Arnin looked at the flame in front of him. Is was different from the one he saw in the past, however the aura it exuded was much more intense. It felt extremely strong, and also somewhat mysterious, almost like the saber.
"This is my Flames of Neutrality, haha!" Arnin was exhilarated. He never thought that the outcome would be so amazing. Arnin swallowed the flame and it went back into seed form. What confused Arnin about the whole ordeal was the seed that was created. He didn't know what element it belonged to.
Would it fall under the fire element? Maybe the darkness element? Possibly light? Or would it be all of them? Or maybe even none?
Arnin could feel each of the elements inside of the seed, however they felt slightly different from before. Arnin decided to call it the Neutrality seed, since it was birthed from the Flames of Neutrality.
Arnin was extremely happy, however there one last thing that was on his mind. He had decided to keep the withering component inside his body, and even created a seed of Neutrality with the fire, however there was still one more component left, the blood component.
This was one of the three that came into his body without him directing it inside. It was also a very rare type of component, and he only knew that it existed because of one of the cultivation manuals that Fae gave him.
'Should I discard this, or keep it? I kept the other two, and this is also just a type of component. It doesn't conflict with anything that I already have.' Arnin pondered quietly. The blood component was rare, however it might have many mysterious uses that Arnin didn't know about, especially since he had never used anything like it in the past.
After pondering for a few minutes, Arnin decided that he would keep the blood component. It didn't hurt to have it, and it might even be helpful in the future.
Arnin brought out the saber once more and began to hunt for some more components. He no longer needed to look for light, darkness, or fire, so he focused on space, withering, death and blood. He knew that time would be difficult to obtain unless he went to higher floors, so he decided not to waste his time trying to find it.
Another hour or so passed, and Arnin had absorbed plenty of death and withering components. He took in a decent amount of space components as well, however he only managed to absorb a very meagre amount blood components.
'Hmm, is there a special way to get the blood component?' Arnin looked around the room and found that there was a little bit of blood on the floor. 'Wasn't there much more last time? How did it decre-' That's when it hit Arnin. The best way to obtain the blood component was to be in a place where one could find lots of blood, like battlefields, or anywhere blood was spilled.
Arnin smiled wickedly. He knew that this essence was very good for him. He enjoyed the process of killing others, whether it was for his own objective or just for fun. It was thrilling.
'Alright, I have cultivated enough in this room. I will have to find a way to get blood later. Right now, I need to go and train with this new flame of mine.' Arnin got up and walked out of the room. The door was still visible in the dark room, and opening it didn't require any special order of knocks.
Arnin walked out of the door and stretched his body, as he had been sitting down for many hours. The sun was still up, but it would be setting soon, so Arnin wanted to quickly get what he needed done.
As he walked towards the middle desk where Surk was, people looked at him with strange eyes. Arnin was confused as to why they were looking at him like that, so he began to inspect himself and quickly found the reason. His clothes were in tatters and there was blood on his arms and face. He looked like a wreck, so who wouldn't stare?
Since he now knew the reason why they were staring, Arnin shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way, ignoring their weird looks.
Soon, he got to the front desk and found Surk standing with his back towards him. "Hey, Surk." Arnin spoke without the proper respect that a junior should show to a senior, however he didn't care. He didn't find anyone to be his senior, since he himself was actually over a hundred million years old.
Surk turned around and had a smile on his face, however that smile quickly froze when he saw Arnin's condition. "W-what happened to you? Weren't you just cultivating in there?" Surk asked with some confusion. He couldn't help but shake his head. He always felt that there was something wrong with Arnin; bad things just always tended to happen around him.
"Become my slave, and I will tell you." Arnin smirked towards Surk, however he wasn't really serious about it. If Surk did accept, then that would be great, but if he didn't, then it didn't matter. It was just a joke.
Surk's mouth twitched when he thought back to the library scene. Arnin beat his servant and slave to the point where they weren't even recognizable. He shuddered at the memory. "Heh… heh...heh. Y-you sure are a funny guy." Surk laughed awkwardly.
"I need to find a place to train some skills. Is there a place like that in the Tower or even in the academy?" Arnin asked.
"Umm, well there is a place like that in the Training field. It's not in the Tower though." Surk said after thinking for a few seconds.
"Take me to it." Arnin spoke and then turned around. Surk was about to decline, but seeing that Arnin already begun to walk away, he couldn't help but shake his head bitterly.
'This kid really likes to push me around.' Surk hesitated before following Arnin. He went in front of him very quickly, and led him out the South gate, toward the grassy field.
"So, where is this place?" Arnin looked around at the familiar sight and asked Surk.
"Just follow me. It is not that far." Surk smiled before leading Arnin around the Tower. The kept walking around the large walls and Arnin eventually began to hear some noises.
"Hah! AHH!"
*CLANK*
As they finally circled the Tower, Arnin saw a large area that was fenced around the sides. The barrier went on for many kilometers, enclosing a sizeable amount of land.
"This is the place where the Moth students come to practice their skills. They either duel each other, or practice with the training bags." Surk pointed towards the large grassy area. Not only was there lots of space filled with grass, Arnin could even see dozens of platforms which looked like they were made of a gem like material.
"What are the rules here? If we duel, can we kill? How seriously can we damage the opponent?" Arnin asked without any change in his expression. Surk knew that he wasn't asking this as a joke, Armin was serious.
"Well, you can't kill anyone here unless--" Surk hesitated but Arnin quickly cut in.
"Unless what?" Arnin smiled wickedly.
"U-umm, let's ignore that. You can duel them and injure them, but you can't kill them." Surk became bitter because of his slip of tongue.
Arnin glared at Surk. "I won't ask again. What is that 'unless' you were about to mention?" Arnin slowly released a lot of his sinister aura. Surk shivered and took a deep gulp. After Arnin's breakthrough, Surk didn't feel confident in taking Arnin down, especially since he saw him destroy Unuz, who was in the same realm as him.
"Well, a duel of life and death allows for you to kill. However, both parties have to agree, or else you will be punished severely." Surk quickly reminded Arnin that both parties had to agree. If he didn't, he felt that Arnin might go and begin killing indiscriminately.
"Say I do have the duel of life and death with someone, and I happen to kill them. Will the academy pester me, or will they act as if it didn't happen?" Arnin thought that this would be the best way to collect some blood essence components. If he went up to the stage, killed some of the people, and started to cultivate around their bleeding bodies, it could help him collect a lot more blood components.
"The academy will not pester you if both parties agreed willingly, however the family behind the person might try to harm you. That's only if you go outside the academy though, they can't do anything inside." Surk explained. He hoped that Arnin would back off if he knew that the families would have something against him.
'The families could become a problem. I will be doing missions soon, and will most likely need to go out of the academy. Hmm.' Arnin put his hand on his chin as he began to ponder what he should do.
"Let me ask you one more thing. If I cripple a person, what will happen?" Arnin decided that killing right now may not be the best choice. However, if he sliced off their arms and legs, and then allowed the blood to drain for a period of time, that could still work for him.
"As long as they can continue their cultivation, then anything is fine." Surk decided to tell Arnin whatever he wanted. He knew that if he didn't, then Arnin could force it out of him, or he could just go and ask someone else.
'Should I call a teacher and have them supervise the area?' Surk began to think of a solution. He felt that once Arnin stepped onto a platform, things would become very chaotic, very quickly. Surk nodded his head and decided to get a teacher to supervise the area to prevent Arnin from doing anything excessive.
"Arnin, you can head over, I'm gonna go back. I still have work to do as well. Hehe!" Surk laughed bitterly as his mouth twitched somewhat.
Arnin raised an eyebrow and smirked at Surk's obvious expression. 'This guy is going to do something.' Arnin shook his head and waved his head. He didn't really mind what Surk did. If he followed the rules, then no one could do anything to him.
When Surk got the signal, he bolted away. He was going to find Xaac, since he was the one who led the new students over. 'Let's just hope I can do this quickly, or else there might be too many casualties.' Surk would have warned the other students about Arnin, but he knew that they wouldn't believe him, especially with their towering pride.
As Surk disappeared, Arnin scoffed, before walking towards the training area. He looked around with a mysterious smile, while everyone also looked at him with weird looks. Arnin hadn't changed his clothes yet, so he was not surprised by their reactions.
Arnin walked over to a big guy who was punching a training bag. He looked to be around the age of twenty one, however his body was much larger than that of others his age. He had refined muscles that bulged out, while his face also had a small beard. He looked like a macho man, however his cultivation was not too high, only Essence Manifest - Earth.
Arnin didn't care if the person was at the Sky or Earth realm, he was just looking for people who would spill lots of blood for him.
"Hey, ugly beast, wanna duel?" Arnin walked over and began to taunt right away. He wanted to anger the guy into fighting him since no would fight a five year old, unless they were similar in age or realm.
"Are you talking to me, brat?" The big guy looked at Arnin and puffed up his chest. His eyes looked cold, however Arnin wasn't intimidated.
"I don't think there is anyone as ugly as you here, am I right?" Arnin continued to taunt the big guy.
"Little kid, why don't you just scram. I don't have the time to play with you!" The macho guy felt extremely annoyed, however he wasn't going to lower himself to beat up a little kid. That would hurt his pride as a cultivator.
"Are you scared, ugly? Or maybe you don't have a third leg. Is that the case? Oh, my bad, I thought I was talking to a man. Seems to me that I'm talking to an ugly duckling." Arnin's vulgar words made the man extremely angry. Many people had insecurities that they were extra sensitive about, and this man hated it when people said that he didn't have a third leg. It was humiliating to be told that.
"Kid, are you looking to die?" The man squinted as he said in a low voice.
"Yup. Come and kill me, ugly man. Maybe you might even grow something." Arnin laughed wickedly as he spoke. It seemed like the taunting was somewhat effective.
"Come to the dueling platform if you dare! I will take you on, and teach you respect!" The large man was extremely angry. His glare was menacing, and it was obvious that he had been rubbed the wrong way.
'I have something between my legs! Who the hell does that kid think he is to say that? Anyways, I am not ugly! I am very handsome!' The man kept repeating this in his head, and the more he did, the more infuriated he got.
Arnin smiled as he followed the man to one of the platforms. Many people saw this and couldn't help but laugh.
"Een, you are so shameless! How could you fight a child?" Some of the people watching couldn't help voice out. The macho man was supposedly called Een, and Arnin kept that in his mind.
"Shutup, I am just teaching this child lesson." Een glared at the crowd before standing silently in the middle of the stage. Arnin also walked towards the middle and couldn't help but mockingly smile.
"Are you ready kid? I am going to throw this coin in the air, and once it hits the ground, we begin." The man pulled out a copper coin and showed it Arnin. He then tossed it into the air and waited for it to fall.
Arnin smiled before…
*COUGH COUGH*
The man began to cough and he spat out some of his saliva. He looked down and found Arnin's hand digging into his abdomen.
"W-what the heck? Didn't we agree to wait?!" The man was extremely pissed. He wanted to grab Arnin and slam him into the ground as hard as he could, however before he could do that, a fist flew from the right and directly attacked his cheek. Een flew through the air, landing on the edge of the platform.
"I don't remember agreeing with your terms. You did what you wanted, and I did what I wanted. Simple as that." Arnin smiled with an evil light in his eyes, accompanied by a small amount of red, however no one noticed.
"You shameless bast--" Just as Een was about to finish, Arnin was already in front of him. He grabbed Een by the hair and threw him towards the middle of the stage.
Arnin followed his flying body and elbowed him back to the ground, making him spit out a mouthful of blood.
"You dem--" Arnin stopped him from speaking once more by punching his face with his right fist.
"I surr--" Een was just about to surrender, however Arnin smiled. He quickly grabbed the man's jaw and slammed it shut.
"AHHH!" The slamming of his jaw caused the man to bite his own tongue. Arnin smirked, before turning the man around and sitting on his back. He then forced the man jaw open and slowly let the blood out, along with a small piece of his tongue.
"UHH! AH URRENDAH!" The man couldn't form the words properly, so Arnin didn't considered it a surrender.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you. You want more? Well, alright then!" The crowd was dumbstruck, as they were still processing what was going on. Everything happened way too quickly.
"H-hey, kid! That's enough!" A person from the crowd couldn't help but jump onto the platform. Although he wasn't friends with Een, he still couldn't watch a fellow student he was familiar with get beaten in such a way.
Arnin turned around and looked at the guy approaching him. "You also want to duel? This is bullying, but what can I do except fight back?" Arnin smiled and rushed towards his next victim.
The man wasn't able to react quick enough, and soon found himself on the ground. Arnin used one hand to grab his lower jaw, while he used the other hand to grab this upper jaw. Then, he began to pull in opposite directions.
*SNAP*
"AHHHHHHH!" The new person's jaw cracked, leaving it hanging. He couldn't move it anymore, and he was now on the ground, rolling around in pain.
"You wanted to duel. I didn't ask for you to come." Arnin smiled before walking back to Een. He looked at the macho man who was slowly getting up. Arnin kicked his bottom and forced him back onto the ground. He needed much more blood than just that tiny amount of vomit. He needed a pool, he needed all the blood in the man's body.
Arnin wasn't able to solidify the saber properly yet, however he could still use a real blade. Arnin jumped off the platform and grabbed a small dagger from the ground. No one stopped him, or attempted to block him; they were just too scared.
Most of the people in the crowd were at Essence Manifest - Earth, while the rest were still in Orb Birth. How would any of them be able to block Arnin?
With a blade in hand, Arnin walked towards Een first. He looked at the man who had his mouth open, blood spilling out.
"I can't cripple your cultivation, or kill you, but no one said I can't cripple your body." Arnin smiled, before kicking the back of the man's head. Een's head hit the floor, causing him to pass out.
"Good, since you can't move, it makes things a lot easier. However, it's quite unfortunate that I can't hear those screams anymore." Arnin's face was cold as he shot a sinister smile at the unconscious man. He emit a sinister aura from his body, causing the crowd to freeze out of fear and sweat all over.
"W-we have to stop him." A man said as he watched Arnin's aura become more and more sinister.
"Do you really think we can do anything to him? He took that guy on without a problem! We need to get a teacher! Go, quickly find one." Another person also spoke up, however he made sure that only the previous speaker could hear him.
Arnin was able to hear them with his impeccable hearing, however he didn't care. He wasn't doing anything against the rules.
Arnin lifted the knife, and stabbed him right above his elbow, letting it slide into the bicep. Een, who was previously unconscious, suddenly woke up and screamed in agony.
"AHHHHH!" Blood gushed out the arm, however Arnin didn't stop, and he continued to slowly cut through the arm. Many people in the crowd couldn't help but vomit at the sight. It was just too disgusting.
Finally, the arm was completely cut, and blood rushed out of it like a waterfall. Een began to whimper and cry. Arnin watched happily as the blood gushed out.
'This isn't a lot, but it should be good for now. I should cultivate right away.' Arnin sat down cross legged and began to absorb the blood components which were very rich beside him. Arnin smiled brightly because he knew that the method was very effective.
Seeing that Arnin began to cultivate, two brave individuals rushed towards Een and the other man. They seemed to be friends with the other two.
"Quickly grab them, and let's take them to the medical department." They were very quiet, however Arnin was still able to hear them. He didn't plan on stopping them since he had gotten what he needed. If he did anything else, then more problems could possibly crop up.
Ten minutes passed, and a teacher ran over. The person leading the teacher was Surk and another man. The teacher in question was Xaac, and he couldn't help but frown when he smelled strong smell of blood.
When Surk first came to look for him, he was too shocked to say anything, but he didn't completely believe him. However, when the other man told him what was happening on the platform, he rushed over.
Now that he was here, he saw Arnin sitting in a puddle of blood, cultivating, while two men were being carried away. The bulky man had his mouth open with blood gushing out, and he had even lost an arm. The other person also had his mouth opened unnaturally wide. It looked as though it couldn't even close.
"W-what happened?" The teacher couldn't help but whisper faintly when he saw all of this.