"Let the Test begin!" Magister Dango shouted.
The moment his final declaration echoed, the glowing circular platforms beneath the feet of every candidate vibrated... and then, sank inwards.
A unified scream filled the arena as hundreds of bodies plummeted into pure, drowning darkness.
The wind howled violently around us as we dropped, yet there was no such feeling of weightlessness. No rush of air across the skin.
It was as though the abyssal valley we were plunged into swallowed every sound and sensation, replacing them with humming silence.
The platform on which we stood disappeared, leaving each candidate to float on circular formations.
One by one, every one of us disappeared into different locations, guided by the invincible circular formation beneath our feet.
The abyss was not one place — there were thousands of realms in existence.
Shifting dimensions.
Brute trial realms.
