章 41: Chapter Forty One - Jin Li returns for breakfast
On seeing Jin Li standing before him, Leon was both secretly happy and openly confused and part of him was even angry. It had been almost four weeks since he had last seen Jin Li after he had become enrolled into the martial arts school and no message or word of him had came. Not that he'd been waiting around or expecting one, but surely it would have been polite. And it wasn't as if Jin Li was more than a mountain or so away, being the that the martial arts school was part and parcel of the Ascending Mountain institute, just like the alchemy school.
But before he could formulate clear thoughts on this, he glanced down at the round youth staring up at them from the ground and who happened to be sporting a black eye. This man was the bully of both this body's souls; Caprian. The skinny, sneaky Virgial was with him, but the other minion was a new face and not one memorable. He was fairly plain with brown hair and brown eyes and an expression of one who had sucked on lemons. Tor was not with them. Perhaps due to the presence of Jin Li, but Leon's body was not shaking with the memory of fear, but was actually quite calm.
"What's g-g-going on?" Leon asked, still wiping the black substance from his fingers and hands as he spoke.
"We simply came to talk to you," Caprian sneered, unconvincingly. "But this barbarian attacked us!" Leon said nothing, simply raised an eyebrow before glancing at Jin Li.
"Oh, so you intended to knock before prying the door open?" Jin Li asked, snidely, kicking away the metal bar upon the floor as he tossed the hammer he held in the air before catching it.
"He owes us," Virgal claimed. "He took herbs off of us to make pills. We came to collect." Jin Li turned to look at Leon, who sighed.
"It was under threat," he told Jin Li. "B-b-before I m-met you. They stole my p-pills and b-b-beat me in the p-past. B-but they n-never came b-back for them."
"So was it they who broke into the hut that last time?" Jin Li accused. "You claimed that you didn't know who it might be."
"Cap-p-prian was sent to the inner school," Leon explained. "I thought the b-b-bullying was over." He struggled to remove more of the black stuff as the rag was now as dirty as his skin. "What d-do you want Caprian?"
"You!" Caprian turned red, filled with hot air and bluster. How dare this once quivering wreck of a boy dare grow a spine and stand against him! He wanted to teach the boy another lesson, but felt suppressed by the aura of Jin Li. He took several large breaths. "Those pills of yours were not all simple! When I handed them to the Herb Hall, they found a Beast Calming pill that not normal. The Teachers became all dizzy over it and had me enroll into the inner school. I did not know this until my new Teacher asked for me to duplicate it! But, no matter how I follow the recipe, I cannot make what they ask for. They will kick me out of school if I fail again! You must make it, you owe me this much!"
Leon felt the anger rise in him. That pill they spoke of was Leo's creation and he had died when they beat him for refusing to give them his pills and then they stole them anyway. "I refuse," Leon replied. "You b-beat m-me half to d-death and n-now seek m-my aid? I owe you n-nothing!"
The three beaten boys glared at Leon, not daring to turn their ire against the one who had physically hurt them and scrambled away to leave. "You will regret this!" Caprian declared as he waddled with some speed away from the pair.
Leon sighed, scratching at his scalp, which just also happened to be painted with the unpleasant substance. He turned his attention to a smug Jin Li. "So," he said, uncertain how he felt now his bullies had fled, "What are you d-doing here?"
"Me?" Jin Li raised one eyebrow, wondering why his servant was questioning his presence now. "I came for my breakfast, of course."
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