -Sun Tzu
Of course, Charlus hoped that it wouldn't pursue him. While he would like to test out a few hypotheses about the achievements and was sort of tempted to, a tactical retreat was his most favorable option.
He had enough of Everest. Too cold, and was not exactly the most viable of tourist destinations. In terms of scenic views, he would give it five stars, but for the most part, it wasn't really that relaxing…..
Before Charlus figured anything else out or played around, he was running for the hills and heading elsewhere. Preferably somewhere relaxing. Being a thrill-seeker while also loving comfort and laxness were somewhat of a paradox. Well, it was balanced.
Maybe Italy? Or Japan? Perhaps….
Next-Day….
"So you are heading out today? You're really going down in just one day…. You'll become a myth in the Climbing scene…." A gruff rough-faced man laughed, combing down his bushy beard. He wore a puffy red climbing parka and a pair of old leather boots.
"This whole thing was sort of stupid, but I'm glad it worked out," Charlus replied, his long eyelashes fluttering. His gloved fingers grasped a thermos canteen as his nostrils flared, the smell of sweet steaming chocolate filling the air.
He'd promised himself that he would have something sweet as he came down the mountain. It seemed that he had been too paranoid for nothing. Charlus had stayed alert most of the time before falling fast asleep. It seemed that the Mountain King hadn't made an appearance, or the SCP Foundation had somehow diverted it.
There was still the possibility that it ambushed him while he was climbing down the mountain, but coincidentally, a few other groups were heading down too at the same time, so it would hopefully largely deter the creature. Still, there was Incident 1529-1 which was quite a notable event. The Mountain King had descended the mountain to the Camp and there had been many casualties….
At this point, he was at a loss as to what he could do. There would definitely be casualties if the Mountain King was to attack. All Charlus could do about this, was hope. Hope that the Mountain King stayed on its pretty little summit and entered hibernation.
He sipped from the hot metal cup, savoring the sweet explosive chocolate that entered his throat. A small hint of milk, the Hot Chocolate was really the perfect thing to go along with this cold atmosphere. Charlus stared out into the distance. Clouds were suspended about, and the sky was a bright blue, a stark contrast to yesterday's stormy weather.
Giant mountains towered about below them, blanketed in brilliant white snow and dull gray rock. WIth his enhanced eyesight, Charlus could see the nearby mountain of Lhotse, the 4th highest mountain in the world.
"Today is a fine day to climb. If only we'd gone today instead of yesterday…." The gruff bearded man grumbled in annoyance. He was part of the American team that had ascended on the same day as Charlus. A fine man by the name of Keith. He had quite the reputation among the mountaineering community for his impressive record, so it was an honor to be acknowledged by the guy.
"It was quite the challenge though, and I enjoyed it. The Eighth Purgatory is really a riot. Especially in the midst of a snowstorm. My hands are still numb from the damned thing." Charlus replied casually, flexing his wrist, which seemed to be completely fine.
"Well, good luck on the way down. Don't get cocky." Keith smiled, softly punching the younger man on the shoulder.
"Don't worry….." Chuckling, Charlus stretched out his legs, sighing in relief. He was a tad bit stiff from yesterday. "I'm not reckless."
A Few Hours Later…..
A cold icy breeze swept from overhead, causing Charlus to shiver a little. He grabbed the side of a rock, his trusty rope holding taut as he descended the side of the cliff-face. It was a much easier process than the Eighth Purgatory for sure. He was lost in thought as he shimmied his way down the mountainside.
The process was a lot easier and more relaxing than going up, combined with his new skill, it was almost a walk in the park. Charlus's most consistent worry was the Mountain King suddenly rushing him in the midst of the climb and kicking him off the Mountain.
If it were to attack, he had a 50/50 chance of escaping or fighting it off once more. There was no solid plan if it were to fight, it would probably turn into a rabid dogfight if it were to happen while he was actively climbing. He'd practiced jumping off a boulder and grabbing the side of its face to get a good idea of what to do if he was kicked off.
It would take about an hour more for him to reach the bottom. Charlus had made quite a bit of progress. He was like a monkey, nimble and reckless as he clambered down. Looking out into the distance, his goggles fogged up as he jumped down onto a solid surface. He followed a safety rope along for a while, yawning as he trudged through the snow.
For Charlus, the closer he was to the ground, the safer he was. Kicking a rock down the side, he watched it tumble through the snow, clacking about as it bounced down the side before completely disappearing from sight.
He had abstained from doing anything psychotic or free-handing his way down the rest of the mountain because he wasn't sure if the Foundation was watching him. After all, they were a bunch that was about as paranoid as himself, so Charlus didn't want to fully display his abilities.
As much as he wanted to parkour-jump down the side of the mountain haphazardly, he didn't want to deal with the SCP Foundation. Being trapped inside solitary confinement for the rest of his life was not exactly a positive thing.
While he wanted to experience the whole anomaly thing, there were a few…. Specific ways to die that he definitely did not want to experience. Actually, he would prefer not to die at all, but if death was to take Charlus, then he wanted it to be quick and painless. And hopefully, not having anything to do with being eaten alive or corroded to death.
Charlus shook his head, awakening from his morbid thoughts. Staring down the side of the mountain, he sighed again.
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A/N: My logic is sorta scuffed.