Chapter 16 - Mental Preparations

The party unpacked their belongings, claiming their spots on their beds, and relaxed for a good 30 minutes. Mayumi and Cyprus were talking, as well as Yukio and Yui. Ambrosia was sitting in a chair in the corner, reading from her mysterious black book. Nobody was sure of what it said still, except Ambrosia of course.

After 30 minutes had passed, the party agreed to get food, as they were all collectively hungry. Ambrosia was the first to speak up, shutting her book, and smiling.

"Are you guys ready to grab food?" asked Ambrosia.

"Yeah, I'm getting pretty hungry," said Cyprus. Everyone else agreed. The party got up, secured their belongings, and exited the hotel room. They made their way downstairs, once again meeting up with Kenji.

"Ah, welcome back Ms. Esper Witch. How was the state of the room?" asked Kenji.

"It was in pristine condition. I'm impressed as always, Sir Kenji. Anyway, we are going to get some dinner at the hotel restaurant. I'm excited to taste what your fine chefs cook today." said Ambrosia.

"I will ensure that your party's food is of exceptional quality. Please, do indulge!" said Kenji. Then, he gave a mysterious look to Yukio, as if he was deeply analyzing him. Yukio took notice of this, but had a neutral expression, unaffected by his gaze.

"The restaurant is this way, follow me guys. Get ready to have some of the best food of your life." said Ambrosia, ushering the party her way. Yukio glanced back into Kenji's eyes, and then ceased, following his party. Kenji spoke to himself.

"I've got my eye on you. You interest me."

The party entered the restaurant, and were greeted by two waitresses wearing formal uniforms. They were the same height, and had the same haircut. However, they were not twins. One of them had green eyes, and other brown eyes.

"Welcome to the Benevolent Boart Restaurant, Ms. Esper Witch. Please take a seat anywhere, and we will be right with you." said one of the waitresses.

"Thank you, follow me guys." said Ambrosia.

The party followed Ambrosia through the restaurant, they could smell the wonderful dishes being prepared in the kitchen. Yukio had never before smelled such gormet foods before. He was overpowered.

"Whoa, this place smells FANTASTIC. What ingredients are they using back there? I can smell the michelin stars calling..." said Yukio.

"Yukio...what are "michelin stars"?" asked Yui, confused. Michelin stars were not a thing in Etheria, so Yukio had just dug himself in a little bit of a hole. Ambrosia knew this, and was giggling to herself.

"Ah, where I come from, they're a type of award given to a chef or restaurant that produces exceptional cuisine." said Yukio.

"Ah, I see. By the way, you never told me, where did you come from?" asked Yui. Yukio panicked, and looked toward Ambrosia, who had a smug expression on her face. Then, she spoke to him telepathically.

"Heh, good luck getting out of this one Yukio. If you screw it up and say the wrong thing, I'll fix your mistake." Yukio then answered.

"...I come from a place far away. It's complicated, I'd rather explain it later..."

"Ah, no worries then. If it disturbs you, we don't need to discuss it this moment. Let's just focus on preparing you for your test tomorrow, and enjoy some good food tonight, okay?" said Yui, smiling.

"Sounds good, thank you Yui." said Yukio.

The party found a table in the back of the restaurant, decorated with a fine table cloth, and pre-set silverware. It had a beautiful centerpiece. They took their seats, and began to talk. Yukio wanted to ask some questions about the mental test.

"So, about this test I have to take tomorrow. What's it like? How is it scored?" asked Yukio. Ambrosia answered.

"Well basically, they will give you a list of scenarios, and you will have to write down how you'd handle the situation. That's the first part. The second part involves a multiple choice test in which you must answer questions about monsters and how they act. The final part is a free response question, which could be anything. This is to gauge your general logic."

"Dang, that sounds like a lot. When you took it, what did you score?" asked Yukio.

"I aced it."

"Oh, right, you're an esper, you could just enter the mind of the administrators and get the answers from them." said Yukio.

"Well, I wasn't as good as I am now, back then. I mainly just studied and answered honestly and they gave me a full mark. In terms of the physical though, I scored abysmally low, considering I use my mind to fight, and not my body." said Ambrosia.

"Man, it must be nice being an esper. I wish I was one." said Mayumi, entering the conversation.

"No you don't."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nice, until you don't wanna hear the voices anymore. Sure you can know what someone is thinking, but it becomes a problem when you can't stop listening, and the voices don't cease. It's a blessing and a curse..." said Ambrosia.

"Oh, I understand... do you know what I'm thinking right now?" asked Mayumi.

"Honestly, I hate when people ask me that. I'm not a party animal, but if you must know what you already know, you're thinking about that time you fell on your ass as a kid during a game of tag."

"I--I mean you're right, but did you really have to word it like that!?"

"Absolutely. It's what I saw, so I said it as I saw it. Honestly, you were quite adorable as a child. Your face reminds me of my best friend's... I haven't seen her in years..." said Ambrosia.

"Oh? What was their name?"

"Her name is Kokoro. She's an esper like me, but she never joined the Hero Camp... she's the only other esper I know of. We were separated after I joined the Camp. I should try and find her, it's been 9 years since I've talked to her..."

"Well, maybe you'll see her one day soon. We could search for her if you want to," said Mayumi.

"No, it's best that we focus on Yukio's training for now. If I sense her nearby, I'll go find her on my own." said Ambrosia. Yukio then chimed in.

"Well, I'm assuming you won't be able to give me a boost for this exam, Ambrosia. Unless there's some way for you to feed me the answers."

"I won't be doing that. I want to see how you actually do on this. If your mind is sound enough to pass, you'll be good enough to be a hero."

Ambrosia probably had the most sound mind in the entire camp, so skewing Yukio's test results more than she already had done would put a great suspicion on him, as well as put him in danger later on if he is deemed over-capable when in reality, he is not ready for a high level quest.

Suddenly, a waitress came over to their table. She was one of the two who greeted them. She had short forest green hair, and wore a black waitress outfit. She had green eyes as well. She pulled out a small notepad and a pen.

"Hello, welcome to the Benevolent Boar Restaurant. My name is Taki, what would you all like to drink this fine evening?"

"I'll have a nice red wine." said Ambrosia. Although appearing young, she was 28, so she was allowed to drink.

"I'll have a water" said Yukio. Both Mayumi and Cyprus ordered lemonade, and Yui ordered a cocktail. Taki took their orders, and left to retrieve their drinks. While she was gone, the party continued to chat about general topics. When Taki returned with their drinks, she asked them what they would like to order.

"Enjoy your drinks. Have you five decided what you would like to order?" asked Taki.

Ambrosia again went first. It semeed like she knew what she wanted off the bat, as she had been here many times before. Yukio ordered next, followed by Mayumi, then Yui, then Cyprus. When they finished ordering, Taki took off for the kitchen.

The party watched from a distance as their food was being prepared. Fish was being cooked, top-grade meat was being prepared, and a medley of ingredients were being tossed around. It was a wonderful spectacle, and it smelled amazing.

"Wow, this place really is 5 stars." said Yukio.

"I know, it's never had a bad service day, atleast not since I've been here." replied Ambrosia, sipping on her wine.

Their food was prepared to perfection... the party was in awe watching their dishes fly out of the kitchen onto Taki's tray. It was the work of geniuses. Gormet Geniuses. Taki then returned to the table with their dishes. They were beautiful...

"Bon Appetit." said Taki, blowing a kiss toward the party. Then, she retreated to the front desk. The party began to eat their food, and continued chatting.

"Dang, this is delicious, I've never had food this good before in my life!" said Yukio, shoveling food into his mouth. Cyprus added on to Yukio.

"I must agree, since I last visited, the quality has increased ten fold!"

"Well, considering it's one of the top restaurants in the world, the food is garunteed to be good. It's also very expensive. I'm sure you all read the prices before you ordered, right?" said Ambrosia.

The party looked to their menus, and read the prices of their dishes. They were shocked at how expensive they were! Their total was approaching $1250 for all five of them! Yukio spoke on this.

"HOLY CRAP. My meal alone is $250. What kind of restaurant is this!?"

"A 5-star one... but don't worry, I can cover it, heh heh." said Ambrosia, casually sliding $3000 out of her purse. The party hadn't even noticed she was carrying one with her.

"WHAT, you're rich!" said Yukio. The rest of the party seemed to be aware of Ambrosia's financial situation, but Yukio, coming from another world, was unaware. Ambrosia then spoke.

"Heh, well, level 7 heroes are paid quite well, as our jobs are the most dangerous and life threatening. Im sure if you became strong, you could get rich too. Take that as you will, Yuuukioo."

This served as another motivator for Yukio. Although getting strong by itself sounded nice, he also had the opportunity to make money off of it. He was going to push himself even harder, to become strong.

"Well, if you insist on paying for us, at least let me pay for MY own meal, okay?" said Cyprus. His was also approaching $250, but he had the funding for it.

"Sure thing, if anyone here needs me to help pay for their food, speak up. Otherwise, I'll cover me and Yukio."

Nobody else spoke up. They all had their own bills covered. Ambrosia cut her cash down to $575, the cost of her and Yukio's meal. She slid the rest of her money away, and the party continued to eat their meal, and enjoy casual conversation. Yukio however, was deep in thought, preparing himself for tomorrow's test. He thought to himself.

"If I can answer as many questions as possible to the best of my ability, perhaps I could be stationed with Yui and Mayumi. As it sits right now, I think I have a good shot of making level 2. I just need to be on my A-game tomorrow, and during my quest."

"It also helps that I have this esper with me. She seems like she wants to help me in any way she can. To be fair, she's pretty cute too,"- Yukio was then met with random laughter. Nobody around him was laughing though, but he heard the laughter of a young girl echo in his head. That's when the realization hit him... his heart sank, and he assumed a soulless expression.

"Heh, Yukio, you're so troublesome, but your words flatter me. I do find myself quite cute." said Ambrosia telepathically. Yukio then glanced to her. She assumed a smug expression, winked at Yukio, and sipped her wine. He thought to himself some more.

"I forgot for a second that you could hear me. But what I'm saying is right, right? Do you think I'll make level 2?"

"Probably. Just be ready for a hard quest, when the time comes. I won't be able to help you, so I'll need you to focus, and try not to die. Tonight, when we get back to the hotel room, I want you to follow me into the bathroom, okay?"

Yukio looked at Ambrosia with a wide gaze, and a concerned look. She giggled to herself, and ceased her connection. She then continued to eat her food, leaving Yukio confused. He grimaced.

Regardless, he continued to eat his food, and ponder how he was going to go about the remainder of his test. The rest of the party continued to eat and drink as well. They chatted, laughed, and enjoyed themselves. Yui seemed to be getting a little tipsy off of her cocktail. It seemed to be a type of whiskey.

When the party was finished with their meals, they all stood up, gathered their belongings, and made their way to the front desk to pay. Yui stumbled a bit, buzzed from the whiskey. Yukio grabbed her hand and led her out of the restaurant.

"Ah heh, Yukioo, that was reallly mgood."

"Ugh, Yui, you're so out of it. Hang on, I'll take you back to the hotel room."

"Mmm what do you mean? I'm n-not outta it. Heh hehe. You're cute, you know that?"

Yukio sighed, and proceeded to walk Yui to the front.

Each party member paid for their own meal, apart from Yukio, who Ambrosia paid for. After they left the restaurant, they made their way back into the hotel room. Mayumi, Cyprus, and a stumbling Yui walked over to their beds and began to go through their stuff, while Ambrosia led Yukio into the bathroom, sneaking away from the rest of the party...