The Copy Mage

"Damian I am garbage. I cannot cultivate" wailed Milo as he collapsed before his friend.

Seeing the pain in his voice and the despair and sorrow that Milo was going through, Damian was enlightened to his friend's struggles.

While Damian was rapidly increasing in strength and enjoying the pursuit of power, he was ignorant to the pain that Milo felt as he was once again feeling abandoned.

His abandonment issues were getting the better of him and he felt as though everything was leaving him; his memories, his carer and now his first friends.

"Don't worry Milo I'm sure that isn't true" reassured Damian who knew more about Milo's Soul Spirit than Milo himself, through Utsusu.

As Milo broke down, Damian knew that his words of reassurance were having no effect on Milo and he needed to find out why he wasn't capable of cultivating and how he would sort it out.

[Utsusu what is going on. Why can't Milo cultivate if he has an incredible Soul Spirit like I do] asked Damian.

{Hmmm. Currently, I am not sure and I would need a bit more time to gauge that} answered Utsusu honestly.

Hearing Utsusu's words, Damian's biggest hope of finding a solution for Milo's problem was useless.

{However, although I am not completely sure, I do have an idea of what is happening. It seems as though Milo's body cannot store any more energy than a normal human that has never cultivated, which is why his Soul Spirit has such a large burden on him and can't be used.

That is where your Soul Spirit differs from his and it seems as though there are some conditions to be met before he can begin to cultivate. In the same way, the host needed to copy a Soul Spirit before the host could cultivate properly, Milo might probably need to copy a beast bloodline before he could begin cultivating and storing energy within his body} hypothesised Utsusu.

Utsusu's hypothesis was the only lead that Damian had to find a solution to Milo's problem and also made sense to Damian.

"Milo I have a solution to your problem" stated Damian to Milo who was wallowing in despair.

Damian's words didn't resonate with Milo instantly and after a few seconds, his tears suddenly halted.

"Are you serious Damian? You can help me" uttered Millo hopefully.

"Yes Milo I can help you and..." stated Damian before being stopped by Utsusu.

{Remember you cannot reveal my existence, your ability, your knowledge and or anything that is out of the ordinary that will get you into trouble, even if he is your best friend} interrupted Utsusu.

"And what Damian," asked Milo hoping that Damian would be the one that could give him the lifeline that he needed.

"I know why you can't cultivate and know the solution, but cannot tell you how I know this and you have to promise me you will keep it secret and also not to ask me too many questions that I probably can't answer" stated Damian.

Milo was overjoyed by Damian's bold revelation, but his conditions were weird and it made him curious and suspicious to who he had claimed to be his best friend and brother.

"Do you trust me?" asked Damian directly to Milo, who he could see was deep in thought.

The question was hard for Milo, who after feeling abandonment, was too scared of being abandoned again and didn't want to ever feel that again, so didn't want to bond with anybody that would be able to abandon him.

However with Damian, it felt different and he was so kind and warm, and also had similar energy to his that was nothing like anything he had been taught.

"Yes, I do" answered Milo after a few minutes of thought.

Damian from the moment of meeting him had shown integrity, drive, care and compassion towards Milo and the least Milo could do in return was trust him and try to repay him as he attempted to help him.

"Then sleep and relax and tomorrow morning we will set out on a mission and will solve your problem" stated Damian.

He gave his friend a reassuring smile and returned to his room leaving Milo slumped on his bed.

Damian knew that Milo needed his personal space and didn't want to pry too much, leaving Milo feeling embarrassed.

He was a mess and after dwelling over everything while having a long bath, Milo felt much better afterwards.

Although he doubted that Damian could actually help him, Milo was still happy that his friend was willing to attempt to help and instead of allowing himself to be left behind and abandoned, Milo decided he would make sure that he kept up with his friends.

With his new resolve and his worry relieved slightly, Milo fell asleep after struggling to sleep for days.

Meanwhile, Damian cultivated slightly before lying down to sleep.

Damian's plan to help his friend was simple, if Utsusu's hypothesis was correct, then it would require either the blood or beast core from a beast for him to be able to cultivate, which he would be able to gain after completing their mission, that didn't say that they had to hand in the beast's body.

Damian had learnt about beast cores from Utsusu and had heard about them in the Maxwell Family, but had never had the chance to come across one.

The beast core is the most valuable part of a beast's body and is where most of the beast's energy is concentrated. They contained energy and could either be used for cultivation or as a material.

The quality and value of beast cores varied and their quality were ranked in the same way as the missions in Akegria Academy, while they also had the rank of the cultivation that the beast reached before being killed.

While the rest of the body of a beast also contains some residual energy and could be eaten by cultivators to gain some energy and strengthen their body slightly, or used as materials.

With a possible and likely solution to Milo's problem and a mission to complete the next day, Damian also slept comfortably, excited to to complete his mission and help his friend.