Chapter 224: The Preoccupied People

There were some things that occupied one's mind and grasped it so hard that nothing else particularly mattered—someone caught in an illusion, some kind of entrancing artifact that beseeched the eyes. And perhaps love?

Infatuation rather.

"Hmm? What was that Donovan?"

"It's nothing, Sir Leon."

"Alright then."

No more words were exchanged even as they arrived into the courtyard at last. The group even had to walk slower or else have the usually quick-footed Noble get left behind.

He walked leisurely.

Angelika Primrose had never seen Leon de Harrington ever so lost in his thoughts that it was as if she was talking to an entirely new person. A rather absent-minded one. And it wasn't only her who had noticed it, even Donovan did and so did Diov.

"I couldn't believe my eyes earlier, didn't your cousin and the Healer sit with Ellynn?" Teresa glanced at Diov and then back at Lu Rei. "We should have invited her then maybe we could have talked with them?"

She wasn't afraid of speaking out her thoughts.

Lu Rei shook her head.

"Then you should have done it at Lu Rei's suggestion, although there's not much you could probably gain from speaking with them. Your Class is too different from those two." Diov glanced back at Sir Leon and pursed his lips, "But I didn't think you'd know about my cousin, Sir Harrington."

"We've met before when I was a child. Although the curious thing is that the two of us have never crossed paths before, are the two of you distant relatives?"

"She's my second-cousin, not too distant."

Diov Brande.

Ranks and Nobility.

If there was anything to be said, Diov ranked higher than her own family's name but the man acted like he shouldn't be bothered with it. An action somewhat foreign to her and this time without a fair headed Noble to keep the atmosphere clear.

There had been multiple things happening, one thing and then another that it was as if everyone couldn't even catch their breath—but that was expected in one's life. Change and turmoil were a constant part of it.

And one of these so called changes also happened to be sitting down and waiting for them. His dark hair fell over neatly his head but if there was anything noteworthy of his features, it was his eyes. They were a green shade close to something like faerie light, but the eye shape was also slightly odd.

Stranger than normal… well, he looked somewhat similar to Lu Rei in that aspect. And Lu Rei had golden eyes, so maybe she was thinking too hard. But the moment that Han and Timothy arrived also started the more obvious changes in their day to day.

"Oh hey guys!" Han waved at them with a small smile.

"Sup?" Donovan said.

Han quirked his lips, "Good dude...anyhow I saved you guys your seat."

"Or nobody had occupied it while we were gone." He replied.

Men. Angelika fought the urge to roll her eyes as she took her spot. Seated behind her would be Teresa and Lu Rei. And on her right… well, Donovan. The man was followed by Sir Leon and then Han. She used to sit at the right of the Noble but things did kind of change. Perhaps she shouldn't be paying attention to this and yet she couldn't help herself.

She took note of everything but chose not to say another word until everything was clear and could be proven. Especially if there was any use in pointing it out.

The Primrose way if anyone were to ask of it.

.

.

.

Well, Donovan was right—it had been weird sitting in front and waiting for them. Their group took their time in arriving here, but that was probably because the Professor tended to be late as far as he could tell from previous days. Han scratched the back of his head, "Yeah I guess, any idea what's on our lessons today?"

Donovan shrugged, "Not a clue. Depends on what he wants—Swordsman Uriel says that actual experience trumps over swinging our weapons back and forth here."

"Uh huh, I think I get that." Han managed a resigned smile and looked around. In the place where the Combat Spell class happened was where magic occurred, the grass and everything destroyed from the Elemental Orbs were repairing itself. He could even feel the mana in the air and it had flowed greater than usual to work faster.

Somehow it was becoming tempting to check the Universal Chat again, but for now, he did something else. It only took him one thought now and the notification appeared in front of him:

[ Gathering Resources... ]

[ Procuring Items… ]

[ Congratulations! You Have Gathered 10 Items From Oaken Ashwoods, Please Check Your Inventory ]

3 Sage Grass

2 Poison Berry Clusters

2 Lumen Fruit

Ashwood Bark

2 Goblin Toenail Clippings

He made a face at the last part. Why the heck was that included in the items?

This was useless!

Well, one thing he could draw from that was the fact that those Goblins he had encountered before coming here were still alive and well, but he really could have been fine without the reminder… wait, there was a Goblin in the Universal Chat! He hadn't paid much attention to it before but now he did and it was all thanks to some random goblin's toenails.

Maybe he just had bad luck.

It didn't matter what the status screen showed up in front of him because this was enough evidence that he got a bad gathering today. And it was another thing he'd have to learn for the future besides the Healing Potion recipe and—he needed a notebook. For tomorrow, or when he got back home.

Still it didn't exactly stop him from feeling kinda disappointed when he could have used more Sage Grass or even the Lumen Fruit. Why would this thing give him toenail clippings? It was ruining his appetite—

"What's with the grass over there, there's a lot more destruction than usual," Diov said. "Did you guys anger your Professor or was there some kind of incident?"

"I mean you could say that," Russel shrugged and grinned. "You two should have seen Han earlier—it was fun to watch, I guess those two, him and his friend surviving the obstacle course was no joke, I knew my butt would have been electrocuted right on the spot if I were in Han's shoes."

"Wyvern?" Calum lifted a brow.

Diov didn't exactly smack a hand over his face, "I don't think we have any Beast Masters to capture a wyvern, and even then that's usually too wild."

"A baby wyvern?"

"Nah, nothing like that. Our Professor just showed off the Spell we have to master next," Russel answered. "It's pretty useful, I can't wait for the next combat spar between Mages and Fighters—the Mages might actually win."

Teresa snorted, "Whose side are you on, Russel?"

"Obviously the winning one. I mean they do well in long-ranged fighting compared to normal Fighters having to stay in the front lines."

"We have archers too?" Lu Rei pointed out. "And if you're wearing good enchanted armor, I think you'll be able to do well even if you're fighting Mages."

"I can't afford good gear like you guys."

Han couldn't believe what he was hearing but then again—this was a usual thing wasn't it? It was almost nostalgic. Complaining and sharing things of what they had experienced in previous classes and making plans in the future. Han Jing could faintly recall Mou Gu sleeping in class too before.

It made him feel kind of old in this group, although he wasn't that far off from them.

His own maturity didn't help at times either.

But now he could kind of distinguish the groups, at least two out of all their current classmates. Sir Leon de Harrington seemed like the Dream Team before, but listening in to those behind them converse showed a much more equal treatment between friends. Han discreetly glanced at the corner of his vision, Sir Leon was jotting down on some kind of notebook with a quill.

He could have almost imagined Timothy doing the same thing in his own class.

If the guy wasn't getting himself distracted with Penelope maybe or something. Anyhow, Han inched closer to the young noble and grinned, "Writing some kind of love letter?"

"Not quite," Sir Leon de Harrington answered in a heartbeat. "It's more of a poem."

Han raised his brows, "I didn't know that you're leveling up in the Poet Class."

"No, it's a little hobby of mine when I was younger—never took the Class." The Noble put his quill down for a moment and glanced at him. "It would have been useless, I almost took a Writer class since I thought it would help, but diplomacy is included within the Noble Class so it was unnecessary when I could level up in that instead."

"Is that so?"

"Generally," Sir Leon de Harrington smiled. "It depends on what kind of path you're taking. Some of the Nobility are more mercantile like the Primrose House for example." He glanced at Angelika momentarily before his gaze returned to Han, "My family falls more in diplomacy."

"So even if you have the same Class, it doesn't mean that you'll be the same?"

"Varying Skills and even different progression speeds."

"That's really fascinating." Han nodded and decided not to say anything else. The only one beside him who was that conscious of the leveling and grinding was this guy or something. Almost every discussion of theirs was related one way or another to growing stronger.

He didn't think it was bad.

There was nothing wrong with single-mindedly pursuing one's goals.