46 Academy Introduction

When Arnin heard the voice, he couldn't help but smile. There was something about Akig that he liked, but he just couldn't figure out what. The two girls turned round and saw Akig speaking with his round head held high. He lightly punched his chest, causing his arm and face to jiggle.

"Who is it? Who is gossiping about me behind my back?" Akig tried to put on a strong front, but he just seemed like a clown. Arnin smiled, while Lilise, and even Elidia, couldn't hold back their laughter.

"Akig, over here." Arnin called out to him quickly. This boy was going to be his Beast-sitter in the future, so he wanted to talk to him a little more.

Akig turned around and tried to find the person who had called out to him. His eyes latched onto a small kid around the same age as him. He had black hair and three horn tattoos on his forehead. Beside the kid were two girls. One looked to be a little older then himself, while the other was around the same age as him. He recognized them immediately.

"Arnin! Wow, I haven't seen you in like what, one day? It feels like one year." Akig quickly ran over and tried to hug Arnin, however the latter exerted some force and lifted his hand, so Akig wasn't able to even get close to Arnin.

"You keep getting stronger and stronger, Arnin. No wonder you are a Moth student." Akig could feel himself being repelled by Arnin, so he didn't walk any closer. He spoke with some happiness, but then began to look around with frantic eyes.

"Where is the beautiful beast? Is he not here?" Akig asked with worry.

"Calm down, Akig. You can see Vilis later." Arnin smirked when he saw Akig's behaviour. The latter smiled with relief before walking towards the two girls.

"I haven't seen you guys since you got your house. I heard that you are in the Moth residential area. Wow!" Akig showed some envy when he spoke.

Just then, a group of guys came from behind Akig. They were all around the same age as him.

"Akig, who are these three friends of yours? You want to introduce them?" The three boys smiled without any ill intent. It seemed as though they were friends of Akig.

"Haha! You guys, these are the three people I was talking about. This guy right here is that Moth student." Akig spoke with arrogance. He talked as though he was showcasing the most important person in the world.

The three boys were surprised and looked at Arnin with some shock. He was a little bigger than most kids his age, but he still looked like a child with devilish good looks.

"So you're that Moth student that Akig kept talking about. Wow, I never thought that I would be able to speak with a Moth student." One of the boys looked at Arnin with an idolizing gaze. His lips reach his ears, showcasing his bright white teeth.

"Yea, I never thought that Aig was actually telling the truth. So where is the beast that Akig was talking about?" Another one of the boys asked with some confusion. They had also seen the beast in the past, but they didn't see it now, causing them to wonder where it was.

"Vilis is at home right now. Why are you guys crowding around my friend? Make way." Akig quickly stepped in front of his friends with a proud smile. He tried to act like Arnin's bodyguard, which made them all smile with some helplessness.

"Akig, are you still going to come and take care of Vilis for me? If you are, I can get you a house in the Moth residential area as well." Arnin smiled towards Akig. He liked the boy, and since the other party was going to take care of Vilis, him having a house closeby would make things easier.

When Akig heard this, his eyes began to sparkle. "Haha! I told you guys, Arnin and I are buds." Akig laughed loudly, rubbing it in his friends' faces.

"You're so lucky, Akig. If only we were able to get a place at the Moth residential area as well." The three friends became envious of their friend's luck and couldn't help but voice their desires. Arnin smiled and shook his head.

He wasn't holding a charity where he would provide everyone with a place to stay. Only people who were useful to him would be given a house, and that too only if it would make things easier for Arnin.

Akig acted smug and followed Arnin, who began to walk towards the front of the Moth group. He had found Akig, so now he had no reason to stay in the back.

----------------------------------------

Arnin made it to the front of the place with the other three. Akig's friends weren't able to come, however Arnin didn't care. Many people looked at Arnin and his friends with anger, however some of them knew about Arnin's beast. They had seen the beast attack one of the older students in the residential area, so they didn't want to do anything stupid. (Author note: This is talking about the Leader that Arnin had Vilis grab and drag around on the first day in the residential area.) Anyways, most of them just wanted to hear the announcement, so they minded their own business.

After a few minutes went by, an old man walked up onto the stage. He had a long grey beard and very little hair on his head. He stood on top of the wooden stage, while behind him stood some teachers. Most of the teachers were of the Butterfly group, with only a few belonging to the Moth group. Xillar was among the Moth teachers.

"Uhum! Students of Lepidoptera Academy, welcome. Many of you have been here for years, while some of the students present are new. We do this every year, so I will begin by explaining some of the expectations we have of you. In Lepidoptera Academy…" The old man began to talk about the common rules of the academy. Most students already knew about the rules because of a handbook that everyone had received.

The old man made a little speech on how he expected every student to try their best, and make sure to represent the academy in a good light. Arnin found the speech to be rather boring, as did many of the older students, however many of the new students listened with passion, their eyes burning with flames.

"Now then, we will begin most lessons right away. On the stage we have many teachers. Most are from the Butterfly group, while some of them are from the Moth group. A teacher from each group will come up to the stage and begin to explain some of the procedures of each group." The old man finally finished speaking and allowed a pretty Butterfly teacher to walk forward.

The teacher looked absolutely stunning. Her hazel eyes, combined with her long blond hair, made her extremely attractive. Many of the older boys watched with fervent eyes, while the older girls looked on with envy.

In Afloria, marriage took place quite early for many children. Most girls would be able to get married at the age of fourteen, while boys would be able to get married at the age of sixteen. However, people of much higher status might accelerate the process, while commoners would usually allow their children to grow up a little more. Most students in the academy were around the ages of fourteen and fifteen, while a minority of them were around twenty years old. Arnin still couldn't understand why there was such a disparity, but he felt that there had to be a reason for this.

"Hello students, I am the teacher for the Green Butterfly students, however I will explain some things now for you Butterfly students. The Butterfly students…" There was another long explanation, however the woman's soothing voice made many of the older boys blush, and even feel excited. Arnin snorted at their actions. Luckily, Akig was still a child so he didn't do anything like that.

The teacher talked about splitting students under their respective class colors and some other small things about resources and cultivation. Arnin didn't really pay attention to the teacher since it didn't concern him. He only cared about what the Moth teacher had to say. who would explain the rules for him.

"Now that I am done, I will allow a Moth teacher to come up and do his own introduction." This time, the person who stood on top of the stage was Kelnorin. Arnin was surprised to see him. He had assumed that it would be Xillar, or some other teacher, as he didn't even see Kelnorin sitting on the chairs.

'Where did he come from?' Arnin continued to suspect Kelnorin's identity. He just didn't seem like a normal Moth teacher.

"Thank you. I will explain many things related to the Moth students, but some of the info is also helpful for the Butterfly students." Kelnorin began to speak. "Moth students are different from Butterfly students because of their abnormal talent, however this doesn't mean things will be easier for them." Arnin listened intently. He knew of some small things, but not the major details.

Kelnorin continued. "A Moth student will not get a set class. In fact, they won't even have a set teacher." When the new Moth students heard this, they began to chat amongst themselves with some panic. Arnin also frowned slightly when he heard this.

'If we don't have a class, or a teacher, how will we learn new things?' Although he was thinking this, Arnin didn't say anything. He knew that Kelnorin would explain.

"This may seem unfair to most students, but this is the way a Moth student will be nurtured. All of the academies in Afloria do the same thing. However, we won't let the students just do nothing, so we have implemented a method to make the Moth students more productive." Arnin thought about the Academy points that Surk told him about.

"Moth students, and Butterfly students too, will start off with zero Academy points. You can use these points to enter floors of the library, get private lessons, and even buy different things inside the academy." When the Moth students heard this, they became somewhat upset. They thought that the Moth group would allow them to always be ahead of others and be personally nurtured by the best teachers, however they were wrong.

"This is unfair! We should at least get some lessons. Why do we have to work for it when we passed the examinations, just like all of the Butterfly students?" One of the new Moth students screamed out his complaint. He was grumpy because he was going to need to work for his lectures, and even had to fight for a place to live. This was not an academy, it was basically the real world.

"I understand your complaints, but this is how all the academies work. If you don't like it, you can switch into the Butterfly group, but I will tell you now that the Moth group has many benefits that the Butterfly group doesn't." Kelnorin knew that the Butterfly students would get upset over him saying that the Moth group was better and the students were more talented, however facts were facts. There was no need to hide them.

"How do we get Academy points then?" The boy didn't want to go over to the Butterfly group since the Moth group did have better final results.

"I was just going to get to that. To earn points, there are actually many things that you can do. You can do well in the academy competitions, do jobs, complete missions, and much more." Kelnorin didn't go into too much detail, however he did explain some of the jobs that one could do. These included working with the medical department, being a Mark Master, selling items, etc. He also explained where the missions would be found.

"Now, Moth students may seem to be in a bad place, but there are some benefits that many have probably already used. Moth students can get free access to the first floor of the library, and possibly even the second, if they are talented enough, and even have personal housing. There are more than enough houses for all of the students, so even if one loses a duel, they can still find a place to live." Arnin had experienced these benefits, not only that but he got himself two houeses. He had to admit that although the Moth group was more competitive, the perks were not too bad.

The angry student who spoke out before calmed down and began to smile proudly. He had already found a house for himself, albeit small, but it was still his. He hadn't gone to the library but he had heard many things about it.

Kelnorin finished his piece and disappeared once more. Arnin watched with some suspicions but he stayed quiet. The old man came back onto the stage and began to divide the students, making the Butterfly students go to their respective teachers. Lilise and Elidia went towards the beautiful teacher from before since they were in the Green group.

The Moth students had it different. Three teachers came up and gave them three options. Xillar would lead the students towards possible jobs they could do, while another teacher would lead them towards the mission area. The last teacher was going to lead the students towards the training grounds; this was another benefit that the Moth students had.

Only the Moth group had a personal training ground. It was huge, and had an abundance of essence in the air. Arnin pondered for a moment before deciding to follow the third teacher. He already had a job as a Mark Master, plus missions were not important to him at the moment. Right now, he wanted to cultivate. He could go do missions in the future.