Chapter 22: Training Camp Pt.2

Soren noticed that a bulky man with black hair in a buzz cut style, and grayish black eyes, wearing a dark brown blazer over a white button up shirt with a tiger print tie around his neck, had a mic in his hand, and an aura around him that seemed to shout that he was the leader of the pack, was the one who called for Kojiro. Kojiro seemed unwilling to leave, as he was waiting for Soren to back down, so that he could expel him, but no matter how angry he got, and how much he gritted his teeth, Soren wasn't backing down from his side, while Kojiro didn't plan on leaving either, that was until the man in the suit spoke again, but this time, it wasn't through a mic, instead, it was right behind Kojiro, with his hand firmly gripping his shoulder.

[Kojiro… Come back to the stage… Now!]: ???

[Tch, Gin!... Fine… Hey kid, you're lucky… But you better hope that you don't have me as your teacher, or else you're gone]: kojiro

Soren then watched as the man known as Gin, called by Kojiro, had walked back to the stage, and was closely followed by Kojiro to further avoid angering Gin, and then everyone began filling the open space back in, while Soren was then bombarded with curses, and shouts from his friends, while Kouki and Soma looked at Soren was a bit of reverence, as even if Soma didn't know of Kojiro, knowing that he had the power to expel anyone at any time made him think otherwise in offending him, while Kouki just thought his dad was a badass for speaking up to Kojiro.

[Ahem… As many of you might know, My name is Gin Dojima!... I am the Executive Chef of the Totsuki Resort chain… And I would like to welcome you all to this training camp, but don't think this will be easy, as just like you witnessed previously, and heard from Professor Chef Chapelle, if at any moment any of us think that you are lacking, or falling behind, we can expel you, and you will need to pack up and leave… Now then… You know your groups, so get moving!]: gin

As Gin spoke, all the students began running towards their classes, while Soma brought up the idea to play poker in Zenji's room later, to which everyone except Zenji was in agreement. Soren was one of the last to leave the room, as he slowly made his way towards his classroom like he didn't have a care in the world, as he even began whistling along the way, making Gin look at Soren's departing back with interest, as he thought.

'That boy… He observed Kojiro's personality for less than 10 minutes, and was already able to tell that Kojiro was a prideful one, so he poked all the right buttons that would leave Kojiro unable to act, while secretly proving who was at the top… But what I can't understand, was how he had the audacity to speak like he was better than Kojiro in cooking… A graduate, versus a student… It should be an obvious answer as to who would win, but I feel that a fight between that student and Kojiro would end in Kojiro's loss, but why?': gin

Soren had walked to his class, and noticed that his teacher was the pervert with blonde hair who liked little girls. He wore an orange tie around his neck over his white chef's uniform, and he had a green apron around his waist.

[Hello students!... My name is Donato Gotoda… Today we will be using anything that you can hunt or gather in the perimeters of the fencing around this building to make me a traditional Japanese Inn dish… There are seasonings in the cabinets, and there are fishing rods along with some bows and arrows for those of you who feel you can catch some bigger game… You have 2 hours to complete your meals, now good luck!!]: donato

Soren was once again paired with some random student, but this time, the student wanted to try to work together with Soren, so that they could both pass, but Soren didn't really care to work with anyone, and instead, he just went out into the woods himself to hunt for some meat.

'Alright… I want to get some fish for some sashimi, as well as look for some eggs, mushrooms, and boar meat for my fried meat, but I need some wheat as a breading… I hope there's something… As for my last dish, I'll be making a nice fish soup with the leftover parts, to make a stock': soren

After Soren decided on what he was going to make, he quickly went out and began looking for a flowing stream, and once he found one, Soren set up the net he found in the store house, and went to go look for some meat. Soren had taken his knives with him, so he could use them to catch something big, and after some searching, Soren found a lone bore eating some herbs, and while it wasn't paying attention, Soren used a little bit of strength, and threw one of his knives at the boar, and pierced its side, making it run away, while leaving a trail of blood as he bled out. Soren then tracked the boar down, and realized that it didn't get very far before it keeled over and died, so Soren then skinned the the boar on the spot, while stripping it of all the meat that he could use, and let it's corpse there to decompose and fertilize the land, while feeding anything else that might wander on by.

'I got the meat, now I just need some eggs, and then I can go back to the spot I set my nets': soren

Soren had then begun running through the forest, and saw other students fishing, while some others were picking herbs, and some even had bows and were trying to find something to shoot. 30 minutes had gone by, and the time limit on the challenge was down to 1.5 hours left, leaving Soren with some time to search for more ingredients, before needing to head back and start cooking. As Soren was searching for eggs, he heard some clucking nearby, and decided to search around, and after finding some chickens, he began looking for a nest, and as luck would have it, Soren found a small nest with 6 chicken eggs inside, and upon picking them up, Soren secretly placed them into his inventory so they wouldn't crack or break, and he planned on taking them out after getting some herbs and collecting his fish.

'All complete, and with an hour so spare': soren

Soren had taken out his eggs, and held them in his hands, while all his other ingredients were placed in a bucket used for fishing, and after getting back to the classroom, Soren noticed that his partner was cooking up some fish.

[Oi!... Throw that crap away]: soren

[W-What!?... Are you crazy!?... This is the only thing I could find!]: soren's partner

Soren then placed his ingredients on the table, and shocked everyone present, even Donato, as he didn't expect anyone from this class to hunt a boar. Soren then moved his partner out of the way and threw his meal into the trash, while making the kid feel a little heart broken, as he worked hard on getting those ingredients, and Soren came in only to throw them to the trash.

[I want you in charge of making a fish stock, okay?... I'll be making everything else, so put your all in that stock, so we can make a good soup]: soren

Soren gave some encouraging words to his partner, before he began gutting and bleeding the fish he caught, while his partner took all the bones and excess parts from the fish, and tossed them into a boiling pot of water that had been salted with some sea salt. Soren then began preparing the boar meat, as he slightly grilled it, before taking it off the grill, and dipping it in an egg wash, and then placing it in a wheat made from grinding some wheat he found outside into a fine powder, making flour, and then dipping it into the egg wash once more before battering it again, and placing the meat into a pan with heated oil, making the sounds of sizzling and crackling fill the room.

[Woah!... That transfer student was able to find flour!?... Damn! That transfer student's partner is so lucky to have him on his team… All we got is a repetitive dish that everyone will be cooking]: students

Soon, Soren flipped the meat and began frying the other side before moving onto slicing the fish meat into very thin slices that could almost be considered transparent with how thin they were, and after fanning them out on a plate, Soren then began to rub some mint leaves that he found in the forest onto the fish, before filling a small porcelain cup with some soy sauce he found in the cabinet. Now that the first dish was complete, Soren started plating the grill fried boar's meat as he squeezed a bit of lemon juice over the nice crispy shell of the meat, while grating some lemon zest over it to give more of a refreshing smell, while having the amazing taste of meat.

[How's that stock coming along?]: soren

[Ah!... Almost finished!]: soren's partner

Soren noticed that there was only around 40 minutes left, and some people had already begun presenting their dishes to Donato, and while some passed, others were told to do it again, making them run out of the room to go get more ingredients. Once the stock was complete, Soren then poured some stock into a small soup bowl, and cut up some leftover fish from the sashimi, and fried it in what was left of the oil before dropping the oil fried fish bite into the fish stock, and placing everything on a platter, and presenting it all to Donato.

[Hmm… Looks like a 3 course meal… Very much like a Japanese Inn… But now the question is, how does it taste]: donato

Donato took a bite of the grill fried boar's meat, and his eyes shot wide open like saucers as the sheer taste of the meat combined with the crispy shell of the breading, and the hint of lemon made the grilled meat so much better. Donato felt like he was riding a herd of crispy boar's stampeding through the forest, while he was naked on their backs, and after he came out of his fantasy like state, he moved onto the sashimi, and picked up a piece of sashimi with his chopsticks, before dipping it into the soy sauce, and taking a bite. Once again, Donato felt like he was in heaven, as the refreshing taste from the mint leaf, along with the salty taste of the soy sauce combined with perfect harmony, all in one fishy bite, leaving Donato shocked at the skill that Soren possesses. And as for the last dish, Donato began washing the previous two down with it, as it was a soup, and the flavor packed within, along with the bite sized pieces of fish floating around inside the soup, Donato felt as if he were floating in a sea of fish stock, while he was surrounded by a sea of fried fish bites.

[... Soren! Ichiruki!... Your team passes!]: donato (A/N: I don't know why, but this is the name I came up with for Soren's partner, but like the previous one, he won't stay any longer than this chapter)

Donato seemed to be in heaven, as he decided to continue eating Soren's dish while waiting for the others to present their dishes, and when the students saw this, they felt that Soren was out of their leagues, if he had the skills and ability to make something that the teacher/judge would continue eating after judging. Soren then left the classroom after he cleaned up his station, and got out of his cooking uniform, and got back into his regular clothes for the meantime.

'Wow… This will just be a cake walk for the rest of the week… *Sigh* I guess I'll try to finish up tonight's challenge quickly so I can be one of the first to take my bath': soren

Soren noticed that when he killed the boar and all those fish, it gave him a cumulative of 1 System Point, so Soren used it to buy himself a cigarette putting his balance back down to 0 System Points, then while nobody was looking, Soren lit the cigarette and began smoking it while standing outside to keep the smoke from wanting to stick to his body, along with his clothes. And Soon, the time was called, and those who passed, passed, and those who failed, were either gone, or on the chopping block, and close to being expelled. Soren and his group were then taken back to the hotel on their bus, and Soren met up with the others when they got there, he then listened on as Yuki began telling Megumi that they would be able to go to the spa, have dinner prepared for them, and then get a room of luxury all to themselves, but upon entering back inside the hotel, they were met with the man known as Hitoshi Sekimori, and then he began explaining the next challenge.

[You all will get free time after making dinner for all these gentlemen… They are the members of the Upper Arm University's Bodybuilding Club, which is holding a training camp here… The football and wrestling clubs will be here soon, too… Tonight's meal will be a steak dinner, and you will be required to make 50 servings each, and then you are free to make your own meal and have your bath… Now let the challenge begin]: hitoshi

Soren was one of the first to leave, as he quickly began preparing the meat with seasonings, and cooking it in the pan with butter and oil, before making some rice, along with a potato soup, and s refreshing salad with a soft boiled egg cut in half placed in the bowl, while Soren sliced up some pineapple as a treat, making the same plating as Hitoshi showed as example, but Soren made his a bit special, as he used plum paste in his rice to give it a refreshing taste, just like Soma did in his battle with Ikumi for bowel club. Soren then quickly made 50 plates, and it only took him around an 2 hours before Soren had completed his quota, while even after he was finished, he still had a bunch of people begging for him to make them another plate.

[Hehe… I'll be back, I'm just going to take a bath]: soren

Soren promised to come back and cook more food for the bodybuilders, and quickly went to go take a bath, while noticing that Soma was still cooking, and was on plate number 30, while some blonde french who was staring daggers at Soma was on plate 25.

'I should get enough time to bathe with this': soren

Soren then walked down the hall towards the bathing area, and noticed that a familiar figure had come out of nowhere, and was heading towards the same direction.

[Erina?... What are you doing here so early?]: soren

When Soren spoke, it caught Erina off guard as she let out a small scream, and turned towards Soren, only to calm down a bit seeing him standing there.

[Oh… It's you… Wait, why are you here?... Shouldn't you be doing your challenge?]: erina

[Already complete, but I promised to go back out and make more for those bodybuilders after I take my bath… So cya later]: soren

Soren walked passed Erina while whistling, and entered the men's side bath house, where Soren stripped down and brought a towel with him into the bathroom, where he saw Gin Dojima bathing in the tub, and like nothing was wrong, Soren went and sat down in the water, only a few feet away from him, and then spoke.

[Ahhhh… This feels so nice on the muscles… I wish I could feel this every day… What about you, Gin Dojima?]: soren

Soren turned to look at Gin, and saw him with a look of surprise, as well as having a smile on his face, as he spoke.

[I do get to do this every day… I'm the Executive Chef of Totsuki Resort, so I'm here quite often… So tell me young Soren, are you done with your dishes so quickly?]: gin

[Yeah, but I promised those guys that I'll go and prepare some more for them after my bath, so I need to hurry here, but I think I got time to spare, for now at least]: soren