Damien gladly accepted the credits, which he planned to use some right away to continue his cultivation. He had no need for other techniques, only for Rune Spell Grimoires. They were only taught the basics in class so he would need to go to the library to broaden his magical horizons, which in turn could make him versatile like Cal. His thoughts were going in every direction to make use of the credits when the receptionist took out a signaling device and pushed it.
Directly after, the sound of bells ringing reverberated throughout the academy. It struck through the body of everyone currently present inside the walls and it could be heard far into the city. It lasted a full minute and the entire time the man noticed the confused look on Damien’s face.
“The Ceremonial Bells are sounded out when near impossible records are broken. It is a privilege to be the one who witnessed this.”
He left after he replaced the Heaven Crystal as Damien asked for another round. Damien silently cultivated the rest of the day without knowing the commotion he caused on the outside. Everyone who was outside the academy came rushing back and followed the bustling groups of students heading toward the Hall of Records to see what name had been changed. In the meantime Damien was taking his time slowly garnering the Mana so it could have a chance to regenerate as time went on. He milked it the entire day and when his time was coming to an end he rapidly drained it completely, breaking another crystal.
Damien left after sundown so there was not much activity around the campus. If he left any earlier he would’ve felt everyone talking and looking at him. His name kept making rounds through the academy that even the most senior students couldn’t ignore his name. Damien returned satisfied with his Mana Mist reaching past the halfway point, cementing himself in the Middle Earth Realm.
“Tomorrow is the last day of the off week. I should first get a Grimoire from the library and then spend my day in the Battle Chamber. There is always so much to do, isn’t that right Kemo?”
Kemo had just finished cleaning the room when Damien arrived, so when he looked back to Damien, he just plopped himself on the floor like he was tired as well. Damien chuckled to himself thinking that Kemo had quite the personality. He fell asleep in no time as the warmth of his Flame Core comforted him.
The next day came and it was already a busy one for Damien. He went to see Kyra Cloverleaf again for help. He wanted to find support Rune Spells to help him in battle. He was directed to a couple of spots and landed on a Grimoire named “Earth Realm Support.” It had everything he was looking for such as a Wind type speed Rune , Earth type body Rune, Water type Heal Rune, and such. It was a great starting point for anyone, but the price tag was set at 500 credits. Damien winced at the amount of credits he would need to spend.
‘I have to get it. I have no choice if I want to be stronger.’
Damien bit the bullet and checked it out. On the way out he ran into Gloria once again.
“Damien, what a coincidence. Are you in a rush?”
“Not necessarily, but I am busy. It was nice seeing you again!”
“That’s too bad. Before I forget, congratulations on setting a new record! It’s not something everyone can do!”
“Thank you Gloria! Wait, how did you know that was me?”
“Everyone knows. Your name appeared in the Hall of Records, silly. I’ll see you around.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
‘Great. Another thing to worry about.’
Damien left the library in a silent rush, but even then he was pointed out the entire way to the Cultivation Center. It was not anything new but he just wished to live a life without being the center of attention, which in due time we will know can never happen. Damien quickly booked a Battle Chamber for 100 credits and used the first hour memorizing each Rune Spell in the book. He took another hour afterwards to test them out to understand how to structure them in battle. Next was to strategize how he would respond in battle and that was why he was here. The Battle Doll was ready to be activated at any time. Once he did it was able to adapt to Damien’s strength and his fighting style to push him further.
Non-stop the entire day, Damien was training. His stamina grew from his steady cultivation, while the Mana cost of the Rune Spells were miniscule due to his Golden Mana Mist. It allowed him to keep up with the doll that knew nothing of being tired. By the end of it, he came out with an adept understanding of how to utilize the support Runes to compliment hks abilities. He left satisfied with the credits he spent, but he was not satisfied for the day. He went straight into cultivating inside of his room before the start of classes.
Damien’s routine had been set, and everyday he followed it strictly. His sword skill advanced everyday with Nora’s help. If he were stuck on anything relating to Dao Magic he would go see Wexley after class, where he would accommodate home with anything Damien asked. Izil would be shocked everyday to discover he was able to succeed so easily in her class. Everyone in their group became tight-knit, as they were always together ever since their mission.
Each day was a day closer to the anticipated duel between Damien and Zurat. The tension could be felt in the air, but Damien was confident as the days went by. During these past months their group had been in many missions, earning credits easily. Damien even went on a couple solo excursions for the experience. Earning these credits was vital for Damien because he spent them as they came. Like that the time passed and the seasons changed. Everyone made their progress, but Damien was advancing by leaps and bounds. Cal reached the Sky Realm in Dao Magic as did Erik. Damien was 99% filled with Golden Mana Mist reaching the precipice of the Sky Realm. Even still his strength far surpassed everyone else’s except Yuki’s whose growth was abnormal. In private they talked and Damien was finally told her real ranking. She was currently at Sky Realm Rank 8!
Despite that, she plans on staying in the Sky Realm until her Dao is matured so that she could go into the next stage forming her Mana to complement it. It was standard protocol to stay there for years on end until you were finally ready for the next stage. So no matter how quick you were to reach that point, it really all depends on your Dao comprehension if you want to have a solid foundation. Also as she promised helped Damien prepare for the duel by sparring. These moments led them to becoming very close friends as there is a lot you can find out about someone from the way they fight.
It was now a day away from the promised time and the school year to be over. Just like how Damien prepared intensely, Zurat was forced to. After hearing Damien’s name over and over again from breaking a record to his insane spoils from their numerous excoriations. For once, Zurat felt the need to put in effort so he wouldn’t embarrass himself. They even ran into each other a couple times at the Cultivation Center, but no words were exchanged.
Damien was currently with his group of friends consisting of Cal, Erik, and Yuki. They were having a strategic meeting in Damien’s room. Damien sat there blankly letting their words through one ear and out the other. He was out of his daze when Yuki smacked him awake.
“Are you listening, dimwit? This isn’t a game, you know.”
“Yes Yuki, I am. Use my physical abilities and swordsmanship in a blitz so he doesn’t have a chance to react. Otherwise don’t use any type of Magic because he can devour it and feed on it. Unless…”
“Unless you want to reveal ‘that’ about you, but you don’t.”
Damien nodded affirmatively leaving the other two in the dark. This led to Cal and Erik becoming curious of the secret they were just talking about.
“Hey sis, what secrets are you two keeping from us? And why do you only know?”
Yuki stared at Cal with a deadpan expression showing her attitude on this subject.
“It’s a secret I forced him to tell me. Even then it was something he shouldn’t have let me know. I regret it now.”
There was nothing more Cal could say. Damien didn’t want to show off his Golden Mana Mist to the entire school and he didn’t feel ready to let his friends know yet. They wrapped up their meeting there so they could let Damien rest. He wanted to cultivate through the night but his brain couldn’t focus on the right state of mind. He thought of the secret he was keeping and it didn't make him feel good. He decided he would tell them after the duel, win or lose.
“Should I just sleep today? Yeah, I think so, it’s been awhile.”
Damien had no trouble falling asleep. For this past year he would only fall asleep while he did excursion missions with his friends. Besides that he never gave himself that luxury. The thought of being entrapped in a finite amount of space due to the limitations of his strength, brought in a psychological anxiety he could not control. He could take it easy and have the Kingdom of Atria in the palm of his hands, but there would come a day he would feel stuck in the same place and that scared him. Even the Zyres Continent was not enough to satisfy his anxiety. He needed the strength to explore beyond that, into the unknown of the infinity. There he believed his feeble mind could be put at ease. That is why he trained with discipline even when others told him he was a genius.