Chapter 81: Skills Practice

"Milo we will train and learn our skills separately, then when we are both ready, we can practice them. After we gain basic mastery over them, we can use them in combat against each other" planned Damian.

"Yes" agreed Milo, as he sat in the corner and seeped his energy into the jade slip.

Milo's usual lazy temperament was overcome by his drive while he was around Damian, who not only pushed himself, but also those around him, forwards.

Damian had a rough idea of the Shadow Speed Technique, which was the most basic technique and application of the Dark Shadow Energy within the Shadow Steps Skill Book.

As Damian read more of the Shadow Steps Skill, he realised it was more of an inheritance for learning and forming his own movement skills using the Dark Shadow Element, just like the Golden Flame Inheritance that he gained.

Damian's luck was incredible so far, and almost everything that he had experienced so far has helped him to develop and learn more about how the world was.

Reading over everything to do with the basic technique within the Shadow Steps Skill, Damian finally felt confident enough to try it.

The skill instructed him to stream Dark Shadow Energy all around his body, in a similar way to how he would activate the Flame Reinforcement Skill, but the Dark Shadow Energy had different attributes and abilities to the fire element.

The Dark Shadow Element was an evasive and elusive element that focused on stealth, speed and evasion, with many other abilities and capabilities that were unique and limitless.

Unlike the explosive power that the Flame Reinforcement gave him, the Shadow Speed Technique that Damian was in the process of learning should make his body feel light and enhance his speed and reflexes.

The Shadow Speed Technique that he was learning assumed that it was being learnt by one of the Shadow Kin, meaning that it expected the learner to already be one with, and accustomed to the Dark Shadow Element, that the Shadow Kin were born from.

The Shadow Kin themselves were born from the Dark Shadow Element, and were the one and only unique race that was capable of wielding the element, until Damian.

The Shadow Kin since birth were able to wield the Dark Shadow Element with ease, and continuously imbued their body with the element and were in a constant state of Dark Shadow Reinforcement.

Damian, however, was yet to truly grasp the Dark Shadow Element, despite it being all around him, and didn't know how to use and activate the Dark Shadow Reinforcement, to be able to use the Shadow Speed Technique.

He was also a human, which from what he had heard from the Shadow Kin King was an inferior race that was beneath the Shadow Kin.

Damian was surprised by his composure after everything that he realised from his brief conversation with the Shadow Kin King, and he would have expected himself to be overwhelmed by everything he had learnt about the size of the universe.

But inversely, Damian was excited to explore the wide world, and from what he knew, his potential to grow was limitless.

Damian sat down on the ground in the centre of the private training room and closed his eyes.

Using his sensitivity towards all energies and his affinity with them all, Damian attempted to sense all the elemental energies that were present within the room that he was in.

He could feel the presence of the base 4 elements, that were most commonly used by people, but he could also feel that everything around him was formed by an elemental energy or multiple elemental energies together.

All the energies were unique and had their own uses and applications, and despite some of them having opposing natures that would clash, they were all coherent and flowed all around him.

Damian was more aware and in tune with all the elements than anyone else, and with his changeable energy, he had an affinity with any type of energy.

Behind the wooden dummy, that students could practise their skills on, was its shadow, and focusing on it, Damian could sense something that was similar to what he sensed in the weird place he was taken into to see the Shadow Kin King.

[This must be some sort of Shadow Energy, but it is still inferior to the Dark Shadow Energy that I felt in that weird place] observed Damian.

In the areas that were hidden of from the light, that he could also sense was an element of its own, Damian found an element he was yet to come across.

The Shadow Element.

It was where the Dark Shadow Element was made from, but it was different to it.

But Damian wasn't restricted to the Dark Shadow Element and could exploit the advantages of all elements that he wanted to.

[Utsusu, do you think I am ready to copy a new Soul Spirit] asked Damian, knowing that with a Soul Spirit it was easier to build an ability using an element.

{I would recommend the host to attempt to train in Dark Shadow Skills, and also spend more time learning and feeling the elements around the host. Then after the host reaches rank 3, you should copy a useful Soul Spirit with a different elemental affinity} answered Utsusu.

Damian agreed with Utsusu's recommendation and he was finally ready to attempt to transform his changeable energy into the Shadow or Dark Shadow Element.

Getting up, Damian was unsure how much time had passed while he was pondering on and feeling the elements around him, but it seemed that Milo has also begun to grasp the concept of the skill that he had.

The hardening of the fist that Milo's skill taught was inferior to Cole's hardening and unlike Cole's that had an elemental affinity, Milo's skill merely allowed him to reinforce his exterior with attributeless energy, not giving him any additional abilities or characteristics.

However, with Milo's beast bloodline transformations, he was accustomed to changing the composition of his body and grasped the concept of the skill quickly.

Remembering the sensation that he felt when his energy changed to form the Fire Energy, when he activated the Maxwell Family, Damian attempted to transform his changeable energy into Shadow Energy.