Time passed without end, it's ebbs and flows indistinguishable within the thick barrier of World Energy isolating Damien from the outside world.
In the center of that barrier, Damien sat silently, his eyes closed and his legs crossed as if he was an indomitable stone Buddha. Occasionally, his hands would dance through the air, leaving afterimages that gave off a beautifully profound feeling. This was the only sign that he was alive.
In Damien's mind, a massive map was laid out. It was a labyrinth filled with impossible twists and complex structures that he had been studying for an unknown period of time.
Compared to the 1000-man space or even the 100,000-man space, the largest 1,000,000-man space was a completely different monster.
It wasn't just a matter of complexity or stability in the structure of the spatial webs, but also a matter of spatial law itself. Damien's current achievements simply weren't enough for him to comprehend and unravel this kind of conceptual existence.
But the Universe Baptism's trials didn't allow him any shortcuts. The only thing he could do was diligently attempt to understand the structure of the cage around him, hoping that he could eventually escape.
'The 1,000,000-man space doesn't abide by the same laws as the other spaces. I've noticed that every time I entered a new space, the laws were more complete. At this point, rather than being a mere separated space, one could even consider this space as an isolated world.'
It was a similar existence to the Sanctuary. The space contained its own foundational laws that differed from those outside. Due to this, the stability of space was incredible, almost reaching the level of a true world.
But the laws of an incomplete space like this couldn't compare to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary existed in the void and was formed from it, receiving a constant supply of mana and laws from it as well. Although the Sanctuary wasn't quite self-sustaining yet, it was entirely possible to reach that point when Damien became strong enough.
However, this space was different. While it was true that it had developed its own foundational laws, it didn't have the ability to maintain them forever. As time passed, the traces of these laws would slowly diminish and the isolated space would collapse, rejoining the Real Plane as if it never existed.
But this process would take an exorbitant amount of time to complete. If Damien chose to wait until this space's laws degraded, he'd be trapped within for tens of years at the very least.
And naturally, he had no intention of doing that.
Damien's mind moved rapidly. If he couldn't unravel the space the same way he did with the others, he needed to compensate for his lack of ability somehow. He needed to cope with the fact that he couldn't use Laws yet.
But who was Damien? While this task was impossible for others, he actually had a way to circumvent the universe's restrictions!
Exhaling a breath of chaotic air, his mouth moved to say a single word. "Bloom."
That word served as a trigger. Within Damien's spiritual world, a bright red light encapsulated everything.
In the past, this space had been represented by an endless starry sky with celestial bodies present to display his connections with them. There was a sun, there was Earth, Apeiron, the Cloud Plane, and finally his own spiritual world itself.
But that scenery was different now. Aside from his spiritual world, there was only a single other existence floating in the boundless space.
It was a large world, larger than any Damien had visited before. It would take tens or even hundreds of years to traverse from one end of this world to the other, displaying just how massive it was.
Despite its grandiosity, however, this world was only a spiritual representation. It didn't have any physical form to be showcased to the universe.
This world was the combination of the Cloud Plane, Apeiron, and Earth. Using this world as a medium, the wills of those three worlds could communicate and amplify each other's power. The connection they had with Damien also increased exponentially, allowing him to utilize a portion of their World Force even when he wasn't present in those worlds!
In the center of this massive world, acting as a substitute World Core, was none other than the red magic cube known as the World score Fusion Reactor. After Damien absorbed it, it took root in his spiritual world and refused to move.
But it was constantly proving its use. The only reason this massive world could exist was because of its existence. And it was also the reason Damien would be able to pass his trial.
Voom!
Damien's awareness interacted with the massive planet. He immediately got a response, three wills sending their words into his mind.
Although he couldn't truly hear them, he could understand what they wanted to say. He smiled as he listened to them.
'Ha, I'll never get used to the feeling of having those three in my head. Especially Yun and Apeiron, those two don't mesh well at all.'
Damien lightly joked to himself, his movements not stopping at all while he did so. Through his connection with the three, World Force slowly entered his body, enhancing his state.
And more than that…this World Force allowed Damien to take a shortcut to manipulating laws.
The 1,000,000-man space shook fiercely. After spending days or even weeks comprehending the structure of this place, the only thing standing in Damien's way now was his lack of laws.
Now that his glaring weakness had been covered…
The 1,000,000-man space couldn't withstand the burden of Damien's interference. His hands moved like a conductor guiding an orchestra, letting his mana and World Force play with the spatial web around him and unravel it.
It wasn't an easy process at all. Despite having the tools to complete his task, Damien still had to put in a great deal of effort to do so.
And finally, after an unknown period of time, the shaking of the 1,000,000-man space halted.
Lines formed in its walls, separating them into small puzzle pieces. Once this process was finished, space itself began to drift apart and fall through the air like snowflakes.
Damien felt a sense of freedom overwhelm him. Even though nothing in his surroundings changed at all, he could clearly feel the difference between existing in the Real Plane and existing in an isolated space. The two simply couldn't compare.
This was because the Real Plane was "complete" unlike those isolated spaces.
'Haa, finally. Now that that's over, I guess it's finally time for the second trial?'
Damien was hopeful, but the universe didn't seem intent on fulfilling his wishes. There wasn't a single system notification that sounded after he escaped the dimensional cage. However, there was indeed a change.
'This…!'
Damien suddenly felt like he was submerged in a vat of molasses. His movements slowed to the extreme, forcing him to use his utmost abilities to even budge an inch.
But unlike the previous trial, space wasn't manipulated at all. No, this effect didn't come from space.
Rather, the theme of the trial switched.
'Time has been slowed.' Damien immediately realized. This slowing didn't just involve his body, even his thoughts were being affected.
This could only be caused by a vast difference in strength and comprehension. When one couldn't match up to a Time Law user, their entire being would be frozen. It wasn't a simple physical phenomenon.
Luckily, Damien's comprehension of time, while lagging behind space, was still somewhat substantial. He already understood how to speed up and slow down its flow within a specified area, though completely halting it was still outside of his reach.
'So it's a comprehensive trial? It seems all of my elemental comprehensions will be tested in this first trial. If I can pass, I will be allowed to access their laws. If I fail, my path to those elements will be cut off entirely, or at least hindered.'
This wasn't good news for his flame and lightning abilities, but Damien didn't fret. Instead, a large grin spread on his face.
'It's been a long time since I've been challenged so much. Who would've thought that the universe would be my worthy opponent?'
Without hesitation, Damien delved into the surrounding stagnated time.
Time and space had always been interlinked. Without the presence of mana, time was a measure of the perceived change taking place within space. Lifespan, the cycles of celestial bodies, even a mere human walking from one place to another could be used to represent time.
But when mana was introduced, this relationship became far more profound. Time was no longer a force that only existed through perception. With the foundational laws of the universe as support, time was able to become a true concept just like space.
This was the reason why the rampant Time Essence in the starry sky was able to maintain the flow of time between all worlds existing in the Human Domain and the wider 9 Sectors.
Space was stable, while time was ever-changing. The relationship between the two mirrored that of Order and Chaos.
Precisely because they were so intrinsically linked, Damien could use his spatial comprehension to boost his time comprehension. This was the method he'd used to rapidly become proficient in time elemental abilities in the short period after he unlocked his affinity.
It was a cheat, to say the least, but it was a cheat discovered through hard work and only usable through hard work.
And it was this very cheat that would rapidly propel Damien through the trial he was currently taking.
