Afterlife Dream

There were two offense skills that I could use in addition to my first job skill, Magical Ball. Magical Ball was not much in terms of offense skills. This was the weakest mage attack skill, and since I only kept it at level 1 just to unlock the skill, it was even more miserable. The Healer's second job offense skills were called Prayer and Spiritual Meteor. The skills were as impressive as their names.

In this kind of situation where I had an NPC to protect, it was first and foremost important to pay attention to the skill description.

Prayer was not suitable to use because while it boosted my physical and magical defense greatly for five minutes and allowed me to shoot out prayers in form of words to attack the ghost, it also required me to sit still for one whole minute. Within that one minute, Sue could get attacked and die. It would have been great if the skill boosted physical and magical defense for everyone in the party, but unfortunately the benefit was solely on the caster.

Spiritual Meteor required the caster to stand still for maybe two seconds, but then the rain of meteor broke through the sky and started to attack all the targets. The attack itself would last for five seconds, and that was enough for me to run. Spiritual Meteor was the skill that I was looking for. After one last heal, I cast Spiritual Meteor.

You know, guys... I had to say that I had never fully appreciated the skill effect until I got to experience it in person. Like I said Magical Ball was pathetic but Spiritual Meteor was just... amazing.

"Spiritual Meteor!" I shouted while raising my wand above my head. Funnily, all the ghosts tilted their heads upward in anticipation of what I had in store.

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As soon as I cast the spell, my body was lifted up around a meter above the ground and spun ever so slowly. The sky opened up and a whistling sound was heard. It gradually became louder as tens of baseball-sized meteorites broke through the sky and hit the ghosts with marvelous precision. The only downside was that I was suspended in the air for the duration of the attack. That meant, my initial plan to running away failed beautifully. I was already worried about Sue's safety when the mechanical voice was heard again.

"Congratulations on passing the second hurdle, Adventurer! You have successfully demonstrated the very efficient move [Spiritual Meteor] to annihilate the ghosts!"

The ghosts disappeared, and I landed on the ground. I took Sue by her hand and walked slowly forward. Ahead of me, the clock was showing that I had over nine minutes left. That was not bad. Or maybe it was.

I checked Sue's HP and mine before advancing.

"Divine Guard!" I shouted, casting the skill on us for extra protection. It was good that I remembered to do that beforr advancing another step, because the last stage began soon after.

A booming, beastly voice announced itself. It echoed through the forest.

"HWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! TWO HUMAN BEINGS DARED TO ENTER MY TERRITORY. HAVE YOU NO FEAR OF DEATH???"

"..."

I didn't know what to answer. I merely pushed Sue behind me. Thankfully it did not wait for me to answer. A winged demon that looked like it was dipped in velvet red paint flew toward me and Sue instead. It happened so fast and I did not have time to react. The big, winged boss flashed his sharp teeth at me and pushed me to the ground. He completely ignored me and went for Sue instead. A pair of gigantic clawed hands grabbed Sue by her shoulders and flew away with her within his grasp.

"SUE!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Help me... sob sob... help me..."

"HWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IF YOU WANT YOUR LITTLE FRIEND BACK, YOU MUST DEFEAT ME! I WILL BE WAITING!!!"

The winged demon carried the crying NPC away. I ran as fast as possible in the direction of its flight. I came to a stop in front of a dark cave. Fire torches hung at both sides of the wall, appearing almost like fireballs that floated in the air. I discovered that they only provided enough light to see the ground beneath my feet as I entered. As soon as I entered the cave, the game's mechanical voice spoke up again and announced the third and last stage of the test.

"Dear Adventurer, welcome to the last stage, [Defeating Red Asura]. Red Asura had kidnapped Little Sue and brought her back to his lair. Please save Little Sue as soon as possible. After you defeat the boss, you will automatically pass the second job advancement test. You have seven minutes left. Good luck!"

I swallowed down all my anxiety and stepped into the darkness. Other than the small parts that I could see thanks to the torches, it was all dark in front of me. I could not see anything to ascertain that I was on the right track. Seven minutes was all I have. There was no time to dawdle. Eventually, I started to run.

A strong gust of wind blew against my face and alerted me of nearing danger. I slowed down and indeed, there was a huge cliff beneath me. I kicked at a small rock and it disappeared into the darkness. A soft thump told me that the cliff was not too high.

I crouched and started to feel the edge of the cliff. Just as I expected, there was a rope leading to the bottom area, so I took the rope to go down.

Red Asura was already waiting for me. It paced back and forth like an agitated watcher. Little Sue, in full HP, was locked inside a gigantic cage like some exotic bird. Although I was about to face the boss, I was not scared at all. Why, you asked? Well, at least I did not have to protect the NPC anymore! I was more afraid of Sue being dead than me being dead.