Mage And Wolf
Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Chapter 85

By morning we’ve built a makeshift clay oven and baked 6 dozen puff pastries. I was short on whipping cream, so they’ve all got pieces of fruit in to make up for the sparse filling. Not really a loss.

"Your fighting style is really interesting" one of the girls tells me, her excitement to talk about the fight clearly evident. "At first it was soft, like ours, then suddenly it was a hard style, like Sacred Thunder."

"Thank you, growing up outside a Sect I learned to cobble together what works for me. I learned a little martial arts from a failed disciple of the Blooming Lotus, and then watched the tournaments to find moves for what she couldn’t teach me."

"Did you hear, the Blooming Lotus isn’t coming this year? Their Sect Master’s favorite nephew and presumed heir died of a tragic illness and the Sect is in mourning"

"That’s horrible. It must be hard for a parent to outlive their children" both Elders nod in agreement.

We chat the morning away about everything from flowers to food to cultivation to food. Giving out puff pastries at random was a genius move on the part of their guardian. It really helped the mood.

Twice during the day we met up with other groups traveling the same way, but all either gave us a wide berth or made small talk before going their own way.

Before dark we were in line to enter the city, along with thousands of others. Elder Song offers to carry me if I wanted a nap, and seeing no good reason we should both stand, I curled up in his arms to meditate for a few hours. He declined my offer to return the favor, citing an immense blow to his dignity if he let a young girl carry him.

"You and your master are a bit odd aren’t you?" one of the girls asks.

"In what way?"

"Well, for one, you don’t really have that strict Master disciple relationship that everyone expects. It’s more like you’re family. But he doesn’t seem over protective of you like family, more like he’s confident you can take care of yourself and he’s just spectating."

This girl has no idea how right she is. Elder Song greatly enjoys spectating other’s troubles.

"I guess that’s just how it is when you’re outside a sect, maybe?" I rely vaguely, not willing to elaborate too much and create a complicated lie.

Another asks about where we stay, and I describe his messy, book filled pagoda as if it were alone in the wilderness.

"Good food, all the books you can read, no competition for resources. It sounds like a dream." one of the girls sighs and the guardian laughs.

"Yeah, except there are no resources but ones you gather yourself and no guards against the Evil sects and wandering cultivators."

"Yes, tragic accidents are a threat to anyone living and cultivating alone" Elder Song adds.

"Tragic accidents?" The youngest is confused.

"Being killed by anyone stronger that passes by is an occupational hazard. We call it having a tragic accident" I explain. ’We’ actually meaning the Shadowed Blade Sect.

The puffs end before the line does, so I bring out some Category 2 oxen beast Jerky I made as a snack a few days before we left. I don’t have much, Elder Po loves the stuff, but it’s enough to get to the gates without anyone whining. Impressive for the notoriously spoiled and snooty Sect.

"The fee is a grade 1 core per event to enter, make your mark next to the ones you want." The guards drones without interest. I notice it doesn’t ask for Sect, just name and cultivation, so I enter magical beast cooking, which goes tomorrow before the tournament itself properly starts, then alchemy and outer disciple combat.

I hand him the 3 cores and he finally gives me a good look. "You’re a brave one coming here alone, I’ll give you that. Good luck Young Miss"

Wait. He’s one of ours? And where did Elder Song go? That miser snuck by to save the gold coin fee for spectators didn’t he?

Elder Song is in front of the Hotel we booked, waiting for me to arrive.

"Took you long enough"

"Had to register my events. I’m doing cooking tomorrow as well as the alchemy and fighting."

Elder Song laughs. "Do you think you can win?"

"Cooking? No idea, but it plays well into my rural cultivator persona"

None of the others from the Shadowed Blade arrive that night, which Elder Song assures me is normal. The Divine Fist buffoons we maimed haven’t arrived either. The life skills part of the contest doesn’t interest them.

The High River Sect girls do come to cheer me on though. The dish is a secret, with a variety of ingredients being prepared but only a few picked the day of the contest to prevent preparation.

dishes are selected. Desserts and Stews. Predictable, given the popularity of stews around here, but this could be interesting.

I decide on Puff Pastries again, as the last batch came out so well, but this time with vanilla flavored whipped cream from a category 2 cow beast. For stew I go for a baby devil goat and potato curry, not too spicy, knowing that the food here is almost all very bland.

We’ve only got 1 hour, not much for a stew, but I’ve got an unused plain alchemy cauldron. they pressurize like a pressure cooker, so I should get nice soft meat in time. If I don’t blow us all up that is.

Cooking using my alchemy flame and not the provided fire is getting some attention, but nothing major. I can smell the puffs in the oven are almost perfect, I pull them to cool quickly so I can fill them before my hour is up.

The cauldron tells me my stew is perfectly blended, hopefully soft and ready at the 45 minute mark, so it goes to the side, cooling until it loses pressure. I’ve got the puffs sitting over ice the competition kindly provides and they’re finally cool. I dollop in the whipped cream and set then on their individual plates, filling the soup bowls last.

One hour is up and many panicked cries ring out. they can’t cook any more, but they have until the judge gets to them to plate their dishes.

I pulled the front right stall, and I’m first up to taste test. The noise she makes trying the stew is not the sort of noise a good, modest woman should make in public. I think I’m doing well. The cream pull brings a sigh of bliss and the contestant beside me looks crestfallen.

The girls from High River Sect all cheer for me though, screaming ’cream puffs’ like a bunch of lunatics.

Many dishes get good reviews, some call it quits after the first judge. There’s 4 judges in total, I’m on my last review, hopefully the soup is still properly warm. It’s only been a few minutes I think, but it feels like hours.

"Girl, how did you get magical beast mutton so soft?" The last judge asks.

"Cook it under pressure and over an alchemy flame. Regular flame won’t break it down fast enough" I answer confidently. We learned this back on earth.

Many contestants great my answer and come over. "Might I try a sample from the tested dishes?" one asks.

"I don’t see why not, all 4 judges have been by" I don’t mention I’ve got more in the pot.

The chef presses the meat with the side of a spoon, easily breaking it apart. Eyes wide he tries a bite and sighs.

"I’ve lost this one for sure" he says.

"You never know the judges taste buds" I encourage him, but he points around to the judges, chewing hard on most of the meat stews.

"Without the special pot and magic fire, nobody got done as well as they’d like, it’s part of the competition."

He’s right, by the time the third judge has made their rounds, all my testing bowls are empty and the others have all conceded.

"Might you have a bit of that left?" The judges ask and I open the still mostly full pot to fill fresh dishes. Much laughter and joking is shared, the cooking competition seems a very friendly event.

The last of the crowd is clearing off when the first judge comes back to me. "You made a full dozen of those cream puffs, I saw you" She whispers.

"You want some?" she nods and I tuck another in a napkin for her. Not fast enough though, somebody saw the extra puffs, so now I’m cutting them into tiny pieces for the other chefs to try.

"Is that vanilla? Must be. But it’s a whole new flavor with the mystic beast whipped cream."

I basically flee at that point, packing up my tools and making excuses to get away without being forced to reveal my recipes.

That’s 1 category win for The Shadowed Blade Sect.