Death Emperor Star in itself held a desolate atmosphere. The sky was black, the soil was black, the fog permeating the air was black; as a result of the copious amounts of death mana in this world's foundation, the entirety of its figure had been painted in its color.
When Damien teleported to Hidden Death Valley, he didn't take much time to observe the surroundings for this reason. The black plains he landed in were a dreary and repetitive atmosphere without much variation.
That didn't mean that the rest of Death Emperor Star was the same, though. The surrounding 50,000 kilometers or so were regularly maintained by Hidden Death Valley's staff and geniuses, allowing it to remain free of the rest of the world's danger.
Unlike Death Emperor Star's regular scenery, however, Hidden Death Valley was completely different. As a premier academy for the universe's peak geniuses, it naturally had to be up to par.
Damien was led by the guard to the Administrations Building nearby. Here, he showed his proof of invitation once more and received his identity token and uniform.
He'd gotten so used to wearing robes at this point that seeing pants and a shirt made him feel strange in a comfortable way.
After receiving his student materials and being assigned a private dorm, Damien was essentially given free rein to explore the campus.
And he did just that. He spent the next two days walking without pause, exploring every nook and cranny of Hidden Death Valley's main area.
It was truly a magnificent place.
The northern area was sectioned off for training areas alone. There were gravity chambers, virtual battle arenas, dungeon simulators, time dilation capsules, and many more facilities that geniuses could use to speed up their training in a more controlled environment.
The east was where all the courses were located. The entire eastern portion of Hidden Death Valley was architecturally modeled similarly to a college campus, with students walking about and attending classes to better themselves.
Naturally, both of these zones required credits to enter and use.
The western section was residential. Student housing varies depending on one's rank and contribution points. From the smallest 4 person dorms to the largest personal palaces, they all shared the west. In the same vein, there were various common areas along with entertainment and commercial districts, making the western area more of a large city than anything else.
Finally, the south. In truth, Damien was denied entrance when he tried to explore the southern area. The reason was simple: the southern area was entirely military. Once inside, one would experience a living hell of conformity and order. They'd learn to become soldiers and be trained into obedience.
Though this was a harsh way of putting it, Damien felt that it was most apt. Even if it was for the greater good, Hidden Death Valley was still training geniuses into mere hunting dogs.
The only way to escape this fate was to stand out enough to stand above it.
Nevertheless, these four districts had their own names. Arcadia in the north, Daea in the east, Star City in the west, and finally, the south's Hell Hole.
The central area was mostly empty aside from accommodations for new students. The entirety of the trench Hidden Death Valley was located in was blocked off by a ceiling many tens of kilometers high above every district except the central area.
The central area opened up to an abyss above that connected to the trench. After all, the trench itself could be used as a training mechanism if one was daring enough. Aside from that, this arrangement allowed Hidden Death Valley to funnel any intruders to a single area where they could be swiftly dealt with away from the academy's main population.
These past two days, Damien rapidly got accustomed to the academy's environment. From what he could see, most of the geniuses here were wholly focused on themselves, discarding any relationships or even conflicts that didn't directly impact their strength.
Combined with the information he gained from Atticus, Damien felt he had a generally good understanding of the academy itself. And since a genius' training regime was entirely dependent on themselves, there was no set standard for him to follow after these two days ended.
Now that he'd accustomed himself to the new environment, it was up to him to decide how to spend his time. But of course, if he wanted to train without worry, he first needed an exorbitant amount of contribution points.
'Should I check the mission board first? Or maybe I should go straight for the Mystic Tower…?'
The mission board and Mystic Tower were both located in Star City. While they were both locations where geniuses could find missions to earn contribution points, there was a fundamental difference between them. While the mission board handled tasks strictly within Hidden Death Valley, the Mystic Tower granted tasks in Death Emperor Star.
Depending on the level of danger one wanted to experience, one could choose between the two. Of course, with Damien's current situation, the Mystic Tower was his best bet.
'I have 6 months until the year-end assessment. If I want to blow my competition out of the water and gain heavy benefits, I need to put my everything into these 6 months.'
Damien immediately used a teleportation array to go to Star City. When he arrived, he made a beeline for the large cylindrical tower on the horizon. Its shape and size made it extremely obvious.
"Zara, I think you can come out now," he said suddenly when he arrived in front of the building.
"Are you sure? They didn't register me as a student so…" a reply came as Zara's figure materialized next to him.
Damien shook his head. "It's fine. In the worst-case scenario, you can still accompany me as my beast companion. Though, I prefer you join as an individual instead. That way, you can also benefit from the time we spend here."
"Mm," Zara made a sound of affirmation. She'd realized long ago that clinging to Damien wasn't the best option for either of them. If she did so, she'd never be able to match his speed of improvement.
Still, the thought of separating again when they'd just reunited recently made her downcast.
Damien smiled lightly and patted her head. "What are you thinking? Registering as an individual doesn't mean separating from me, it just means standing as your own person. Who said we can't take missions together after you've done so?"
Zara's eyes brightened immediately as he said it. While to him, there was nothing wrong with his words, it wasn't the same for her.
To stand as her own person and not as Damien's beast companion…didn't that give her a chance?
"Remember, men are fickle creatures! If you want a chance with the man you love, be bold! Stand next to him as an equal and make it impossible for him to reject you!"
Such were the words Tang Lingzi would always tell her. That woman was more excited to push her together with Damien than even she herself was.
But…that didn't mean Zara was opposed to the idea. The feelings she had for Damien weren't light. In her eyes, Damien was a childhood friend and the person she trusted most in the world.
Nevertheless, she'd never considered mating with Damien. This was mainly because he never entertained the idea in the slightest. To him, she was nothing more than a beast companion and a little sister.
Flames lit up in Zara's eyes. She didn't quite understand the human concepts of romance, but she knew that she wasn't satisfied with the current distant relationship she had with Damien. Even if there was no romance involved, she still wanted to be someone who could stand by his side as an equal, an individual.
Damien smiled when he saw her face light up, unknowing of the thoughts in her head. Beckoning her to follow, he soon entered the Mystic Tower.
