Sun was somewhat used to the strenuous exercises and practices his Master insisted of him. His muscles no longer screamed for half a day after the "warm ups", he no longer fell asleep as he soaked in the medicinal baths and he no longer needed to be dragged from his bed of a morning. However, it did not mean that he didn"t seek a break from it every now and then. Seeing as hiding and complaining had gotten him nowhere, he found a new tactic; attending lectures. This way he could "seem" like a diligent student, while dozing in the back of the lecture room.He was not alone, but Jin Li was not attending the lecture willingly. He"d broken one to many mannequins and had been banned from the training grounds. All of the arena"s had been claimed for various reasons and there were still too few who would accept his challenges anyway. Basically, attending the lecture and brooding was better than lying upon his bed and brooding. At least the images of Leon lying upon a bed beneath him flashed less before his eyes here.
The lecture was about... actually neither of them were paying enough attention, so they didn"t really know nor did they care.
As the Teacher droned on at the front of the cla.s.sroom, he was suddenly interrupted by a beaming face appearing in the room"s entrance. "Teacher Corvus," the Lecturer greeted him.
"Ah... Teacher..." Corvus covered up the fact that he had no idea of this man"s name with a cough. The man must have started teaching while he was out and about in the world. "I was wondering if my apprentice was attending your lecture... Sun! There you are!"
The napping boy was startled from his sweet dreams, falling backwards in a panic. No one moved to catch him, but he did receive several snickers. Jin Li did not laugh, but did not help him regain face either. "Teacher Corvus," Sun greeted as he rose to his feet. "Are you looking for me?"
"En!" Corvus agreed, cheerfully. "I"ve found something entertaining for us to do! Oh and you might as well bring Jin Li along, the more the merrier, right?"
Several envious glances were cast Sun"s way, but the boy"s expression was filled with black lines, making them wonder why. His Teacher was taking him out to play, surely that was better than a lecture on enhancement pills and their side effects?! Of course they had no idea that Corvus" idea of entertainment usually meant a world of suffering for his disciple. But while Sun descended the steps to the cla.s.sroom"s exit, Jin Li followed with less trepidation, his sword hand itching to get started.
As it was, the "expedition" was actually a gathering of inner school martial artists and Beast Tamers observing the biannual migration of a herd beast named the Three Horned Greater Roe Buck. The beast was just slightly smaller than an equine and much more stocky of figure, with a small tail and patterned furred coat. They had three, hard clawed toes on each foot rather than hooves, thus they could grip the mountain side better. The males were also crowned with a triage of antlers and were particularly violent during this time of year as they made their way towards their traditional mating grounds. Fights would break out as they travelled through the mountains owned by the inst.i.tute. These males might get separated from the main herd and cause havoc on an uncharted detour. Animals, weaker beasts and ordinary people had been hurt and even killed in their wake.
So the school always had groups of selected students watch the herds and make sure that they kept on track whenever possible. They also had to protect the herd from opportunistic poachers. The mountains were already suffering from these vermin and though the Three Horned Greater Roe Buck was not an uncommon beast, its meat, antlers and fur were all commodities to be bought and sold for reasonable money. Their breeding grounds was sheltered within a long dormant volcano that just happened to be surrounded by a deep gorge protected by poisonous mists, that the beasts themselves were immune too and also filled with large predators. The Roe Buck"s northern home was hard to reached due to the thick, jagged mountain range that the creatures overcame each spring. So during the migration was the prime time for poachers.
It was just that the poachers usually attracted the wrath of the beasts that they hunted and potentially caused more headaches for the inst.i.tute.
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Corvus, Sun and Jin Li observed from the shelter of a tree a few metres away from the running beasts and Sun yawned loudly. "This is better than the lecture?"
Corvus pouted. "When I was a student," he began, reminiscing, "the herd was a lot more vicious. I even had to help Corne take down an old herd leader who strayed too far and began threatening the village to the east of the inst.i.tute."
Sun"s eyes lit up brightly, thus Corvus began to embellish his tale into one of a life and death situation in which Corne was pierced through the stomach by the angry beast"s antlers and how several villagers had been wounded mortally by the beast beforehand. Corvus stated that he had risked life and limb to create a distraction that their comrades could rescue the villagers and feed them pills to save their lives.
"If I recall correctly," Corne drawled, suddenly appearing on a tree close by, "the villager who got hurt fell over his own feet in a panic to get away and you distracted the old Buck because you laughed so hard you almost peed yourself. I had to push you out of the way so you didn"t get trampled when the beast ran at you and as for being pierced by the antlers... it was a small scratch that was fixed by a One Heart Pill. That old Buck ran back to his herd not long after." Pike, who happened to be with his Master, turned away, but could not hide his trembling shoulders as they shook from repressed laughter.
Corvus chuckled and waved away his older brother"s statement. "Is that what happened? I don"t recall it all that well...". He thought about adding some excuses, but his words were drowned out by a sudden scream.