The strange pulling sensation brought them back to the outer school, where they were met by a senior student, who looked at the three suspiciously before acknowledging them with the tilt of his head. They left the portal room giving the same amount of acknowledgement to that student as he had afforded them.Leon turned to Jin Li, as they stepped into the hall and asked; "How long d-does it take to w-walk to m-my hut?"
"It would likely take you the rest of the day," he said with a slight sneer to his words, gazing up at down at the boy and hinting at Leon"s weak body. The youth ignored him and simply nodded as he listened, before smiling at the two martial artists.
"Well, I should get started," he said as if it were of no consequence, but before he could take another step, Jin Li grabbed his arm and held him back. Naturally, Sun saw this and frowned.
"Jin Li, why did you stop him," he pouted. "I hoped to exchange pointers with you, Jin Li. You can"t be meaning to walk back with him to the alchemist school can you?" Leon"s eyes widened wondering if Jin Li actually had that intention, but when he glanced up at the youth"s scowling face, he knew this to not be true.
"I had no such intention," he replied, crossly. "This Lord does not need to expend the effort in carrying his body when he collapses in the attempt. I was merely going to suggest you go to the Griffin nest."
"But we came here with Teacher Sagi," Leon replied, thinking that was why they were given such privilege. Jin Li thought about this and decided that the older boy was probably not wrong.
"Well then, let us ask if Teacher Sagi has returned or if there might be another way of sending you back," Sun said, brightly. Leon thanked him, thinking that he was a good person, could not see why Jin Li treated him like air so often. Also he felt guilty about his first sour thoughts about the bubbly boy. He was not aware that Sun just wished to get rid of him quickly.
As it happened, Teacher Sagi was due to give another lecture to the first year students about the side effects of taking pills. This lecture was meant to warn them and let them know that while pills and potions had their place, they should not be taken as subst.i.tute for hard work or relied on heavily.
Leon decided that they should not disturb the Teacher before the lecture and instead took a seat hoping to learn something new. He was surprised, as was Sun, when Jin Li opted to sit beside him, even though he continued to scowl as if this was a waste of his time. Sun sat beside his idol quietly, shifting blame for Jin Li doing this and not sparring with him in the arena squarely upon Leon"s shoulders once more.
As far as Jin Li was concerned, this lecture was boring. In fact, this was not just in his opinion. A lot of the martial arts students seemed to be thinking much the same. If he had dwelled much on this, he would have realised that there was a common vein; the students least interested and looking half asleep were all wealthy young masters. These students had learned this lesson before or simply didn"t care; wasn"t that what purifying potions for? While those who stared at the Teacher bored, but trying to seem otherwise were aspiring young Masters, told by their families to listen and respect the Teachers and seniors, but at the same time, had been brought up to think they were special and above others. The small group who were listening attentively either actually liked learning this or were from poorer backgrounds, unaware of this knowledge and aware they needed to learn as much as possible so when they graduate, they can improve their lots in life.
Jin Li watched Leon, one of the latter group, his eyes were sparkling attentively as he took in every word. Did he not know all of this already? He was from the alchemist school after all, this would taught to them as well. Well, he thought to himself, seeing Leon this happy was not unpleasant. He would put up with this boring lecture for now.
If he cared enough to look to the other side of him, he might have found that Sun was in the same situation as him; a bored young master. But he didn"t; care, look or find out.