Chapter 77: Mysterious Skill Book
Damian and Milo made it back to the central city without any complications along the way and they found a restaurant that wanted to buy the beast body off them.
It was a large beast body with a lot of beast meat, but it wasn't in the best state and it ended up being sold for 300 spirit coins, because it was nearing rank 3 and had a lot of beast meat.
Utsusu had given Damian a rough pricing range for beast bodies, and it was quite a generous offer, that he accepted.
He split the money 150 spirit coins for him and 150 spirit coins for Milo and they both decided to give the driver 50 spirit coins, who despite getting them into a difficult situation, was a nice person.
As he spoke with Milo he told him how he had 3 sisters and a mother that was ill, and he had to provide for them all after his father died and also had to buy medication for his mother.
He gratefully accepted the money and they parted ways.
The restaurant was prestigious and known by many, so Damian cleverly got them to sign a paper to show that they bought a peak rank 2 boar beast from them, so they could prove that they completed the mission.
They could also use anybody from the village or their carriage driver if they needed to, but Damian didn't think that would be necessary.
Damian explained to Milo what happened in the Mission Hall, and Milo couldn't help but scold him, like Damian would usually scold him, for his recklessness.
They snuck back to the Mission Hall, that they accepted the mission from, and made sure they were cautious along the way, not wanting to be found by the guy that Damian retook the mission from.
The receptionist accepted the receipt as proof of their mission and Milo and Damian were rewarded 35 contribution points each and their successful completion of the mission was completed.
However she couldn't help but be shocked by the students who had only spent a few days within the academy yet were able to defeat a peak rank 2 beast.
"Milo, for now, we should be careful around the academy and we have caught the attention of quite a few students. With the lack of teacher intervention and rules, there is nothing to protect us but ourselves and we need to wait until we are strong, before we can act how we want" stated Damian to Milo as they headed back to their residence.
Damian was looking forwards to completing more missions and exploring more of the Akegria Academy in Aria Academy, especially the Specialisation Hall that he was most interested in, but he decided to postpone it until he was satisfied with his sterngth.
[For now I will focus on cultivating and I should aim to enter the Inner Academy as soon as possible, so I can have access to more things that will help me strengthen myself] stated Damian to himself.
As an Outer Academy Student, they were treated with minimal priority and were yet to be truly recognised by the academy.
However for exceptional talents like Damian and Milo, at the speed they were progressing at, would reach their target in no time.
The pages that he had unlocked from the Golden Flame Method were enough for him to reach rank 5, and instructed him on how he was meant to improve his Internal Cultivation and strengthen his body's capacity to hold, absorb and store energy, so that he could reinforce his body with his internal energy.
Until he reached rank 5, he didn't have anything new to learn and had to cultivate through the method that he already knew, that also required him to have a strong foundation, that was strengthened through arduous training and battles that would push his body past its limits.
[I will cultivate during the day, and will go to the training centres in the Combat Hall in the evening, where I can battle against Milo to train] decided Damian as he sat on his bed, knowing that he didn't have to attend Internal Cultivation Lessons.
But before he began cultivating he attempted to read the skill book that he chose again, but he still didn't understand any of the writing that was in a different language.
Damian tried dropping his blood onto it, flicking through all its pages and everything else he could think of, but nothing happened and he still couldn't understand the language of the skill.
[Utsusu are you sure this was as valuable as you believed] asked Damian who was starting to doubt Utsusu's words.
{Just like I said, I felt as though it was more valuable than the scroll and I have a weird sense that allows me to gauge the value of things. However, just like you, I have no idea what the language is and how it is to be used} answered Utsusu honestly.
{Why don't you try pouring your changeable energy into it rather than your fire energy that you used last time} suggested Utsusu.
[Its worth a try] thought Damian to himself as he shrugged and lifted up the black and worn out book.
Damian while trying to find out the use of the supposedly valuable skill book, used his fire elemental energy, that his changeable energy changed into while he had his Maxwell Fire Soul Spirit activated, rather than using his changeable energy, that he thought wouldn't have an effect.
Damian attempted to pour some attributeless changeable energy into the skill book, which wouldn't have an effect on a normal item, but he was shocked to find that the book was able to absorb his energy.
[What the hell is this] exclaimed Damian within his mind as he felt the skill book greedily sucking in his energy.
He couldn't stop it no matter how hard he fought against the siphoning of his energy, and before he knew it, almost all of the energy within his body was sucked by the skill book as Damian lost conscious due to the sudden exhaustion of his energy.