Chapter 131 The First Move (1/2)

Rxel and Rylen arrived at the Speed Climbing Venue at 8.30am. They grinned and jogged up to Kyle when they saw him there.

”Where's Kay?” they asked, looking about and around Kyle. Where was Kyle hiding her?

”Not here,” Kyle replied with a lopsided grin, relishing in the distressed and disappointed look of the twins.

”But ... She said if you win this round, she'll cheer for you in the finals,” Kyle said and the twins grinned widely. Now they had even more motivation to win the round.

Suffice to say, the motivation was good enough for them.

Rylen's turn came first, and he scaled up the Wall quickly - even beating his own personal record. When he got down, Rxel came over and they did their twin handshake. Kyle laughed at their antics and Rylen said, ”Remember to tell Kay how awesome I was, ya? I beat my own record by 0.1 seconds!”

Rylen did a little jig and Rxel said in determination, ”I will beat my own personal record too! Kay needs to praise me, too!!”

After 45 minutes, Kyle had to go even though Rxel hadn't gone up yet. It would be his turn soon and he felt it best to be there much earlier. He could also look at the routes the other climbers before him took, even though he could make a good guess what it would be. He waved at the twins and they wished him good luck as he walked off.

Once he reached the venue, however, he noticed something was a bit off. The Bouldering Qualifying rounds actually started at 9am and each contestant had their timing given so that they would not need to wait needlessly for their turn. Kyle's time was 10am but there was no one climbing the wall at the moment.

Kyle looked at his watch. It was 9.50am.

Kyle asked the nearest participant, ”What's happening? Why isn't anyone climbing?”

”The safety officers came by earlier and stopped the competition halfway. They said they needed to check a few things,” the guy explained helpfully, ”They just left and we should be starting soon.”

Kyle nodded in understanding.

He looked up at the wall and his eyes detected something. There were no changes to the position of the handholds but there was something that was a bit off. Kyle began focusing intently on everything, his eyes zooming in on every hold that was on the Wall while making sure that his facial expression did not change.

It was tougher to look at the higher holds but he could guess that it was most likely the same. He double checked, comparing what he saw with what he remembered. Kyle simply smiled to himself.

Just then, an announcement was made.

”We will now begin the competition again. However, due to the delay caused by the inspection, we will start with those who are scheduled at this time. The earlier participants time will be rescheduled. Those affected, kindly proceed to the scoring table for your new time.”

”Next contestant, participant #652C. You may begin.”

Kyle stepped forward and headed to the Wall. One volunteer came over with the climbing harness that Kyle would need to use for the climb. For these preliminary rounds, they would be using the climbing harness but during the finals, it would be another type of security holders.

Kyle put his legs through the leg hoop, clipped the waistbelt and checked that it fit properly. The volunteer then came to double checked everything.

Kyle didn't pay any attention to him, as he checked his hands and chalk bag that was secured behind him. He noticed the guy spending a bit of time at the buckle itself but before he could ask, the guy patted it and nodded, indicating that all was fine.

Kyle thanked him, giving him a huge smile as he patted the guy's shoulder.

For some reason, the man seemed nervous and he mumbled a ”You're welcome” and quickly ran off. Kyle shrugged and focused on the Wall and the route that he had already mapped out in his mind. As he placed his hand on the first hold, he waited until the whistle sounded.

Kyle made his way up steadily, using the most common route that the ones before him had been using. His speed was neither fast or slow and everyone studied him as he went up. Their curiosity stemmed for three reasons.

First, he is one of the youngest participants in the competition. Secondly, it became known that he was a team member for the senior category of bouldering, which implied that his skills and experience were at par with those who had been bouldering for quite some time. Third, some recognised him as Spiderman Kyle.

So he was an oddity and a curiosity.