On the training grounds located just outside the forbidding walls of the martial arts school, were numerous wooden mannequins, each with various slices and scratches upon their bodies. Some were fixed and stationary, others moved, rotating or swaying upon being hit, though none really could come near to replacing a physical enemy with thoughts or moves of their own. Still, some found it useful to practice stances and moves upon them or simply used them just to vent.
At this moment, likely as it was the third day of the four day break, these grounds were pretty much abandoned as the students were distracted by other pursuits or things of interest. Perfecting moves in front of a wooden dummy was not on their agendas. But there still were two individuals beating the mannequins mercilessly, though one was clearly just taking his foul mood out upon the dummy that would have to be replaced by the end of the day.
Sun rolled his eyes as he viewed the weapon of mass destruction beside him from the corner of his eye. He, himself, was not here by choice. His Master still failed to recognise the term 'days of rest' and would 'suggest' that Sun join him for another gruelling training session that seemed without end. Yesterday, Sun had skipped training as the Master had a hangover, but today he had already ran around the outer rim of the school three times, performed squats until his knees almost gave out and now had to perfect a sword move using the training mannequin as a fixed target. For whatever reason, the brooding Jin Li had followed him on his run, watched without seeing the rest of his 'warm up' then joined him in the training grounds where he had begun to vent.
With a sigh, Sun focused upon his own issue, firming his stance and gripping his sword before slicing the sword through the air in a succession of five moves. In theory, if his opponent attempted to block theses five moves with the expected succession of blocks, he would leave himself open for an attack upon his unguarded side and the last sword swipe left the attacker in a good position to follow through with this. However, the sequence was quite well known and there were many ways to deal with it. But Teacher Corvus was firmly of the belief that the old moves were the best moves and with Sun's speed boost from his wind abilities, this sequence could still be of use if only to wear his opponent down.
He stepped back after finishing the five move sequence, not embellishing with other moves. His weakness clearly lie in the third move, his arms not quite able to create the required angle at speed as yet. So he repeated the action twice more, before pausing. When he performed the third move well, he then failed the straightforward thrust required in the four move. He pondered over this for a minute, his mind filled with frustration.
"Show me that sequence," Jin Li suddenly demanded, startling Sun from his thoughts.
"Um, alright," Sun agreed and stepped through it a little more slowly to ensure each angle was correct. Jin Li observed him intently the once before performing the whole move with ease and at speed. Sun could only watch him with a sour heart.
"Tch," Jin Li clicked his tongue. "To easy to counter."
"I know that!" Sun replied with exasperation in his tone. "It's a pretty old and standard move. Only a child wouldn't be able to counter it!"
"Then why bother with it?"
"Because..."
"You, Jin Li!" Both youths turned to see a tall youth with a long length of brown hair tied in a top knot striding towards them. His clothes were silk and embroidered elaborately with bamboo stalks and flying cranes. He walked with his shoulders cast back and his nose elevated as if he was noble, but his eyes seemed gentle enough to prevent his appearance from seeming as if he was looking down on you. His hands were clasped behind his back as he walked with a few others, who looked at Jin Li with undisguised distaste, while openly evaluating him.
"Who did you irritate now?" Sun murmured without censure, but his words were ignored.
"You have business with this Lord?" Jin Li questioned with his usual arrogance, unimpressed by the man in front of him. It had to be said, that while Jin Li's views were narrow in general, he was never one to be impressed by wealth and social rank. One either was good at martial arts or one was not. He respected both talent and hard work, not money and connections. So what if you were born dirt poor in a remote village? So long as you could provide him with a challenge in the arena, he did not care of your origins. His thoughts wandered off on a tangent line as he wondered of what origins did Leon hail from...
The man paused, his eyes roamed over the coarse fabrics of Jin Li's clothing and though his eyes revealed nothing, the corner of his lips curled to one side of his mouth, throwing off his pretentious looks with a slight smirk. "Allow me to introduce myself," the man said, amicably. "My name is Justin. My fellows and I are members of the Silver Cloud sect, you could say that we have been fortunate enough to have the favour of it's Leader and Elders as well. You have of course heard of us."
"No," Jin Li replied with no semblance of a lie. The Silver Cloud sect either did not exist or was not worthy of mention in the higher realm, so he did not know of them at all. Thus whatever Justin wished to impress upon Jin Li immediately fell flat. The curve of his lips stiffened a tad.
"The Silver Cloud sect is a righteous sect that happens to be located some way South of the Institute," Sun mentioned to Jin Li nonchalantly as he once more worked through the sword sequence. "Quite large and reputable with some influence." His words seemed to give both face and take it away, forcing Justin to consider the smaller youth's identity. Few would speak of his sect in such simply, unimpressed tones.
"Quite right," Justin replied, allowing this description to pass. "Our sect does have some small influence and our Leader is also reputable. He is a wise and tolerant person, however he does have his bottom line. For one, his two daughters that also attend this institute."
"What has all this to do with me?" Jin Li asked, irritably.
"I am simply recommending that you stay away from Miss Merylin," Justin replied with a smirk.