"Leon! My boy!" Ursam boomed as he exited his shop arms wide open as if he was about to envelope the youth whose approach became hesitant in a suffocating hug. However, before he was able to, a broom smacked his head, distracting him. The wielded of said broom glared at her husband, before placing down a wide, handled pan and resumed sweeping the flagstones outside of the shop.
Leon covered his mouth, entrapping his chuckles before clearing his throat. "I have the p-p-Pills," he said softly, once his mood had calmed a little.
Ursam's eyes brightened visibly as he ushered the youth into the shop.
Soon, an array of jade bottles with small wooden labels attached decorated a shelf close to the counter, the sign beneath them declaring that they were Smouldering and Bursting Energy Pills. Ursam stepped back from this new display with a satisfied smile upon his face. They discussed prices over tea, settling in the end on 1 silver a pill or 4 silver for a bottle of pills, pricing them well above ordinary Burning Energy Pills, however they would still be less than what the patron at the Auction that day purchased them for. Of each silver, Leon would take 800 brass coins, while Ursam would claim the rest. Leon was worried that his percentage was too great, considering Ursam had assisted him so, but the older man lay his worries to rest.
"It is you that if pouring effort into making these," the man reminded him, "and it is you that obtained the ingredients. If anything, my percentage is too high seeing as all I am doing is making available a shelf and counting the money!"
Not long afterwards, Ursam saw the small alchemist out, but before he left, the older man recalled a thing and withdrew an ornate bottle from his sleeve. He'd already deduced that it was not too late to hand this gift of encouragement over with the words; "Ah last time I spoke to Jin Li, I meant to hand him this. Would you mind passing it along?"
Leon took the translucent, blue bottle that was about the length of his palm and noticed it contained some sort of liquid. Couldn't help but ask; "W-what is it?"
A grin split Ursam's face and his eyes twinkled wickedly. "You see that is..." his words were cut off by a broom to the face.
"Ursam!" His Wife chided, crossly, "What did I tell you about tryin' to corrupt those boys?!"
"Wife!" Ursam pleaded with reddened eyes and marked cheeks. However, his beloved resolutely refused to listen and chased him with her non-lethal weapon. Leon could only leave in confusion and curiosity.
He soon forgot about it, though and after purchasing a flank of salted meat and a small sack of rice upon the way, headed towards the griffin's nests in town. As this was the transport he'd used to arrive here, he saw no reason not to use them to head back as well. He checked the small plant, the true reason for his journey and saw that it seemed well enough before carefully repackaging it in its small container.
His hair became swept into a breezy flurry as a massive, adult Griffin landed with grace despite its size and its occupants disembarked, leaping from the box upon its back rather than use the ladder that was presented. The travellers happened to be experienced Seniors and Teachers from the school. One was quite diminutive compared to the rest, but not a silver hair was out of place upon his head as he landed.
His dark blue eyes enhanced by round frames scanned over the area in habit and happened to land upon a youth with long yin-yang hair, who was waiting close by, ready to travel. The silver-haired Teacher frowned, attempting to recall where he had seen the youth before and his eyes intently looked over the boy, finally landing upon the belt upon his waist. Unlike most others, this boy was wearing wooden carved charms upon his belt instead of jade and the Teacher's interest was piqued.
He took a step forward, ready to question the lad, curious to know where he obtained the charms and more so to know if they were anything like the one in a certain small beasts possession. He'd ever wanted to know the origin of the koi charm, but its previous owner had not been forthcoming. The Teacher had not been sure whether that student had been evasive on purpose or just couldn't recall where he had gotten it from and was embarrassed by that.
"Teacher Volun," one of the seniors called to him when he began to walk in a direction that was not towards their destination.
Ever polite, the Teacher turned to look up at him; "What?"
"Lord Garius is waiting for us at the Singing Drake restaurant," the senior reminded him. Lord Garius was a former student of Teacher Volun's, who after inheriting his title, opened a breeding farm for rare beasts. He sought the two adolescent Coeurl to try to match one with his female mount, hoping to raise a generation of tamed Coeurl in the future. However, although he retained some respect for his former Teacher, he'd gained the arrogance of a noble with influence and power and had a temper to match.
Teacher Volun was not concerned, however. To him, Lord Garius was still a hot-headed child who threw tantrums at whim. Lord Garius being stuck within the bottleneck between tertiary and quaternary stages of cultivation was due to this personality flaw, was Teacher Volun's belief. Not everyone was suited to reach the Immortal stages of Cultivation, Garius was one.
With that thought in mind, he turned back to discover that the youth had already mounted the Griffin that would head back to the school. Satisfied that this indicated that the youth was a student, meaning he could find him later at some point, he allowed himself to be lead towards his appointment.
YOU ARE READING
Learning To Live As A Cultivator
FantasyLeon died very peacefully and quietly in his home world, in fact he hadn't even been aware of his death. When he awoke, he wished he had died. Now he is in a world where the strong are merciless to the weak and the weak strive to be strong. But he...
