Dimension System: SSS Rank Talent Awakening
Chapter 252 - 252 – The Gate of Trials

Dabi clenched his fists, staring down at the faint traces of energy still lingering on his fingertips. He couldn't find out how this marking comes in his room.

Dabi talk to himself, Did someone put this inside my room? What is the reason for it? What should I do with this. Or maybe this were here in this room before I came here. Maybe someone who stay in this room before me left it here.

Suddenly his mind started to become hazy again. He is forgetting about the marking. Something about the runes, the gate, the entire process—it left an unsettling void in his mind. A memory he should have had, but didn't. He stated to forgot everything. Dabi's subconscious mind trying his best to resist.

Before he could dwell on it further, a summons arrived. Headmaster Raghnall was calling for him and his team. Dabi received a summons inside his mind from Raghnall. That hazy situation vanished. Dabi didn't think about that anymore. He goes to meet with the headmaster.

When Dabi arrived at the house's briefing hall, Zen, Jeni, Kiba, and Althea were already there. The air was heavy with anticipation. They were no strangers to missions, but the intensity in Raghnall's eyes told them this one was different. They could fell he wanted say about something important. They looks at him with serious and determined faces, as if they were ready for the important talk.

"You'll be entering a dimensional gate," Raghnall said without preamble. "A high-low level one. This is not just training—it's a mission."

[Memory refresh: there are three types of gates. Low, Mid, and High. Each gates also have three levels, low, mid, and high.]

A high-low level gate? Dabi felt a flicker of excitement and caution. These gates weren't normal. Unlike the lower and middle level ones used for controlled training and raising warrior, high level gates were unpredictable. You need be at least a Grandmaster rank to enter this type of gates. The danger inside could be overwhelming—even fatal.

Rank System-

1. Gate keeper (Level 50–99)

2. Rift walker (Level 100–149)

3. Abyssal Knight (Level 150–199)

4. Master (Level 200–299)

5. Grand master (Level 300–399)

6. Void breaker (Level 400–499)

7. Saint (Level 500+)

Raghnall's voice was firm. "The gate manifested near the western cliffs. From

what we've gathered, it's been dormant for centuries. Some recorded history, no past survivors—just an unexplored space full of unknowns." His gaze sharpened. "It will test you in ways you haven't faced before."

Before you ask why didn't anyone close the gate. The reason is simple. This gate was used as Grandmaster rank test hundred years ago. For hundred years this was left and forgotten. No one cares about it. In past hundred years, Many new adventures gone inside that gate for many reasons but no one came back.

Zen smirked, resting his hands behind his head. "So what you're saying is… we're the first ones dumb enough to step inside?"

Jeni shot him a glare. "He's saying it's dangerous, idiot brother."

Kiba cracked his knuckles. "No intel, huh? Then we just stay sharp and adapt. Nothing we haven't done before."

Althea, ever composed, adjusted the leather straps on her gauntlets. "What's the mission objective?"

Raghnall's eyes flicked to her. "Survival."

A brief silence.

Then, he continued. "You'll enter, assess the threats inside, and find the exit. If there are artifacts, resources, or anything of strategic value, you secure them. But remember—your lives come first. The gate will remain open for exactly seventy-two hours. If you don't return by then, you can't participate in the finals." The final match starts in 4 days. You will need to report in 72 hours. This will be your unlimite training as a team before the final match.

Dabi nodded, already shifting into mission mode.

Raghnall's voice dropped slightly. "One more thing. This isn't an ordinary test. The energy readings in that gate are… strange. You might encounter things beyond physical threats."

Zen raised an eyebrow. "Like what? Ghosts?"

Raghnall didn't answer. That was enough to make even Zen go quiet.

With little time to waste, the team split to gather supplies.

Dabi packed efficiently—rations, water, a basic medical kit, and a reinforced set of gauntlets, ensuring they were secured tightly. His instincts were screaming at him that this mission wouldn't be straightforward.

Zen strapped extra swords along his belt, checking each one with the casual ease of someone who thrived in chaos. "I call dibs on anything cool we find inside."

Jeni sighed, stuffing extra energy pills into her pouch. "We're not looters, Zen."

Kiba tested his handwraps, rolling his shoulders. "No, but if anything inside attacks us first, I'm keeping the spoils."

Althea ignored their banter, methodically tying back her hair and checking the enchantments on her gloves.

Dabi finished his packing and turned to the others. "Weapons ready?"

Zen grinned. "Always."

Jeni nodded. "Let's just get this over with."

With their gear secured, the team met at the academy's outer gates, where Raghnall waited. The western cliffs weren't far, but the energy waves emanating from the newly formed dimensional gate could be felt even from here.

By the time they arrived, the entire landscape had changed. The rift loomed above the cliffs like a swirling storm of violet and gold. The ancient monastery nearby had long since crumbled, leaving behind ruins that only added to the eerie atmosphere.

Raghnall stood in front of the gate, arms crossed. "This is your last chance to back out."

No one moved.

A small smirk crossed Raghnall's face. "Good. Then step forward."

Dabi took the first step.

The moment his foot crossed the threshold—

Darkness swallowed him whole.

"Inside the Gate – The Shattered Domain"

When Dabi opened his eyes, he was standing in an entirely different world.

The sky was fractured. Great cracks ran across the heavens, filled with an eerie golden light that bled into the dark atmosphere. Floating islands of stone hovered in midair, shifting as if the laws of gravity were an afterthought. The air smelled ancient—like dust and something not quite real.

His team materialized beside him, appearing one after another.

Zen whistled. "Alright. That's a new one."

Jeni took a cautious step forward. "Everyone okay?"

Dabi rolled his shoulders. "Intact. But this place…" He glanced around. "It's not normal."

Kiba frowned. "Feels like we're being watched."

He wasn't wrong. Even without an enemy in sight, there was an undeniable pressure— like something lurking just beyond the edges of perception.

Althea bent down, touching the ground. "It's unstable. I can feel the energy shifting beneath us."

Dabi turned to the others. "Stay close. We move as a unit."

As they started walking, the terrain shifted beneath their feet. It wasn't like normal land—it was reacting to them. Every step left faint ripples, like stepping on the surface of water, even though it was solid rock.

Then, the first disturbance hit.

A low growl echoed from the mist ahead. Shadows flickered along the edges of their vision.

Dabi immediately raised a hand, signaling for silence. The others stopped, falling into a defensive stance.

Out of the fog, they emerged.

Humanoid figures—twisted and incomplete, like statues that had been shattered and reassembled incorrectly. Their limbs were jagged, their faces smooth and featureless except for the hollow glow in their sockets. They twitched, their movements unnatural, like puppets controlled by broken strings.

Then, as if on cue, they attacked.

One lunged at Zen. He barely dodged, spinning away as the creature's arm extended— elongating unnaturally in an attempt to skewer him.

Dabi reacted instantly, his gauntlet-clad fist colliding with another creature's torso. The impact should have shattered bones, but the thing barely staggered. It moved with no sense of pain —no hesitation.

Kiba roared, slamming his fist into the ground. A shockwave erupted, sending three of the creatures sprawling.

Jeni's daggers flashed, carving through another, but instead of blood, an inky black substance oozed from the wound. The creature didn't stop moving.

Althea clenched her fists, and waves of compressed air shot forward, blasting two enemies backward.

Dabi narrowed his eyes. "They're not alive."

Zen gritted his teeth. "Yeah, no kidding!"

Dabi ducked as a creature's arm morphed into a bladed shape, slicing through the air where his head had been moments before. With a burst of mana, he drove his fist forward, channeling a concentrated explosion of force into the thing's chest. This time, the impact shattered it completely, sending black shards scattering across the ground.

Jeni flicked her wrist, sending a dagger flying straight into another creature's head. It didn't react at first— then, it stopped moving.

She exhaled. "Destroy the heads. That's the weak point."

Dabi caught on immediately. "Everyone, aim for the head!"

The battle intensified. With renewed focus, they tore through the creatures, targeting their vulnerabilities. One by one, the hollow figures collapsed into nothingness, their broken forms disintegrating like sand caught in the wind.

Then— The ground lurched.

A deep rumbling shook the area. Cracks spread beneath their feet. The sky above shattered further, the golden fissures widening as an ominous force awakened.

Dabi's instincts screamed.

"We need to move. Now."

No one argued. They ran, sprinting across the unstable landscape as the entire dimension seemed to collapse inward. The world itself was shifting, trying to consume them.

Ahead, a towering structure emerged from the mist. A temple—intact, untouched, as if it had been waiting for them.

Dabi made a split-second decision.

"That's our destination. GO!"

The team surged forward, the echoes of unseen forces closing in behind them.

The trial was far from over.

It was only just beginning.