Learning To Live As A Cultivator 242 Chapter Forty Two - I am reunited with Maimai

It snowed once more in the middle of the night, but beneath the sheltering trees dotted over the slope of the mountain, only a few patches could be found here and there upon the ground. One such was within the centre and near surroundings of Leon's courtyard home. Of course, this came of little surprise as there was no evergreen canopy to protect his home in its open glade from the crystal offering of the sky, so after quickly refreshing his face after waking, he knew he would need to sweep the tiles outside his door today.

Breakfast was simple, just porridge and hot water; there was no Jin Li to impress and his cupboards were quite empty of those little extras such as meat, fresh vegetables and honey. But there were two hungry souls waiting for at least one of those three things in their own abode attached to his home that he also had to keep in mind. So after he ate his fill and swept away a mass of fluffy snow to create a path from him to them, he tried to ignore the four large, hopeful eyes as he pondered on what best to do. Have to mention that Wu Ye was a lot less disobedient and contradictory than when his master was about.

In the end, he let them out, deciding to take them to the stables and make a request for supplies for them. Actually, this had originally been the suggestion of Teacher Volun when the man had insisted that the two Coeurl be placed with himself and Jin Li after both beasts took a liking to their masters (or rather, Li Ming claimed Leon, while Wu Ye decided that Jin Li had no choice but to take care of itself). However, Wu Ye and Jin Li favoured improving their abilities while hunting for their supper, so apart from when the house was being built, the two Coeurl had never eaten with the other mounts and tamed beasts in the stables located on the alchemy slope.

Li Ming was still too small to be ridden, while Wu Ye would only suffer to carry a rider when pressed into doing so by Jin Li and therefore had no obligation to Leon otherwise, so the alchemist could only trudge over the frozen grounds as they made their way to the school and beyond. In the end, Wu Ye grew impatient and nudged the alchemist before lowering its body a bit to indicate Leon should actually ride him. It would allow it this time. Leon did receive the hint, but he was a bit too short to climb upon Wu Ye's back and the beast snorted before squatting lower, offering a feline sneer as it did so.

Finally, the two beasts ran more freely, with Li Ming yowling happily as it attempted to roar, but could only produce cute meowing sounds instead. Wu Ye was ever the silent type and simply enjoyed stretching its lithe limbs. Leon could only grasp about its neck for it had no mane to grasp and there was no saddle to stabilise him. Fortunately, Wu Ye's scales were smooth and linked together without obvious gaps, so his coat was not scuffed and his skin remained unscathed.

The beasts slowed down once they reached the path leading through the domiciles, but they did receive a few wide eyed glares from students running to and from the Food and Lecture Hall.

Things in most schools did not change too much from day to day, despite the season being at its coldest, for most schools, though the beast taming school did have to prepare places for natural hibernators late autumn as well as ensure good stocks of food for winter as the griffins did not like to fly through heavy rain nor any snow.  But as many herbs would not be as available in the winter and many of the fields would be fallow, an alchemist's routine would be effected.  Without certain herbs, many common pills let alone rare ones, could not be refined, so once the stocks were emptied, Students were encouraged to do other things; cultivate, visit the library or attend more lectures that did not involve refining pills.  There would be quite a few in the inner school at least, who would consume a fasting pill and lock their doors for several weeks to solely cultivate, while in the outer school, they more often attended lectures just to grab some extra warmth from the Fire crystals within.

Fire crystals, Leon had learned, were not as easily obtained as he hoped.  The initial crystal was not cheap and then had to be recharged by a fire Mage every few tendays.  Stygar was a man who built connections and had become the middleman between a fire Mage and Hue, this giant who made high quality, valuable pills.  Therefore, he not only had access to the crystals but could have them recharged whenever he wanted.  What did Hue gain from this?  Well, naturally as the two men lived together, he was not hard done by in this deal, but also because Stygar raised rare herbs no matter the season, he could also obtain many ingredients that others could not.

As Leon passed the girls' domiciles, he attracted the attention of a different sort.

"Leon, long time no see!" An exuberant, feminine voice called out, causing Leon's lips to curve in a genuinely happy smile.  Dressed in a thick fur coat, Maimai stepped out of her small home with her curls still in a mess a top her head and her cheeks reddened by the chill in the air.  "Wu Ye is looking the fine Coeurl as always!  Where is Li Ming?  Has he lost the rest of his baby fur as yet?"

Maimai loved beasts, but unfortunately, they didn't necessarily share her enthusiasm.  The flattery was accepted, but Wu Ye always felt it wasn't worth mentioning; it knew it was a fine creature.  Li Ming felt that being teased due to retaining its fur was mean, so looked tearily eyed at its Master for sympathy and ignored the girl, who actually meant no harm.

"M-Maimai, how was your b-break?" He asked, though he was unable to dismount from Wu Ye, who padded the floor impatiently before glaring at the girl who'd blocked them in its opinion.  Actually, it didn't need to stand around and wait... did it... Maimai was forced to catch up as Wu Ye suddenly moved forward despite Leon's protests.

The girl didn't seem bothered by it though and began chatting about a few things that happened back at her Sect.  "Mother is trying to settle Merylin's engagement, but my sister is not willing," she gossiped as she walked beside the large Coeurl, while the littler one ran at his other side. 

"D-does she still like J-Jin Li?" Leon couldn't help but ask.  He wasn't worried anymore that Jin Li would leave him for the girl having finally learned a bit more about Dao Companion's from his stubborn lover's mouth (at a price), but he kind of felt sorry that she had this unrequited love for him.  After all, loving someone who did not love you back was uncomfortable at best, but painful to those who could not move on.

Maimai thought about it for a moment then shook her head.  "I don't think she's not interested, but she's finally accepted that he is not, I think," she replied to his question.  She felt that her stubborn sister still did not understand where Jin Li's heart lie, but that her imagination had led her into considering that Jin Li was just unattainable.  Perhaps he had an engagement he could not get out of or perhaps his eyes were still too focused on the path of cultivation to see her waiting.  Merylin had decided that as 'star-crossed' they had no fate at this point, she would reserve a place in her heart for him, but not wait any longer.  Maimai thought she read too many of the wrong sort of romance book.  Seriously, even trying to ship two shou was an impossible thought let alone a man who sought chrysanthemums being shipped with a peach blossom.

"What ab-bout you?" Leon teased, thinking that the sisters were not much of an age apart.  Merylin had been born of the legal wife, while Maimai was just a few tendays younger and born of a favoured concubine.  The woman Maimai called mother was actually Merylin's mother, not the woman who shared her blood.  But however complicated such inner courtyards could be, the girls and their three little sisters were actually all equally doted on by their overbearing father, who often skived off of his duties just to visit the older girls or play with his younger ones.  In comparison, his few sons were all tossed to the bottom of the mountain when of a certain age, to prove themselves on the climb back up with the rest of the young ones seeking to strive for placement in the Sect.

"Until Merylin becomes engaged," she smiled happily, "I don't need to worry!  Such is the fate of the eldest, hee hee!  The longer she holds out, the better off I will be, so I'm not worried."  She'd previously planned to runaway the moment mother brought up the matter of marital relationships for herself anyway, however, as her sister was steadily becoming more prominent as a talent in alchemy such things would likely be pushed back for a long while yet.

Soon, they arrived at the stables, where Leon sought out a beast tamer student working there, while Maimai went and visited her chubby Baku stabled there.

Chapter end