1 Month Later

Damian had been diligently training and had managed to not only breakthrough into the 3rd rank, but also trained and practised his skills.

His mastery over the Shadow Speed Technique had reached the Low Level, which equated to fifty percent mastery, along with the rest of his skills.

With Low Level Mastery, he could unleash 50 percent of its maximum power and use it more comfortably, all while lowering the activation speed.

He made sure to reach at least Low Level Mastery over all his skills to not only increase his power and ability with them, but to also increase his proficiency with the use of Internal Energy.

Damian didn't waste any time and all of his friends and those that saw how much he was training called him a freak, as he only stopped to eat and sleep.

Within the single month, his height had increased slightly while his body had also become more toned, along with his white hair increasing in length.

Waking up, Damian wanted to head straight towards the training centre to continue his training, but before he could he was suddenly stopped by an academy helper.

One could become an academy helper after becoming an Inner Disciple, and by becoming one you were paid to work and help in the academy under an elder or senior figure, and was a way for less talented students to find employment.

All those that worked within the Academy including the receptionists and academy helpers were previously academy students or had joined the academy, which was done by the principal so that it was very hard for outsiders to secure a high role within the academy.

"You have been given a notice of your battle today and as the representative of this residence, your challenge for it is today" announced the academy helper.

"Your conditions were met and you will be going against students who only have a one year gap with you at most, and they have been chosen as the most suitable challengers" informed him the helper.

Damian was open to any challenges with other students for the White Ranked Residence he was staying in, which was the largest and most luxurious out of them all.

Despite it only being an average-sized house with a small back yard, compared to the other White Ranked Residences, which were free for Academy Students, it was by far the greatest.

Many students had issued challenges for the residence through the Combat Hall, and the combat hall filtered them all and chose three that Damian was obligated to fight against.

After he fought 3 battles to protect his position in the residence, he was no longer obligated to battle and he could decline any other challenges that were made to him for another month.

Each month he had to fend off at least 3 challengers to keep his position and he could only decline a single challenger out of the three that the Combat Hall chose each month, which another student would then replace.

However, Damian was confident in his strength and skill and was prepared to face anybody within his age range without much difficulty.

Damian was yet to come across the young rising talents from the other branches of Akegria Academy, but in the Aria branch, he was yet to find anybody that he saw as extremely talented, other than Darren who was only visiting.

Damian had come to realise that the Aria branch of Akegria Academy was the smallest and weakest out of all the branches and because of that, he didn't see many within his current academy as worthy of his attention yet as he only wanted to face against the strongest and most talented.

Other than his friends that shared a residence with him, there weren't many that Damian believed could keep up with the rate he was progressing at, and he was making sure to strengthen his foundations and knowledge as much as he could, instead of focusing mainly on increasing his cultivation level.

"Lead the way" stated Damian nonchalantly as he followed the academy helper towards the arena that had been prepared.

Any official challenges that had been issued would take place in a public arena, where any students or academy members could visit and watch.

Damian was no longer fazed by crowds and people like he was when he had just entered the academy and his rate of growth both in terms of cultivation and mentally had been incredible.

Cole, Matilda, Julia and Milo had all made sure to get to the arena early and had seats that were right beside the arena as they anxiously watched Damian approach the stage led by the academy helper.

The academy helper was at the 6th rank and was also going to oversee the battle as a judge after making an official vow to the academy that he would judge fairly and intervene when necessary.

He had to make sure there weren't any severe injuries that would affect one's cultivation and he had to ensure that nobody was killed in the battle.

Cole, Matilda, Julia and Milo also shared the residence with Damian, but Damian was the one who acted as the residence's representative and took the brunt of the challenges.

"You have three challenges that you must take on within the next three days, you may choose who you would like to battle against first" stated the academy helper.

There were three students stood at the edge of the arena, and looking at them, Damian didn't see anything that interested him and anything to worry about.

"I don't mind" answered Damian uncaringly.

The 3 students felt disrespected by Damian's uncaring nature, that showed them that he didn't care about their challenges or see them as a threat, as they became infuriated.

"You, come up on stage first" instructed the academy helper pointing at one of the three students.

The three students were all at the 3rd rank, and if it wasn't for Damian's incredible progress speed, he would have been beaten badly.

Most of the students that had joined the academy with Damian were only at rank 1 or might not have even reached it yet, and against a rank 3, they would have been beaten badly.

However, Damian was pleasantly surprised to see that Matilda, Julia and Cole, that had begun cultivating at the same time as him, were all at a similar cultivation level to himself as they continued to push themselves to keep up with Damian and Milo.

The student walked up onto the stage with an angry expression as he was planning to deal as much damage to Damian as he could to relieve his anger.

"You may begin" announced the academy helper.