The Copy Mage

"The Arrow Beam Skill, are you sure?" asked his master.

"Yes" answered Damian with confidence.

"This is a skill that is only F:5 graded, not because it was weak, but because of its single application and growth potential that is limited. It is also low graded because it doesn't use any elemental affinities and requires the user to imbed their own knowledge into the skill, which is very difficult to do and it is also a very hard skill to use as it requires great energy control, which is hard to do during a heated battle" stated his master.

"That is fine with me and was what I was looking for" replied Damian who had made his decision.

"Good, that is the confidence that I want to see in my disciple and I'm am looking forwards to seeing what you can do with this skill" praised the great elder, who knew that the skill had a lot of key and useful concepts within it.

"You can learn as much of the skill as you can in my personal room behind the front desk, then you can leave to continue your training. You can return to that room whenever you need to, even if I am not there, to learn the skill that will be kept there, but you are not allowed to take it out of the library" stated his master.

"Yes master and thanks again for your help and advise" thanked Damian as he followed his master back into the small room at the front fo the library.

Delving straight into the skill and how it was used, Damian began reading through it excitedly as his curiosity to find out how it worked along with his thirst for knowledge took over him.

[Utsusu can you copy the skill book into your mindscape, so that I can continue to learn it outside of the library later] communicated Damian to Utsusu who he hadn't spoken to in a long time.

{Yes I will do so as I continue to gather more and more information about the world that you are in} accepted Utsusu that had increased his information storage and could copy the Arrow Beam Skill Book quite easily.

The skill was quite simple, but what was difficult about it was the concept behind the skill and the fact that it required the user to be capable of forming a solid object with their energy.

It was a skill that could be used by cultivators that didn't have an elemental affinity, but also by cultivators that did have an elemental affinity. However, the skill itself still wasn't widely sort after as there weren't many that trained in archery and its power and ability wasn't anything special.

It made it so that a cultivator wouldn't require to carry arrows and could form ones of his own, but to most, arrows were easy to buy and it wasn't a skill that would make a massive difference in the power of an archer.

However, Damian felt that they believed that because they were short-sighted and he was planning to form many skills and abilities by matching the skill with his changeable energy that made anything possible.

Damian knowing that he could learn the skill later along wanted to gather his thoughts on what his master had told him and realised how different most others were when he compared them with himself.

They were 9 known cultivation ranks and after one reaches the peak of rank 9, it was unknown to him what was next. Average talents, that had talent grades that were between F:6 and F:2, would reach that peak within 15 to 30 years of cultivation if they had a suitable method and the resources needed to do so, and wouldn't seek out the next level of cultivation. 

It was an unusual thing to understand for Damian who couldn't imagine anything more attractive than his own strength and power increasing and his drive and ambition was so high that he saw most of the Gobe Country's citizens as unworthy of his time and attention.

After reaching the peak of rank 9 most cultivators within the Gobe Country would attempt to join or create an organisation of their own where they could live quite luxuriously and comfortably with their power and status.

It was enough to satisfy their desire for strength and with their slightly increased lifespan, they could have many children to pass down his legacy and lineage, while those that wanted to increase their strength and skill would only increase their knowledge and mastery over their ability, not desiring or capable of increasing their cultivation further.

Not many would seek out higher power and would leave the country to do so, while there were also a few hidden figures within the country that had links outside the Gobe Country and had a method capable of surpassing the 9th rank.

The principal was rumoured to have godly powers that surpassed anything that they had ever seen along with the father of the current king that was part of the same generation as the principal. That power was not possible for them to have accomplished alone and most, that knew of the truth of the world, assumed that they must have some links outside the country.

The Gobe Country had fertile land and was still quite a small developing country so was yet to attempt to explore the rest of the continent and find other countries to trade, ally or battle with and were segregated and ignorant to the rest of the country.

That was quite intentional and they felt that ignorance was bliss and there was no point trying to make connections and a name for themselves on the continent. It was obvious to them that they were only a small country, so they didn't attempt to make any large movements on the content.

However, they were slowly beginning to send young talents to other organisations and large countries, that they briefly knew of, to bring back more power, resources and influence to their country.

Damian after finding that out felt trapped and held down as he thought about Darren who was the most talented youth that he knew and wondered whether he would be leaving the country soon after reaching the peak of the ninth rank.

However, it couldn't be as simple as that and Damian's best bet of finding his next opportunity after Akegria Academy would be with Ivan who, as his master had informed him, was a scout from outside the country.

Damian suppressed his curiosity and desire to explore and find out more about the world and the rest of the continent and focused on his strength that he knew he had to increase.

He had less than 5 months to increase his strength as much as possible and set up a solid foundation for him to become an inner disciple and he was planning not to waste a single second of that time.