The Copy Mage

As he let out a loud cry, blood began leaking from Damian's nose from the strain he was putting his mind and body through, but he was numb to it and managed to force his body onto the eighth step.

Placing his other foot onto the eighth step, the pressure was on an entirely different level and even with the makeshift crutches he had made, Damian was forced onto his knees.

Stabilising on the eighth step would be much more difficult than he could have ever anticipated, while news of Damian making it onto the eighth step had already begun to spread.

Seeing him make it onto the eighth step, it was only a matter of time before his friends followed after him and matched him, also struggling just as much as he was on that particular step.

Since it was a fair test of each person's spirit and willpower, one's physical power didn't have much of an effect on the results. Despite that, they all managed to stabilise on the eighth step, with Damian being the first to do so and all of them spending hours on that step.

Stabilising on the previous steps took a few minutes at most and sometimes even a few seconds, however, the higher they got up, the more time it required for them to do so, just because of how long it took for the body to adjust and become comfortable under such levels of pressure.

The struggle continued for Damian and his friends, while it seemed as though Cole was the first to begin to lose control and was on the verge of being flung off the staircase.

His willpower, spirit and resolve were all strong, but it was just beginning to become too much for him, and the same could be said for all of them, but the undying determination in their eyes kept them going.

Hours passed, with all of them stabilising on the eighth step, but it was clear that they were all reaching their limits, with Damian seeming the most comfortable out of all of them.

In those hours, their bodies and mind had been tempered and strengthened under the constant pressure that was bearing over them, but they all knew that if they didn't attempt to make it into the next step soon, they would have no chance of succeeding.

Their bodies were beginning to collapse internally and were struggling to handle the pressure, while their minds and spirits were also nearing their breaking points, so they all made their move.

Cole, fuelled by his Soul Spirit that increased his competitive nature, but also made him reckless, was the first to attempt to make it onto the ninth step. He had already secured himself the reward of the eighth step, and knew he wouldn't be able to do much more, but who wouldn't attempt to get more.

However, as soon as his foot was placed onto the ninth step, he was launched flying off the staircase and blurted out a large curdle of blood. He was already struggling massively and the most out of the group of friends on the eighth step, so such a result was expected.

But the damage he received and how far he was flung off the staircase was shocking.

Luckily for him, he was caught by the administrator that had taken over as the overseer of the second round, and was also quickly sent to the infirmary. Although he had received quite a lot of damage, the reward he would gain from the principal and the breakthroughs he had already begun to achieve, made it worth it.

As for his friends, they were startled by him suddenly being flung off the staircase, but managed to maintain their focus and removed the worry they had for Cole from their mind. They were sure he would be fine and would be taken care of, knowing how tough his body was and how much he would be valued by the academy after his display of talent and power. 

However, they couldn't help but feel intimidated by the ninth step that had never been completed before and had so easily and quickly defeated Cole, who wasn't one that was weak-willed. Even the famed Darren was unable to complete it despite his supposed unrivalled talent, willpower and tenacity that he had displayed time and time again.

Despite that, Damian and his remaining friends were still going to try their best and aim for the top, even if it might seem impossible, not planning on giving up so easily.

Damian seemed to be deep in thought and on the verge of finding something within him as he stood on the eighth step and wasn't the next to attempt to make it onto the ninth step. It was Julia and Matilda that were the ones that let out a scream as they both managed to place one foot onto the ninth step.

They had made it slightly further than Cole, but instantly they were both forced to blurt out blood and began to lose their footing on the staircase.

Similarly to Cole, they were then flung off the staircase and were caught and treated in the exact way as Cole, and they had managed to make it incredibly far, almost on par with the academy record.

That left both Milo and Damian on the eighth step and they both gave each other one last look and nodded in agreement. They were unable to speak, worried that it would break their stability on the staircase and it was also very difficult to do so under the pressure, but both understood the other perfectly.

It was time for them to attempt to make it into the ninth step, and a blazing fire could be seen in both their eyes.

Both of them had already been forced to their knees and struggled to stand up as they prepared themselves to go onto the ninth step, while it also seemed as though their chances were greater than their friends' previous attempts.