Chapter 9) Doom Raining Down.

Xavier! Xavier! Snap out of it!" said Kim Sao.

Xavier gasped again. "Master Kim, I don't know how to fight."

"You reached the boss level of your simulation, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I never had to do much one on one combat. Everything in that simulation happened by accident or through dumb luck." he admitted. Redness creeped into his cheeks.

The Xavier of yesterday would've let loose a torrent of liquid waste into his trousers at the sight of such hideous plant beasts storming right towards him. That Xerxes would've managed to move his fear stricken, numb legs to flee from the vicinity before the going got tough. That was the Xavier of yesterday, right?

The Xavier of today didn't do any of those humiliating things. He was a Mystic for crying out loud. Mystics were brave and strong men of valor who didn't run away at the face of danger. No, Xavier didn't run away. He stood his ground...his mouth was wide open in shock. He couldn't move at all. Yes, he was so panic stricken that his nerves had gone useless.

[System is picking up abnormally high heart rate in Mystic. Mystic is about to enter into a Panic Attack.]

Xavier heard the monotone voice of the System from a very far place. He couldn't take his eyes off the approaching onslaught of Sadist Stalks. He watched as they drew closer...and closer till they were within range of landing killer blows to him with their weapons.

But Master Kim Sao Chen, the Astral Level Mystic, was not one to be easily intimidated. It was obvious from how calm and collected he was that this was nothing compared to the manner of offense he had faced in his long life.

In a blur of white motion, Kim Sao appeared in front of Xavier and swept his sword in a wide semicircle. Power rippled out of The Million Stars of Light as it cut through the air. The energy from Kim Sao's mana pool sipped into the sword to activate its magic.

[Stats on Sole Dungeon Teammate.]

[Name: Kim Sao Chen.]

[Nature: Astral Level Mystic.]

[Element: Air of the Unicorn Lotus.]

[Rank: 2/100]

[Soul Creature: Snow Peacock.]

[Soul Weapon: The Million Stars of Light, a sword of powerful glory. Forged from the specks of stars from different galaxies.]

[Information about HP, MP, Strength, Agility and Stamina levels are unavailable to third party Mystics.]

[Special Skills: Lord of the Storm: Astral level control over the wind element. Can harness the wind to glide through the air, lift objects and deliver forceful strikes.

[Special Skills: Lightening Bolter: Power to wield energy in the form of lightening and control it in its natural and raw form.]

[Special Skill: Maniac Warrior: Mystics of this level of swordsmanship possess great dexterity with swords and other bladed weapons.]

[Information about other Skills and Hidden talents are not available to third party Mystics.]

A shattering force exploded out of the sword as it made contact with the first few Sadist Stalks. Five of them got reduced to ashes while the others were thrown back a great distance. Xavier, who was on the opposite side, stumbled backward as waves of powerful wind rocked the grounds of the chamber.

Moving with great speed, Master Kim Sao dashed on, slicing and tearing through the Sadist Stalks as he went. He looked like a streak of white light moving through the dark green crowd of Stalks. Mana rippled out of him as he bended the wind under his will. He flew, soared, glowed...was amazing to watch.

Xavier felt almost dazed from seeing the other Mystic in action, but he couldn't glance away until Master Kim Sao touched the ground with a graceful pose, the vanquished Sadist Stalks spread out all around him. He was not even breathing hard or sweating, no sign of the battle on his white cloak or body.

The calm serenity on Kim Sao's face transformed into a smile at the look on Xavier's face.

"Don't be so astonished. With enough training and effort, you can do even more than that one day."

Xavier shook his head to clear away the stars from his vision. "I really doubt that. You were beyond amazing."

"If you call that beyond amazing, I hate to think of what you'll do when Elsa gets here."

"Who is Elsa?" asked Xavier.

"Elsa is my Soul Creature. I summoned her a few minutes..." Kim Sao trailed off suddenly, the now familiar suspicious frown on his face.

Almost immediately, a sinister redness took over the sky as if a crimson blanket had been thrown over it. The redness bubbled with pregnant storm clouds of a denser red than their surrounding.

Xavier flashed back to something important on the stats of the dungeon he had received earlier.

"My System said something about a rain of doom?"

Kim Sao's eyes flew open in surprise but it was already too late to counter the coming storm.

The sky broke open with a thundering blast of lightening and it started to rain. The first drops of it landed on Xavier's arm. He looked down to discover that it was also red and thick like....

"Blood! It's raining blood!" He said in horror. That was before he discovered that the sky was releasing other things that were more deadly and horrifying than blood.

Sharp icicles struck the ground infront of him and shattered. He looked up to find a torrent of them aimed directly for him and opened his mouth to scream before a glowing forcefield expanded over his head.

It was Master Kim Sao at work again. His right hand was raised in the air, keeping connection with the ethereal shield over their heads. The icicles clanged and crashed against it and all around them like a flourish of soaring arrows. The world around Xavier was reduced to red and violence. Loud explosions and jarring clashes. He placed both hands against his ears but couldn't keep out the unnerving sounds.

[The dungeon has released the next wave of beasts into the chamber. Stats on them would be released once they come within sight of the Mystic.]

[The new beasts are more powerful and evolved compared to the last ones. Mystic Beware.]

The storm raged all the more, with boulder sized icicles dropping down like rain. The forcefield shield soon began to ripple, loosing essence as the strikes continued.

"The shield won't hold on for long." said Kim Sao. Even in the troubling situation, there was still a coolness about him that gave Xavier hope of surviving.

Kim Sao swung his free hand in the air and a script of symbols appeared wherever his fingers reached.

"I'm weaving a spell of magic." explained Kim Sao at Xavier's perplexed look.

Xavier was surprised. "Mystics can cast spells too?" None of the comic books about Mystics said anything of such. It was as if the world of Mystics kept the stranger part of their abilities a secret from the normal humans.

"Only when they reach Wizard Level. I'm still an Astral with a couple of points shy of advancing to the next level and realm, hence I can only feed the runes as much mana as I can and hope it has even the slightest effect to help us out." He smiled wryly. "Desperate times calls for desperate measures. The spell might just incapacitate me for some time so be prepared, Xavier."

Xavier had no idea what he should be prepared for and how to go about the actual preparing. He looked on as Master Kim Sao pooled sparks of mana into the runes he was drawing, weaving the spell while muttering words Xavier could not understand.

The runes combined into a ball of golden light in the Astral Mystic's palm. He easily controlled it towards his sword which absorbed the spell.

The sword glowed brightly, and once Kim Sao pointed it into the air, a wave of light burst out from it towards the sky. The light turned into a whirlpool, exploding in every direction till it covered the sky. The whirlpool collected all the red icicles, swirling and churning with a deep moan as it did so, as if a great beast was feeding on something.

The whirlpool merged with the sky, bringing the Rain of Doom to a stop after a minute battle between the two.

Master Kim Sao let out an exhale of relief before letting go of the shield. He slumped to a knee, breathing hard. The spell had taken much strength and mana from him.

"Are you alright?" asked Xavier.

Master Kim Sao didn't reply to that. Rather he looked around them. "Dungeon monsters are approaching." He tried to get to his feet but his legs betrayed him. "That spell was too much for my level of Mysticism to handle." He gave Xavier an apologetic look. "I'm afraid that you have to take charge of our Dungeon conquest till I get my strength back, or at least till Elsa gets here."

Xavier reeled back in shock. "What? Me? How can I take charge when I don't even know how to defend myself?"

Master Kim Sao's face was firm. "You are a mystic, Xavier Xerxes. In order to reach your full powers and potential, you better start believing that simple truth. You are beyond what this universe can offer, and had been Celestial Kissed as a soul to do wondrous things none can imagine. As a Mystic, this dungeon is your playground. Once you reach the Academy, no one will care if you know how to fight or not. You'll be expected to adapt and survive. This is where you get into that mindset of will. This is your very own Test of Worthiness, right here in this Grade B dungeon you accidentally walked into out of curiosity. Your time is now, Xavier Xerxes."

A certain resolution filled him at the sincerity in Master Kim Sao's words. His time to make a difference was now. For his mother... most especially for himself.

He called the daggers he had lost sometime ago during the chaos, and they came into his palms. Power sizzled from them giving him strength.

Kim Sao kept on looking at him. "Now are you ready to conquer this dungeon, Xavier Xerxes?"

"Am I ready, Master Kim Sao?"

The Astral Mystic smiled devilishly. "You were born ready. You just have to make yourself be ready."

A loud horn blew from somewhere on their right. There was a thick fogg shrouding everything that existed beyond the horizon that went off towards the banks of the dungeon. But just visible as shadows in the fogg were three gigantic forms approaching slowly. The ground shook from each step they took.

A fluttering of pins travelled down Xavier's stomach but he didn't go numb from the fear this time. Instead he took a defensive stance, ready to fight whatever appeared from the fogg.