Chapter Twenty-Eight

Arnin silently waited for the group to finish their process of signing up. Gil, the old teacher, did not make much of a sound while signing them up. His head was mostly faced down, so one could only catch glimpses of how pale he was. Finally, after a few minutes passed, the two girls were signed up. They didn't get their robes or identity cards just yet. They would receive them in the academy, which was different from how Arnin went through the process. He got his items directly from a teacher that delivered it to him. Arnin felt that this was the difference in treatment for Moth group students and Butterfly group students, plus he felt that his identity was special in the academy.

At first, Arnin wanted to stay in the low and just try to learn what he needed before slowly conquering Afloria and becoming stronger, however he felt that the academy wasn't going to do anything to him. This feeling came to him after the initial agressive contact with Xillar. A normal teacher would have attacked him or atleast kicked him out of the academy for the way he spoke, however that didn't happen. Xillar didn't attack him or kick him out of the academy, rather he gave him a job that was rather important. He felt that there was something suspicious going on, and this feeling was nothing good to him. Arnin decided that he had to avoid students and teachers in the academy. He would try and dedicate himself into learning whatever he needed to, and not contact other students. As for Lilise and Elidia, he would protect them from the dark if needed, however if that wasn't possible, he would try and get them to shift to a room or location near his own. That way, he would be able to keep a better eye on them.

The group were right in front of the gates to the academy. The old man took a step back and watched from afar.

"I am not allowed to enter, so I will see you off from here. Lilise, Elidia, I will try and come during your academy breaks, and your mom and dad will possibly come with me. Arnin, I am counting on you to look after them; leave your family to me." The old man spoke calmly.

Arnin was surprised at the mention of the two girls' parents. He had assumed that they might have died since they were never mentioned, however that didn't seem like the case. He was somewhat curious as to who their parents were.

"Don't worry grandpa, we will study hard and make you proud. We will show our progress to mom and dad as well." Lilise replied with happiness, there seemed to be a spark burning in here eyes at the mention of her parents. Arnin became a little more curious as to who these people were. Parents who were never mentioned of before were going to appear in the near future. Arnin felt that the situation might not be as simple as it seemed, however since it was going to be at a later time, then he would just wait until then.

The three humans and single beast walked through the gate and slowly made their way to the top of the academy. The village elder silently watched for a bit before turning around and walking away. His face, which was full of smiles a while ago, was now sullen and serious. During the trip to the academy, the large bird they rode on top of flew over the danger areas. While flying, he noticed the body of a person on the top of one of the trees. He knew that Arnin went through the forest and was likely not the reason for the death, but a small part of him kept yelling that it was Arnin.

"Let's just hope that the feeling I have is wrong. If not, then" The village elder continued and walked away from the gate.

Arnin led the way to the top. Vilis stayed at the very back, acting like a guard dog, or in this case, guard tiger. Arnin wasn't spread out this way because of danger; he just didn't feel like he needed to speak with the girls. Vilis, on the other hand, was doing it for some unknown reason.

The walk up the hill was very silent and awkward. Arnin kept his mouth shut because he didn't want to speak, however the two girls didn't know if they should speak or not, but they were frightened of Vilis, so they kept quiet.

"Arnin, umm can you tell your beast to move away He is scaring me." Lilise was barely able to speak up. Vilis was a frightening looking beast, and having it follow her right from behind was not great feeling.

Arnin turned around and noticed how pale the two girls were. He nodded his head and waved towards Vilis.

"Vilis, come here. Lilise, Elidia, he is not a scary beast. He is actually very kind. Do you want to try riding him?" Arnin knew that the two girls were scared, but they would be seeing things far worse if they wanted to be cultivators. Plus, since he was going to be protecting them, even if it was from the dark, Vilis would be with him. They had to get used to him being around. If they rode on him, then they might have less fear.

"Arnin! Can't you see that my sister is scared? Why would you ask her such a dumb question?" Elidia put on an angry face. She already had ill feelings for Arnin, but now he was basically asking them sit on what they feared!

"What is it? Didn't you want to be called a mature girl? Why don't you face your fears? That's what mature people do. Unless you are still a little girl." Arnin spoke to Elidia as if he was speaking to a very young child. Elidia was young, but she was still a part of the older children group; she wasn't five anymore.

Elidia's face was shaded in an even redder color. She gritted her teeth and walked towards Vilis, albeit slowly.

"I am a mature girl. I am older than you too, so don't act like the boss. Watch me sit on this beast." Elidia spoke big words and acted like a child her own age. Arnin knew that children from families that were on a higher standing in their society would be different. Elidia and Lilise acted different then kids like Nekaia. They would try to avoid doing fun things and only look for ways to improve their cultivation, however this was for their families. Nekaia acted like a child her own age. She was spoiled, complained and even slept with her parents every so often. When Arnin was training Lilise, he noticed that she took everything too seriously, something that shouldn't be in a child.

"Then get on the beast." Arnin kept taunting her. Although he was cold towards others, he didn't want people acting like someone they were not. Elidia and Lilise acted too seriously, as if they were holding the world on their shoulders, which wasn't to his liking. If they acted in such a way, then they were guaranteed to fail in cultivation. They needed to have a free mind and act as if nothing but themselves mattered, that was how one rapidly progressed through the different realms. Arnin was a special case, he didn't act like someone who was older, rather he was someone older in a child's body. It was something that was difficult to alter.

"Alright here I go and" Elidia was next to Vilis, however she didn't even touch him. She made motions of almost touching him, but in the end, didn't. This went on for a few tries before Arnin couldn't take it anymore.

"Vilis, get on the ground!" Vilis laid onto the ground quickly, which surprised Elidia into taking a step back. Arnin walked behind Elidia and suddenly lifted her up. He then put her directly on to Vilis. He then walked towards Lilise and did the same. To him, the girls were nothing more than babies. With his age, they could even be considered fetuses.

"Put me down, no, no, ahhhh!" Elidia and Lilise had very similar reactions. Both of them was afraid written all over their faces. Vilis was the like the monsters they dreamt about and feared. Being suddenly placed on him was like a nightmare.

After both girls were finally on top of the beast, Arnin began to clap his hands

"Vilis, get up now. Let's go." Arnin didn't care much about the two girls' reaction. He just needed to make sure that they didn't act like they were adults and were not under lots of pressure. That would be detrimental to their future cultivation. Facing their fears and acting like children would be a benefit to them.

When Vilis suddenly got up and began to walk, Elidia's and Lilise's eyes were already puffy and red. Although, tears didn't fall out, but they were extremely scared. However, as Vilis slowly moved and they didn't feel his threat,so slowly their little hearts calmed.

"Are you finally done screaming?" Arnin turned his head and mocked Elidia.

"Hmph, I wasn't screaming. You were just hearing things." Elidia crossed here arms and was about to turn her head, however out of fear of falling off, she grabbed out to Vilis' fur. She then let go just as quick, thinking that if grabbed too hard, the beast might eat her. Arnin noticed all of this and couldn't help but shake his head.

"Elidia, you can grab his fur. Vilis won't hurt you." Arnin slowly explained to Elidia, as if he was trying to explain that threat level of a ladybug to a baby. Seeing that Elidia was still somewhat hesitant, he walked closer to Vilis and grabbed a handful of fur. Seeing that there was no reaction from Vilis, Elidia blinked with a gaping mouth.

"Now, both of you try." Arnin spoke with dull eyes. Elidia and Lilise nodded their heads and grabbed onto a handful of fur. Seeing that Vilis still made no reaction, their eyes brightened. Wide smiles appeared on their little faces, making them look like children.

Suddenly, Lilise began to glow in a faint golden hue. Arnin smiled when he saw this happen.

"W-what's happening?" Lilise panicked a little when she found herself being covered in the light. Elidia also had a look of worry.

"Calm down, you just stepped into Orb Birth - Earth. This is a good thing, so don't worry." Arnin calmly explain.

Lilise had a wide smile as she couldn't help but intently look at her own hands. They were shining with golden light, which was the signature of her breakthrough. Elidia also happily smiled because of her sister's breakthrough.

Arnin knew that such a thing would happen. When he first inspected her body, he noticed that her essence had reached a high level, however it wasn't increasing anymore. When he saw that, he knew that she was in a bottleneck and needed something to push her through. Arnin thought of the single most important way for one to enter the cultivation world, which was something the two girls did not have; a free mind. A normal child was born into the world already in the Orb Birth - Earth realm, however why was that the case? Arnin theorised that it was because a child in mother's womb would have an extremely undisturbed mind. This would allow them to gather essence and breakthrough without any sort of interference. Lilise would have broken through during her trip to the academy, but because of her own mental restraints, that became too difficult.

"We are finally here!" While the girls were in their own worlds, they had already reached the academy's front gate. As the group reached the gate, Arnin decided that it would be a smart idea if he put his robe on. Although he could mess with the teachers like the way he did with Gil, he didn't want to waste anymore time. When they finally arrived, they found that a teacher was signing people in and handing them robes and identity cards. The three got into the line and waited until it was their turn.

An hour passed and it was almost their turn. The girls stayed on Vilis the whole time, which Arnin didn't mind.

"Next." The teacher called for the next set of people. Vilis walked forward with the two girls. The teacher looked up and surprised to see a beast. He then frowned slightly. "Were you unable to walk up the hill? How are you going to be cultivators if you can't even do that?" The teacher didn't ask with any mockery or scorn. He asked a simple question; however, it still made the girl feel embarrassed.

"Teacher, whether we walk up the hill or not shouldn't be of your concern, right? So why are you asking such questions?" Arnin didn't speak disrespectfully to the teacher in any way. Arnin found that the teacher did make a fine point, so there really wasn't a reason to cause a problem.

"And you are?" The teacher looked at Arnin with some surprise. He was shocked to find that he was questioned on the first day. He didn't feel irritated, rather he felt more shocked and surprised.

"Teacher , my name is Arnin and I am a part of the Moth group and Mark Master's class." Arnin didn't hide his academic identity. He wanted to get through the process as quickly as possible, so exposing his identity would help speed that up.

"So, you are a Moth student! I didn't notice the robe. Well, yes, it isn't something that I need to ask, but a student should be able to walk up themselves. If they can't, then they are honestly not fit to cultivate." The teacher was more courteous when he spoke, however he still answered without hesitation.

"I see where you are coming from, but who's to say that they are not able to walk up the hill themselves? People have different reasons for their actions, and you can't judge based on what you see." Arnin spoke like a scholar, which surprised the teacher greatly. He couldn't believe that such words were coming out of a child's mouth.

"The Moth group is truly different from the rest. Here, let me take back my comment, I should not have asked before knowing the truth. Let's move onto the robe and identity hand out." Arnin was surprised and glad that the teacher was not some petty person that would argue with a child. He was happy to see at least someone that would accept the truth without getting angry.

"The names are Elidia and Lilise. They were assigned through the quota method." Arnin told the names that should be in the list.

"Hmmm alright, found them. So, you two will be in the Green Butterfly class. These colors don't mean anything, they are just a way to divide the classes." The teacher gave the two girls their robes and identity cards. Arnin nodded his head and walked past him.

"Thank you for your help, teacher. Maybe we will see each other in the academy." Arnin smiled before crossing through the gate and stepping into the academy building.

He finally made it to Lepidoptera Academy.