Last time I ran out of sacred power fighting just one elemental, if I don't watch myself and run out again I'm screwed. Let's see, they are slow and last time I didn't take a single hit, if I don't use storm armor I can save a lot of power. It will take a lot longer but if I mainly use the knight mage blade I shouldn't run out of power before both die.

Although, I want to use Wind Slash at least once so I know how well it works. With my mind made up I move forward until I am thirty feet away from the elementals. Since this is the max range of Wind Slash I may as well use it a few times before the elementals can reach me.

'Wind Slash!'

Instantly three blades of wind strike the first rock elemental leaving behind three shallow grooves across its body. Not only does it do more damage now, but the blades strike instantly, they don't have to fly across the distance. This means they are practically impossible to dodge, this spell is way better than Wind Blade was!

What's more, because it takes effect instantly with no flight time I can hit specific targets easily. Before the rock elemental can close the distance I hit the exact same spot on it's torso three more times. The grooves deepen with each hit and the elemental actually slows down a little bit.

I quickly summon my knight blades and go to work on the other elemental. With the other one slowed, even a little, it will be even easier to dodge it's attacks, so for now I ignore it. As I attack the second elemental I try to hit the same spots repeatedly, since now I know it can be injured this way.

Once both elementals are slowed I have a much easier time with them. By repeatedly hitting the same spots I am also able to do more damage, which allows me to wear them down faster. It still takes me two hours to kill them but in the end I still have a quarter of my sacred power left.

??? says "Opponents Defeated. Skill Boost Triggered!"

'Skill boost? Sounds awesome!'

*DING**DING**DING**DING**DING*

Congratulations! Skill Sword Master has progressed to level 2!

Sword Master

Level 2

Str +20

Damage +110% Speed +11%

Congratulations! Skill Sword Dancer has progressed to level 5!

Sword Dancer

Level 5

Movement Speed +20% Damage +20% when wielding two swords.

You dance the dance of death when wielding two swords.

Congratulations! Skill Basic Evasion has progressed to level 2!

Basic Evasion

Level: 2

Agi +20

Reduces opponent's hit chance by 25%!

Congratulations! Skill Mage Knight Blade has progressed to level 4!

Mage Knight Blade

Level: 4

SP Cost: 40 Duration: 6 minutes

Dmg = Str x 2.5

A blade created with mental strength and mana.

Can create bladed weapons or coat existing weapons.

Congratulations! Skill Wind Slash has progressed to level 5!

Wind Slash

Level: 5

SP Cost: 35

Blades: 3 Range: 35 feet Damage per blade: Int x3

'Wow! So skill boost must be a boost to the experience skills received from the fight. At least that's the only explanation I can think of.'

Moving quicly I head to the next break room to meditate and recover my sacred power. If this is similar to the mage knight test I should have one more fight to go. Although, if it is twenty rock elementals I am doomed to fail the test, my sacred power won't last long enough.

Well, all I can do is give it my best shot, at this point even if I fail I have gained a lot just from the attempt. As soon as my sacred power is full I jump up and head for what should be the last hallway. That is confirmed when I spot a room instead of an opponent ahead of me.

When I reach the room I stop to take a look, I then count the rock elementals waiting for me. Ten, I figure I can handle five at most, yet I stand there staring at ten rock elementals. Even if I can avoid all of their attacks I just can't damage them enough before my sacred power runs out.

This fight looks to be designed to make mages use area of effect spells, unfortunately I don't have one of those. Wind slash is great but it is still a single target spell, I can't think of a way to kill the elementals fast enough. With my current sacred power I can activate Mage Knight Blade a total of forty-three times.

At six minutes per activation that's two hundred and fifty-eight minutes or just over four hours. In the last fight it took me about an hour to kill each elemental, not fast enough. Even with the skills going up in level I doubt I can push it to two elementals per hour.

Even if I could, that would still leave me with two more elementals and no sacred power. Out of ideas I sit down in the hallway and wrack my brain, trying to come up with something. Eventually I sit and go through my entire skill list looking for anything that can help.

The first thing I find is Sacred Assault, but unfortunately it costs even more than mage knight blade. If these things weren't immune to physical damage, sacred assault might work, but it doesn't boost magic damage. A mage taking this test could probably pass it just by using fireball over and over.

Thinking of that makes me think of Ruby, she could probably pass this test easily. I wonder if the twins have summoned her by now, how long has it been since I left the city? Trying to count the days I realize I've lost track of time and have no actual idea how long I've been gone.

At this point my best guess is it has been at least a month so Ruby should be back. I won't know for sure until I return to the city, but I still have a lot of things to finish before then. With that in mind I go back to scrolling through my skill list, and that's when I realize I do have an AoE skill after all.