The pair departed from the restaurant, trying to pay for their meal but found it was ironically taken care of by Maximus.
"I guess that coldhearted angel does have a soul," Sean joked around.
"Maximum is rough around the edges, as you can see, and a bit arrogant. He tolerates me. Most angels hate him because he brings out the problems with our society etc. etc. etc." Samantha walked in front guiding him out of the food court and toward a long back hallway.
Sean looked at the door, but it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. "Is this where we're going next for my final test?" The door above him had a sign that was lit with the word 'Cinema' on it. "Is watching a movie and trying not to cry the final test? Do I need to sit through a crappy romantic film about a man in love with a woman and maybe getting shot trying to save her?"
Samantha giggled, pressing the button on the right side of the door revealing an elevator.
"All right, let's get to it." Sean stepped through into the elevator. he immediately felt the floor beneath him disappear. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled.
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Sean felt like he was falling forever. There were lights on the left and the right of him twirling in different colors, like a rainbow. I want to go back home! I want to go back to Earth. I must marry Tabatha!
Sean wondered where Samantha was or if this was all a setup. I can't die. I can't die. Sean took a moment to focus as he felt his body starting to slow down. The floor beneath him was black in color with white polka dots, and he was one inch from hitting it. Breathing heavily, he took a moment to think about what happened before he hit the ground.
"So, you do have spiritual power," a voice stated from the shadows.
"Who are you?" Sean adverted his eyes to the brilliant light filled the room and a man in a lab coat with tiny glasses and a white suit. He had a stern but pleasant demeanor, and he glared at Sean as if he was a test subject of sorts.
"My name is Elijah, and I will be hosting your spiritual test today."
Sean felt his stomach hit the ground. "Ugh!" He grabbed his stomach, sitting up from the ground. "Where is Samantha? Is she coming? I can't do this without her. I need her. She is my biggest supporter here."
"Samantha is tied up in another manner, so you will be taking this test on your own. This will be the toughest test of the three. If you do not pass this one and then you have no hope of becoming a Dreamweaver."
Sean knew the way to get back to Tabatha or even have hope of getting back to her was to pass this test.
Sean steps forward from the hallway into the main area. He saw several spheres of white and blue floating around the room as if controlled by Elijah himself.
"Now, if you will, we're going to go to the door right here." Elijah walked up to another door on the side of the room.
So many doors.He must have door fetish. Sean followed Elijah closely, trying not to get lost in the maze of doors.
"I like to call these spiritual gymnastics," Elijah said with a smirk. "You stopped yourself from hitting the ground. Subconsciously, you decided you did not want to die, and your body kicked into high gear, and you were able to manifest your spiritual energy to slow your body before it hit the ground.
"Yeah, I did. It was great," Sean looked at the room. There were mini contraptions including, a slide, pull-up bar, and a human dummy in the center of the room.
"My job and my pleasure here is to help you improve your skills or draw them out of you." Elijah nodded, a fixed gaze planted on his face. "You have your work cut out for you."
Sean nodded but felt like he was being judged.
"First, what you did was slow time. Spiritual arts are extremely difficult to manifest. The art of manifesting mana takes physical and mental precision. There are Dreamweaver's who walk in arrogance overestimating their abilities and end up getting killed in the spiritual realm. Those individuals are sent into The Void because they did not know the Goddess Anastasia."
Elijah looked at Sean with curiosity, and he pointed toward a staircase. "Your first exercise will be to fall off the stairs, and I will demonstrate to you what you are supposed to do."
Sean looked at the four steps that manifested out of thin air.
Elijah walked up the steps. He put his arms out. Turning around, he fell off the fourth step.
To Sean's bewilderment, the angel stopped himself right before he hit the ground.
"You're an angel, and I'm human," Sean said, "you are leagues above me in character, stature, intellect, and wisdom. You don't even have to try."
Elijah lifted himself, landing gracefully in front of Sean. "It is precisely the fear of death you can use to push your abilities. A steady dose of fear is essential, especially when it comes to training."
"This will be good," Sean muttered rolling his hazel eyes to the left.
"Please know I'm not going to let you get hurt, at least not too much. Now it's your turn." Elijah smiled, putting his hand out to motion Sean toward the four steps.
Well, Anastasia, I hope you don't let me bust my head open. Sean took one, two, three, four steps up.
Elijah glared at Sean, his cheeks a scarlet red.
Turning around, Sean noticed the break room with equipment, and he closed his eyes. Here we go. I hope I don't die. Sean put his arms turning around and stepped off the stairs. Damn! He felt his body slam hard on the ground. Rolling on his stomach, he huffed, trying to catch his breath. "Why didn't you catch me?" Sean roared.
The witty angel clapped his hands together. "No! Did you even concentrate? Think of what makes you scared or a person you want to protect. How does the mana feel when it flows through your body? In doing so, if you're able to slow your blood flow in your heartbeat into a stream of consciousness. It is essential you master this to survive in a spiritual realm."
"Controlling my mana flow, dude; you sound like some sort of guru. But I get it, I get it. I must concentrate and if I want to reach salvation and get to my beloved Tabatha. This is what I have to do."
Elijah left eyebrow raised. "Oh, your loved one," he inquired.
"Yeah, I was going to propose to her," Sean said as he walked back around to the steps glancing at Elijah again, standing there with the same cheeky look. I miss her smile, smell, and touch. "I want to protect her!" Sean turned around and crossed his arms. This is the hardest thing I've ever done. Smack. He hit the ground hard again. "What the hell is going on? At this rate, I'm going to break my neck in half."
"Remember, you are in a spiritual body. You're slightly more substantial, which means you have stronger bones, and your mana is a stream of energy waiting to be channeled. So, you can take a few injuries to the back of the neck and not worry about it, nor would you need a chiropractor. If you want one, there are spiritual massage therapists up here, now let's get to it."
This is the worst! I would rather have a thousand scorpions on my chest. Sean storms back over to the four steps. Smack, he hit the ground again. Smack!