Waking up from his relaxing nap, Leon smiled and stretched as he remembered he wouldn't have to deal with Arthur any further. Looking out the window he noticed people already departing from the academy's grounds, and decided he should be on his way as well if he intended to search for some rare herbs at the market today.
'The only places I know of as of now that would hold such herbs would be either the underground where I use to frequent in my past life, or the black market in the allies near the west side of the city. I should probably start heading there as soon as possible since it's about an hour and a half away from here taking a car because of traffic...'
Lost in thought as usual, Leon made his way to the courtyard after realizing the length of the trip he needed to take in order to get his hands on some rare herbs to supplement his growth.
However, as he was about to pass through the gate signaling his freedom, the vice captain of the taekwondo team stepped in front of his path.
"Yesterday you made a fool of not only myself, but the rest of the taekwondo team as well!"
As the vice captain continued on with his speech, he gestured to the tall youth standing behind him.
"This is the head captain of our team who has won gold in the district championships for three consecutive years. For disrespecting our team you will be punished by his powerful taekwondo arts!"
After listening to the continuous bullshit spewing from the vice captain's mouth, Leon inspected his "opponent."
'This kid is only seventeen and he expects to best me who has real combat experience?'
Leon couldn't help but laugh as the vice captain initiated the fight that would soon bring the taekwondo club to its knees.
'They should've changed their club into a circus or comedian club instead...'
Leon snickered as he could not prevent these thoughts to surface into his mind after listening to embarrassing announcements from the vice captain . However, as he glanced at his watch he realized these buffoons were taking up his precious time to search for herbs.
"Alright vice captain, you can silence your comedy act since I don't have time to listen to this mockery the rest of the day. You guys said you wanted to fight so what are you waiting for?"
Finishing his provocation, Leon immediately approached the head captain and awaited the kid's first move.
Upon seeing his opponent was initiating the match, the head captain smiled deviously and prepared himself for attacking. Taekwondo was mostly instructed to him in different forms of sparring, so the captain felt he had the advantage when compared to the inexperienced delinquent in front of him.
'I guess I'll first sweep the leg and then force him down with a high kick.'
While the captain was preparing for his first move, Leon glanced towards the streets showing his disinterest in the fight. Seeing his opponent dropping his guard, the captain decided this was his moment to attack.
While placing his left hand on the ground, the captain spun his body with all the force he could muster as he swept out his right leg to immobilize Leon.
Unfortunately to his dismay, Leon swiftly jumped over the leg, and instead of dodging to the side or stepping back, he pressed forward with his right knee outstretched while aiming for the captain's head.
Noticing he failed to hit his target, the captain was dumbstruck as he didn't expect the delinquent to counter. Luckily, he forced up his forearms to guard the incoming attack, but the blow never landed.
Confused, he peered to his right side as a side kick plunged straight into his face causing a nosebleed to erupt.
While grasping his broken nose the captain glared at Leon, finally understanding his blunder.
'It seems he isn't inexperienced with martial arts like I had previously assumed. I'll have to demonstrate my full strength in order to subdue him, and gain revenge for my team in the process.'
Noticing the captain had become serious, Leon stared at him with eyes filled with boredom.
'I really do not have time to be wasting here, so I should just finish this up...'
Through prioritizing minimal effort in order to beat the kid that had lost his entertainment, Leon swiftly used concealed steps to arrive in front of the youth.
Seeing the surprise in not only the kid's eyes, but the rest of the taekwondo team, Leon smirked and sent a jab through the kids guard that landed square on his forehead.
Receiving the precise but hefty blow the captain immediately staggered backwards before falling unconscious onto the vice captain.
"Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to play around with you clowns today, but just understand that cripples can't practice taekwondo. If you continue to interrupt my business it will be the last time you practice any martial arts!"
Snorting before walking off to flag down a cab, Leon shook his head as he was disappointed at the lack of skill the child possessed, causing the fight to be extremely simple.
'Not everyone can raise to great heights it seems...'
Pondering on the potential that the future of the youths in the city held, Leon was reminded of that kid he saved previously.
'What was his name again? Ah right, it was Alexander! If only martial art geniuses held the same desires and ambitions he had. If that was the case there would have been many rising stars throughout the city for me to topple.'
Sighing as he came to this realization, Leon decided to focus on the possible whereabouts of his rare herbs as he finally entered a taxi. Deciding his best bet would be to enter one of the black markets in the different hidden streets throughout the city, he came to the conclusion that his best bet was Agnolo's alley.
After giving the driver instructions to take him the north part of the city Leon couldn't help but leak out his excitement as he thought of the prospect of obtaining greater inner strength at such an early age.
After an hour and twenty minute drive he finally arrived at his destination as he searched for the familiar disguised homeless man that allowed entrance to the secret market.
Pleased that the old man was in the usual spot, Leon entered the pawnshop across the street and purchased a peculiar coin from the seller. Spotting the man still slumped against a wall between a heap of garbage and a crumbling building, Leon approached cautiously.
"Hey old man, I'm currently in the market to buy a vintage Harley Davidson. I heard you knew of a seller?"
After initiating the code Leon awaited a reaction from the seemingly poor old man. Upon hearing the code in a raspy voice the old man answered.
"What model would this sir be looking for?"
Finally hearing the sentence he was hoping for Leon answered with the secret password and a flick of the traded coin he had bought.
"I'm searching for the 1936 EL V-Twin."
Eyeing the coin he had received and discovering it was authentic, the beggar gestured for the youth to follow him behind the crumbling building, and quickly knocked on an old door positioned at the back.
As the man was verified to be the gatekeeper, the door was unlocked and opened revealing a fancy lobby. The room was not very large but was still impressive due to the gold chandelier and priceless decorations scattered throughout the room.
If an outsider were to see this spectacle their jaw would instantly drop through the floor as they stared at the expensive artifacts on display.
In the center of this priceless museum was a counter with an Italian man in a black tuxedo operating an elevator behind him.
There weren't any security cameras, but Leon knew not to mess with anyone here since "La Casa" had absolute authority here. Anyone who breached their "Le Regole" or rules would never be heard from again.
Although, Leon understood their systematic way of conducting their business, and knew any and all deviants were usually put to death.
Walking towards the reception counter Leon adjusted the tie on his uniform as he asked the operator to take him down to the medicinal floor.
Without questioning the boy before him, who couldn't be a day over eighteen, the operator opened the elevator in silence and brought them to the desired floor.
When Leon stepped off the elevator he was greeted by the familiar wide hallway with merchants managing their stalls and trying sell their merchandise. As he passed different kinds of stalls that held medical technology way ahead of what was used in current hospitals, Leon continued his search for the section that sold medicinal herbs.
While wandering through different sections Leon reminded himself that just relying on the fancy presentation of merchandise was not always reliable when searching for top quality.
'If I remember correctly there is usually an old Chinese man occupying the last stall slot that sells rare herbs with decent quality.'
Recognizing an ancient Buddhist mat strewn across a section where stalls would normally be erected, Leon followed his intuition as he glanced at the items for sale.
Many commodities were ancient artifacts that were part of the Buddhist culture including old Tibetan prayer beads and multiple different Gawu boxes.
Recognizing one of the pendants had ancient mantra engraved on it to protect the wearer, he decided he would buy it. Suddenly a strange force emanating from one of these boxes caught Leon's attention.
"How much for the old pendant and that Gawu box?"
Hoping the cost wouldn't be greater than the $275 that he had brought, Leon waited for an answer. Raising his one hand and holding out his fingers, the old man motioned the price was $400.
Realizing he didn't have enough money at the moment Leon crinkled his brows as he thought of a way to negotiate the price.
After further negotiating the price had dropped to $350 and caused Leon to reveal his hand.
After settling an agreement that he would trade his manual for concealed steps with the man the price dropped to $50. Once Leon finished transcribing his technique on the paper that was handed to him, he took the two items and continued his search.
'Concealed steps isn't very difficult to learn and is definitely not a high ranking skill, so this isn't really a loss for me.'
Ending this line of thought, Leon finally came across the stall he was searching for. Under a small ragged tent the Chinese man was selling different herbs in small wooden boxes that rested on a small table.
After scanning multiple boxes Leon's eyes finally rested upon a peculiar herb that he recognized to be very vital for inner strength cultivation.
'An ancient ginseng! It seems my luck hasn't run out yet... Although a size such as this would probably sell for $1000...'
Upon understanding that his funds were yet again insufficient he took out his cell phone and dialed Jay's number.
"Hey boss what can I do for you?"
Seeing that his boss had reached out to him again Jay sobered up and departed from the private room he was in at Nuit Frivole.
"I'm currently running low on funds and need you to transfer some cash to this account number ###### for me."
Deciding that he would need greater funds for purchasing a couple other herbs Leon figured he would ask for at least $2000.
"Sure, I'll have Lawrence transfer $5000 into the account immediately. Also regarding the changes you wished to be put in place, I suggest you come by the HQ yourself this weekend to make sure it meets your satisfaction."
Hoping that the changes he made were correct, Jay hung up the phone after his boss's needs were met.
Thankful for the surrogate's intuition Leon decided he would visit them tomorrow.
'It was definitely the right decision to keep him alive to run the organization for me. Hopefully this continues to benefit me in the future...'
Satisfied with the faithful actions of his subordinates Leon approached the old man and purchased the ancient ginseng along with some other necessary herbs.
As Leon exited Agnolo's Alley, he realized he still needed a small clay pot to prepare his ingredients for ingestion. The clay pot was a necessity for boiling the ingredients before straining them into a tea for consumption to improve his strength.
Returning to the pawnshop he had entered before coming to the alley he was able to purchase a clay pot along with a strainer for a reasonable price.
'Now I just need to get home to cook the herbs and cultivate before tomorrow. Hopefully I can reach a break through to increase my inner strength!'
Once again hailing down a cab, Leon returned home and immediately begun his preparations.