The Copy Mage

While debating with himself whether the mission was worth the trouble, Damian decided that despite the mission not being worth the trouble, not to let his pride be stepped on.

Suddenly turning around, Damian knew that the only chance he had to get his mission back and gain the upper hand against him, was with the element of surprise.

Circulating his dense changeable energy around his body and barging into the student, Damian snatched back the mission sheet while the student fell backwards onto his head.

Larry, that didn't have his Internal Energy and or Soul Spirit in use, was instantly knocked unconscious by the impact.

Internal Cultivators' bodies would require either energy fortifying it or a Soul Spirit activated for them to be ready for battle or to defend themselves, which was a massive disadvantage in comparison to External Cultivators who were physically strong and were always in their battle state.

Damian was lucky that the student was unprepared and an Internal Cultivator, as otherwise, he would have received a beating.

Without wasting time, knowing that trouble would soon follow him after that altercation, Damian returned to the receptionist and accepted the mission.

After he officially accepted the mission, he was granted a leave of absence for 8 hours for him and his mission companion.

With that, he left straight away before Larry regained consciousness, and rushed back to his residence before he could be chased.

He knew he was reckless for doing so, but at the same time, he felt good and didn't regret his decision in the slightest.

Damian didn't stop running until he had reached his residence and entered.

With his enhanced stamina and speed through his now stronger Internal Energy fortifying his body, Damian had arrived at his residence in no time.

Panting, Damian closed the door behind him and after catching his breath and recovering some of his energy, Damian went to Milo's room.

Damian's first choice for somebody to go with him on the mission was Milo, who despite probably being the weakest and least dependable, was the one that Damian felt closest with and was the most fun to be around.

Knocking on his door, Damian received no answer and after knocking a few more times to no avail, Damian, who didn't have time to waste, decided he would ask somebody else to go on the mission with.

Damian didn't want to go into Milo's room without permission unless it was an emergency and he had also recognised that Milo had been quite down lately, from the few times that he had seen him, as most of the time he was nowhere to be seen.

Asking the others that shared his residence, all of them had their own plans and were all busy.

Seeing Damian's dedication towards gaining strength, all of them adopted the same work ethic and were either in lessons or cultivating.

Cole had already accepted a solo mission while Matilda and Julia also had a mission together that they would set out to in the near future, leaving only Milo.

Damian had nobody else that he knew and or trusted in the academy, and it left him with Milo, who was the only one of his friends who didn't seem busy.

Although he didn't want to intrude on his friend's private space, Damian was desperate for a partner to go on the mission with him and was also worried about his friend.

It seemed as though all of his friends were working hard and progressing, while Milo was only seen when it was lesson time and he didn't seem to have improved in the slightest from the day they joined the academy.

Knocking again, Damian waited a few minutes for an answer.

Not receiving an answer, Damian waltzed into his friend's room.

"Milo I'm coming in" stated Damian as he saw Milo scrambling to cover his face, but before he could do so, Damian had already seen his face.

It seemed as though he had been crying for days and hadn't gotten much sleep and it seemed as though Damian was too focused on himself and forgot to check in his friends' health and wellbeing.

Instantly Damian felt guilty for not being more responsible and aware, especially with somebody he named and saw as a brother.

"Milo what's wrong" enquired Damian caringly as he closed the door behind him and approached his friend.

"Nothing" answered Milo, not wanting his friend to see the state that he was in.

Ever since Milo had awakened his weird Soul Spirit, his strength hadn't increased in the slightest.

It was as if his body was declining all energy that Milo was attempting to store within his body.

Milo couldn't remember much from his past, but what he could remember was that there was an old man that looked after him in a remote village and he spoiled Milo with all kinds of foods that Milo liked.

On his tenth birthday, Milo's body suddenly sprouted wings.

However, the wings were too hard for his body to sustain for long so it was quite useless.

After a while, the old man taking care of him became ill and he didn't have much longer to live.

His dying wish was for Milo to train and strengthen his Soul Spirit, that he had never seen before, and Milo set out towards Akegria Academy from his village as per his carer's final request.

Milo had been educated and was quite smart and knowledgable for his age, but he had no memories of his childhood apart from the old man caring for him for a year, which was why he wasn't too attached to the old man or too upset after he died, or so it seemed.

To Milo, it was almost as if his birth and identity were erased apart from the old man who had taken care of him and never once mentioned who Milo was or where he was from.

Milo had adopted a careless and joking attitude towards everything and it was very hard to ever gauge how he was feeling, but deep down he felt abandoned as the only person he cared about and knew about his past left him behind and passed away.

Seeing the ignorant and innocent Damian at the Entrance Ceremony, Milo couldn't help but help him out, and he began to feel a bond and care from Damian and his mother that he had never felt before.

It seemed as though everything was becoming great again just like when he was with the old man, but since then he was yet to be able to increase his strength despite the high graded skill and method that he gained and he couldn't take it any longer.