58 The Be

Arnin looked at the Zesiro with mockery, however he was somewhat tense as well. He knew very well that his current strength was a far cry from being able to match a senior Moth student, let alone a Moth Teacher. He just wasn't strong enough to face this woman yet.

'Since I can't beat her in cultivation, what if I face her in something else?' Arnin wasn't going to go and pick a fight that he knew he would lose. He was able to become the strongest for a reason. He didn't act brave when he shouldn't; he knew his limits.

"Old hag, you really are stooping low, trying to face me, a five-year-old. Don't you have a conscience?" Arnin smirked as he spoke. He made sure that his voice was loud enough for the crowd in the store to hear.

All of them looked over with interest. Most were students, but there were a couple of teachers lurking in the crowd as well.

"Really, I am hundreds of years younger than you, and can even be considered the same age as your great-great-grandchild. Not only that, but your cultivation realm is at least a thousand times higher than mine, if not more. Shameless!" Arnin spoke sharp words, and made sure that everyone heard each and every one of them.

Zesiro's face turned ugly when she saw the crowd nearing. She had a reputation as a Moth Teacher. "Don't try to play innocent, little boy. That vulgar mouth of yours spouts out a lot of bad things. I am just teaching you a small lesson. You must show respect to your elders!" She quickly came up with a valid reason to teach Arnin a small lesson, however she began to feel a little worried when she noticed Arnin's smile brightening.

"Then let me ask you, why did I speak in such a way? Isn't it because of you discriminating against me, and not allowing me to sell pills? I came here with no ill intent, and just wanted to sell some pills. That girl can be a witness to that." Arnin that pointed at the pretty tanned girl. Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to affirm or deny Arnin's claim.

Seeing that she had become the center of attention, the girl hesitated before nodding her head slightly. "It is true. He really only came to sell pills but I don't know what happened after." She quickly spoke, and added a little more.

"You hear that? I only came to sell my pills, but was outright rejected without any good reason. Would anyone stay calm in such a situation? I am just a little boy. Of course I will have outbursts if I am treated wrongly." Arnin made a pitiful and angry face, trying to showcase himself as a child who had been wronged.

Everyone looked over at Zesiro, and frowned. "That little boy is right. This is wrong. Teacher Zesiro, you have no right to teach him a lesson." An older Moth student was the first to speak out, and looked at Zesiro with some anger.

Although Moth teachers held a higher status than Moth students, that didn't mean that the former could anything they wanted. There were rules that people needed to follow, regardless of their status.

"Exactly. Little boy, do not worry. I will not allow for you to be wronged. Teacher Zesiro, as a fellow teacher, I am telling you that what you are doing is wrong." A Moth teacher stepped forward and also spoke up for Arnin.

They didn't speak out without thinking. Initially, they didn't completely believe Arnin's claim, however when the girl verified that Arnin had come to sell pills, then how could they not believe him? Anyways, Arnin was not wrong. As a child, he was more likely to get mad than others, especially if he was discriminated against.

"Y-you! If you do not know the full story, then do not speak up. He ruthlessly beat up my mistress a couple of days ago, and she is still recovering in the medical department. Not only that, but he also showed little to no respect to me when I asked him about the matter. Even now, he shows disrespect. I was not going to kill him, or send him to the medical department. I was just going to teach him a lesson as his elder." When Zesiro spoke, many people quieted down. It was natural for people to get mad if people they cared about were hurt.

All of them then turned to looked at Arnin. If what Zesiro said was true, then she could deny buying pills off of Arnin. She had the right to do so if Arnin had done something like that.

*Clap Clap*

Arnin began to clap his hands and smiled at Zesiro. "I applaud you for your shamelessness, old Zesiro." This time, Arnin did not even refer to Zesiro as a teacher. Many frowned at his actions, but didn't say anything about it.

"Child, what do you mean by that? Is what she said not true? If so…" The same teacher looked at Arnin with wrinkled eyebrows. He was very confused. Why would Arnin call her shameless again?He didn't think that Zesiro was making anything up because he knew that she didn't lie.

"You want to know what I mean? Well, let me call down one of the spectators of the whole situation back then. Teacher Xillar, would you mind coming out from the shadows?" Arnin looked behind him and spoke.

Many turned their heads, and saw Xillar appear with an ugly face. 'Why the hell is this kid bringing me into this?'

"Teacher Xillar? How long were you hiding there for?" The other Moth teacher looked at Xillar with some surprise, and then turned his head towards Arnin, his eyes brightening slightly.

Xillar waved his hand, and didn't speak about it. "Alright, now that you are here, can you explain what really happened? Why did I beat up the young mistress?" Arnin looked at Xillar with a smile.

The latter's face went somewhat pale when he looked at Arnin's smile and Zero's glare. He then shook his head bitterly and decided to speak honestly.

"Well, Teacher Zesiro is right that Arnin ruthlessly beat up her young mistress, and even said harsh words to her," Many people looked at Arnin. "However, there was of course a reason behind all of this. Since all of you are here, let me ask a question. What does a person have to do in order to get an occupied house in the Moth residential area?"

Xillar decided that he would take Arnin's side for this one. Although Arnin was a little excessive back then, ultimately, he didn't do anything wrong. Plus, it was Zesiro that really went out of control.

"Well, you can either live with the person, trade something in exchange for it, or… duel!" Many people finally came to understand what had happened.

"As most of you have guessed, the reason Arnin beat up the young mistress was because of a duel. Although he was somewhat excessive, he didn't break any of the rules, and fairly won the duel." The people who heard this nodded their head. That meant that Arnin was not in the wrong. They could already guess the next scene with Zesiro, so they shook their heads. As teachers, they should not lose their temper with students, unless they had broken the rules.

"Now then, Teacher Zesiro, will you still attack me?" Arnin looked at Zesiro with scorn. He would use the public to fight against Zesiro for now, but in the future, he would get rid of such a nuisance.

The crowd also looked at Zesiro with their eyes hardened. If Zesiro made a move, then they would intervene.

Zesiro's face was ghastly pale. She looked at Arnin, and then Xillar with hatred. "Since so many of you are taking this brat's side, I will give you all face and back down, however I will not buy his pills. I still have the right to decline him." Zesiro harrumphed as she continued to glare at Arnin. Although she couldn't attack Arnin, she still had the upper hand. It was her decision about whether she would buy the pill or not. No one else had any say in this.

The people in the crowd nodded their heads. People had to take a step back as well. Zesiro held her own hatred towards Arnin so they couldn't say anything about that. If she was unwilling to buy them, then that wasn't their problem.

Seeing that no one was saying anything else, Zesiro looked at Arnin with a smirk. 'What will you do now, brat? Even if I can't hurt you at the moment, I still won.'

Arnin didn't get angered, and was still very calm. He smiled a little, before opening his mouth once more.

"This is no good for me. I need to sell my pills, so we have to find a solution." Arnin spoke up, however this time, many people frowned.

"Little kid, although we will stop her from attacking you, one must know when not to go too far. She has the right to refuse buying your pills, so you need to give up on this." Arnin ignored the old man and walked forward.

"Why don't we make a bet?" Arnin smirked when he said this. When Xillar heard this, his face became pale. He had seen Arnin's bet with Torne, and the state the latter had ended up in because of it.

"Hmm? What kind of bet?" Zesiro was somewhat intrigued. She hated Arnin, but if she could humiliate him, and make him lose something, then that would help decrease her anger.

"Well, we will have a competition. If I win, you will become my dog, and do everything I say, however if you win, then you can do whatever you wish to me." Arnin smiled and said.

Zesiro was angered by Arnin's demand, but she couldn't help smirk. 'If I can just get a chance to do whatever I liked to this brat, then I will be able to die happily.'

"Before I agree to your bet, explain the type of competition we will be doing, and when it will take place" She looked at Arnin with cunning eyes. She would not agree to a competition where she would lose without even being able to fight back.

"Hmm, let me think. Why don't we do a competition on concocting some pills?" Arnin smiled towards Zesiro.

"Haha! Brat, are you sure about that?" Zesiro couldn't help but laugh loudly when she heard Arnin's words.

Xillar quickly walked over to Arnin and whispered into his ears. "Arnin, Zesiro is an extremely high ranking Alchemist, a Blue Alchemist to be exact." Arnin was somewhat shocked when he heard this, however he smirked slightly.

Blue Alchemists were just one level higher than green ones, but the difference between the two was as much as that between the heavens and earth. There were a total of eight ranks in total, however every two ranks there was a dividing line. Orange and Pink were considered Earth, Yellow and Green were Sky, Blue and Purple were Hell, while White and Silver were Heaven.

To get to Hell from Sky, a person might need around fifty to one hundred years, so Zesiro being at the Blue rank showed that she was quite talented.

Arnin waved his hand, and didn't take Xillar's advice. Although Zesiro might be very high ranked in Alchemy, that didn't mean she would be better than him in the future.

"I am sure about this, however we will not do the competition right now. It will be held at the end of next year." Arnin still needed to increase his control over the Flames of Neutrality, so it would not benefit him to face her off right now.

"That is fine with me. Here, let us sign this contract so that neither of us will go back on our words." Zesiro quickly created a contract that differed from the ones Arnin usually made. Unlike his contracts that would bind the soul, the one Zesiro made was a tier lower, as it would only bind the orb.

Arnin looked through the contents, and couldn't help but smirk. The terms listed that whoever lost the bet would become the other's slave.

He quickly signed the contract, and suddenly felt something appear on his orb. He looked in his body, and found a snake like mark that wrapped around his orb, however it didn't do any harm to him. It was just there to bind him upon completion of the contract.

"Now that the contract is signed, you can buy my pills right?" Arnin smirked and looked at Zesiro. He still had his goal of getting academic points.

"Sure. Since you will become my slave sooner or later, I will be nice." Her face was ruthless. Many people looked at Arnin with pity. Although it was considered wrong to bet with a student, Arnin was the one who initiated it. People could only shake their heads at Arnin's stupidity.

Arnin took out the five water pills, and handed them over to Zesiro. She looked them over, and nodded her head. "I will take these pills for five academic points each, so you will receive twenty five points." She said.

"Would the price increase if I was an alchemist?" Arnin asked. He would kill this old hag sooner or later, so he was patient for now. He would strike when the time was right.

"If you were an Apprentice, the price would rise by ten percent, and if you were a Orange Alchemist then it would rise by fifty percent." Zesiro spoke casually, however she inwardly mocked him. 'Why are asking questions that are unrelated to a brat like you?'

"Well, I am an Orange Alchemist, so I would like the fifty percent rise" Arnin smiled, and said. He took out his Mark Master sphere, and gave it to Zesiro. The latter went behind the counter and quickly brought out an item to check the sphere's information. Her face became pale when she saw the results.

'That little brat is an Orange Alchemist? He is so young!' She couldn't help but be shocked. It had taken her until the age of twelve to become an Orange Alchemist. Her talent was considered decent but she was not the best. Arnin, on the other hand, had talent that could be considered demonic or godly.

"Humph, you can get the increase." She snorted. Arnin took back the sphere, and handed her his student identity card. The points increased by thirty eight, giving him a grand total of fifty seven point. (Author note: I know that a fifty percent increase of twenty five is a 37.5, but I am going to round it)

Arnin took back his card and walked away, leaving Zesiro with an ugly face. 'Who cares if he is an Orange Alchemist at such a young age? How much can he grow in one year?' Although she said these words in her mind, deep in her heart, the calmness that Arnin exuded made her feel somewhat fearful.

Xillar was also surprised by Arnin's Alchemist ranking, however he just bitterly shook his head. He had the same thought process as Zesiro, but suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

'Should I make sure Zesiro wins? Id Arnin falls under her control, wouldn't that be the same thing as falling under the academy's control? Not even his backer could anything about it if something like that happened. I need to tell the principal.' Xillar disappeared, and Zesiro also vanished. Arnin, however, headed towards the Essence Tower.

His face carried a wicked smile, 'I will make sure that you suffer, Zesiro. You will live a life worse than death after you fall into my hands.' His face looked extremely sinister, which could cause many to shiver uncontrollably, however no one saw his expression.