67 Suspicions

A room was filled with both white and grey light. Sounds similar to that of a beast's roar and a snake's hiss resounded throughout the room. Grass that was both filled with life and death began to wither away like burning paper. The room was slowly losing it's previous tranquility and splendor, turning into a world of ruins.

In each end of the room, two people stood. Both had a different expression on their faces. The older man had the expression of horror and anxiety. Sweat poured down his face quicker than water in a raging river. His teeth chattered as if he was standing on top of a cold, snowy mountain without any clothing. His eyes contracted to the extreme, as if he was looking at a bright sun, not allowing any more light to enter his eyes. His extended hands were trembling excessively, his face ghastly pale, lacking a healthy color.

On the other end of the room stood a child around the age of five. Contrary to the previous person, this child had an extremely calm expression. Not only was it devoid of any fear, a mocking smile was even plastered on his young face. His skin remained without a drop of sweat, his hands as stable as a mountain.

Grey flames were entangled in a war with a snake like white beam. On the surface, it looked as though both lights were evenly matched, however if one took a closer look, then a horrifying sight would be meet the eye.

The white beam that moved with the speed of sound was being devoured by the grey flames. They weren't quick, however the flame met no hurdles; there were no pauses.

Arnin watched everything with a knowing smile. He had already predicted such a situation, however even he felt that the power of the Flames of Neutrality was extremely strong. This was especially true considering they were still in the beginning phase where the seed had only just been created.

Arnin could already imagine the insane amount of power the Flames of Neutrality would have once he began to develop the seed of Neutrality. If he reached the same point as Kosok in developing the seed, then he would be able to entirely destroy the latter's life beam much faster.

As the two powers were in the midst of battle, Spiras watched on with an ugly expression. She could tell what was happening and knew that Kosok would not be able to win such a battle. Not only that, but she also felt a hint of horror from the flames that Arnin was releasing.

What really confused her was the kind of special skill Arnin must have had in order to create such a power. It was common knowledge that only people in Essence Manifest - Hell and above would be able to create and develop an elemental seed. Of course, people with extremely high talent would be able to create one a little earlier, but even then , they would have to be in Essence Manifest realm at least. An Orb Birth cultivator was not able to do such a thing through normal means, it was simply unheard of. This led Spiras to believe that Arnin had used special means to acquire such a power.

As time slowly progressed, the expression on both Spiras' and Kosok's face began to turn even more grave. Arnin's flames were too strong. The light beam was almost completely devoured. The result was clear, Arnin would acquire victory in the end.

As both of them thought, something began to happen within the flames that made their expressions ugly, a transformation.

If the flames before could previously be considered a rampaging bull that would get rid everything in its path, they were now like an enraged dragon.

The intensity of the heat increased exponentially, and the flames grew a dozen times larger. It was as though the white beam was being converted into energy for the flames. Even Arnin was a little surprised to see such a scene. He thought that the flames only had the ability to damage, but he never thought they could absorb.

'This flame really is different from the past.' Arnin recalled the first time he saw the Flames of Neutrality. Other than the grey color, the current flames were much too different from before.

"Arnin, recall your flames. Victory is yours." Seeing that the situation was becoming much more grave, Spiras couldn't help but shout. Arnin ignored her calls, and continued to send his flames towards Kosok.

"Teacher Spiras, I believe that the duel stated that the other party must either be out of strength, or get hurt before the duel would end. Am I wrong?" Arnin smiled towards Spiras. Now that he could see a hidden ability of the Flames of Neutrality, there was no way that he would let go of such an opportunity to test its capabilities.

"Arnin, stop your attack!" Spiras couldn't help but shout again. As a teacher, she needed to make sure that a talent like Kosok was not hurt because of small matters.

"Teacher, I don't know why you are screaming at me. If you truly wanted to stop me, couldn't you directly stop me or the attack?" Arnin scoffed at Spiras' actions.

So far, he had seen such a scene more than once. He knew that something was going on with the academy. If the teachers truly wanted, he would not have been able to make Torne a slave, or turn Kurse into his servant. Something was going on, and he wanted to find out what that was.

When Spiras heard Arnin's words, she couldn't help but glare at him. She could indeed block Arnin's move with her strength, or go and directly stop him.

'This kid!' She thought, but nevertheless, she didn't take anymore action.

Kosok also saw all of this, and couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. He knew that he was unable to resist Arnin, and also wanted Spiras to give him a hand, however Arnin's words also struck him. 'She could stop him whenever she wants to, so why doesn't she?' This thought ran through his head, but he couldn't think of a good reason.

Arnin saw Kosok's reaction and couldn't help but smirk. Suddenly, the large flame that was about completely devour the white beam vanished into thin air. "Senior, I have won this exchange. Leave." Arnin showed no politeness. Since he won, there was no reason to act humble.

He felt a little surprised, but he sighed in relief. He didn't mind Arnin's tone towards him, instead he felt some respect for his junior. At such a young age and low realm, he was able to create a elemental seed, even if this seed may have been created through special means.

"Since you have won, I will take my leave. I will try to meet you later if that is possible." Kosok gave Arnin a mysterious look, before walking towards the exit. When he passed by Spiras, he looked at her with an expression that lacked both love and hate. There wasn't any of the previous nervousness or giddiness, rather his eyes glinted with some other emotion.

Arnin noticed this, however he only replied with a nod. Soon, both Spiras and Kosok left the room, leaving Arnin all alone. The latter sat down onto the ground at the intersection between the grass filled with vitality and that which was dying. Although damage was done to the room, it was still much better than the rooms of the lower level.

His eyes were closed, however he didn't begin cultivating right away. He had a smirk on his face, however it held a slight bit of mockery.

'What is this academy really trying to accomplish? This Spiras woman had the same reaction as Xillar; she didn't protect Kosok when she had clearly been able to. Seems like I need to become more aggressive in order to figure out this school's plot.' Arnin had been suspicious of the academy for a long time. Ever since he saw the reaction Xillar had towards his words of destroying the academy, he had felt extremely suspicious towards the whole situation.

If a person who was on the same standing as Xillar had said such words, then Arnin could understand a reaction like that, however Arnin was low in cultivation realm and extremely young. There was no reason behind Xillar wanting to hurt him back then, even if he 'joked' about it.

Not only that, but when Arnin began testing the school, he got some suspicious results. Back when he went to duel Kurse, he felt the presence of Xillar, however even after he made Kurse his servant, Xillar didn't move.

Xillar giving Kurse the Mark Master Assistant badge when he himself was not a Mark Master was extremely suspicious as well. 'That bastard, the principal, is probably up to something, and it seems that I am a focus.' Arnin always thought that Xillar hiding around was very suspicious, however he felt that Xillar allowed himself to be found.

Arnin shook his head, and decided to think about the situation later. He had been utilizing many aggressive tactics in order to attract the attention of the higher ups in the academy, however, it didn't seem like anything was going to happen anytime soon. His treatment towards Torne and Kurse seemed to be ignored by the academy.

Now, even Spiras was acting somewhat suspicious when Arnin was going to do something extremely bad to Kosok.

Arnin began to circulate the Demon Cultivation Manual. Slowly, he began to absorb the life and death essence, however this time, he was not going to absorb it right away. He needed to create an elemental seed that might have abilities similar to reincarnation.

He looked extremely weird from the outside as he collected an abundance of life and death energy in his body. Half of his clothes looked worn out, while the other half looked completely new.

Arnin opened his eyes, and took out a piece of paper. Now that he was more skilled in mark making, he wanted to create a mark that combined both the life and death components. This was going to be similar to the process of creating the seed of neutrality.

Arnin calmed his breathing, and began to draw out what he needed.

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Inside a dark room, four people stood present. It was extremely dark, however there was barely an ounce of light present. A small, dim candle in the corner allowed one to barely make out vague figures in the darkness.

"Principal, that boy seems to carry a special ability." The person who spoke was none other than Spiras. She stood behind two people, her expression solomon.

"Kelnorin has already informed me about the situation." The principal spoke without much of a change in his voice. "That boy seems to have the ability to make a elemental seed before even entering Essence Manifest. His talent is the highest I have ever seen, however…" The man became quiet.

No one spoke for a while, but then another person sighed heavily. "Principal, should we get rid of the boy? It seems that Fae has made contact with that boy again. This seems to be the fourth or fifth time." The person who spoke this time was Kelnorin, standing directly beside the principal.

"We need to get rid of him soon. Xillar, you continue to watch the child, and make sure that his contact with Fae is limited. Although she is from the others' side, that doesn't mean anything."

"Yes, Principal!" Xillar responded with a grave expression.

"Kelnorin, I want you to continue watching Arnin from afar while Xillar distracts everyone else. When you see a chance, try to strike that boy down. Even though his talent is high, there is a low chance that we can bring him over. Even the other side has made contact with him." The principal's voice was different this time, there seemed to be some traces of ruthlessness and anger.

"What about Fae? I don't think that Xillar could distract her. Only I can fight her." Kelnorin said helplessly. "Not only that, but Fae isn't alone."

"Don't worry about Fae, plans will be made for that woman."

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Although Arnin didn't know exactly what was happening, his hunch was right. Now only was he attracting the attention he wanted, he would even be able to begin the plan he had in mind.

The academy, which seemed calm on the surface, was slowly beginning to get a little tense. However, only people like Arnin would be able notice such things.