Chapter Forty-Seven

The group that was heading for the training grounds was fairly small, with maybe a few dozen Moth students. The Butterfly students had already left for their own classes, while the remaining Moth students also went their own way.

Arnin was a part of the group that was going to the training grounds. He didn't need to get a job since he had one already, and missions could be done later. Right now, he wanted to break through into the Essence Manifest realm as quickly as possible. He needed to cultivate quickly and learn more about the different components, especially the time component.

Although it may have seemed as though Arnin had plenty of time, he did not. The other world that he wanted to go to was difficult reach because the gates for that world only opened at certain intervals. He needed to cultivate and have a breakthrough quickly, so then he could go to that world.

The group mostly consisted of older students around the same age as Kurse and Monifa. All of them chatted amongst one another about the training grounds, and since Arnin was new and had never been there, he listened in on their conversation.

"I am going to cultivate on the surface for now. It has a lot of Essence, plus it is easier to absorb. What about you guys?" A boy with braided brown hair asked his group of friends.

"You are such a wimp, Nettle. I am going to enter the first floor of the training tower. It is much better than the field." Another boy with curly black hair mocked.

"You're not even an Essence Manifest cultivator. The tower will be too difficult for you. You should stay on the surface with me." Nettle, the boy who spoke first, didn't get flustered by the mockery. He didn't ridicule the boy in return, but instead gave him a suggestion with a smile. It seemed like Nettle was not one who would taunt others.

"Who cares! The first floor is still pretty good for Orb Birth cultivators. If I begin to struggle, I will come to the field with you." The boy helplessly shook his head and spoke with a slight hint of determination. It seemed as though he really wanted to go to the tower.

Arnin listened in on their conversation and was somewhat surprised. When he first heard of the training fields, he assumed that it would just be a large field with an abundance of essence, however it seemed like there was more to it than just that.

Arnin had learned even more from other conversations that were going on around him. The large field that was between the Moth and Butterfly buildings was used by Butterly students for their cultivation. The Butterfly students did not get a private training field like the Moth students; however, they still had some opportunities too. Although the private field was intended for the Moth students, the Butterfly students could get access to it if they paid a heap load of academic points, however they would only get access to the first three floors of the place called the Essence Tower.

Arnin began to look forwards to this tower. It seemed as though it was meant for Essence Manifest cultivators, which meant that it probably had something to do with components. Not only that, Arnin found that other than the tower, there were also many different areas in the training fields that were reserved for the Moth students, no matter how much the Butterfly students paid.

'The Moth students really have a lot of benefits. The Academy's way of building loyalty within the Moth group and motivation for the Butterfly group is excellent. Such crafty people.' Arnin smirked when he thought about the system they had in place. He knew that everything had a reason. Although the Moth students were treated extremely well, that didn't mean that the academy would lose out. With such good treatment, most students, if not all, would remain loyal to the academy. Not only that, but the amazing treatment of the Moth students would ignite envy in Butterfly students, making them work harder. This would then lead to better outcomes from the Butterfly group as well.

Arnin didn't know if this was a system that was collectively used by all the academies, but one thing he did know was that the larger and wealthier ones would have much better treatment for both groups. Lepidoptera was not a big academy, rather it was considered to be an average academy when compared to others. This made Arnin look forward to seeing other places in Afloria.

The group walked through a large forest, using a narrow dirt path to cut through it. Soon, they finally left the land of trees and approached a large field. Arnin was astonished by the scene. As a Demon Lord, he had seen far too many sights and sceneries. He had gone to what mortals considered Hell and Heaven. He lived inside a black hole that many didn't even dare to approach. He had walked through the hottest volcanoes and the deepest oceans. However, he was surprised that such a small academy could have a field so large.

In front of his eyes, there were lush green fields that shimmered with abundant life further than the eye could see. Not only was there grass, and groups of trees everywhere, animals roamed in every corner. These weren't hostile animals like Vilis, rather they were calm and docile. Deers with single horns, small brown bunnies with antlers and tiny insects that moved in colonies were everywhere. The environment was extremely peaceful, but this wasn't what astonished Arnin the most.

As a person who was able to seperate essence into components, combined with having the white saber in his body, Arnin had an extremely high sensitivity towards essence. Usually, he could feel the essence around him, however it wasn't visible to him, and it didn't ever seem suffocating. However, this time, he essence in front of him was like an ocean, pressurizing him from all sides. He could even see some of the essence in the air. The sight was magnificent and Arnin couldn't help but feel extremely comfortable.

Most of the students didn't have much of a reaction since they had been in the training field before, however there were a couple of students who were new to this place, just like Arnin. They looked at the field with glittering eyes.

Arnin swept through the field with his eyes and saw something in the distance; it was an extremely tall tower. Arnin automatically knew that the structure was most likely the Essence Tower.

The Moth teacher who was leading the group turned around and looked at all of the students. He had a slight smile on his face, but that was it. "We will be heading towards the Essence Tower from here. Older students can leave now and do what they want, however the new students will follow me towards the tower." With that, the Moth teacher began to walk towards the tower.

The older students looked at the new Moth students and one of them quietly whispered. "Try to keep up with him." Then all of them disappeared, leaving only Arnin, and three other students. Arnin pondered what the boy said and looked at the teacher, who was getting further away. He quickly caught up, while the other three also ran after a pause. Other then Arnin, none of them thought about the words of the older student. They all carried expressions of confusion and idleness, as if the words had no deeper meaning.

Arnin shook his head, however since they were just five years old, they would not be as perceptive as Arnin. They hadn't experienced much.

The Moth teacher turned his head and smiled slightly before increasing his speed. Arnin noticed this and also increased his own. The other students were still oblivious that something was happening, however they were able to keep up thus far.

The Teacher turned around and looked at the few students behind him, before increasing his speed once more. This time, he was jogging. Arnin reacted the quickest, while the rest took a moment before finally speeding up to a jog too. The Essence Tower was kilometers away from the forest they just came from, so it would be a long jog. Only Arnin was higher than Orb Birth - Earth. Almost every new Moth student was at the Earth level for Orb Birth, however there were always a few exceptions. They hadn't started their official cultivation because they had just gotten to the academy, so they were still in the beginning stages.

Arnin carefully watched the teacher and noticed that he had quickened his pace yet again. This went on until Arnin finally got the pattern. The teacher was changing his speed everyone hundred meters. Although it was a slight increase, the students would get tired very soon.

A few minutes passed, and the three Moth students were already breathing rapidly. Sweat was dripping down their foreheads, however they continued to persist. Arnin was still doing fine. His endurance was high because of previous training, and because his realm was higher than that of the other three. The Teacher noticed this of course and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

'This one seems to be a great talent. His realm is much higher than the other students.' This teacher did not know much about Arnin since the principal wanted to keep quiet about it. Some teachers did know that Arnin was very talented, but they didn't know about his evil personality and the mysterious backer.

"This…*huff huff*... is so… *huff huff*...tiring." One of the boys couldn't help but quietly complain to his fellow students. Of course, he tried to make sure that the teacher didn't hear him.

"Yeah, I… am about… to drop." A little girl replied, her face completely drenched. Even her clothes were soaking with sweat.

"Keep going Alisma… we can… make it… *huff huff*" The third student replied. He seemed to be doing the best out of the three. Although he was exhausted and sweaty, he still looked like he could go on for a long time.

Arnin watched as the three spoke. He didn't say anything and continued following silently. If they fell, then they fell. It didn't affect him much, so he didn't want to interfere. He just found them somewhat interesting.

Ten minutes passed, and the group were about a kilometer away. Arnin noticed that the change in speed happened every two-hundred meters now, rather than everyone hundred meters. Arnin was able to go on for a long time, however he felt that the other three were at their breaking points. They were basically sprinting towards the Tower now, however the three students' faces were extremely pale, and their lips looked dry.

'They are only five-years-old, so this much is already acceptable.' The Teacher nodded his head and began to slow down. He was satisfied that all the students were able to make it so far with sheer determination.

"Alright you guys, let's take a break first. Try to gather as much energy as possible, because we will be increasing our speeds much more." The teacher stopped and turned around. When the three heard what the teacher said, they fell onto the ground and tried to catch their breath. They didn't have any water to quench their thirst, so they could only silently gulp down their own saliva.

The teacher looked at the three on the ground before his gaze fell upon Arnin. The latter was standing about three meters away from them. His eyes were closed, and his breathing seemed to be very steady.

'This kid is really something. He doesn't seem tired and is even doing a breathing exercise.' The teacher could, of course, figure out what Arnin was doing with just a glance. Arnin didn't try to hide his actions either, so it was fairly easy to figure out.

He walked towards Arnin and began to silently watch him breath in and out. He saw his chest rising and falling, and even saw his nose quiver when taking in the air.

Suddenly, Arnin sat onto the ground and opened his eyes. He looked up at the teacher and asked without a single thread of emotion. "What do you need, Teacher?" There was neither respect, nor disrespect in his voice. The teacher didn't take his attitude to heart, rather he admired it. He found that Arnin was different from the others, not because of his talent, but rather because of his composure.

When he first took the group towards the field, he found that Arnin gave off a feeling of something ancient. He quickly found that Arnin was quick witted and exuded an air of confidence. His face had some arrogance, but he didn't interact with others.

The teacher found Arnin to be different from the normal, cold and haughty students. His arrogance seemed to be innate, but for some reason, he felt that it was not out of place. The feeling was extremely weird, and he couldn't even describe it properly.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see what you were doing." The teacher smiled towards him. He didn't say anything else and continued to stare at Arnin.

"Have you seen enough? If so, you can leave and check on the others. I don't like being bugged by flies." Arnin smiled wickedly towards the teacher.

The teacher just smiled when he heard Arnin's words, there was no other reaction. He then turned around and waved his hand. "I will be here then. If you need anything, do ask. We will be leaving in about five minutes, so get ready." The Teacher then went and inspected the other students. He said some things to them, however Arnin scoffed before ignoring him.

While he ran from the forest, he had been sensing the essence in the air. The closer he got to the Essence Tower, the more chaotic it became. The essence in the field was like slow moving balls. It moved freely without much action, however around the Tower, the situation seemed to be different.

He noticed that the essence would move much quicker as he got closer to the Tower. It felt as though each of the essence components were at war with one another. Arnin also felt that the variety of essences increased as he got closer to the Tower. This made him very excited.

Five minutes flew by quickly, and it was finally time to head out. The three weren't completely ready, but they were in better condition than before. Quickly, they set out towards the Tower once more. A kilometer was overtaken speedily since they moving much faster than before. By the time they got there, the three Moth students were about to collapse of exhaustion, while Arnin couldn't help but grin widely.

He felt it. He could feel that the Tower had hundreds, or even thousands of types of essence components. He could even vaguely feel some time essence somewhere in the tower.

'Time essence, I can feel that you are in the Tower. Haha, good, good. This is perfect.' Arnin couldn't stop himself from smiling evilly. When the teacher noticed this, his body couldn't help but shudder.