Dimensional Opener

"One minute and twenty seconds!"

"One minute and thirty seconds!"

"One minute and four–"

The ethereal cloak made of light that wrapped around Devin dissipated. His whole body was now void of energy from using his Reverence.

"I can't do it anymore," Devin muttered as he gasped for air. He fell to his knees, his hands falling in front of him.

"The qualifying exam is in two days, Devin. And you're not even near five minutes," Morris said, leaning down to the boy's height. "It's not enough."

"Two minutes should be enough to win a fight," Devin reasoned.

Morris shook his head, "The last person you fought with that was Margaux..." He distanced himself from Devin as he started his plan.

He found out that Devin was emotionally fragile. One could easily anger the boy by only using a few words.

"Comparing that to a real-life scenario, the fight was like a B-rank Exorcist fighting an Echelon 1. The gap was too wide," Morris said. "But not all enemies are as weak as Margaux. Some classmates we have are stronger than her, they're just hiding it. And if you face one of those students, your two minutes of power will not make the cut."

Devin knew where Morris was going. He pushed himself up to stand and looked at the other boy in the eye. Gripping his sword, he channeled his energy towards his entire body.

"If you face them, you'll fail your team for the third time."

"Bring Out, Revelation!"

"Bring Out, Afterlife!"

A loud sound of two clashing metals echoed the entire forest. Morris' zweihander and Devin's sword danced in a soundless rhythm. The white sparks their sword made lit up the darkening area.

Devin's combat ability was getting better after training. He has learned his own fighting style and his own techniques. His sword was long but light, unlike their unactivated Reverence. He was practicing differently and Rodney and Kagura couldn't help but be curious as to why he wanted to learn swift motions rather than heavy ones.

He wanted to be faster. He would reach a certain speed before he increases his strength. Being slow was always a burden to him and he was sick of it. He was sick of being slow, he was sick of being weak.

He was sick of disappointing people.

With Revelation's power, his entire body felt like a feather. He's able to keep up with Morris even when he only got a fraction of the training the other boy had.

As their swords clashed, Devin's energy depleted. It was his fourth activation today and his limit was reached three times already. This will take a toll on him but he had to keep pushing himself. He will not lose again.

Devin leaped over Morris and landed behind him. Morris, who was expecting this, swung his sword behind him, using all his energy to maneuver the large sword he was using.

Devin was met with the thick blade. With his two hands, he gripped the handle of his weapon and blocked the attack.

It was hard for him to maintain himself since he just landed and the impact of their clashing blades made him fly back. Devin was rolling on the ground when he recovered and pierced his sword on the ground to stop himself.

He was about to stand up when Morris dashed towards him, swinging his sword full force.

Devin knew he couldn't block it. All this time, even when Morris's sword was a couple of times heavier than his, he was keeping up with him. Their speed was almost equal.

I'm still too far. Devin said to himself and ducked to avoid the attack. He kicked Morris' feet that made Morris trip. But with the long length of his zweihander, he used it to stop himself from meeting the ground.

"You're at three minutes," Morris announced that made Devin lose his focus. His Reverence died out and the consequence of his actions took over.

His vision became blurry, his mind became hazy. The grasp he had on his hold loosened and it fell to the ground with a clank.

But before his body fell, a figure emerged from the bushes and caught him. The medium-length wavy blonde hair waved along with the gentle flow of his movements.

"What are you doing here?" Morris asked.

The boy grinned and carried the unconscious Devin. His shoe flicked Revelation and it flipped to Morris' direction.

"I was so interested in what Maxime told me," he replied. "It's no wonder why he was ecstatic about this boy. He's pretty strong. Besides, I'm here as a guest."

"Tina Godfrey sent you here again?"

They walked out of the forest and were greeted by the red sky of the setting sun. The school grounds were already barren of students.

"I'll leave with everyone for The Summit in a week," the man answered. He handed Devin to Morris.

"Take care of him," was his last words, taking one last look at the boy before disappearing.

"Didn't even say goodbye," Morris muttered. "What an annoying uncle."

–

A familiar scent of bacon invaded Devin's nose. He opened his eyes and was greeted by two smiling boys.

"Good morning, Little Curls," Andrew greeted. "Go wash up."

"It's early," Devin said.

"What?" Andrei snickered. "You slept for the whole day yesterday and missed class. And you still want to sleep?"

Devin sat up instantly. "What?"

"It's the day of the qualifying exam. And you're almost late," Andrew said that made Devin run to the bathroom.

He couldn't believe he missed a whole day. Although Devin knew he had to pay the price for crossing over the limit a few times, he was still surprised it took him a whole day to recover.

Running towards the gymnasium with the twins, Devin found his team. Andrei and Andrew had to sit on a special balcony as judges. They are, after all, Bearers of Apostles.

"Where have you been?" Kagura growled. "You missed yesterday's practice."

"I'm sorry." Was all Devin's words before a clearing of a throat interrupted them.

"Good morning, everyone," Liu greeted. "Today a competition will commence as an exam. This competition will determine who among all of you is worthy of representing our school to bring back the glory we once lost."

Everyone was on edge. Every year, the competition is different. Last year, it was a battle royale and it was only because of their teamwork that Team Asia won. But The Summit was different. Each participant will have to enter a competition. This led to Team Asia's defeat."

"Here with us today, as judges, are Triple-S rank Exorcist Stephanie, X rank Exorcists, also known as 11&12 Andrei and Andrew, yours truly, and our guest from the last year's winner of The Summit, Principal of Europe's School of Exorcism, X rank Exorcist Martin Von Schweitzer!"

A man with medium-length blonde hair walked towards the railing of the balcony they were on.

"Hello everyone, good morning," he greeted. "As introduced by Sir Liu, I am Martin Von Schweitzer. As The Summit's rules, I will be one of the board of judges that will pick the qualifying team. Rest assured, I will pick the mightiest among you to battle with the mightiest among us."

Although his voice was soft and his features were soft, the large aura around him was menacing. He had kind and gentle eyes but his gaze felt like a glare. His movements were gentle but it felt like he was moving mountains with the intensity it exudes.

"He doesn't want us to win," Kagura whispered.

"Nonsense," Martin said gently. He looked offended, hearing what Kagura said. "I only want a fair fight, Ms. Tachibana."

Kagura froze when Martin was looking right through her soul. Her grandfather held a similar look when she made him angry, but Martin's was different. It held no remorse whatsoever.

It was as if he would kill her then and there if he would have been given the chance.

"I'm sorry," Kagura said and looked down in embarrassment.

Martin's brow raised when he felt the thick aura of fear coming from everyone.

"Martin," Stephanie whispered something in his ear that made him laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry everyone!" Martin laughed. The entire gym was silent apart from his laugh that echoed throughout the four corners of the area. "I bear no ill will, really. It might be my pet who's angry because he wanted to see how this qualifying exam goes."

Devin swore he saw Martin look at him for a split second. "Or maybe he wanted to see someone."

"Dimensional Opener." He waved his hand above him and a crack in the space appeared above him. There was a thin layer of fog coming from the inside of the crack, it looked familiar.

"Come out, Leonardo!"

A large shadow-like creature got out. It looked like a large burning ball made of darkness and it leaped from every part of the gymnasium before settling on the bleachers below the loft.

The flame died down and Devin's eyes widened, in fact, everyone's eyes widened.

A lion the size of a house was sitting in front of them. Its skin was black and ethereal while its eyes were red and it bore a gaze that felt like it could burn everyone down.

"I-It's you..." Devin stuttered and unconsciously walked towards the lion.

"The Stained Soul that wanted to eat me, it's you!"