There are many disappointments in life, such as how the scent of donuts can be so worthy of kowtow, but the actual flavour is just... meh. How a parent spent time, money and effort buying their precious darling the latest in must have toys, just to see a golden smile upon Christmas Day, only for said precious darling to prefer the box. How the idol you placed upon a pedestal was reported to have farted loudly in a public place and you suddenly come to realise that they are actually human to...
And how all of a certain sister and brotherhood known to all by words beginning with the letter 'fu' (ふ) would be disappointed that Jin Li did not immediately practice the lessons in a certain small bamboo book.
"Teacher," Sun whispered to his Master, while taking sneaky glances back at a frozen-faced roommate, "I think that there is something wrong with Jin Li!"
Sun happened to be much like a person who'd suffered the third example of disappointment, having briefly idolised Jin Li, a youth his own age but exceptionally talented, tall and handsome. His idolisation had come to an end after a protracted period of having his meals vanish into that bottomless pit of a man as well as having his dreams of adventures and heroism shattered as Jin Li was not the sort to bother with things that might cut into his time practicing Martial Arts (or bothering that alchemist of his). After the dust had settled, while Sun still thought of Jin Li more than a good brother (he didn't like his actual brothers), the boy was no longer so sticky.
Corvus pouted once more that his adorable apprentice used his title, rather than call him Big Brother like he'd suggested recently. Just to mentioned, Sun's idol worship of him was destroyed really quickly. One really can't judge a man by their achievements alone!
As the older man was technically considered a Teacher at the Ascending Mountain Institute, he had to perform a quota of duties. One of those duties was to teach classes or lectures. Corvus always found such responsibilities boring in the long term, hence why he'd absconded thirty years ago and vanished without a trace. He was a bit of a dabbler when it came to secondary subjects, what with having forged swords, branded enchantments on weapons and armour and having lead troops into battle a couple of times in the past five centuries or so, thus he was not qualified to teach such subjects. Thus, he usually winged it and taught whatever happened to occur to him over breakfast. Surprisingly or no, it tended to make his lessons popular as students never knew what to expect until they arrived at his class.
Of course, wherever there is light, there is shadow so even if there are good times, there are also bad ones. This one incurred mixed reviews as Corvus had decided to move the whole class to the wild forests in the mountains. A few young masters were inwardly complaining about the heat, for this autumn season had not long begun and the summer sun still lingered in the sky and there were no maids to fan them. And a couple of young maidens were bitterly worried about the smallest amounts of sun crisping their pale skins dark. Have to say, these students were mostly First Years, their seniors looked down on them with contempt. They were Martial Artists! What sort of Martial Artist hid in doors because of the weather!?
Admittedly, those seniors had their own concerns; Corvus had lead them out here as a pack of Dire Fox Bears had moved here and as everyone knew, such were not easy to deal with. Ordinarily, only those in the top fifty of the Standings (all of whom were naturally part of the inner school) would come to evaluate the pack, to see if they were a threat due to numbers or their proximity to the school buildings. But their Teacher decided it would be a better idea for their class to do this?
"Fox bears," Corvus began lecturing upon arrival to the outskirts of the creatures territory, "are related to the Vulpes family rather than the Ursidae, although their size and shape indicate otherwise. While they are considered territorial, they won't necessarily defend their territory if it is threatened; if they consider their opponent as too tough for them to deal with, they'll abandon their land and move elsewhere. For Dire Fox Bears to move on, their opponent must have been one hell of a dangerous mother... cough... anyway, moving on.
"Bear or Fox, either way, these beasts can climb trees and can easily scent encroachers, so be careful to stand downwind. If they find you, hightail it to this spot; they seldom chase prey beyond their borders. Of course, there is no hard and fast rule about this, so... anyway, I'll be on hand to rescue anyone who might fall into trouble. Just tear this talisman in two and I'll be right with you!"
"Teacher... are you sure this is a good idea?" One of the more sensible seniors asked him out of ear shot of the First Years. He didn't want to terrify them into a panic after all.
"Of course it is! What's the worse that can happen?"
Less than thirty minutes later, while holding his adorable student in his arms, he regretted those words.
He'd grouped the students together, ensuring at least one or two seniors were with every first year, before sending them on their way. This included the still frozen-faced Jin Li.
As his apprentice, Sun had naturally followed Corvus into the Dire Fox Bear's territory. They had been downwind as they witnessed a family group outside their cave. Despite being over 800 pounds of sheer bulk, the two orange-furred parents indulging their cub pair were kind of cute. Elsewhere in this territory, there would be other such family groups; the collective a little like a primitive village, just with beasts instead of peasants. The pair were about to leave, when the talisman on Corvus' waist had flashed indicating a talisman had been torn.
Corvus had needed to leave quickly, just didn't want to abandon Sun, but knew full well the boy could not keep up with his speed. It would be dangerous to the student who needed his help and to Sun himself. So he had indicated that Sun should leave the territory for now. Sun had agreed and begun to journey back, while Corvus flashed towards the person requiring aid.
Who knew that a Dire Fox Bear boar happened to be hunting not too far from the border at that point and caught wind of Sun's scent. This boar was young, newly turned out of his parental unit and eager to prove himself to catch the attention of the single sows. Full of testosterone and with impulse temper, the beast ignored the boundaries of territory and began to hunt the agile boy. Plants were crushed beneath his feet, his bulk broke saplings with ease and his claws tore into the bark of thicker trees as it climbed with speed up a tree in chase. He even dared to copy the leap of the boy who tried to escape using his wind ability to jump a gap no ordinary Cultivator of low level would dream to.
The Fox bear leap was impressive, just not quite good enough for although he caught the branch beneath Sun's feet, it was without a strong grip. Gravity took hold in its cruel way and the height in which the Fox bear would fall was not light. Thus in a desperate attempt for traction, the bear lashed out with his claws, catching the boy, who relaxed for a brief moment believing the bear was doomed, unawares and those claws bit into the flesh of Sun's leg before the bear finally succumbed to fate.
Sun was no longer stable where he stood, the branch flexing back and forth due to the weight of the bear and then the loss of it. The pain burned through his calf muscles making him even less able and he, too began the descent to the ground below. He pushed at the air, gritting his teeth against the agony, trying not to lose focus nor concentration as he fought to save his life. Thus his end would not be the ground, as was the Fox Bear's, but the landing was still rough and bruising.
His last action before falling unconscious was to tear the paper talisman on his waist.
The educational systems in this world can not truly be compared with a certain other world, where if an accident had occurred upon a school trip, parents of the victim would weep and scold the principal of the school, before calling their lawyers to discuss compensation. Where the parents of the children upon the trip, while perhaps not involved at all, would stand along side them thinking about suing for the potential trauma their sons and daughters experienced (despite the fact that several actually took pictures to post on Instagram). The Ascending Mountain Institute was churning out potential immortals and supporters of such, not producing the next generation of pampered brats with little idea of what the real world was like and this is what the families of such were seeking from them. Otherwise, what was the point of sending them there in the first place?
If Sun's father was to learn that he'd been hurt in Dire Bear Fox attack, he would have likely scoffed and spat out something along the lines of; "Weak brat! In my day, we wrestled Dire Fox Bears for fun after breakfast!" His Mother still may have wept though.
The teachers wouldn't bother looking into whether Corvus should or should not have taken the students upon this 'field trip,' though from this the man would learn one thing; First Years really couldn't be allowed to do anything interesting while they settled into the reality of this school. The reason that he had been called away from his cute apprentice was due to a prank that a couple of First Year boys thought it would be fun to play on a couple of pretty First Year girls. Others may have experience something similar in their teen years; "Look out! A Fox Bear!" One girl had squealed in fright, while the other tore her paper talisman. Neither had leapt into the arms of their two 'willing protectors', but they had kicked them in the shins, before apologising to Teacher Corvus, who had just arrived upon the scene.
Corvus did scold the two boys, crying wolf was never an intelligent idea, especially when there were real Dire Fox Bears just a few hundred feet away. And then another talisman was torn. Corvus frowned and sent the four students to gather at the meeting point outside of the beasts territory while he went to deal with the new issue.
On seeing the situation, his heart almost spilled from his throat. Still, he didn't have hundreds of years of experience for nothing. He gathered the unconscious boy into his arms, before digging around in his interspatial pouch for pills. Tossing a few bottles on the floor, he conveniently spotted a bottle with a cute, wooden label upon it, declaring its contents, so he didn't have to search long. He withdrew one of the One Heart Pills from its bottle and placed it into Sun's mouth, only expelling his breath once he saw the boy's throat move to automatically swallow the dissolving medicine.
At that point, a couple of seniors happened to be passing by with a First year, having completed their task of observing the Fox Bears from afar. "Gather up the students," he instructed them. "Take them back to the school." They nodded in understanding, one guided the First year back while the other ran to find other students that were still in the territory. Tearing a few strips of cloth from his tunic, Corvus wrapped Sun's wound well before picking him up and hurrying to the Healers Hall.
"What are his injuries?" The Healer did not offer a greeting once Corvus arrived, simply began his questions.
"Deep cuts within his lower leg," Corvus said. "Caused by the claws of a Dire Fox Bear. He may have lost a fair bit of blood." He sounded as calm as he looked, or would have done were it not for the mess of emotions within his eyes as he glanced down at the young Martial Artist, whose cheek was red and swollen as well. It gave the Healer pause for thought, but he said nothing, just indicated that pale boy should be placed upon a bed so he could look at the main injury.
Carefully, the Healer peeled off the make-shift bandage, which had been dyed crimson and dried sticky upon Sun's leg. A frown deepened the lines upon his forehead as he examined the wound. "You said it was a few deep cuts?" The Healer suddenly questioned.
Corvus had been holding his breath, ready to comfort his apprentice if he woke in pain as the Healer attended him but let it go as he replied; "Yes, nearly to the bone. Why?"
"Look for yourself," The Healer replied, gathering the lengths of bloody fabric before tossing them into a bin. Corvus frowned and moved closer in order to see the wound. His eyes widened as what came into slight was the scabbed lines of what looked like a few newly healed, shallow scratches.
"I don't understand," Corvus replied. "There was blood everywhere, his leg appeared deeply lacerated."
"Hmm, I believe you," The Healer replied. The bandage would not have been so blood soaked were it a normal wound. "Did you give him any pills?"
"Just a One Heart Pill," Corvus answered. This healing pill was intended for external wounds after all, while Blood Pills were better for internal wounds. Corvus had wanted to seal the wound first, to prevent more blood loss, but he was not expecting... The Healer also appeared unconvinced and Corvus began placing numerous jade bottles upon the nearby table, before finding the bottle with both a carved wooden label and one less pill within it. All of the others contained five pills, this now just had four.
Corvus removed another pill from the bottle and a pleasant scent drifted from the attractively translucent pill. The Healer's frown deepened once more as he grabbed one of his own stock of One Heart Pills, a peak quality pill he kept for emergencies such as this. He drew a sharp intake of breath. Although the quality of Corvus' pill did not quite compare, the Healer could tell that its effects were somewhat superior. And yet, there was no doubt, it was just a One Heart Pill.
"Where did you get these pills?" The Healer questioned with much excitement in his tone.
"Um..." Corvus tried to recall, but was distracted by a soft groan. "Is my apprentice alright, otherwise?" The Healer inwardly scowled, but remembered that the patient did indeed come first and took the boy's pulse.
"I will give him a Vital Essence pill," The Healer replied, "to replenish his lost blood. Keep him off his leg for a couple of days, just to be on the safe side." After all, he could only guess the effectiveness of the improved pill. "But he should be fine. Thanks, in part, to whomever gave you those pills." Corvus nodded, appreciatively and couldn't help but wonder; just where did he pick up those pills?
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