Damien's training period lasted for over a month, and though it was a short time in the grand scheme of things, it was quite a frustrating predicament for his enemies.
After all, Hidden Death Valley wasn't friendly to conflict outside of established duels. While anything could happen within them, external battles would be heavily punished regardless of one's status.
Hidden Death Valley was a land ruled by multiple Demigods, and through their strength and influence, had no need to bow before any outside influence. This was half the reason why it gained its current reputation.
Damien's enemies could only bite their nails and wait until he entered the battle arena. When that time finally came, they could get rid of him.
As for Damien himself, he paid no mind to these raging voices, despite being fully aware of their existence. In fact, he made particularly sure to flaunt his daily routine to rile these people up and fuel their anger.
When he finished training, he would go to the battle arena and properly sweep the floor with them. If they weren't offended enough to continuously challenge him, what was the point of fighting them at all?
Nevertheless, thoughts on these people didn't cloud Damien's mind at all. As he ignored their presence entirely, he settled into a routine by which he could train to his full potential.
There was not even an ounce of rest involved in this routine.
6 hours of physical body training in the Gravity Chambers and Force Chambers, 6 hours of mental training in the Blackness Cage and Illusive Forest that also helped him improve the abilities of his All-Seeing Eyes, 6 hours of Spacetime training in the elemental training areas, and finally, 6 hours of focus in the Blackness Cage aimed to improve his Void Comprehension.
Every single day for 40 days, Damien partook in this routine. With his Void Comprehension taking place at an incredibly slow rate, he was also able to use the final 6 hours to recharge his physical and mental state before continuing the routine again.
Through this, the gains he made weren't small. But rather than saying that he increased his power, it was more accurate to say that he was able to properly utilize the power he already possessed.
At least, to some extent.
Damien always heard about people solidifying their foundations or consolidating their power, but he never expected himself to land in the same situation. With the past 10 years of misconstrual holding him back, all he could do now was grow into his strength before trying to improve again, essentially putting him in the same situation.
Though, it wasn't his first time doing something like this. Damien realized just how often he gained power without properly being able to use it. It was a consistent problem for him dating back to when he first evolved, when he acquired vector control, and perhaps every other step of his journey.
A regular 4th class, the lowest of the low, still had the power to annihilate an entire continent if they used their life as collateral.
Someone of Damien's strength level should be able to do so by exerting every last bit of mana in their body, as well as damaging themselves somewhat.
He, on the other hand, didn't need to physically injure his body to accomplish the same feat. If he was using the power residing in his body alone, the extent of his mana pool was more than enough to destroy a continent.
But if he used his Celestial Authority to empower an ability like Starfall…?
Even world destruction wasn't out of his reach.
Now, a world like Death Emperor Star with its incredibly dense foundational laws wouldn't succumb to his measly power, but if he wanted to destroy Apeiron or Azure Rain Star, it was entirely possible.
Damien sighed and shook his head wryly at the thought. No matter how much understanding he gained about his own strength, he still couldn't believe it.
It was hard to feel that powerful. It was hard to fathom that he could destroy a world if he wanted to.
After all, he couldn't physically feel that power. His body contained incredible amounts of mana, but because of the Void Physique's external presence, the physical weight of that mana was never translated into his physical body.
But its existence was a surety nonetheless.
Damien clenched his fists and reveled in that realization. His gaze panned over the horizon of the Space and Time training area he was in. His mystical purple eyes seemed to swirl with profundity, countless patterns forming in his irises.
Bzzt! Crackle!
Sparks flew threw the air as a projection attempted to manifest itself. An invisible and formless yet streamlined image tried to break through the fabric of reality and appear before Damien's eyes.
Those All-Seeing Eyes didn't gain their name from nothing. Until this point, they'd let him see countless things. Illusions became null, mana became clear, the very essence of the universe was revealed to him…but he could never break the fabric of reality and see through the dimension entirely.
The potential of his eyes could allow this. If he could evolve them to a certain level, seeing through reality would be passive. But currently…
BANG!
Space and time exploded, creating a warped area the size of a quarter in front of Damien. In this area where nothing else could exist, Damien felt the presence of the Void he knew…and a faint sense of something even vaguer.
"Khaah…!" Damien let out a pained breath as he wiped the blood leaking from his eyes.
Waving his hand, he spoke.
"Reversal."
A strange coagulated essence flowed out of his body and repaired the small hole in reality. Spacetime essence that created the very box that the universe was stood tame in front of his control.
To affect the environment like this was easy. It was something he could do since long ago. After all, hadn't he been creating black holes since the early stages of 3rd class?
Only, these black holes didn't contain the mind-numbing suction force of true black holes. They were rudimentary materializations that could exist without breaking the foundational law of the worlds Damien was in when he created them.
His current abilities bordered on reality manipulation.
Below creation and destruction, the forces that allowed all others to exist, space and time were the most powerful and most necessary. Without them, how could life even come into being?
As he learned to control these two forces and bring them together into one, he began to understand more about reality, more about the universe, and more about himself.
The Space-Time River he'd once seen almost a decade ago, that blurry memory of a hazy blue river in the midst of chaotic nothingness, it didn't leave his head for the past 40 days.
It was his goal, his aspiration.
That river…as he grew, its outline became clearer. The fog blocking his view didn't seem so thick anymore. And as he explored the properties of that river in full, he realized that spacetime, the Void, even the esoteric "flow" that he'd just come to know…
Perhaps all these facets, all these little pieces that comprehensively formulated his power and his being…
Were never separate to begin with.
