Second World

'Holy cow! Already?' Jack exclaimed in his mind. If the chains could only hold the beast for this short time, he won't have the time to search around inside. He was betting that there was some kind of door, or portal, or ladder, or anything inside the cave that could prevent the beast from following. But at this rate, the beast would follow him inside the cave before he had any time to search around.

He stole a worried glance at the beast as another snapping sound was heard. There was only one chain left holding the beast's leg. When Jack glanced over the beast, it slashed its horn down. An energy wave was created from that slash, headed towards Jack.

That range attack had been too abrupt, Jack had no chance to dodge. He only had the time to put Magic Shield in front of him. The Magic Shield shattered immediately, his Barrier as well. He felt his body getting punched by a violent force and he lost control of it. He slammed onto something hard before falling to the ground.

Feeling pain, which meant he was still alive, he quickly tried to get up, only to saw the beast rushing at him with its horned head aimed at him. It was going to ram him to death. It was too late already, his pained body caused his reaction to slow. He watched with horror as the beast arrived.

'Shit, going to die again!' He had that last thought before a loud impact and vibration exploded in front of him. He recoiled backward and fell with his back on the ground.

"I'm still alive?" He couldn't help but ask. Then he saw the Therras Beast, just a couple of meters in front of him. It continued to ram onto what seemed like an invisible wall with rage. Jack looked around and found that he was already inside the hole.

"The beast can't enter this place?" He asked, to no one in particular.

"Apparently so," Peniel answered. She had flown into the hole following Jack.

Jack exhaled a relieved breath. While he was still on the ground trying to calm his taut nerves, he heard a notification voice, "You have entered the chamber of Trial. Received quest: Test of Courage."

"Huh?" He was bewildered by the notification. He then said to Peniel, "do you hear that?"

The fairy nodded, "yes. Apparently, again, this cave is not ordinary."

"Yeah, no shit!" Jack uttered while pointing at the Therras Beast who was still bumping its horned head angrily on the invisible wall.

He took a look at the quest he had just received.

Test of Courage

Difficulty: S

Rewards: ???

Survive the Test

Jack was silent for a long time looking at the description. S difficulty. 'Ain't this swell?' He thought dejectedly.

Even an A difficulty was still a hurdle for his level, what more S difficulty? Will this cave threw him an over-leveled monster for him to fight with? The quest description was also not very helpful. Survive the test, sounded more like encouragement rather than instruction.

Jack sighed. No point to complain about it, might as well just go forward and see how the quest played out.

He stood up and looked at the depth of the cave which was nothing but darkness. His Dragon's Eye allowed him to see in the dark but he still could not see clearly. The darkness inside also didn't appear to be ordinary. It was as if there was black fog obscuring what was inside.

He looked back at the Therras Beast which had now stopped its tantrum. It was still huffing in rage while staring at Jack though. Jack turned back to the abyss again. He reequipped his sword and staff, then slowly walked into the darkness.

Since his Dragon's Eye's ability to see in the dark was dampened here, he cast the Illumination spell to light up the surroundings. This was a spell he had neglected. He had diligently practiced all other skills and spells except this one, simply because he thought he never had a use for it.

The cave was long and winded, and the ground was slightly rising. They were going up, which was a good sign for Jack because his objective was to escape this valley by going back up to the surface.

He was ready for confrontation inside this cave, but there was nothing that came at him even after walking for so long. There was not even any trap or puzzle like the ones he encountered in the dungeon inside the Temple of Divine Squall. 'What kind of trial place is this?' He wondered as he continued onward.

It was tiring to be on full alert for a long time without anything actually happening. After a half-hour of walking, he even half-prayed for that over-leveled monster he was afraid of to show itself, but there was nothing. Another half-hour of a tranquil journey before he arrived in a large cave hall, which was also devoid of anything.

He looked around. There was nothing there except for one opening that showed the outside. He walked over to that opening and peered. Because of the fog outside, he could not see much, but he could still faintly see the ground below and knew he was very high up. But not high enough to the Busculla Plateau up there. He looked up, the wall was still going up endlessly, with no visible scalable surfaces.

He looked at the interior again. There was no other opening or door. Just an empty hall with a way down and a window to the outside.

"What the hell?" He uttered. He peeked outside again. "Don't tell me this test of courage is asking me to jump out this bloody window, right?"

Peniel gave a shrug. She then said, "how about giving it a try?"

Jack looked at her and said, "this is your first attempt to make a joke and it is a terrible one. Shame on you!"

"So, what do you suggest? There doesn't seem to be anything here," Peniel said as she started flying around the room.

Jack also walked around the room studying it before he sat down leaning against the wall near the window. He was feeling tired. He had been having an unhealthy sleeping pattern this entire week where he could only sleep for a short two hours before he was interrupted by the Living Shadows swarm.

He was no longer afraid of the appearance of the swarm. Those Living Shadows couldn't enter here just as the Therras Beast couldn't. When the Therras Beast was slamming on the invisible wall down there, some surviving Living Shadows also tried to get inside, without success. So, he was safe here.

The feeling of peacefulness combined with his accumulated fatigue finally wore down on him. He laid down on the floor and closed his eyes. He didn't even bother to ask Peniel to keep watch. He was too tired. He fell to a deep sleep almost immediately.

He didn't know how long he had been sleeping. He didn't even know if he was dreaming. Everything was so calm. He hadn't had this kind of satisfying sleep for a long while. He was still unwilling to wake up when a persistent noisy sound continued to try to call him back to consciousness.

'Is it Peniel? Is there danger?' He thought absent-mindedly. But the sound was not a woman's voice. Nor was it a voice for that matter. It sounded like… an alarm clock?

In confusion, he forced his drowsy eyes to open. The annoying sound was still persisting. It was a sound that he had not heard for a long time.

After much struggle, he opened his eyes. Expecting to see the interior of the cave hall with Peniel buzzing him to wake up. Yet, it was an unfamiliar sight that greeted him. No. Actually, it was a familiar sight, only that he had not seen it for a long time already.

He blinked his eyes a few times. Trying to understand the scenery before his eyes. His eyes then laid on a small black boxy thing on a table with a timer on its front. It was buzzing with the annoying sound that had forced him awake. The timer on that thing indicated that it was 06:01 AM.

"What the…!" He sat up straight at once.

He looked around the place. Blinking a few more times again. As if the act was not enough, he used his hands and scrubbed both his eyes. Trying to make sure.

The scene did not change. He was on a bed, his bed, to be precise. In the apartment room he rented. He was even in his freakin' pajamas.

The alarm was still making that annoying sound. He put his hand on it and touched a button on top of it. Peace returned.

"Peniel?" He called out.

No reply.

He looked at both his hands. He tried to summon his Storm Breaker and Rapid Dazing Staff. His hands were grasping at air.

He blinked a few times then thought, 'was it all just a dream?'