The Copy Mage

Waking up in an infirmary bed, Damian's entire body was sore and stiff after accidentally entering his Shadow Form.

Entering his mindscape, Damian replayed the events occurred in the training centre and was in awe of the Shadow Form that he entered and the power of the young swordsman.

Ever since transmigrating into his current body, Damian had been able to replay his memories within his mind and had a mindscape of his own, similar to that of Utsusu.

The youth was incredibly charming and had an incredible aura that both attracted and intimidated everyone that came across it.

[What an incredible cultivator, and from the way Larry reacted, he must be very influential, widely known and powerful within the academy] thought Damian to himself.

Damian when comparing himself to others in his year could see that he was one of the best within the Aria branch of Akegria Academy, but after coming across Darren, he was shown just how wrong he was.

Despite the gap in age, Damian could see the skill and power that Darren had, that was on the level of an elder and was continuously increasing, may not be a level that he would be able to reach as quickly as he did.

[The academy swordsman. You are now another rival of mine and I will repay you for saving me] declared Damian to himself.

He sat up on the infirmary bed and began circulating his energy, aiming to increase his body's recovery speed as he began pondering on the Shadow Form that he accidentally entered and everything that had occurred in his altercation against Larry.

Damian couldn't help but desire the Wind Sythe ability that Larry displayed through his Soul Spirit and he added it to the list of Soul Spirits he had within his head that he wanted to acquire.

Attempting to cultivate and increase his strength, Damian found that the process of cultivation was painful and his body was sore all over, including his meridians and energy storages.

The only thing Damian could do to pass the time, was circulate the scarce energy he had within his body, that he recovered through medication that the infirmary provided to him, and read through his skills and methods while his body was slowly recovering.

Flicking through the Shadow Steps Skill Book, that had been imprinted into his mind along with the soul fragment of the Shadow Kin King, he soon found a technique that was similar to the one that he had accidentally used.

The Shadow Steps Skill Book became empty after Damian managed to activate it and all the writing and words magically disappeared from the book and were imprinted into Damian's mind. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been able to learn the skill from the smudged and worn out book.

The Shadow Form was a skill that allowed the user to enter the Shadow Plain, which was a plain that was parallel and existing beside reality, which he could use to hide his physical form.

It required a constant stream of energy and concentration to be able to sustain it, and it could have backlash on the user's physical body if they used it without preparing their body through practice, and if one stayed within the Shadow Plain for too long, there would be extreme backlash.

Damian was fascinated by what he was reading and was grateful that he only suffered a minimal backlash from using the skill unprepared, which he knew would heal within a few days, comparing it to the irreversible consequences he was reading.

He wasn't sure why he wasn't as badly affected as it described, but he was thankful for it and didn't want to risk harming himself again by using the skill without preparation and thoroughly learning and understanding the skill.

From what he was reading, it was also quite a basic technique for the Shadow Kin and was one that would be taught in the early stages of cultivation for them, but it didn't state any cultivation levels and from the amount of energy that it was using, they were at a much higher level than Damian could even imagine.

Not only that, the Shadow Kin had managed to surpass the limits of the Shadow Element and with their Dark Shadow Energy, which they had formed by fusing the Shadow Element with the element of Darkness, they had managed to massively increase their power and abilities.

The Shadow Kin from what he was reading were legendary beings and comparable to gods for the current place he was in, but he couldn't help but wonder what monster would be capable of wiping out such a powerful and capable race.

However, his train of thought was soon halted as he began to feel overwhelmed by how vast the world was and how powerful others were in comparison to himself, who was very weak and not capable of much.

Damian had a small flame within his dantian, that was the Maxwell Fire Soul Spirit and beside it was the copy book. Knowing that, he was curious to see how many Soul Spirits he would be able to copy and store within his body as his mind continued to wonder about all the mysteries of his Soul Spirit and everything that he had come across.

Stoping his contemplation and procrastination after a while, Damian continued circulating his energy to increase his recovery speed, while slowly attempting to cultivate despite the pain he felt while doing so.

Over time the pain he felt while absorbing energy and circulating his energy was decreasing, but it was still far from gone as his body was healed, but his internal wounds that he suffered from the backlash were yet to recover.

He was allowed to leave the infirmary after a nurse checked on his body, and after eating a meal in the canteen, Damian returned to his residence.

He didn't want to tell his friends what had happened, especially Milo and his mother who were very hot-headed, and decided to keep it to himself until he could publically get his revenge.

[I will make sure to repay the swordsman when I am stronger and next come across him] vowed Damian to himself, extremely grateful towards his saviour that had saved his life.

[While I will get Larry back for attempting to kill me and I will not only defeat him, but will also humiliate him and copy his Soul Spirit] declared Damian unwilling to let go of the hatred he was feeling as the hatred he felt towards Trevor added more fuel to his fire.