Chapter 5

3 DAYS BEFORE

Adir and Alex are at the underground training area and finally begin their training with Slate.

" Adir, I heard you were able to bring out your summoners weapon, is that correct?" Slate asks

" Yes sir, Mr. Len had me try to bring out my weapon and I was able to bring out the staff." Adir answers

Slate's face lights up in surprisement upon hearing this and thinks to himself,

He already got access to the staff?! Interesting.. If he keeps this up, we could end this war in no time!

" I want you to bring out your staff for me again ok?" Slate instructs Adir

Adir brings up his marked hand and begins to feel out the shape of the staff and a dark reddish-black magic emits from the mark and the staff appears in his hand. Slate sees this and does a nod of approval.

" Thank you, Adir, you can put the staff away for now, but Alex, you need to learn how to access your magic before we start. The same goes for you Adir, cause you can only summon your staff as of now."

" But Mr. Horseshoe, how do we even USE our magic?" Alex asks

Slate's face gets a little irritated after hearing this nickname Alex gave him but he calms down and responds,

" Well, the process is fairly simple for Alex, but not so much for Adir. Alex and Adir, you need to focus your minds and find a light. When you are focusing, you should see all black. But I need you to look through that darkness until you find a light, it could be any color, but when you see it GRAB it. But there is a downside to this. For starters, you only have one chance to find this light, but if you stay in that darkness for more than a day, you'll lose your sanity and die."

" But sir, what makes it harder for me if we're doing the same thing?" Adir questions

" Well Adir, the amount of darkness is much greater in your mind then in Alex's. So not only is your sanity going to suffer more, but it'll be even harder to find this light. But now that you two know what you're about to do, sit down criss-crossed like me and put your palms together, almost like your praying. Now close your eyes until you see a dark that's darker than black and…. Begin!"

Slate puts on a stopwatch as he waits to see the result of their training.

Hey Lucifer, I know you're watching me, could you maybe help me find this light? Adir asks Lucifer

Heh, I knew you'd ask for help, but sadly I can't, so I'll help you during your exam… If you make it there… heh Lucifer responds

Slate looks at the stopwatch and it reads 16 hours

" Damn.. they don't have much time.. I hope they make it…"

20 hours in, with Adir and Alex still not making out yet, and Slate is really worried that they won't make it.

Wait… what's this yellow light? It must be it! Hah! I did it! Alex exclaims in his head

At the same time as Alex, Adir makes a discovery too,

Huh?! What's this.. It's like a darkish red.. Almost laced with black… Oh! It's the same light as the one that came from my staff! Of course! Adir grabs the light and he is out of the darkness

" Wow… you two actually did it! Good job!" Slate says to them in happiness.

" Now, can you two try to focus that light you saw into your hands for me?" Slate asks

Adir and Alex nod their heads and focus, resulting in a yellow energy coming from Alex's hand, and a darkish-red emitting from Adir's. Slate nods in approval and has a wide grin on his face.

" Now it's time for the rest of your training… Attack me! Attack me with these new fists of yours!" Slate commands them

The two of them gulp but get ready to fight their teacher. For the next two days, they charge at him, relentless, but to no avail. Each rush resulted in them getting knocked back down again. That changed near the end of their training, with them managing to pin him, forcing him to use magic.

" Alex! Take his right side, and I'll take the left!" Adir yells to Alex

" What do you think you're doing, you just told me your plan, what do you think will change?"

As Alex charges from the right, Adir takes his left side, and right before he attacks, he summons his staff and imbues it with magic.

" It'll change with this!" Adir yells

Adir swings his staff at him, and Slate tries to catch it with his hands reinforced with magic, just to be knocked down.

" With this.. You two are ready for the exam!" Slate exclaims

PRESENT

" Heh… your name is Butch huh? What an interesting name, not that it'll matter much!" Adir yells

We look over at Alex who is defending himself with a coin in his hand. As he's defending himself, a short girl with black hair looks at him

" What do you want? I'm not giving you my coin!" Alex says to her

" Oh I know you won't give it, that's why I'm taking it!" The girl yells

She jumps really fast at Alex, taking the coin from him and vanishing into the crowd.

Now what do I do? There's only 5 minutes, and if I don't find a coin soon, I'll be toast!

Adir is still fighting Butch, and he comes up with a plan to take out this new opponent

Hmm.. I should avoid using my staff at ALL costs… This guy seems pretty dense, so if I taunt him he SHOULD fall for it.. It's kinda cowardly but it's my best chance! Adir decides

" Are you ready to be put in the ground! Come at me!" Adir taunts

" You're the one who'll be put down today!!" Butch yells

Butch charges at Adir, and when they are at a close range, Adir grabs onto his sack of coins, turns behind him, and knocks him into the ground.

Nice.. I got the coins… I wonder how Alex is doing..

A mysterious man in dark purple watches Adir's fight from the top of the building and says to himself,

" Heh… this kid… he already has some skill… We're gonna need him.."

Adir runs around the room and eventually finds Alex

" Alex! I see you don't have a coin, so take this!" Adir calls to him, tossing him a coin

" Thanks a lot bro! Lets stick together for the rest of this round!" Alex responds

Adir nods his head, and they stay together, eventually passing the first stage of the exam.