"Tch." The harmonious quiet was disturbed by the clicking of an irritated tongue. All eyes instantly were drawn to the stern martial artist wielding the wooden comb.His small alchemist reached up to gentle tap upon his hand and the other"s eyes softened a tad as he watched his lover rose to his feet in order to greet his Teacher and the other guests. Leon"s face was flush with colour as if caught in a more compromising position than the scene that had been before them.
"T-Teacher," Leon greeted him before turning his attentions to the other two men with him. He recognised Teacher Volun from the outer Beast Taming school, the silver haired man"s eyes were twinkling with curiosity and interest, but it was not malicious, more reminding him of old neighbours from his past life having noticed something they could gossip about. The third man, he did not know. That man"s eyes were wide, his expression blank and stiff as if he was ruminating over what he had witnessed and attempting to figure out the underlying truth of it. It was uncertain whether he"d figure it out or not.
Maimai, of course, already in the know, allowed a soft sigh escape her throat, like a contended kitten. "How about I put on the kettle?" She entered the small hut before anyone could stop her. Leon turned crimson as he thought about the state of his messy bed. Jin Li just glared at the girl invading his territory with a discontented look.
Teacher Sagi cleared his throat, in an attempt to break through the slight tension within the air. He had noticed that his student was close to the martial artist, but he hadn"t thought that their relationship was of this kind. It seemed that all three of his current students sought yang rather than yin. A part of him felt inclined to keep an eye on the youth from the martial artist school, however, he was Leon"s Teacher, not his parent, he really didn"t have a say in Leon"s relationship choices.
"Leo," Sagi said, finally, "I apologise for disturbing you during the break, however, we just wanted to speak to you about a couple of things."
"What is it, T-Teacher?" Leon queried.
"Did you make this pill?" The Healer blurted out and waved in front of him the small jade bottle, its little wooden label clicking against its pale surface.
Leon"s brows furrowed; the jade bottle naturally looked familiar, but those labelled bottles were only given out during the Five School Market Festival and only contained basic and common pills, nothing special, so he was confused. He could only nod in confirmation.
There weren"t many places to sit in the dusty courtyard, Leon gave his stool to his Teacher, while Volun and the Healer claimed a large stump, lying upon its side, rather than the unpaved courtyard. The three students settled upon loose mats... well Leon could have been said to be sitting more in Jin Li"s lap than upon the mat. Cups of tea steamed in their hands, but no one was partaking the dark brew.
"How did you make these pills?" The Healer continued his questioning from earlier. Leon held the bottle in his hand and glanced at the label. It declared it to contain One Heart Pills.
Thinking nothing of it, Leon replied simply; "F-followed the recipe."
"Leo," The Healer sighed. "One of these pills was used to aid healing of a student who was quite seriously injured. The wounds healed too well for this to be a One Heart Pill that was made in the traditional way. Even though a peak quality One Heart Pill might have similar results, but the healing would have taken longer and a scar would most likely would have remained behind."
Leon"s eyes widened and he looked a little apprehensive. He couldn"t help but glance over his shoulder and the man supporting him both physically and mentally from behind. Jin Li"s forehead was lined a fraction as he frowned, but he gave a curt nod as if he had figured out what had happened. Leon had mixed up the standard One Heart Pills with the Improved version. As if to confirm, Leon opened the bottle and the clear fragrance of the pills confirmed their suspicions. "Oh," Leon mumbled as he resealed the bottle.
"Leo, did you truly make this pill?" Teacher Sagi asked, gently. Leon hesitated for a moment longer, however the warmth seeping into his back gave him the courage to admit the truth and he nodded. The Healer sucked in an excited breath, while Teacher Sagi allowed a flurry of questions to spill from his lips. "How... when... why... why did you not tell me?" There was a slight note of hurt in the man"s tone and Leon couldn"t help but feel guilty.
"P-p-protect m-myself," Leon stuttered. His meaning was much deeper that the two words offered, so he tried to explain a little more; "At f-first, I j-just experim-mented for fun. And then... I had t-to m-move." The diaries explained everything in depth, how Leo"s first success lead to him diving deeper into research and experiments, to the point he never thought about telling others. And then his home was ransacked by his former bullies in an attempt to steal away his growing numbers of common pills that he h.o.a.rded until he required more herbs as per the school rules. His research had not been found, but he was ever more zealous in protecting his work. However, he was killed in the end, not for his research, but his common pills. "I d-didn"t m-mind living here, it"s quiet and I c-could experiment m-more..." And I could hide the fact that I am not Leo more easily... he did not add these last words.
"Yet he was still targeted," Jin Li interjected. "This Lord was witnessed to more than one attack upon himself and his things. In fact, had they succeeded upon the last time, his attempt at breaking through to secondary stage would have failed or worse, his cultivation would have deviated due to backlash."
"Caprian?" Teacher Sagi questioned and Leon nodded in response. "I didn"t realise you had suffered so much at his hand. Why did you not say anything?"
"C-Caprian had m-money, influence," Leon mentioned. "I"ve n-no real b-background and I g-grew up in a p-poor village with m-my g-grandfather." He didn"t mention that it was Teacher Sagi"s former student that had accepted bribes from Caprian to ensure he or rather Leo, was isolated from the other students. He didn"t want to upset the older man more. Plus, he felt enough guilt for using Leo"s ident.i.ty and claiming his inventions as his own.
"It makes sense that you would keep your findings to yourself," The Healer allowed with a heavy sigh of resignation. "With no one to protect you, anyone could take advantage of you and your findings." The Healer was not from as insignificant a background as the boy, but his family was by no means wealthy nor influential. Just hardworking suburban folk with few worries, but still easily stomped upon should they cross the path of others with power. He"d not struggled per say for his lack of background, but he had been a bit invisible back in his student days.
"Ah!" Teacher Volun said silently, breaking his own silence. "Then was it you that Caprian stole the improved Beast Calming Pill from?! Did you create it?" From Leon"s hesitant nod, he slapped his knee and laughed. "So it was you all along! That"s great! We"ve never managed to reproduce your pill perfectly, my colleagues were quite morose over it!"
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Teacher Sagi"s lips curled upward; "It"s kept the best alchemists of the school upon their toes for a while. In fact, I"m sure Teacher Chun"s hair has thinned quite considerably since Caprian handed in that bottle of pills."
The Teachers chuckled freely, Leon relaxed in the light atmosphere surrounding them. However, Jin Li"s eyes narrowed, unconvinced. He wanted to know, just what would they expect of his small alchemist now they were aware of his secret.