"Dimension Shift."
Space around Damien solidified and shifted. A pocket dimension layered into real space and somewhat merged with it. Then, with utter precision, Damien used the pocket dimension as a medium to split the true dimension in two and shift it. It was like a cube of ice that was cut in half. The upper portion of space seemingly slid apart from the bottom, shifting entirely into a different dimension.
Naturally, the metal-feathered aerial beasts weren't excluded from this. Their bodies split along with space, dissected at a molecular level. Even after Damien's attack dissipated, their cleaved bodies didn't die. It took a few seconds before blood began to color space and the light faded from their eyes.
Damien paid no mind to the perished beasts, continuing his descent. Within seconds, he burst through Death Emperor Star's atmosphere.
Here, he faced his next challenge. To be specific, it was the atmosphere itself. Just as he'd seen before, the amount of death that'd polluted this star fundamentally changed its properties. The air was almost deadly with the amount of death energy ambiently flowing. Aside from that, a thick aura suppression and killing intent would continuously bear down on everyone within its reach, adding a layer of mental and physical strain to each and every trial that took place.
This atmosphere hit Damien the second it could reach him. His falling speed multiplied several times due to the pressure. The killing intent tried to invade his mind, but was unable to do so.
'Superhero landing time…!' Damien thought to himself.
He was already gaining insane momentum in the air. His body almost caught fire due to friction before Damien used vector control to stop it.
But this speed wasn't nearly enough. While most people would've desperately tried to slow themselves down, Damien controlled gravity to increase his momentum even further!
Now he was experiencing a threefold pulling force towards the ground. His body was faster than any meteor, traveling tens of thousands of kilometers in an instant and arriving before the ground!
'Bang.'
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
His landing wasn't graceful. The second his body touched ground, the earth collapsed. Rumbling as if a terrifying earthquake occurred, the earth imploded and caved in, creating a crater tens of kilometers in diameter.
Its depth, however, was another story. Death Emperor Star wasn't famed for no reason. Damien's extreme momentum was powerful, but it couldn't penetrate far into this world's surface. He was only around 500 meters deep in the earth.
'Yeah, I can see why people don't do that more often. It hurts like a bitch.' Damien thought as he crawled out of the crater.
His legs both broke upon impact, so he had to make do with what he had while they healed.
Nevertheless, the healing process was rapid. By the time he left the crater, he was already on two legs.
At this time, there was a reaction from his subspace. One of the information jade slips flowed with a pale blue light as the information on it began to morph.
When Damien took it out to observe, he realized that the previous writings had been entirely erased. What remained was a small map.
It showed the area around Damien with some slight detail and marked a path that lead to Hidden Death Valley. The areas outside this path's radius were blacked out and unavailable to him.
'I see, so I first have to reach the academy. That's the entrance exam.'
Everyone always said that luck was also a part of one's skill set. Apparently, Hidden Death Valley also believed in this fact.
When barreling through Death Emperor Star's atmosphere, there was no way of telling where one would land. The air was hazy with black fog, making visibility extremely low. Aside from that, the mysterious forces in the atmosphere would veer one off course when they flew, altering their landing area.
For instance, Damien's original trajectory would've put him only around 10 kilometers away from Hidden Death Valley. However, he was currently more than 10,000 kilometers away.
Still, what was a challenge wasn't necessarily the same for him. While Death Emperor Star indeed had its own spatial suppression that constantly tried to limit him, he was better than that by now.
Ambient spatial suppression couldn't do anything to him at this level.
His awareness spread to its limit. At its far reaches, he could barely make out the outline of what he assumed to be Hidden Death Valley. To be cautious, he teleported 10 kilometers away from that area to observe first.
As the name suggested, it was a valley between two mountains, but it expanded downward like a trench. The only thing Damien could see was the shadowy blackness that filled the empty space of that valley.
'According to the map, this should be the place. So do I just…jump?'
Damien walked to the precipice of the abyssal trench and stared into its depths. Without hesitation, he lifted his foot off the ground and prepared to jump in.
"Woah!"
A sudden exclamation stopped him from continuing. When Damien turned around, he saw a burly man standing there. His build was massive, his body around 10 feet tall and built like heavy-duty machinery. He had a rough beard growing on his face that made him look middle-aged, but his eyes shone with the brightness of youth.
"Brother, you're just jumping in? You've got bigger balls than me!" He said with a laugh.
Damien quirked his brow. "You are?"
"Hm? Ah, my name is Lonzo Barius! I've come to enter Hidden Death Valley!"
"Mm, I'm Damien Void. Anyway, while it's been a pleasure meeting you, I seem to have business down there so…"
Without finishing his sentence, Damien's body began teetering off the edge once more. But before he could fall, Lonzo ran up behind him and pulled him back.
"What are you thinking?!" He exclaimed.
"Hm? Isn't Hidden Death Valley down there?" Damien asked back.
"It…it is, but you can't just jump! You'll die if you do!"
"Then how am I supposed to get down there?"
Lonzo sighed and shook his head. "I didn't expect you to be clueless! An instructor will come receive everyone when we've all arrived and guide us down to the bottom. Otherwise, there's no way for us to get there."
Damien furrowed his brows. He looked at Lonzo and looked back at the trench. While it was true that it was deep and somewhat harrowing, he didn't think it was impossible to survive.
As long as he pulled some tricks and executed his abilities properly, there would be no harm at all.
This Lonzo was seemingly a 4th class as well, near Damien's level. Yet, he viewed this challenge as an impossible one?
Damien looked at him suspiciously. "You can't survive if you jump down there?" He asked.
Lonzo stared at him like he was an idiot. "Of course not! That fall is tens of thousands of kilometers! Besides, elements are suppressed in the air within the trench as a defense mechanism. You won't be able to aid yourself using your affinity."
Damien nodded understandingly. "I see. So your physical body isn't powerful enough to survive that fall even with the aid of mana. That's more reasonable. But that's just a you thing. Me on the other hand…"
He shook off Lonzo's hand and walked back to the edge of the cliff.
"I'm not that weak."
Damien flashed a confident smile at Lonzo and before the latter could react, he bent backwards and fell into the trench.
