72 Fear and Excitemen

Arnin silently stood in his spot, inspecting the purple hue around his organs and also his new Runic Eyes. These eyes, which only a small amount of people knew about in the whole universe, were now with him.

This was a great shock but also a pleasant surprise. Arnin knew that at the moment, he was much stronger than before, only based on his physical body, however, his greatest concern was his depleting essence and orb threads.

He sat back onto the ground with his legs crossed. Right now, he needed to find a way to prevent any more loss of essence, or at least slow down the process.

'This isn't good. With the rate of depletion, it is only a matter of time before the essence in my body runs dry and I… die!' Arnin was feeling somewhat panicky, however, he kept his composure. He had been in many scenarios which were extremely life-threatening, however, right now he was in one of his weakest moments.

The heaven-defying pills, godly physicians, or even demonic herbs were unavailable to him. He didn't have anything to fall back on like the past, he had to completely depend on the limited resources that were available to him.

His eyes remained shut the whole time. Fae watched Arnin silently. Although she was able to notice the change in Arnin's eyes, that was it. She didn't know what the eyes meant or even what was truly going on with Arnin.

Of course, her not asking did not mean that she wasn't curious, rather her curiosity was reaching the clouds. She wanted to know exactly what was going on with Arnin.

After hesitating for a moment, Fae resolved her will and decided to ask. "Arnin, what happened? Other than the purple eyes, other weird things happened around you. A grey…" Fae quickly explained everything she saw.

The latter didn't notice it, but the more she spoke, the more Arnin's face became grave and ferocious. 'She has seen a little too much.' Arnin smirked slightly as his face became normal once again. He looked at Fae with a deep smile, which Fae was not able to understand.

"So, all of that happened? That really is surprising. I truly don't know what happened, I was just in so much pain that I fell unconscious." Arnin shook his head bitterly while showing a surprised look in his eyes.

Fae raised an eyebrow and looked at Arnin for a few seconds before also smiling with the same irritating smile. "Well, if you don't know then that is fine. Your physical body is better than before…" Fae said the words casually, however, Arnin was able to pick out the emphasis on the word 'before'.

"Yea, I was in a very bad state before, luckily I was able to make it through." Arnin smiled while he spoke, however, his eyes didn't show the slightest bit of goodwill. He didn't plan to do anything as of yet, Fae was much stronger than him, plus he was already injured quite badly.

"Hmm, although you look fine on the outside, your essence seems a lot lower than before. Would you mind allowing me to check your orb?" Although Fae spoke as if she was asking Arnin's permission, her movement was anything but. She was already in front of Arnin and had her hand reaching for Arnin's wrist.

Quickly, Arnin pulled his wrist back and took a couple of steps away from Fae. "Don't worry about that. I think I should be able to handle such a minor injury." Arnin made sure not to speak in the same manner as he would in the past. Right now, he was alone with Fae, plus he was not able to do anything to her.

Even his Demon Lord powers were unusable. Just using a tiny bit almost killed him, plus he wasn't even fully healed and death was nearing. If he released the powers again or even fully unlocked his Demon Lord powers, then death was guaranteed.

Arnin knew that at his current state, being too aggressive or even getting on Fae's bad side would result in a dire situation. Fae pulled her hand back as her smile grew a little deeper. "Are you sure? Your condition seems to be getting worse every second." Arnin inwardly spat.

'Does this woman not understand something so simple? Or is she doing this purposely? What is her goal?' Arnin kept a slight smirk on the outside, however, he continued to talk down on Fae in his head.

"I am truly fine. This is just a simple problem that can be healed with some pills and herbs." Arnin spoke as if it was an everyday problem, however, he knew that death was closing in on him.

Fae looked at Arnin with a smile and after a few moments, nodded her head. "Alright then. If you say that everything is alright, then we can head back." Fae turned around and walked away from Arnin, slowly.

Arnin waited until Fae was about ten steps away from him before following behind her. Although his cultivation realm was low once again and he had extremely low amounts of essence, his physical body was in an extremely good state. With just his physical body, he was able to keep up with Fae.

---------------------------------------------------

Kelnorin walked through a dark hallway with his eyebrow locked together. Inside the hallway, there was no rooms or doors. Even a candle only happened to come by rarely. It was a very eerie hallway.

After walking for around ten minutes, he finally reached a large, towering stature. The statue was of two insects. One a butterfly, while the other being a moth.

He walked towards the right of the state, where the moth figure silently stood. He then used his left thumb to lightly cut his right palm.

Blood slowly dripped onto the floor. Kelnorin extended his hand and placed it on a pedestal under the moth figure. The blood began to enter the pedestal and a miraculous sight occurred.

*BOOM CRASH*

The moth figure began to split from the middle. As if a door was opening, the moth's body opened up, revealing a small staircase. Kelnorin walked into the figure and ascended the stairs.

*BOOM BOOM CRASH*

The thundering sound occurred once again, as the moth's split body returned back to its previous state.

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Arnin traveled behind Fae, who leaped from branch to branch. Luckily, he was able to keep up with Fae and he didn't even lose much of his breath. It was all thanks to his new physical body.

Fae turned her head and watched as Arnin kept a constant distance from her, however, he never once fell behind. She smiled slightly, but this time the smile had some deeper meaning.

"Where are we going?" Arnin asked when he saw Fae looking at him. He wanted t head back to Lepidoptera Academy since he had a lot of things to do still, including Akig's training and also he needed to abide by a contract and care for Lilise and Elidia. Yet, going back would endanger him, so he needed to find a way to get back to the academy without being hunted down by the teachers, especially Kelnorin.

"How much do you know about the academies?" Without answering Arnin's question, Fae asked her own.

Arnin didn't mind and just pondered for a moment. He knew that right now was the chance for him to learn more about the conflicts and parties of Afloria. Plus, the academy alliance was said to be a very strong alliance, but Arnin knew that not everything was as perfect as it seemed.

"What I have been told is that the Academy Alliance is extremely strong and that every academy always has each other back," Arnin spoke about what he knew.

When Fae heard this she shook her head slightly, which made Arnin's ear's slightly perked up. "That is both right and wrong. The Academy Alliance is indeed very strong, however only when facing external threats."

"Does that mean that the academies are actually not so close?" Arnin asked with a slight smile. He began to feel somewhat excited.

"Exactly. On the surface, the Academy Alliance is very strong and close, but that isn't the case. The Alliance is actually split into two major groups. These groups have their own beliefs."

Arnin closed his eyes for a moment to ponder something. "When you mean beliefs, do you mean religion or belief in say… teaching." Arnin only mentioned religion because it was something major when related to an individual's or a group's beliefs, but he didn't truly believe that religion was a reason for the conflict in the alliance.

Fae looked at Arnin and slightly frowned. She stopped leaping and stood still on a branch, Arnin did the same. The latter watched Fae with a smirk. Fae lifted her right hand and grabbed her lower lip in a seductive manner.

Arnin didn't show any reaction and watched on with a smirk, however, his eyes hid a tinge of shock. Noticing that Arnin was unperturbed, Fae faintly pouted, however, this increased Arnin's shock.

"You really jest, little Arnin. Religion? Now is that really something an academy should have conflict over?" For some unknown reason, Fae's voice was a little higher pitched and the rushing wind seemed to have stopped in its place. The leaves on the trees froze as if inside of ice.

'Could she really have…' Arnin wondered.

"Religion is not the reason for the conflict, your second guess was the correct one. Teaching!" Fae said as she extended her arms in the air and stretched, showcasing her curvy body.

Arnin continued to remain silent, hiding the shock that began to grow in his body like bamboo.

"Why would teaching cause such great conflicts? Even if there are disagreements, shouldn't people with great wisdom find a middle way?" Arnin said in a questionable manner. He ignored the seductiveness of Fae and spoke his mind. Since he was 'five' he could play it off as if he didn't understand anything about the females.

"That would be easy if the teaching methods were somewhat similar, however, the two groups have completely different ideologies," Fae said as she fiddled with her hair.

"Oh? And those ideologies are?" Arnin had a thought on the ideology of the group that Lepidoptera Academy was a part of, however, he was unsure.

Fae smiled with his pearly white teeth before extending her fair hand forward, waving towards Arnin. "Come closer, I will tell you secretly." Her smile seemed extremely beautiful and pleasant on the surface, however, Arnin felt something completely different.

Killing intent. Danger.

Arnin was not new to these feelings, so he knew that going to close to Fae would result in anything but goodness.

Arnin waved shook his head and said with a smile. "That is alright, I will figure it out myself."

Fae was surprised at Arnin, however, her smile increased and she couldn't help but hum something silently.

The roses are thorny

And my blood may fall

But keep them for me

So I can have them all

As if a silent devil was lurking in the forest, the silent tune was like a thunder strike to Arnin's ears.

Sweat slightly appeared on his forehead as he looked at Fae with something he hadn't experienced in millions of years. Horror.

'She… Has… It…!'

Arnin shook his head as he watched Fae leap off a branch and continuing moving further away.As her figure began to blur, the sweat on his forehead increased, however a maniac smile appeared on his face.

'She has it! She has that… that… f*ck!' Arnin's smile grew wider and wider as if a tiger getting excited after seeing blood.

Calming himself down, Arnin's heartbeat became normal as he followed the distancing Fae. The smile on his face, however, didn't vanish, rather the closer he got to Fae, the more demonic it became.

The roses are thorny

And my blood may fall

But keep them for me

So I can have them all

'Sing, you wretch! Haha!' Arnin's inwardly laughed when he heard the lullaby once again. His body was shaking as he closely watched Fae. His Purple Runic Eyes also had some movement. The runes began to move like snakes as if reacting to the lullaby that Fae continued to spout.

Fae finished her little lullaby before turning her head, looking at Arnin. When her eyes met Arnin's she froze. The evilness in Arnin's eyes was not hidden, while his smirk seemed even more sinister than the depths of hell. She felt her body lose all movement and even felt as though there was a giant demon-like creature behind Arnin.

'W-what is this!'