Chapter Thirty-Six

Xillar and Kurse were walking down from the third floor towards the second. They were finally done getting everything ready for Arnin. All that was left was for Arnin to take the sphere and drop his blood into it. After that, Arnin would be an official Mark Master and could begin his job of creating marks.

SLAP

The two people looked at each other when they heard the sound.

"What was that?" Kurse looked at Xillar with confusion. He had a strange feeling that the sound was not a good thing and that it was related to Arnin.

Xillar shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I don't know, but it is most likely related to that kid, Arnin." Xillar had the same train of thought. Both of them quickened their pace.

On the second floor, Arnin's hand violently slapped Torne's cheek. The latter couldn't help but feel dumbfounded, and even a little confused.

'What happened? Did I just get slapped? Why?' Torne was in utter confusion. He wasn't able to process what happened. He was about to grab for the manual, but then his cheek felt a stinging pain. Then, a thundering noise erupted in his ears that caused him to blank out.

A few moments later, the processing was finally done. It clicked right then. He was slapped by the kid for no good reason and it was a very painful slap. Torne's face began to turn red with anger and humiliation. He glared at Arnin as his left hand touched his left cheek.

"You little sh*t! How dare you slap me!" Torne roared with anger. He was being a nice senior to Arnin the whole time. Although Arnin was rude and even shrugged him off, Torne ignored that, but now he got slapped? There was no way he could ignore that.

"I dare. Why wouldn't I dare? Are you the ruler of this world? Are you a god? Even if you were, I would still dare." Arnin spoke with nonchalance. He wasn't afraid of the man before him. After a small inspection, he found that Torne was only at Essence Manifest - Earth. It was considered high talent in the Butterfly group, however in the Moth group, it was the lowest of the low. At his age, he should be in the upper levels of Essence Manifest.

"Little sh*t! Let me teach you what respect means!" Torne couldn't care less that Arnin was only a child. He would teach him a lesson as his senior. In his mind, he was going to do the right thing.

He released a small amount of his aura as he tried to pressurize Arnin. "As a senior, I will go easy on you. However, if you get onto your knees and slap yourself five times, then I will let you go. That a deal?" Although Torne kept telling himself that it was the right thing to give Arnin a beating, he couldn't bring himself to resort to violence. He had an image of being an amicable person, so if he beat a younger student, then that image would go down the drain.

"You are a funny person, you know that? Here, let me propose my own deal. If you get on your stomach and punch yourself a hundred times, and then call me 'Master', I will spare you a good beating. However, if you want to get a beating, then you can call me 'Master' later." Arnin smiled as he looked at Torne.

"Don't go overboard, little sh*t! I was just giving you a way out, but since you don't want it, then as your senior I must teach you some manners!" Torne was fully riled up. Fury grew in his heart as he charged towards Arnin. He wasn't going to do anything major, only give him a scare and a small beating.

The crowd watched on without any interference. They looked at Arnin with anger and mockery. They felt that Arnin was a little too bold and disrespectful. He slapped Torne and even taunted him later on.

Just as Torne was about to reach Arnin, a wild wind blew him away. Arnin noticed the wind beforehand and also felt a familiar aura within. He couldn't help but snort.

"What are you two doing? This is the Mark Masters building, not your house. Stop causing a ruckus!" From the wild wind, Xillar stepped out. His face contained a hint of anger and displeasure.

Torne, who was blown away by the wind, stood up slowly. With a face full of complaint, he began to speak bitterly. "Teacher, this child has gone overboard. Not only did he slap me, but he was also being extremely disrespectful. As his senior, I was only going to scare him. I hope Teacher can punish him." Torne sighed in relief. He was furious towards Arnin, however he wanted to maintain a good image. Now that a teacher was here, he could be relieved of the duty as a punisher.

Xillar turned around and found that the other party was Arnin. He couldn't help but curse at his bad luck and even felt helpless at Arnin's actions.

"Arnin, did you really slap him?" He asked. As a teacher, he had no choice but to carry out punishments impartially, however as a person who knew Arnin, he hoped that the child could lie a little. That way, he could try and reduce the punishment, or even scrap it altogether.

"Yea, I slapped him. Is there a problem with my actions?" Arnin smiled saintly towards Xillar. His eyes shined with righteousness, as if they were saying, 'The slap was a task given to me by God.'

Xillar almost fell over. He couldn't believe that Arnin admitted to it so easily. Not only that, but it seemed as though Arnin was happy about it. 'Can't this kid take a hint? I am trying to help him out.' Xillar couldn't help but curse Arnin's answer.

"Since you have slapped him, there must have been a good reason behind it. Tell me your reason, and if it is acceptable, I will let this matter settle." This was Xillar's last resort. Although it may look like favoritism, Xillar didn't care. It was favoritism. Arnin noticed and understood Xillar's plan, and he couldn't help but smirk.

"I slapped him because I felt like it. Is that a good enough reason?" Arnin looked at Xillar with scorn. He didn't like Xillar and felt like making him miserable.

'This stupid brat is playing me! Does he not understand that he will get punished for this, not me? This brat is such a piss off!' Xillar yelled and swore in his heart.

"Teacher, he admitted that it was for no good reason! He needs to receive a proper punishment." Torne felt something was off with the way Xillar was treating the situation, so he quickly pushed the topic back to punishment. Plus, Arnin admitted to doing it without any sort of reason, which should result in a more serious punishment.

Xillar heard Torne and couldn't help but release a deep sigh. He looked at Arnin and shook his head. 'I tried to help you kid, but you just didn't go with the plan.'

"Since he has admitted to slapping you, I will carry out the punishment. He will be sent to-" Just as Xillar was about to announce the punishment, Arnin raised his hand.

"What do you mean by punishment? Why should the master be punished for teaching his servant a lesson?" Arnin looked at Xillar with a smile.

"What do you mean servant? I am not your servant, and you are not my master. Who decided this?" Rage boiled inside his heart. Torne felt that Arnin was being a little too ridiculous.

"I decided this. You are my servant, whether you want to be or not." Arnin spoke to Torne in a commanding tone.

"Teacher, this kid is too much. Please carry out the punishment." Torne was furious, but he looked at Xillar and pleaded.

"Servant, if you don't admit that I am your master, then watch what punishment you will receive later on." Arnin glared at Torne.

"You little sh*t, I am your senior, not your servant. If you keep this up, then the punishment will be something you won't be able to handle." Torne was getting more and more riled up. Arnin's constant taunting left him speechless. Xillar was also flabbergasted by Arnin's actions.

"Servant, since you won't call me master, I will deal with you outside. You better not get involved in this. This is between a master and his servant." Arnin stared at Xillar and threatened. He showed no respect to Xillar. "Servant Kurse, come. I will show you what happens to people who don't call me master." Arnin waved at Kurse, who was watching from the sidelines.

When Kurse heard his name being called, he couldn't help but feel some fear in his heart. He shook his head bitterly before following behind Arnin.

The crowd followed them to the stairs. All of them walked down the stairs. The old man was still behind the front desk. When Arnin saw the old man again, he stopped in his tracks.

"Old man, you better watch yourself. Don't think I don't know what you put inside me." Arnin walked away after threatening the old man. Xillar, who was a little further behind, heard Arnin threaten the old man and couldn't help but feel confused.

"Old Staloc? What happened?" Xillar was utterly confused. He didn't think that Arnin would threaten the old man in such a way.

Staloc had a glint in his eyes as he looked at Arnin. He couldn't help but release a small smile before sitting down into his chair.

"Don't worry about it. That boy is special. He saw through my mark implantation. He is a talent that is difficult to come by. He might just be able to fight against those two, since he is the only person who was able to find that mark." The old man waved his hand and began to speak to Xillar.

"You think he is that impressive? To be able to go against even those two?" Xillar couldn't help but feel surprised. The old man in front of him was a real Mark Master, and even the leader of the department. He rarely praised anyone, but for him to give Arnin such an appraisal, it made Xillar astonished.

"He may be a good seedling, but there is something about him that is mysterious. He seems deadly and even somewhat… forget it. Just don't get on his bad side, I feel that the results would not be good if he becomes angry." Xillar looked at the old man with bewilderment.

"Old Staloc, he is only a child and in the Orb Birth realm, what's the worst that could happen?" Although Xillar agreed that Arnin was an abnormality, he felt that Staloc was being a little too cautious.

"I don't know either. Something about him just doesn't seem right." That old man sighed before waving his hand. Xillar took the hint and followed the rest of the students towards the outside.

Arnin was outside, facing Torne with a smile that didn't seem like a smile. It looked evil and caused goosebumps to appear on Torne's arm.

"Servant, since you don't acknowledge me as your master, then sign this contract. If you win, you can choose to do whatever you want with me, plus you can even have the mark making manual." When Arnin spoke and outlined the bet, Torne felt happy but fearful. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he didn't feel too good about the bet.

"What happens if I lose? Will I become your servant? That's fine with me." Although he felt somewhat unsure but the whole thing, he was confident that he could beat Arnin. Plus, the mark making manual was also in the bet, so how could he not agree?

"No, you will not become my servant. That position is too high for you." Arnin spoke with a wicked smile.

"Then what happens if I lose?" He asked with some confusion.

"If you lose, then you will become my eternal slave." Arnin spoke with great malice. A black contract appeared in Arnin's hands before it was sent towards Torne.

Torne looked at the contract with some hesitation and began to read it over and over again. He felt that if he won, then his gains would be extremely high, and he also knew that he was stronger than Arnin. After looking through it for some time, he nodded his head and signed it with his orb threads.

Contracts varied. The lowest form of a contract was a verbal consent, while the highest form was through the orb threads of a person. This was equivalent to the soul of a person, so when Torne signed the contract, he was basically signing with his life away. There was no escape.

When Arnin saw that the contract was signed, he couldn't help but release an evil smile. He then vanished from his position and reappeared in front of Torne. Torne jumped back after seeing Arnin appear so suddenly.

"Despicable! We didn't even say go or anything of the like. How could you begin so suddenly?" Torne screamed at Arnin with some hate.

"We didn't agree on when the duel would begin, so it is your fault for not paying attention. Hehehe!" Arnin laughed wickedly before rushing towards Torne again. Arnin didn't hold any weapons, but he was extremely strong with just his bare hands. Suddenly, a thought struck Arnin.

'The white saber inside of me helps with mark creation because of the tattoos but is is also made from my threads. Can it be used as a weapon?' Arnin thought for a moment before deciding to give it a try. He called on the saber inside of him and had it appear on his palm. This time, he didn't divide it into the fingers, but directed all the energy to his palm.

Torne noticed a short, snow-white blade appear on Arnin's hand. Although it was inside of Arnin's palm and wasn't that long, he still felt the sharpness.

Arnin looked at the weapon on his hand and couldn't help but shake his head. Although it appeared on his hand, Arnin felt that it just looked like a blade, but didn't have the properties of one.

"What if I try to insert some threads into it? Maybe the balance will tilt towards the threads rather the tattoo portion." Arnin nodded his head and gave it a try. He didn't have enough time to experiment with the battle capability of the saber, so he could only improvise. He began to add different threads to the blade. The threads didn't go into the blade, rather they wrapped around it like a web.

Torne noticed all of this and felt the sharpness of the blade increase. "Little sh*t, what are you doing? We never agreed to use weapons." Torne felt that this was unfair. Although he believed he was stronger than Arnin, that didn't mean he underestimated the latter.

"We didn't agree to having weapons, but we never said we can't have any either." Arnin smiled before rushing towards Torne with the blade.

"Despicable. You are truly a demonic little sh*t. How could you be such a despicable child?" Torne leaped to his side to try and avoid the saber; however, he was a little slower than Arnin's swing. His right arm received a small cut, however something weird began to happen. When he was cut by the blade, he felt some of his essence disappear.

Arnin also noticed that his saber absorbed some of the essence from Torne. 'Interesting.' Arnin nodded his head and swung it towards the other party once again.

"Little sh*t, what is this blade?! Why am I losing strength?!" Torne began to feel a large amount of fear. He never knew of such a weapon's existence. It was absorbing his essence, but not only that, he was also losing a great amount of energy.

Arnin ignored the screams of Torne and crazily swung the saber. It didn't leave serious wounds, but still cut deep enough to do some damage. Arnin was slashing Torne without any hesitation, and there was also an intoxicated smile on his face.

Throughout the whole fight, Arnin noticed that although Torne's cultivation was high, his actual strength was actually even lower than Kurse's. 'Seems like this guy is not a fighter.' Arnin nodded his head and began to increase the strength in his swings.

The crowd watched on with wide eyes. They all knew that Torne was not a good fighter, but his cultivation was much higher than Arnin's. Suddenly, Torne fell to the ground. His body was covered in cuts that were both large and small, some deep, others not so much. He looked extremely pathetic.

The blade on Arnin's palm went back into his skin. "Slave, since you have lost the match, let me teach a small lesson as to what happens when one goes against his master." Arnin walked towards Torne and lifted his own hand. He then began to punch Torne's face repeatedly.

"ARGH! AHH! STOP! STOP! AHH!" Torne's shrill screams resounded in the sky. They started off loud, but they slowly become weaker and more pitiful. Xillar, who didn't step in the whole time, couldn't bear it anymore.

"Arnin, stop! He can't handle it anymore. This is only a spar. Why are you treating your fellow student like that?" Xillar gulped before he spoke out. He didn't fear Arnin's strength, but he felt that Arnin was way too vicious. Suddenly, Arnin pulled Torne's shirt up. A sinister ball-like tattoo appeared on Torne's chest. It wrapped around his shoulders and waist like a snake.

"W-what is that?" Xillar couldn't help but move little closer and ask in astonishment.

"This is the slave mark. He lost the bet, so he is now my slave. He is not a fellow student, so I can do whatever I like to him. Got it?" Arnin looked at Xillar sternly. The latter felt that Arin was becoming increasingly vicious as time went on. He could only shake his head. He could try and help Torne, but he knew that Arnin would still beat him up later. Suddenly, a thought popped in his mind.

"If you try and take him from my sight, then I will make him live a life worse than a dog's. You can try your luck if you wish." Arnin looked at Xillar with a wicked smile. The latter laughed bitterly before taking a step back. He did think of taking Torne under his wing to try and protect him from Arnin's beatings, but that plan was a no go.

In the blue sky, a black robed person sat on top of the clouds and watched the scene unfold with great pleasure.

"Hahaha! The Demon Lord is really not playing anymore. That slave mark is really something that brings back memories. Hahaha!" The black robed person kept laughing with a voice that was neither that of a woman's, nor of a man's.