Leon glanced nervously over at Jin Li, but to his surprise, the Martial Artist was not angered by the fact they were abandoned and left outside. Actually, that was only for a moment as the manservant quickly returned and guided them to a side room and even sent for tea. The room was ornate, with varnished sidetables of which the stand was carved into long curving leaf shapes, the table nestled upon them and matching sofas with every inch of the cushioned seating embroidered with fine silks. Paintings and calligraphy adorned the walls, metal scrollwork braziers stood in one corner and fine rugs of beautiful fur lie at their feet.
Jin Li took all of this in his stride and lounged upon the sofa as if it were no matter, whereas Leon sat more gingerly, worried to dirty the sofa; they had travelled along way and had yet to freshen up. "Sit still," Jin Li ordered, before tugging him closer to his side. "All of this is for show."
"What d-do you m-mean?" Leon murmured softly, unsure even on whether he should raise his voice. Jin Li brushed away at a loose strand of Leon's hair, which so annoyed him in the end, he stood up and tugged the snow jade pin in his hair loose.
As the familiar sensation of long, slender fingers began tugging his hair to untangle and neaten it, Leon couldn't help but relax and even lean closer against Jin Li's legs. "If we were unwelcome or just mere acquaintances of Sun, we would not have even walked this far, but rather been shown to a reception room closer to the main gates," Jin Li explained as he wrapped the silver metal crown about Leon's hair and once satisfied replaced the pin. Jin Li had him turn and lifted his chin in order to better exam his work. Pleased, Jin Li nodded and sat back down upon the sofa. "Instead, we have been welcomed to a room likely attached to the patriarchal hall, where resides the head of the house. That indicates trust, however, it does not mean that they will not continue testing us. Showing off wealth and power, seeing how we react to all of this and to waiting an inordinate amount of time."
"Oh," Leon didn't really understand it, but if Jin Li said that it was alright, then surely it must be.
Actually, thinking of his own family, Jin Li's parents weren't really known for these tricks, however, his old grandfather had been and so his eldest brother had been taught practically at the man's knees while growing up. But old grandfather had an incident while attempting to break through to denary stage cultivation and incurred Heaven's wrath. He had survived it, but had fallen to the level of an idiot. Out of filial duty, he was taken care of, but his place as head of the family had fallen onto Jin Li's father's shoulders... though not without some bloodshed. Those foolish branch families had thought they could steal the reigns of power? Such laughable dreams.
It took the time in which Jin Li polished off two pots of fine tea before they were granted audience with the Ramas family patriarch.
When strangers meet for the first time, it is natural for there to be an in depth evaluation, whether that be by word or just by sight. Jin Li and Leon came to be guided in front of an elder man, light wrinkles upon his weathered face and white and silver streaking his faded auburn hair. His eyes, though set deeply into his face, that held no excess fat or luxury, were bright and sharp and not tired nor dulled with age. He gave off an aura of a man who it was not wise to trifle with.
To one side of him sat five men each with varying features that seemed to stem from the man. The first had similar eyes, but the sharpness seemed to stem from cruelty rather than shrewdness, the second had similar lines of face and expression, yet it seemed cold. The third and fourth were almost like a parody, both showing varying stages of indulgent behaviour that morphed the older man's features into something entirely else. The last was the least like the old man, just had his colouring, but his mood seemed distant and his mind clearly elsewhere.
Mond and Sun stood behind the second man stating that this man was their father.
Jin Li bowed formally towards the senior man, with Leon following suit. Though they might have private criticism of Leon's awkwardness, none could fault the elegance and respect held in Jin Li's greeting. This made shrewd and interested eyes that much more open and evaluating than before.
Sun stepped forward to offer introductions. "Grandfather, father, uncles," he said giving order of obeisance. "These are my friends from the Institute. Jin Li and Leon."
"Oh? No family names?" The most round of Sun's uncles inquired, revealing his disdain immediately. "Since when do our family's sons make friends with commoners?"
Sun's face altered from its current wane shade to red, but it was a mix of shame and anger that tinted his skin. A hand fell upon Sun's shoulder, father giving pause to his son as his grandfather voiced; "Since when do my family's sons forget their manners in front of guests?"
The old man was once a general and though now retired, he had naturally commanded men of varying backgrounds. He had seen both commoners and nobles fight until there was no breath in their bodies and both tremble in fear as the 'glory' of war became a reality of mud and carnage. So he would not judge as easily as this disappointing son whose swordplay was long forgotten and the only exercise was lifting chopsticks to his mouth. His third son's face soured, but he daren't whisper a breath in front of his old father.
"Sirs, this one's surname is Jin," Jin Li rarely spoke of his family, not as he had no feelings for them, just he felt there was little point declaring it in front of middle-realmers who did not know them, but that did not mean he would have others dare ridicule them. "This one's family are Martial Artists and known well in one's place of birth. Naturally, this one followed the path set for one at birth and can modestly declare oneself a Martial Artist, in training."
"A filial son," General Ramas said, approvingly, his eyes flashing grievance at his own offspring. The second and fifth son had some talents in Martial Arts, but neither could be said to be his heir of title. His second son, even without internal roots, was too inflexible as a commander and his fifth son would follow more the path of a Beast Tamer with his love of equines over weapons and battle. His sixth grandson had awoken roots, but his physique was too lacking. No one could take him seriously as a Martial Artist. His hope now lie on his eighth grandson, who was some seven years junior.
The old man turned his attention to the other before him, a frown marring his forehead. The white stripes upon his jet black hair suggested he suffered deviation in the past, yet Sun would have this one still called a friend? Still, the old general was not quick to make judgement. "And you, young man? Do you study Martial Arts as well?"
"N-no," Leon replied, awkwardly. "I st-st-st... I'm an alchemist."
Five sets of eyes to one side immediately had faded interest. Ah, so this one was actually a servant after all.
Should be mentioned that it was not entirely the fault of the general's five sons that Leon was labelled in their mind this way. His snow foxbear coat, that gave him a more ethereal and otherworldly look had been stowed away while they were drinking tea, for Leon had become too warm and his current robes were harshly plain and made of cheap hemp. True that Jin Li had also hemp clothing, but it had been embroidered quite stunningly, suggesting that he was at least a man of some means, even if they could not place the name of Jin as being one of the elite. Leon without a surname was obviously just a commoner. For him to attach himself to others had to be as a servant.
If others could read their thoughts within their minds, one could understand more clearly just where Sun's former attitude stemmed from.
Again, the general was not so narrow minded.
Jin Li, however, was of narrow mind, just not the same sort. Others were disdaining his man? Then that is what will be offered in return. His respect for Sun's uncles disappeared and Sun's father could only hope to retain a smidgeon due to his relationship with Sun.
Leon was oblivious to this tension and shyly scratched at his jaw before saying aloud; "In g-gratitude for your hospitality, J-Jin Li and I p-prepared some g-gifts. I h-hope that is alright?"
General Ramas felt his hard heart soften a little for this honest youth before him. It has been a long while since he had seen eyes so clean and without ill intent. He offered a sharp nod of acknowledgement and offered warning glares towards his sons who dared sneered in suggestion; what sort of poor things could these youths hope to offer?
Leon summoned the two chests from his interspacial bag, one large and one small, though both were clearly of common, cheap wood. Leon bent down, placing the smaller one to one side and opening the large chest. Inside were a few spare pelts from what Jin Li and Wu Ye had hunted together, mostly small, but soft furs, including one from a dream hare that was a rich purple in tone. Plus there was a large, Dire tiger pelt, the rich oranges in contrast to the velvet black of the stripes naturally caught the eyes of all of the men.
"These were h-hunted by J-Jin Li and his C-C-Coeurl," Leon stroked the tiger pelt, he quite liked the colours, even though he'd mourned the loss of such a stunning creature at first. However, he had no where at home for it and he also felt it would be uncomfortable to wear as a coat. To him, it suited a warrior more, but Jin Li was not interested in it either and it would have been sold if not for Sun's request to have them accompany him home. Leon lifted two carved objects from on top of the pelt. They were hair pins shaped from an off-white material. It happened that the Dire tiger's sabre teeth were ivory rather than bone.
"They are a b-bit cr-crude," Leon mentioned, shyly. "I c-carved them m-myself and have n-not worked with ivory much b-before." In fact the first two things he'd practiced with hung from his and Jin Li's belts respectively.
He looked nervously about, wanting to gift one to Sun's grandfather and one to his father, fortunately the servants shadowing the walls became aware of his predicament and came to help him. "I only h-have t-two..." he felt awkward. He hadn't known he might face Sun's uncles, Sun never mentioned them at all. Jin Li offered him a small smile of encouragement which immediately made him feel better, so he did not see the black expressions upon the other men's faces.
General Ramas did not immediately accept the hairpin, just examined it as his trusted servant held it before him, but he couldn't help but reach for it in the end. The tiger upon the smooth pin was indeed not perfect and only the head and upper body and forelegs were carved, yet it held the essence of a tiger leaping to catch its prey. The pin could not be mistaken for jade, but the General felt that he liked this raw material more at that moment. Sun's father had also accepted its twin, one with just the head of a tiger mid roar, each sharp tooth clearly visible. His cold expression eased and his eyes cast a slightly fresh evaluation of the commoner boy. At least he had taste in gifts.
Leon had not finished, for he had one last thing to offer, though, for now, the reactions would be much less and solidify some impressions in the hearts of Sun's uncles, much to their lament one day when there was nothing they could do to reverse this. In the smaller chest there were numerous jade bottles and swinging delicately from each bottle was a small, wooden tag, hand carved. "You p-probably have access t-to p-pills, so tr-treat m-mine as a t-token?" He handed the chest to General Ramas' manservant, who took it for the elder man to see.
Leon had not known what to pack, Sun had only vaguely mentioned that his family had had hopes for him as a Cultivator and that his grandfather was a general. So Leon had packed a few clear spiritual pills and cloudy spiritual pills as well as the medicines that he was good at making. There was also two bottle of his personally created pills; the Smouldering Energy Pills and Bursting Energy Pills, the two variants of Burning Energy Pills that primary Cultivators could use to raise their fighting ability temporarily.
After accepting the gifts, General Ramas had Mond and Sun guide the two youths to Sun's courtyard and slowly Sun's uncles filtered out of the patriarch's hall with their own thoughts and feelings regarding them. Have to say, Jin Li had a bit of acknowledgement, for his obvious hunting skills and Leon did not. Those ivory pins were not high in quality, nor in artistic merit and most importantly, not in their hands! The pelts as well would likely go into the treasury, though they felt that the patriarch would claim the tiger pelt for himself. The general held back Sun's father for a bit.
"What do you think?" He asked his second son.
"I do not know of this Jin Li's family, but he has presence and clearly skill," he answered, honestly.
"The habit of placing a family name before a given," General Ramas mused, "This is not unheard of in West Xulaphrey. I've also heard that in other realms the practice is more common. His bearing is not simple." His son nodded in agreement. "And of the other?"
Sun's father was generally inflexible, but he was not unmovable. "This boy... I thought he might be a servant of the other," he admitted, "but that does not seem to fit his bearing. His status is undeniably low, however."
"En," the General replied. "I would not stop Sun from associating himself with the child."
"How so?"
"It is rare for a youth to be so untainted from the reality of life and schemes of others," the General replied. "Not that he is foolish, just clean. For Sun to have a friend that he does not have to be even the remotest bit wary of is not a bad thing." Sun's father thought of the schemes of his own brothers and cousins in branch families and couldn't help but agree. "Plus, I don't think that boy is so simple." He picked up the bottle labelled Smouldering Energy Pills, causing Sun's father's eyes to widen.
"Are they not the newly marketed pill?" The man commented. "The supply does not yet meet demand... how did he manage to get hold of them?"
"It is said that the Institute has the recipe and rights to the pills," the general placed the bottles into the chest and quickly told his manservant to place those pills under lock and key. "This Leon is a student there also, but unless he is trusted, he would not have access to the recipe as yet, let alone be able to keep some for himself." The Institute was indeed a place of learning, but it was also a business. Pills that brought in good income would be an asset, not to be wasted or flaunted unless their value decreased. "Treat Sun's friends well. I find them interesting."
"Yes father," his son bowed respectfully.
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