Chapter Eleven

With Arnin now awake, the girls would be able to continue their training. Lilise was feeling down because of the incident that happened inside the house. She really didn't mean any harm it was just a question she had. Nekaia was still somewhat angry at Lilise, but it was reduced after Arnin clarified that there was a reason the question was asked. Arnin decided that training was the best thing to let Nekaia and Lilise cool down, as for his parents, the situation was different. Ashia and Florian seemed to act normal on the outside but Arnin knew that this was a thorn on their sides. Arnin regretted that the contract was created in front of Lilise. If she didn't hear the contents of the contract then she wouldn't have asked Nekaia such a question. Luckily, she never told his parents what he said specifically and Arnin wanted to keep it that way. Before leaving for the training grounds, Arnin pulled Lilise to the side and told her not to mention the details of the contract. Of course, Lilise readily agreed. She didn't want to get on the bad side of anyone, so she was willing to hide the contract details.

Arnin had four more days before the departure so he needed to speed both girls' training up. Lilise was the priority because Nekaia had enough talent to break through on her own. She also already had a rich master that knew more about the orb then him, so he wasn't too worried about Nekaia's progress. What concerned him was Lilise. She absorbed all of the essence in the bath, but still there was no signs of getting near a breakthrough. Even though he only just started the training, there were no hints of a breakthrough. Arnin knew that this was because he just didn't have enough knowledge on orbs and training. He needed to find ways to increase his understanding because trial and error could only do so much. Arnin thought of going to the village elder for some help, but he was probably busy with the academy registrations. A thought suddenly appeared in Arnin's mind. What about the lessons? He already paid for the class so he might as well go and learn things he doesn't already know.

Arnin headed to the lesson area. He didn't bring Lilise or Nekaia along because he was only going there to learn more about the orb and its functions. His walk to the open forest area was filled with the sound of chirping birds and whistling wind. After walking for another ten minutes, people finally started to come in sight. Although there were many kids around the same age as him and some were slightly older he didn't recognize any of them because he never really cared to speak to them. However, there was one person he did recognize, granny Varena. She was the woman who had seen his mom grow up and was also their neighbor. She didn't notice him, so he walked towards her himself. He was a distant person, but he wasn't going to ignore a person that had been nice to his mom since she was young.

"Granny Varena!" Arnin called out loudly. He only called her granny because she was called aunt by his mom, so to not mess up the seniority he decided to call her granny.

Granny Varena turned around and noticed the young but handsome Arnin run over. She smiled lightly before waving towards him.

"Little Arnin, how are you? Are you also going to the lessons today?" Granny Varena looked at Arnin with a deep smile. To her, Arnin was like a grandchild, so she enjoyed his company.

"Yea, I am heading to the lesson ground. What about you? Are you here to watch or are you bringing someone to the lessons?" Arnin was somewhat surprised to see Granny Varena heading to the lessons. Of course, she wasn't going to attend them because of her age, but none of her children could attend them either. They were all grown up and even had some children now. Just as he asked that question, two children walked out from behind her. There was a boy and a girl. The boy had brownish yellow hair that reached just below his ears. His grass green eyes looked at Arnin with no emotion. Beside the boy was a girl with silky, chocolate hair that reached her back. She looked at Arnin with her black misty eyes with curiosity.

"These two are my grandchildren, Vizran and Navo. Both of them are five years old, just like you. maybe you guys can become friends?" Granny Varena kind heartedly recommended to Arnin. Vizran, the boy, ignored the comment and looked to the side. Navo, the girl, hid behind her grandma, acting like a cat. Granny Varena helplessly shook her head when she saw how her grandchildren reacted. She apologetically looked at Arnin, who in turn smiled and waved his hand. Arnin didn't mind their attitudes because he was going to leave the village very soon. Arnin spoke a little more with Granny Varena before quickly running to the lesson place. He wasn't too far from the place and so he decided that we would get this done with and head back. He still needed to look after the training of Nekaia and Lilise.

When he got to the lesson area, he saw the old man and a new woman helping him. The old man noticed Arnin's appearance and quickly came to greet him.

"Little Arnin, is there something that you need? Just state it and this old man will help you acquire it!" The old man proudly stated. After the incident with Avian, he knew that these children were important and not to be offended.

"Old man…" Arnin didn't know the name of the old man so he tried to stretch out his sentence so that the old man could tell him.

"Uvan, this old man is called called Uvan. So, what did little Arnin need?" Uvan didn't mind licking his boots, he could even become Arnin's horse if need be.

"Old man Uvan, I need you to help me understand our cultivation orbs. I want to know how they work, what they are used for and how to cultivate with them." Arnin wanted to know many things, but he just wanted to learn the basics first. Although he found a way to cultivate them, that was only using his past knowledge of cultivation, so it wasn't the most effective method. He wanted to compare what he created with the normal cultivation method. If he could, he wanted to improve on his own cultivation method. It was created by him making it easier to understand

"So little Arnin is here for that. I can of course explain to you what little knowledge I have, however it wou-" Uvan stopped speaking when he saw Arnin toss a silver coin into the air and catch it once more. There was mocking smile on his face when he looked at Uvan, who took a big gulp.

"If you want this coin, then stop the useless chatter. You give me what I want, and I will give you what you want. Acting like an amiable old man? Don't make me laugh! I know how you greedy people are, so just do what I asked you and I will give you this coin!" Arnin was irritated with Uvan because of his shameless behavior. Uvan, on the other hand, kept staring at the coin like a starving beast looking at food. His eyes were slightly red, but he still held himself back.

"Little Arnin, you know how to make someone happy. Haha! Ok, let me quit the useless chatter and explain what I know." Uvan pulled himself together and began his explanation on the orbs. "As you already know, every person is born with a cultivation orb in their body, which makes it possible for almost anyone to cultivate. However, there are always exceptions to this rule. One exception is that an Orb that is incapable of cultivation. This means that a person's orb is just too weak and is unable to properly assimilate worldly essence. Of course, there are ways to fix this; medication, duo-cultivation, and some more. The second exception includes people with certain diseases or conditions that either indirectly or directly affect their orb. The former is easier to deal with because an indirect effect will still allow cultivation to be doable, however the latter is trickier. A condition directly linked to the orb is more difficult to handle because it specifically affects the cultivation of the person. Without a way to cultivate, one won't be able to strengthen themselves, plus many treatments require essence inside the person's body." When old man Uvan began to talk about the direct orb conditions, Arnin knew that the one Lilise had was under this category. However, the mark was able to collect essence so it wasn't considered a terrible condition, but just to make sure that he didn't treat it improperly, Arnin needed to know how a normal doctor would treat it.

"Old man Uvan, how would you treat a person with a direct orb condition? Like, say the direct orb condition is in the form of a mark that devours the worldly essence for itself, not allowing the user to get any of it. How would you treat this?" Uvan was surprised towards Arnin's specific question, but he decided not to ask anything and answered willing.

"That type of condition is called a 'cultivation curse mark', and it has many levels. It should be treated in the early stages because it is quite easy then, but when it starts to grow, it could at one point become life threatening. A worm-like mark is considered the easiest to treat because it is the beginning stages of the condition. As the curse mark grows, the shape also begins to change. The highest-level mark will not only devour worldly essence, but also bodily fluids, life force, and even cells. It is the most extreme type and is also very rare." Arnin was somewhat surprised that such a condition existed. He became even more interested in the worlds essence that could give birth to such a deadly condition.

"Can you tell me how to treat the worm-like curse mark and how to help them regain the ability to cultivate?" Arnin was serious during this mini lesson because he could unmask some of the major questions that he had.

All the other children were ready to proceed with the lessons, but when they saw that the scholar was busy with Arnin, many became angry.

"What is that old man doing there? We payed for these lessons so he should at least teach us at the proper time!" A child who looked around seven spoke with annoyance to a child beside him.

"Exactly! I paid good many for this, so He should teach us what he is supposed to." The younger child was also very mad. Talonton village was not a rich village so the parents of every child had a limited amount if money. Since they used that money for the lessons and the scholar wasn't even teaching them, many had dark expressions. The seven-year-old child decided to be the common man's hero and began to walk in Arnin's direction.

"Mister scholar, when will you begin the lessons? If we begin too late, we will not have enough time to-" Just as the seven-year-old was complaining in a humble manner, Arnin slowly walked towards him. His face was dark because he was in the middle of learning about the condition, but an annoying pest came out of nowhere and disturbed him. "Little kid, when two people are talking, you shouldn't interrupt. Do you not know manners?" The seven-year-old arrogantly berated Arnin, his nose slowly rising higher into the sky.

Arnin vanished from the child's view before reappearing behind him. He grabbed the child's arms and pressed his foot onto his back. Slowly, he pulled the seven-year olds arms and pushed from his foot. The child and everyone watching became terrified and angry. How fast was this youth? Was he insane?

"What are you doing?! Do you know who I am?! I am related to the village elder, so you better let go- AHHH!" A snap was heard from the child's arms before Arnin released them, letting them land weakly beside the boy. The seven-year-old began to cry hysterically. "MOM! DAD!" The child screamed from the top of his lungs as tears and snot started to mix together on his face. Arnin coldly looked at the boy and spoke with a cold tone.

"Do you know why I broke your arms? Let me tell you why. When someone is talking, one should patiently wait at the side. You didn't do that, so I needed to punish you for your crimes." Arnin said the same thing that the seven-year-old said to him previously "I went easy on you for now, but next time something like this happens, your arms won't be the only thing I break!" Arnin lost his cool when the kid disturbed him. He didn't mind killing people, so why would he care about breaking another person's arms? The child was being arrogant and a hypocrite, which Arnin found to be a good excuse for his actions. He only cared about whether he could get what he wanted or not.

Everyone became silent when they saw what happened. They looked at Arnin in horror and anger. What did that kid do to get his arms broken? He only wanted to call the scholar for the lessons. What a ruthless and evil character. Just as everyone was silently looking at Arnin in fear and hatred, a couple sprinted through the entrance of the lesson area. There was worry and anger on their faces. The mother had tears falling down her face. When both parent finally got to the little boy, their eyes became even more red. They viciously looked at Arnin and released their own auras.

"Why the hell did you break his arms?! You demon child, today I will rip you to shreds!" The woman, who was most likely the mother of the seven-year-old, glared murderously at Arnin.

"Why did I break his arms? Let me see, why did I break his arms?" Arnin put on a pondering expression as he pretended to think of a reason. This action infuriated the parents even further, but Arnin could care less.

"Oh, now I remember. He was a little too impatient for his own good, so I needed to teach him about how one should act. You're welcome!" Arnin smiled wickedly towards the couple before releasing his own aura.