Secunda

Devin pulled his hand out. Staring at the screen that displayed the symbol. He turned around and was greeted by the cheering of his friends.

"Devin, you're more than an S-ranked!" Rodney hollered. "You're probably the strongest in our class back at school."

"Wow," Kagura said with a wide smile. She shook her head dramatically. "You really are something else.".

Their laughter died when someone cleared their throat behind them. They turned to look, their smiles falling when they saw who it was.

"May I talk to my brother?" Maxime asked. Morris walked towards him and they both went out the hallway.

"What is it this time?" Morris asked with a rather annoyed tone.

"He's not the one who wields that power," Maxime said. "It's the Stained Soul."

Morris scoffed, "How would you know?"

Maxime quirked his brow at his younger brother. Seeing the rebellious gaze Morris gave him, Maxime sighed and snatched a device from his pocket.

"What's this?" Morris asked.

"Stained Soul tracker," Maxime answered. "It tracks, measures, and identify the power level of a Stained Soul."

"And?"

"It seems like Mr. Lewis has a raw Exorcist power of 7, and another 7 for his Stained Soul counterpart."

Morris scrunched his forehead in confusion. "You couldn't mean…"

"There is a Stained Soul living inside him–" Maxime paused when he saw two figures walking towards them. "Oi, twins."

"Bonjour," Andrei greeted with a playful grin.

Maxime rolled his eyes, "I'll talk to you later."

And with that, he left.

"What's wrong with him?" Andrew asked.

Morris looked at them in confusion before shaking his head, "What brings you two here?"

"Came to talk to Devin," Andrew said and opened the door to the hall.

Devin snapped his head in the direction of the creaking door and he saw the twins there. A smile was painted on his face seeing his closest friends again.

"What's up, Little Curls?" Andrew cheered and ruffled Devin's hair. "Can we talk to you for a second?"

Devin nodded and went outside with the twins. Their smiles were instantly wiped from their faces after the door closed. Devin could only gulp at their serious expressions.

"You need to drop out of the round," Andrei said.

The confusion on Devin's face was inevitable. He thought the twins were always supporting him? Why did they suddenly want him out?

"W-What?"

"Dante and Liam are going to be your opponents for the first match," Andrew said. "They will show you no mercy."

"You don't think I could handle them?" Devin asked in disbelief. "I thought I had your backs?"

The twins sighed before Andrei spoke, "We believe you, we do. But those two… even us would have a hard time with them. They're…"

"What?" Devin asked when Andrei paused. "You think I'll lose instantly? I– I have an Asterisk if you must know. Just like Felicia."

The twins gasped and their eyes widened. They looked at each other as if they were talking through their minds. A few seconds of silence had passed and they sighed.

"Fine," Andrew muttered. "But if you feel like you're taking it too far, just drop out. You can surrender if you want to."

"That I will not do," Devin said and grinned. "And since you're both here, why don't we go for a spar?"

Andrei grinned, "Let's do it."

"But show me no mercy, okay?"

The twins looked at each other before chorusing, "Okay."

–

"Show me mercy!" Devin yelled. "Please have mercy!"

The twins simultaneously appeared on either side of him. He was about to leap when Andrei had already hacked his hilt towards Devin's stomach. The smaller boy tumbled back and fell down.

Andrew was also attacking when he missed, hitting his brother in the face instead. Andrei was thrown a few meters away, his sword fell out of his grasp.

"So, that's how it's going to be?" he stood and flashed run towards his inactive Reverence. "Let's rock."

"Bring Out…"

"Andrei!"

"Andrew!"

"Secunda!" they chorused.

Their swords glowed so bright that it was hard for anyone to not squint their eyes. 

Two star-shaped symbols appeared a few meters from them. Devin remembered it was the symbol when they first met.

Looking back, he had seen Licensed Exorcists activating their Reverence but the Sigil did not appear. He noted to ask people after this calamity was over.

Each of the twins was exuding a colossal magnitude of aura. It was similar to what they showed in the forest prior to the Summit only 10 times scarier. Darting towards each other with full power, the twins slashed their swords.

A surge of white light and a strong wave of energy burst from the clash. Devin was thrown away and the others on the side were holding on for their dear life.

'They have completely ignored me.' Devin thought. 'This is my chance.'

"Bring Out–"

"Judas."

Devin felt someone pass through him. "What?"

The twins retreated their swords, assuming an offensive stance once more. Their blades were going to clash when a figure emerged from nowhere, long sharp nails holding the glowing swords like tongs. Franco kicked their stomachs, sending them flying a few meters back.

"Ouch," Andrei pouted. "Uncle you–"

Franco appeared in front of him and used the hilt from his own sword to smack his head. "I'm not your uncle!"

"But uncle–" Andrew followed his brother, being smacked by the hilt of his own sword.

"You two could've destroyed this building and what? Let your parents pay for it like they always do?!" Franco yelled.

He made the two sit on their knees in front of him. He sighed and was about to scold them again when the door opened.

"What in the hell was that force?!" Stephanie screamed and got inside along with Xia.

"I thought there was an earthquake," Xia exhaled in relief. "What happened?"

"These two…" Franco pointed at his younger cousins. "Activated Segunda in a friendly match! And indoors too!"

"You're overreacting." Stephanie rolled her eyes. "We always go Terceiria when we were kids. The three of us could only cower in fear!"

Xia snorted, "I remembered when Franco wanted to look cool then he slipped."

"And the one who saved him was–"

"Lemon," the two women chorused but their laughter died after the mention of their friend's name.

Stephanie cleared her throat, "Just don't do that again, okay?"

When the three adults left with a bitter mood, Devin went over to the twins. "There's another level of activation?"

The twins were pouting but nodded. "If your classes wouldn't have canceled, Stephanie would've lectured it," Andrei spoke.

"Essentially, there are three levels of activation," Andrew put three fingers up. "Primeria, Secunda, Tercieria. Most Exorcists, even the ones with high ranks, could only activate through Primeria."

"True," Andrei agreed. "It takes a lot of effort to get into Segunda, but you can still become strong without the other stages."

"Take Reginald Maltoise the Pirate King for example," Andrew said. "He doesn't have a Secunda, therefore he doesn't have a Sigil. But prior to his retirement, he was in the top 20."

"Imagine if he did," Andrei said. "He's so cool."

Devin nodded. A fire inside him was burning.

"Teach me."

The twins looked at him in confusion.

"Reaching Secunda. Please teach me."