For some, the week was neither slow nor fast.
Sosora had struggled with the wall that Monkey wanted her to climb. It wasn't easy. The goal of halving the time it took for her to climb it seemed ridiculous. But it was her chance of getting Monkey and the Gezercher tribe on her side. She couldn't lose it.
However, Monkey wasn't satisfied with seeing her struggle with only the wall. She had to prepare a place to sleep and food on her own.
The first night, she slept under the stars, but the following night, the wind was chilly, and it smelled like rain. Sosora built a shelter using branches and leaves she found while foraging for berries and roots.
It wasn't perfect, but she was too tired to care. She had climbed the wall three times with five attempts that day. She was nowhere near her goal.
On the second day, she climbed it four times out of six attempts.
On the third day, she made six attempts, five out of which were successful.
She still wasn't as fast as she needed to be. She was making progress. Compared to the first day, she was almost flying up the wall. But there were still several minutes to shave off.
On the fourth day, she spent most of her time thinking about how she could improve. Just repeating the same tactic, throwing herself at the wall, wouldn't work, at least not in the time she had left.
She didn't think Monkey had asked her to halve the time because there was a trick to it. He wanted her to struggle and overcome her limits. But she had to be missing something.
Still, she climbed the wall four times out of four attempts. She was getting better, but she was far from fast enough.
On the fifth day, she spent her time flying around and testing different routes. She only climbed it once out of a dozen different attempts.
When the sixth day dawned, she started feeling frustrated. Her fingers were scraped, blistered, and chapped. Her fingertips stung whenever she climbed. How was she supposed to break her record like this?
She wasn't giving up, but she was taking a rest day. She didn't climb it once on the sixth day. She didn't even try.
When the seventh day came, Sosora stood in front of the wall before the sun started peeking over the horizon. Her muscles tingled, and her fingers were stiff. She was as rested as she could be given the circumstances. She was also so used to the wall that it felt like a childhood friend.
It was now or never. She either did it or she didn't.
She spent half an hour warming up, thawing her cold muscles, and stretching her joints and limbs.
She saw Monkey peek out over the edge when the sun started rising, bathing Tiabe in its morning light.
She could feel his gaze full of anticipation.
Sosora stepped back and made enough distance between herself and the wall to set up a short runway.
She wasn't sure if it was the right method or if it would even work, but it was the only idea that Sosora could come up with to drastically cut the time it took for her to scale the wall. She had mapped a route that would work, and she had enough distance to gather the speed and momentum she would need to carry her as far as possible.
Finally, she was as ready as she would ever get. She took a deep breath and sprinted toward the wall. Right before slamming face-first into it, she bent her legs at the knees and pushed off while leaning back slightly, adjusting her center of gravity.
Her foot reached up high and landed on a small outcropping. Before she could lose any of her speed, she used that foot to push herself further upward.
Her other foot found a similar outcropping a little higher and to the side, and her fingers found a crevasse that they dug into. She pushed and pulled herself up before she could lose any momentum.
Her hands and feet continued hitting the holds she had marked in her mind. She flew up the first half of the wall before she started to lose her speed. The foot and handholds weren't reliable enough for her to push ahead with such vigor. She could slip, or they could break.
She had to be a little careful. But if she were too careful, she would end up going too slow, so she still took risks and threw herself upward to the next holds.
Sosora wasn't sure how, but the sweat she felt beading on the small of her back and her forehead somehow avoided her palms. It was like it could feel that it was the one place where she absolutely couldn't afford to lose grip.
She could feel the cave getting closer. She could almost feel Monkey's gaze weighing on her.
She had no idea what her time was. She had no idea whether she was going to make it or not. She could only hope that she was.
However, the closer she got, the more her muscles burned. Her fingers cramped and stiffened. Her toes and calves protested every time she pushed up.
She was slowing down.
She couldn't slow down.
Sosora bit ehr lip until it bled. The sting of pain helped sharpen her mind and focus her body. She reached up.
Instead of hitting the solid wall she was expecting, she hit empty air. She almost fell from the loss of balance. She held onto the ledge with three fingers, too scared to even breathe.
Before they slipped, she threw up her other hand and grabbed the ledge. She couldn't find footing. Her shoes just slid off the wall when she tried to kick off and push up.
With strength she didn't know she had left, she somehow managed to heave herself up with only her arms.
It was more tiring than any of her other attempts. Her entire body ached and throbbed. She was out of breath, and her lungs couldn't decide whether they wanted long and deep breaths or short and quick ones. She felt like she wasn't getting enough air.
But she had more important matters to care about. She squinted open her eyes and looked at the furry face of Monkey crouching in front of her.
"Close."