22 Controlling the White Saber

"Arnin, are you truly a five-year-old, or are you disguising as one?"

A question that Arnin never thought would be thought of, was asked of him at that moment. He maintained his calm appearance and only smiled at Xillar, however, a killing intent began to brew inside of him. He now wanted to get rid of the overly smart Xillar.

"If you want to consider me as someone who has disguised as a five-year-old, then you are welcomed to do so." Arnin looked dead into the eyes of Xillar. His expression remained unchanged, but his eyes carried a hint of murder. Xillar felt a chill run down his spine. For some unknown reason, he wanted to get on his knees and apologize. He didn't understand why he felt this way, but the more fear he felt, the more he thought Arnin to be abnormal.

"Don't get me wrong, I just think that your fighting style is not something one would see in a five-year-old, plus your demeanor greatly differs from those around you." Xillar pulled himself together and casually spoke with Arnin. He found the feeling to be weird and frightening, but it also left so suddenly that he couldn't completely understand it.

"Whatever, since you asked me your question, let me ask you mine. What is Mark Masters? How do I become one?" Arnin, although uncomfortable with Xillar's question, wanted to continue asking his own. He wanted to learn more about these Mark Masters that had similar techniques to his own. Xillar didn't show much surprise to hear Arnin's question, he only nodded and began to explain.

"Well, Mark Masters are very important people in Afloria. They are able to insert different marks into our body that help with restoration, strengthening and much more. Not only that, they are able to concoct pills as well, although not as well as Alchemists, they aren't that bad either. They are very important, it is harder to find a Mark Master then an alchemist. It is just more difficult to become one." Xillar released a sigh of reluctance. He shook his head and continued his explanation. "Now, to become one, a person needs especially high Mental Strength. Without it being strong, then people can forget about it. We can do a test for your Mental strength soon if you would like." Xillar didn't go into a detailed explanation but did talk about the some of the important parts. Arnin remembered that his Mental Strength was considered extremely high. No one knew that, but when he judged Nekaia's strength and how Avian spoke about it, he assumed he was high as well.

"Let's do a test then. I want to know if my Mental Strength meets the mark. If it doesn't, I won't ask anything more about Mark Masters." Arnin decided that he would only ask more if he could become one. If he couldn't pass the test, then there wasn't a reason for him to ask about them.

Xillar nodded and waved at Arnin to follow him. "Usually, mental strength, or Animo, is tested for before cultivation. It would allow for a person to see the Animo someone has before their strength begins to grow, however, there is an alternative test." Xillar didn't stop talking while they walked towards an open area. The place was brimming with people who showered in the intense light of the sun. (Author note: I am going to call the star giving them light the sun as well. Just makes it easier to understand :] ) "This alternative requires one to be in a place full of sunlight. This is the best place we got down here."

Arnin nodded and proceeded with Xillar. The people in the place ignored Arnin's presence because they didn't recognize him, but they allowed Xillar through unhindered. His teacher robe had a good effect on the people who were yet to be in the academy. The crowd also made room for Vilis; he was just too scary and gave off a very strong aura.

"Well, what do you want me to do now?" Arnin turned around and looked at Xillar after he stood in the center of the place. It was very bright where the sun spat most of its brightness, mostly because there were little buildings nearby.

"Now that there is a good amount of sunlight, we can begin the Animo test. This is going to be somewhat rough, but it is an accurate test. Here!" Xillar pulled out a book from his robe and threw it towards Arnin. It was a brown book with scratches and craters. The book was in terrible shape and looked like it was extremely old. Arnin caught the book and looked at Xillar in confusion. He knew that the book was for the test but he didn't know how to use it for the test.

"Do you want me to write in it or something? What do I do with this?" Arnin asked simply. He was getting a little excited because he would find out whether he could use Animo or not, but his dull face and undetermined eyes showed otherwise.

"That was a great guess. Yes, we will write something, but not inside the book. The book lists a series of marks that a beginner Mark Master must be able to draw. I want you to draw as many as you can on the ground." Xillar smiled towards Arnin when he mentioned drawing the marks. Arnin nodded his head and was ready to begin drawing, but he paused. The test seemed too easy, there must be a catch. Arnin placed the book on the ground and look towards Xillar. He had wondered since the mention of this test as to why Xillar always looked so reluctant about the test and how he had possession of the book of marks. Arnin had a feeling that not every teacher carried the book around, so why did Xillar?

"Teacher, I have a few questions before we begin." Arnin could start the test in a few minutes, but he wanted to know more and possibly pick up some hints about the test.

"You can ask me anything, but I will not explain the test details and ho to go through with it. I already told you everything that I can, but go on. What is your question or questions?" Xillar put on a meek smile when he first heard Arnin wanted to ask him some questions. He felt that Arnin was very smart to not start the test right away and gather some information. This was an important skill to have, but somewhat difficult to develop. One needs to know when to ask and what to ask exactly. Now he needed to see whether Arnin knew what to ask exactly.

"My first question is this, have you ever tried this test yourself?" Arnin didn't hold back and went for his first question. It was a question that didn't dig too deep into his past, but well enough for Arnin to derive more clues. Xillar smiled and then nodded.

"I have taken this test in the past, next question." Xillar didn't say anything else, only a straightforward reply that could not give any other info. Arnin nodded and fell into a silence. Xillar took the test before and he was holding the book of marks. He either passed the test and is a Mark Master himself, or he failed it and tests others.

"My next question is about the sunlight. Can we absorb essence from it or not?" Arnin remembered that the test could only be done in sunlight, which means that the sunlight had something that affected the test. The only think Arnin could think of was the worldly essence, but that may not be the case. The sun was outside of Afloria, so it wouldn't have the exact same properties as the essence in Afloria. However, because the sun was still in the reclusive space where the abnormal essence resided, there were some connections.

"Arnin, you seem to be picking some things up. The essence of the sun is absorbable, but the way it is processed is different. The essence of Afloria has a combination of different elements and some strange factors, however, the Sun's essence is different. It has only two properties; life and fire. These two are the components that make up the sun's essence." Xillar smiled and explained in detail. He was happy to see that Arnin was getting closer to the trick behind Mark Masters. He was also extremely frightened by how smart and cunning Arnin was. The questions were not directly related to mark making, rather they focused on the other factors that support the creation of a mark.

"Last question, well more like a theory that needs confirmation. I have an idea as to what I should do, but I just need you to tell me if it is right or not." Arnin gathered everything that he knew about the essence and the orb and thought of a theory. It was a long shot, but he wanted to test it out and see whether it would work. It may not be orthodox, but if it worked, then that's all that would matter.

Xillar gave a deep nod and continued to pay attention to Arnin's movements. Arnin lifted his hand in the air and directed his orb threads towards the tips of his finger. "What I am doing is using my threads to gather some of the solar essences. I will not absorb them, rather I will use them directly to create a symbol." Arnin briefed his plan to Xillar, who listened with a gaping mouth. His eyes were widening in disbelief as sweat rained down his face like raindrops on leaves. He took a couple steps back before slowly sitting on the ground. He continued to watch Arnin with a dry tongue, unable to make any words come out.

'This kid is a demon! Creating his own Mark method without even being one yet? I have to tell the Principal about this!' Xillar was unable to calm down. He, in the past, also did the Mark Master test, however, he failed to draw even one mark. He was just unable to figure out how. Yet, in front of him was a boy, that was only five-years-old, who was creating his own method for Mark creation when he wasn't even able to figure out what to ask. Xillar wanted to find a hole and just sit in silence. He was too ashamed to even look at Arnin.

Arnin's threads rapidly made their way to his fingers, then he lifted his hand into the shining sun rays, soaking his hand in their light. He then began to guide his threads into sucking the solar essence, but Arnin only felt the essence of the world coming into him. Arnin wasn't surprised by this because he had never absorbed anything other than worldly essence. His hand stayed in the air while Arnin fell into a trance. He needed to find a way to absorb the solar essence. Arnin remembered Xillar saying that the properties of solar essence were life and fire. He knew that these two correlated very well, a fire could give birth to life and flames can be reborn, gaining life. These two had good connections, but Arnin was not a specialist with these two elements. As a Demon Lord, Arnin had worked with the darker side of the elements, which revolved around death.

Suddenly it hit him. Death and life were, as many knew, inseparable. Arnin remembered that he had four powers stored inside of him. His original sealed power, the orb power, the tattoos which had the ability to control his main power, and lastly the white saber. That saber was created through the mixing of the orb and tattoos, it went through a birth and got a life. Although it wasn't a living thing, it was its own power system. Not only that, the saber had some relations to flame, possibly a higher level flame. Arnin decided that a way to absorb the solar essence lied in using the saber. He needed to find a way to control it or at least put it into use.

Arnin pulled his hand back from the sunlight and switched his eyes into the place where the saber was dormant. He had some information from the blade; it was created from the tattoos and the orb. The orb had the ability to absorb essence and help increase or decrease strength. It was the base of his body. The tattoo, however, had the capability to control. He didn't know any other abilities other than that, but it was something extremely useful. If absorption and control were combined, then both abilities would significantly benefit the other. The saber most likely had this power.

Arnin had to find a way to control this power, but how? He knew it wouldn't fall under him because of his lack of strength, but what else was there. Suddenly, Arnin recalled that his orb absorbed some of his original powers, giving them higher strength and a more sinister aura. If he weakened the blade with his orbs and used the tattoos to control it, would it work? Arnin knew that he would only find out after he gave it a shot.

Arnin sent out a large cluster of threads and firmly grabbed onto the white blade. The gaseous white flame that was being released from the saber slowly burnt away some of the threads. Arnin watched in surprise, but he continued to add more threads onto the blade. With the orb providing with a large number of threads, the blade wasn't able to burn them all away. It was finally completely covered with threads. Arnin then had the threads release the numbing reagent and weaken the saber. Although, numbing a blade would affect it much, but this blade was spiritual and the threads were a lot stronger. The blade, being numbed intensely from all sides, began to lose its flare. The weakening was working, which elated Arnin.

Next, Arnin had the tattoos ram into the saber and firmly hold onto it. Arnin learned something about the orb which surprised him greatly; it was able to absorb almost any type of power and increase its own strength. Learning this made Arnin extremely happy, he couldn't help but grin widely.

Outside of Arnin's body, a small crowd had gathered and were watching closely. Xillar was also very serious when he was watching Arnin. When Arnin began his trial to control the White Blade, his body began to secrete a white flame mixed with black threads. Not only that, but his three tattoos were completely lit up. Rather than looking like a five-year-old, Arnin's powers made him look more like his previous Demon Lord form. The three tattoos look like live horns, while the threads and flames mixed to create giant pressure and figure. The presence was aspiring yet dreadful. Xillar and the surrounding people couldn't help but gulp and breath heavily.

A teacher walked over to Xillar with an extremely serious face. He looked at Arnin before turning his head towards Xillar.

"Go and call the principal, right now! Things are becoming serious!" Xillar lost his playful, teacher-like visage and looked more noble and commanding. He was like a completely different person.

"This child is not simple. He may actually not be a child! We need the principal to look at him, now!"