Dean's mind constantly circulated around the thoughts of the energies he now possessed. He thought about the capabilities of the celestial energy and how it could be utilized when the time was right.
He was currently in a transport ship that traveled at an incredible speed, crossing hundreds of miles in a manner of seconds. While others stared out the windows, awing at the landscapes that they flew past, Dean sat in silence, his eyes closed.
He was in a meditative state, trying to block out any external noise. He focused deeply on his core, he could see the violent opposing energies constantly repelling each other.
The celestial energy was greater, more raging, and more powerful than his demonic energy. Even with a complete internal core, Dean's internal demonic energy level was still low, and he needed to increase it.
"I can feel my energy burning due to the constant use, trying to heal my body over and over. I won't be able to do much with most of my energy getting wasted constantly."
Dean tried to limit the rate of consumption. The demonic energy was visible when he healed himself over and over, but he wanted to conceal it from prying eyes.
He reduced the output of the energy, limiting it only to the internal parts of his body. This way, he could ensure that the crimson hue wouldn't be seen by anyone.
After a while of studying the behavior of his core, he opened his eyes.
He looked outside, and he could see a grandiose gate that stood at the entrance of what looked like a city. Right at the center of the gate was a large shield that had two flaming wings beside it. And written beneath the symbol in large letters were:
The institution of demonic arts.
The city was guarded with walls that acted as a border. Red waves of energy could be seen swirling before the wall. Dean deduced that the city was reinforced with energy shields, meaning that no one could enter without the proper access.
"Now arriving at the institution!" The driver yelled from his seat.
The transport ship came to a halt right before the city gate.
Dean looked around, he could see that nobody stood up from their seats, which implied that the institution wasn't their destination. He made his way out of the transport ship, heading towards the entrance of the city.
Dean could feel his nerves spiking in anticipation as he got closer to the gate, he was eager to know what stood on the other side of the wall.
Upon reaching the gate, he was met with two men that were situated before the gate. They had muscular features, their attires also had the sigil of the institution of demonic arts.
Dean walked up to their towering figures, unsure of what exactly to say. But before he opened his mouth to form a proper sentence, one of the guards spoke up.
"Where's your invitation letter?" the guard said, going straight to the point.
Dean went over to the side zip of his luggage bag. He pulled the letter out, handing it over to the muscular guard.
The guard grabbed the letter, not paying even the slightest attention to the nervous reaction that Dean had. He took a device out of his pocket, it seemed similar to a scanner. The guard placed the device before the letter, and after a few seconds, the guard placed the device back in his pocket.
"You're cleared. Go through the door," the guard said with an expressionless face.
Dean complied. He grabbed his luggage, walking towards the gate just as he said. He reached the door, and just to confirm if the door was just an energy field, he outstretched his hand.
Dean's hand sank through the door of the gate, he could feel a chilling sensation around his arms as it stayed. He proceeded to move forward, pulling his entire body into the energy field, going through the door.
He could feel the cold sensation surrounding his being, when his body was completely on the other side of the door, Dean was completely astounded by what he saw.
Right before him were countless numbers of buildings that reached a towering height. Several buildings were situated around in a well patterned formulation. Dean could see several inns, dojos, and fields.
Dean stared forward, and he could see several students gathered around a particular field. They didn't seem to be more than a hundred, but Dean was curious to know what was going on.
He walked closer to the field approaching the group. The first thing Dean noticed was the appearance of the people that stood there.
They seemed to be around the age of seventeen.
Dean's best bet was that they also received an invitation to the institution. The reason as to why they weren't much was the fact that there were multiple institutions situated around. Each eligible person received an invitation letter from specific institutions, and they were expected to join the institution regardless of their choice.
Dean arrived before the crowd, but they didn't seem to acknowledge his presence apart from a few girls that stared at him with a look of interest.
Contrary to his earlier predicament, when his internal core was still incomplete, Dean actually had a decently attractive look. He had a look that made the ladies turn towards him, but quickly lose interest when they realize his demonic rank.
Dean was used to the backlash, the mistreatment, and abandonment. It was part of his everyday life, and it turned him into a person that distanced himself from people.
Chatters echoed around the arena, as people introduced themselves, trying to get affiliated with each other.
Dean stood at the back end of the crowd, not wanting anyone to turn to him. He stayed there, standing idly, until a loud deafening voice was heard from the front of the crowd.
"ENOUGH WITH THE NOISE!!!"
Looking forward, Dean could see a woman that stood atop a small platform. She was clad in an official attire with the institution's symbol embedded on it.
The crowd quickly went quiet as they acknowledged her presence.
Noticing that she now had their attention, she continued, "I am general Shay, and firstly, I'd like to welcome you all to the institution of demonic arts."
"Here in this institution, we have only one goal — to make each and every one of our students strong and elite warriors that will help the demonic race in the potential war to come."
She paused for a while before resuming her speech, "but before any of that, we would like to access your strength, your capabilities, and lastly… your demonic rank."
"These factors are going to determine which group and category you're going to be placed in."
Dean wasn't surprised by what she said. In the current world, the weak were always seen as worthless. Instead of giving them the proper training needed for them to grow stronger, they were stacked together, and thrown away like dirt.
When the lower ranking students were placed together in a category, they weren't going to receive the proper tutoring to increase their demonic rank — they were going to be ignored and neglected, only paying attention to the stronger ones.
The announcer went on, "for now, I need you all to settle down and get familiar with your surroundings. By tomorrow… "
"The ranking test will commence."