Sky Above The Sky

"Sky Above The Sky..." I mumbled. "What could possibly be inside? It shouldn't be like that wind one, right?"

I checked the time. I was running short. Well, that shall be my last room before I return to the recommendation.

And so, I waited for the girl to finish. Ten minutes later, the glass door opened. As light illuminated the room, I could see her staggering to her feet. For some reason, she had fallen down.

"Hey! You okay?!" I extended my hand.

After I helped her out of the room, she looked back and said:

"I'm okay, I'm okay. Are you planning on going inside?"

"Want me to help you to the infirmary? And yeah, how was it? Is it worth it?"

She bit her lip in apprehension, then responded.

"I'm truly okay, don't worry. But you... better be prepared for that one. And ah, don't cause a ruckus when you leave." 

With those words, she left the Sector. I was starting to think that something was going on with that test, so I immediately went inside to know what it was.

I was transported to a mountain, and in front of me, I could see a big red arch almost in the form of pi. Behind it, something that looked like an ancient shrine. The air was rare, and the cold was seeping into my bones with every second. I looked behind me, and sitting on a very dangerous cliff was a monk, or someone who looked a lot like a monk.

The monk raised his right hand and slowly uttered:

"Amitabha..."

A second later, I heard a loud bell, seemingly inside my head. But unlike the previous tests' sounds, this one was different on a fundamental level. 'I felt it in my soul' would be an accurate description. Suddenly, golden light shone from the monk, transforming into a thin spherical veil that covered the entire peak of the mountain, shrine and all.

Just as suddenly, a storm was covering the skies, and lightning started to fall over the veil, just to be repelled. The noise was deafening, but somehow I was still intact, albeit sweating cold.

Another man approached. But he approached from the sky, floating in the air like an apparition. He wore a dark blue robe and had his hands behind on his back. His face was somewhat blurred, but I noticed his sharp features turn ugly with contempt. 

The monk stood up in a hurry, and turned in my direction in desperation. He clearly couldn't see me, but I had no time to worry about him because I saw a huge sword taking place in the sky. I felt absolutely terrified of that sword. My eyes went wide, and my body refused to answer due to pure fear of facing such a threat. The next second, it went through the mountain peak, traversing the veil with no resistance.

*BOOOOOOM!*

When I came to, I was already somewhere else, and maybe somewhen else, because what I saw was no short of extraordinary.

I was on top of a small building, barely five floors high, looking into the approaching army. There were tens of enormous vessels, clearly made for war, floating in the direction of the building. The spacecraft looked somewhat familiar to me, although I couldn't pinpoint from where. A quick look around told me I was standing on the tallest building of a small city.

I saw some small explosions on the approaching ships, probably from the city's defense system, but due to some invisible shield, they couldn't damage them. It was safe to say there was not even a scratch there.

Suddenly, a loud voice of someone speaking through some sort of megaphone resounded. I couldn't discern which language it was, but I recognized its source: the larger vessel had displayed an enourmous image of a bald woman general with fierce eyes in the sky.

*Whoosh!*

Before I could react, there was a very old man right besides me on the roof. The old man dressed shabbily, and held a cane to support his own weight.

"How did he-"

The old man had his eyes practically closed, as if he was too tired to open them properly, and slowly raised his hand to his beard.

The old man then sighed, and raised his trembling hand towards the approaching vessel. He made a swiping motion, slowly covering the whole of the fleet, and the most absurd happened.

The mighty fleet, with its gigantic ships and unmovable shields, toppled over one another, resulting in huge explosions that created violent winds all over the city. The sky was painted orange for the better part of a minute. 

"Whoah..." I exclaimed.

My wish was to check the damage when the dust settled down, but it would take too long. The test once again transported me somewhere else.