Zurat wasn’t sure what to do at the moment. Before they were enemies in which Zurat lost control and intended to bring him down with destructive force. Instead of waiting around, Damien directly grabbed his hand and shook it whether he liked it or not.
“I hope one day we could be friends. You're a tough opponent and I could use someone to spar with. Anyways I feel like we are more alike than you think. Let me know when you get better, see ya!”
Damien began to walk out with everyone in tow. Zurat stared at his hand for a moment, not knowing what it felt like to see someone on equal ground. Before they completely left, Zurat stopped them.
“Wait! How can you let it go just like that? Are you still not mad about what happened?”
Damien just turned around with the brightest smile Zurat had ever seen.
“I can’t stay mad, Zurat. I have good friends by my side and I have a dream. So no matter what, I'm always going to be looking ahead instead of being stuck in the past! If you need anything I’ll be training at the Cultivation Center most of the time.”
They all left his room, while Zurat stayed stunned in his spot. He felt the pain of not being able to move on from past things, but when he saw Damien it gave him some hope. He never really had any good friends that honestly meant a lot to him, nor did he have a real parental figure. Ari would come by and check on him but he wasn’t there on how Zurat needed him. He went back to his bed and thought about what he needed to change for the rest of the day.
This time around, they were finally able to convince Damien to eat out with them and enjoy a night around the city. The only reason he accepted was because he had been in a comatose state and they had been worried sick. Although all he wanted to do was train, he needed these breaks every so often to feel alive. They went through the city doing as they pleased. There was no longer a curfew imposed since classes finished for a couple of months. Damien came back to his room with a warm feeling inside. He knew his friends were long due for a trip back to their home and to see their families. Even though it pained him to not have anyone to go to as Veron had disappeared ever since he arrived, he felt that he was watching from afar.
“I know you were watching during the duel, grandpa. There’s no mistaking that feeling I had. I only hope I made you proud and slightly scared that I will surpass you in time for the bet! I wish I could see you, to know about my parents, and what they were like. I cannot change my past so I could only try my best to get the future I want! I will know everything about myself and this world!”
Kemo watched Damien mumbling to himself until he fell asleep. Kemo’s eyes were shining brightly like he knew what he was watching. Unbeknownst to Damien, the vision Kemo was able to see was being projected to Lazarus in his lair. There Lazarus was able to keep a close eye on Damien and on the being that terrified him. He witnessed a lot of things, but Will’s reports led him to stay on the sideline and to keep gathering knowledge on him. If it weren’t for that then Lazarus would’ve personally slayed him to keep his family safe.
Damien awoke at the break of dawn. He felt his energy levels rising to the peak of its stage. He knew at this point it was only a matter of time before he broke through. The only problem he had now was that after he reached the Sky Realm, he would not have the cultivation technique to train properly. His incomplete technique only allowed him to cultivate in the Earth Realm with amazing efficacy.
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“Can’t worry about that now. First, I’ll break through and prepare myself for when I can compete in the I-CAT. I’ll get the rest of the technique there!”
Damien already had his next steps planned so all he needed to do now was cultivate. Luckily for him, after his unprecedented win over Zurat, who was two years above him, he was granted 5000 credits. He had no worries about wasting it all to accomplish a step into his goals. With that in mind, he went to the Cultivation Center and locked himself into one of the chambers until he did it. Pretty soon he got into his meditative state and focused entirely on cultivation.
A week passed by, but he still felt infinitely near the peak. No matter how much Mana Mist he congregated into his system, it was still not enough to cause a qualitative change. It made Damien so anxious he had to stop and think about what he was doing wrong. He had reached the point where he could begin to break through but it wasn’t happening. The basic school of thought was to condense all of the Mana Mist into a single drop of Mana Fluid. After the drop is made the Mana Fluid has a base to hold on to, so that it can pour in and create a puddle. From a puddle, to a pond, then a pool, into a lake, then a river, and finally into an ocean. It seems simple enough to create just a single drop but this point has stumped many people from going above mediocrity.
‘If only they had the second volume here, then I’m sure it wouldn’t have been this difficult. There must be a condition I need to reach.’
He decided to step out of the chamber and take a walk around the lonely academy to gather his thoughts. The academy was as spacious as ever with only a few other lonely souls to be seen here and there. Damien walked by a scenic trail that passed by every single Point. On that trail by a pond hosting various fish, he found Zurat with his small frame staring into his reflection. Damien walked up to his side where they now could both see each other through their reflection. Zurat didn’t show my change in his demeanor and instead ignored the fact Damien showed up. Zurat was now out of his bandaged suit, with a healed body but inside his mind was a different story. Damien took a seat right beside him and watched the fish move about in a peaceful habitat.
“This is a pretty nice spot. Do you come here often?”
Zurat gave him a sidelong glance for a moment and sighed aloud.
“Yes I come here so I can be alone. So you kind of defeated the purpose of my visit.”
Damien took his remark in stride like it didn’t bother him. In fact, he was quite happy to find Zurat here. He believed they could talk and hash out some differences they had.
“Well I went on a walk to be alone, but when I saw you I knew I’d rather have company than be alone! What are you thinking about?”
Zurat became flabbergasted at the lack of understanding that went through Damien’s head. He had no idea what to see because he had never talked about his feelings with anyone. So instead of waiting for a reply, Damien just went on and talked about himself.
“You know, I never knew my parents or got to experience what a childhood really is. I’ve gotten used to being alone, but once I found my friends, I don’t think I can ever go back.”
Damien went on and on about how he grew up and how he felt coming to this academy alone. At first, Zurat was quite annoyed to be bombarded with this unwanted information, however as the time went on he started to understand they were similar in many ways. They both had no parents and had a parental like figure that wasn’t there for them how they wanted them to be. They were both extremely talented with gifts that would make others cry with envy. The only difference was that Damien was lucky enough to find true friends that cared for him rather than acquaintances that were around you because of your strength and connection to the Headmaster.
After they finished talking about themselves, they continued to talk about their dreams and goals. Zurat wanted to make Ari proud and to change the preconceived negative attitude everyone had about his species. The only problem Zurat had was that he didn’t know where to start. Damien sat in silence thinking that his past behavior was not even in line with what his dream was. You could say it was doing the opposite effect.
“Why did you act the way you did in the cafeteria if you want others to think differently of you?”
Zurat sunk his face closer into the pond but his torn expression was perfectly visible in the reflection. Even though Damien was just a young kid, he knew the types of emotions Zurat was currently going through. Damien slowly placed his hand on his back that calmed his trembling body. It gave Zurat the strength to talk about his issues.
“I’ve always been alone, making me an outcast. On top of my looks that have always been made fun of, I had to do something to protect myself. So I accepted the bad influences around me. I knew they just wanted to use my connections but I didn’t want to be alone. In the end I became just like them, someone with a twisted personality. No regard for anyone but myself. What do I do now?”