Torus

"We couldn't possibly do that."

Devin pouted at Andrew's answer. If he really wants to increase his chances of winning, he should enhance his level. He wasn't someone like Maltoise who could handle strong enemies without Secunda.

"Let's not be rash," Andrei said. "Besides, you couldn't possibly unlock Secunda in one night."

"I will do my best," Devin said. "It would be a huge help if I could have even just a glimpse of it."

"You had me at 'glimpse'," Martin's voice rang from nowhere. The appearance of a crack in the air grabbed everyone's attention. He went from inside it and greeted everyone, "Team Asia, and 11 & 12. Good evening."

"Hello, Mr. Martin," Devin greeted with a slight bow.

The others followed him, greeting the man and bowing.

"Aww, how charming," Martin said. "But I didn't come here to be greeted like that."

Devin looked at him. "What do you mean, sir?"

"I'll help you unlock Secunda," Martin offered. "Let's go somewhere where… time is fast."

"You mean the Purgatory?" Devin asked.

Martin shook his head and clicked his tongue. "No. The Purgatory's time is slow. Where we'll go, time is fast. A day there is only two hours here."

"W-What do you mean?" Kagura stepped in.

"I can open 3 dimensions with my Sanctity," Martin placed his hand on his chest. "This one, the Purgatory, and Torus. That dimension's time is quite fast. Quite opposite of the Purgatory. A day would be equal to about two hours here."

"And what makes you think we should trust you?" Morris asked. "You're still from Europe, uncle. Maybe you're just helping them."

Martin clicked his tongue a couple of times. "No, no, no, my dear Morris. The Windsors and the Mountbattens are doing things that's against what we, as Exorcists, believe in. It is confidential therefore I shall not disclose it, but what I can say is that they are doing nasty things. Very nasty things."

"Please excuse us for a moment," Devin said and went to his friends. "Do you think we should take it?"

"No. Are you crazy?" Morris asked. "He's still European."

"Says the blonde, blue-eyed hunk," Rodney snickered that earned him a smack on the head from Kagura.

"I think we should give it a chance," Kagura said. "The twins will be there– wait, the twins will be there right, Devin?"

"Yes," Andrew whispered, joining their huddle. "We'll be there."

"Let's vote," Morris said. "Those in favor of no, brandish your swords."

Morris, Sofia, Rain and Margaux unsheathed their swords. Devin nodded and they put it back to their scabbard.

"So, it's a tie," Kagura said. "This might be a chance for us. Devin is our forte. And if he wins this round, we'll have the win. That's what everything we wanted, right? All our sacrifices, blood, sweat and tears. Literally."

"But let's not be rash," Morris argued. "Devin, you still decide. What's it going to be?"

Devin gulped, seeing the expecting faces of his teammates.

"I…"

–

Martin positioned himself. Raising his palm and pointed it forward. "Dimensional Opener."

The cracks started to appear, revealing a bright light from it. When the portal was completely opened, they saw a field of flowers with a lake on the side.

"It's beautiful," Devin whispered.

"I know, right?" Martin chuckled. "I often go here when I'm lonely. And there's a place here where it's restricted so I advise you don't go there, okay?"

Devin nodded in understanding. He had already persuaded his other teammates to take Martin's offer. They would stay behind and if Devin couldn't go back on time, they will say he'd drop out. It was a risk they were willing to take.

The others couldn't go with him either. It's going to be too suspicious if they all went missing if Martin would indeed betray them. Team Asia would lose automatically if that happens.

"Come on," Martin said. He walked inside first, then Andrew and Andrei, and last was Devin. 

"Wow," Devin whispered after getting inside. The couple of hills worth of grassy fields were full of flowers and there was a small little cottage nearby.

Martin pointed at the cottage, "You can relax there after you train. It was 8 PM in our dimension, so you'll have about five days to reach Second Stage. I'll keep persuading the Windsors to stop their nonsense in the meantime. That way, you might not need to use your Secunda."

"Wait," Devin said when Martin was about to leave. "How could we assure that you're on our side?"

"Mel Windsor-Von Schweitzer," Martin said. "The name of my spouse who was the first casualty of the Windsor Project. We can't force them to stop but we can show them that it's not the only way for power. Then maybe the others will be free."

"Mel is short for?" Andrei asked that made Devin elbow him.

"Mel is Mel," Martin said with a sad smile. "Goodbye. I'll be back in 5 days. Make sure you get plenty of rest by then too."

"Let's start?" Andrew asked.

"I think we should."

The twins instructed Devin to fight them until he runs out of energy. If he did and he would still push through, that's how he'll reach the Second Stage.

"So, basically you just have to enhance your limit. Kick it up a notch," Andrew said.

"The limit of what?"

"The power you produce at certain stages. You exhaust yourself to the point like you already ran out of energy. This allows you to add another level from the starting power your body needs. After that, your body can use your second level freely," Andrei explained.

Devin was still clueless. Andrew had no choice but to use an analogy.

"It's like driving a car for say, 100 kilometers per hour. When you reach that and you want to go faster, you upgrade. Now your new speed limit is now 200 kph. That's basically the point of the Stages."

It all sunk in and Devin nodded in understanding. "Okay, now I get it."

"Good," Andrew said. "Now…"

The twins unsheathed their swords, pointing them at Devin with a dangerous look in their eyes. A look that made Devin flinch and grip his sword in fear.

"Let's fight."