65 The Tenth Floor (1/2)

*HMPHH*

The sound of someone breathing from their nose appeared in the forest. It was a sad sound and one could even hear the breath tremble.

Arnin was silently watching Akig eat the rabbit with tears running down his cheek. ”Why did this happen? Why am I a Hybrid? Now, no one will like me.” He finally finished the rabbit, however he felt extremely sorrowful. As a child, he didn't want to be different from his friends. He wanted to be the same so that he could continue playing with them, however now that he knew he was different, he felt that no one would ever play with him.

”Akig, you need to stop acting like a child. Being a Hybrid is not a bad thing, rather it is actually extremely rare and good.” Arnin slowly explained. ”Look again at all the damage you did. Do you think any of your friends could do this?” He asked.

Akig was silent. After looking at the scene again and again, even he felt that his strength was extremely high. This type of damage was not something his friends could do, not even if they trained for many years.

”What should I do then? Will people still want to be friends with me after knowing that I'm only half human?” Akig still had this concern. Afterall, he was still a child, and to him, friends were very important.

Arnin shook his head, and couldn't help but sigh. ”You need to understand something, Akig. From now on, you will be staying here. You will not be going back to the academy until you are stronger.” Arnin looked at Akig with little to no expression on his face. ”In this world, people will want to be friends with the strong. If you are strong, everyone will be your friend, however if you are weak, then no one will like you.” His words were like waves crashing onto Akig's heart.

What Arnin said was actually not entirely true. If the strong were the only ones that could have friends, than Arnin would have been the most popular person in the universe, but that wasn't the case. People hated and feared Arnin, many wanted him dead, some even desiring to torture him, and make him live a life that would be worse than death.

”What about my three friends? We always play together and they don't care about my strength.” Akig said in an almost mouse-like voice.

”If your friends find out that you are only half human, they will hate you. Do you want that?” Arnin glared at Akig and questioned.

”N-no! I don't want to be hated!” Akig firmly rejected the idea of being hated.

”Then you have to get stronger.” Arnin said with a look of seriousness. He also felt that Akig was extremely strong and had great potential. All Hybrid creatures were extremely talented and powerful.

”T-then what should I do? How will I become stronger?” Akig calmed down and got up from the ground. He wiped snot and tears off of his face, and looked at Arnin with resolution. 'I will not be hated! I will become stronger so that I can still have friends.'

”If you want to become stronger, then you will do everything that I say. I will make it so that in the future, no one in Afloria will look down on you.” Arnin said with seriousness. When Akig heard Arnin's words, he couldn't help but become emotional, however he was also oblivious to one fact.

'Akig is such an easy person to control. Once he becomes stronger, I will be able to dominate Afloria with him as one of my generals.' Arnin couldn't help but inwardly smile. He didn't care about Akig's friendships with others, all he cared about was his usefulness.

”Now then, the first step to making you stronger is very easy. You will live in this forest all day and come back at night. If you want to eat, you will hunt. If you want to drink, you will find water.” Arnin's words thundered inside Akig's head. 'This is the perfect training method for him. He will need to embrace his animal instincts, and slowly awaken his tiger bloodline. While he is doing this, I will be able to collect all the ingredients needed to make him the low leveled Bloodline Pill.'

”H-how am I going to survive out here? The beasts are much stronger than me.” Akig's eyes became red once again.

”Don't worry, I will make sure that you aren't here alone. I will allow your friends to train with you.” Arnin smiled wickedly. He had a plan to make him stronger.

”Really? My friends can come here as well?” Akig's eyes brightened when he heard this. The three friends that he always hung out with were from his village. They grew up together, and so they were extremely close. If he could train with them, he wouldn't mind hunting and eating in the forest.

”Now then, I am going to head back. For now, you come back with me and once I bring your friends over, you will begin your training.” Arnin turned around as he spoke and headed towards the exit of the forest.

Akig was no longer crying, instead, he was feeling extremely happy. He looked at Arnin with gratification, however Arnin's face carried a wicked smile. No one knew what he was thinking.

Soon, they arrived back at the house. The sky was darkening and Arnin decided to leave the dimension. ”You can sleep in the house for now. I will bring your friends tomorrow.” Arnin walked towards the hexagonal hole inside his bedroom, but just when he was about to insert his sphere, he found Akig curiously looking down at the basement.

”Akig!” Arnin said in a deep voice.

He was startled, and quickly looked at Arnin, who had a serious face. ”Yeah?”

Arnin glanced at the basement, before looking at Akig once more. ”No one is allowed to enter the basement. If I find that you have entered without my permission, then I will make sure that you stay weak, and have no friends.” Arnin said seriously. Akig jumped back, before quickly nodding his head. He walked away from the stairs that went down in the basement, burying his curiosity.

The sphere entered the hexagonal hole before Arnin vanished from sight. He appeared back in front of the Alchemy building, and went back towards his house in the Moth residential area. The sky was darkening, and Arnin wanted to head back to his home and rest. He had many things that needed to be done now. He had to find the Blood Devouring Flower, and begin the hunt for ingredients of the Flame Suppressant Pill. Not only that, but he needed to get stronger, much stronger.

Arnin was a little excited about all of the things that needed to be done. The boredom he had faced as the strongest in the universe was now gone with all of the excitement in Afloria.

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After reaching his house, Arnin noticed that Vilis was still in the midst of his evolution. He saw changes in Vilis' body, and noticed that he was now much larger, and his fur was becoming somewhat lighter, with hints of white here and there. Not only that, but Arnin noticed an extra horn growing from Vilis' forehead. Arnin nodded his head, and began to feel the fluctuations that Vilis released.

'Hmm, his aura is higher then Essence Manifest now. Let's see how far he can evolve. He can't go too high in realm cultivation, or I won't be able to concoct the low level Bloodline Pill for Akig.' Arnin's expression became somewhat serious. Vilis had most likely reached the realm of a Rank Two beast by now, but his evolution didn't seem to be nearing completion anytime soon. This was troublesome for Arnin.

Arnin sighed, and shook his head. If Vilis' strength did become higher than he wanted, then he could just try and strengthen Akig a little more. He walked past Vilis, and sat down in the middle of the room. He crossed his legs and began to silently cultivate.

'I have already created the cultivation manual, and even have an elemental seed from a combination of three elements.' Arnin thought in his head. He already had the elements of light, darkness, and fire combined, but he began to think about combining other elements together.