Emperors War

Kara"s taste buds were enjoying Aker"s creation while Sampson spooned another bite into his mouth.

The observers were astonished as they watched the scene before them. No one really considered Kara"s response as she was just a small apprentice and Aker"s friend.... No, what shocked them was the fact that Sampson hadn"t stopped eating the creation the entire time.

Sampson didn"t even bother to interrupt when Aker invited Kara over or when the Advanced Novice senior tried to jump in. He just steadily without minding anyone else"s business went about stuffing his face spoon full after spoon full.

Finally having enough, the frustration on his face evident and him not being able to take it anymore, the bald senior picked up a spoon and went to dip in "Stop right there! I allowed that little girl to take a spoon full before me because of this little brats promise, but that doesn"t mean I"m going to let you jump in as well!"

The Advanced Novice Chef was always a little domineering and edgy but right now he was being downright forceful. Normally in this situation Sampson would jump all over this Advanced Novice for his behavior as Sampson couldn"t stand brutality and forceful actions but at this moment, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts just spooning the food into his mouth on autopilot.

The bald senior seeing this Advanced Novice Chef"s eyes knew that he had best wait until after he had his turn. This Advanced Novice Chef was older and was completely grey with a long beard and had a general grumpy demeanor. For most chef"s having a beard was a major taboo as the hair from the beard could contaminate the food. This Advanced Novice Chef ignored that completely as when he was younger, he looked up to those older men who could stroke their beard as they thought and pondered thinking it looked amazing. He adamantly refused to shave it and compromised by agreeing to wear a cover over it when he was cooking.

The bearded senior reached out his spoon making sure to get exactly the same spoon full that Sampson had been scooping up, especially making sure to include some of that flaky and crispy sh.e.l.l and took a bite.

Instantly his eyes widened, and the slightly grumpy bearded senior had a smile spread across his face and instantly grabbed another spoon full without uttering a word.

Before anyone else could stop him that bald senior jumped in and grabbed a spoon full as the plate was now almost empty. Upon his first taste the bald senior couldn"t contain himself and went to grab another spoon full but was only met with "clank" as his spoon hit an empty dish.

With three people namely Sampson, Kara and the bearded senior eating, the plate disappeared in a second.

Every single apprentice in the room heard the sound of the spoon and plate as they met as no one was talking and everybody was just watching left without words.
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The "clank" must have acted as an alarm clock because with that sound Sampson seemed to come back to his senses and looked over at Aker, more than a smile on his face, true joy seemed to emit from Sampson creating almost a halo.

"Indescribable beauty, little boy you have performed wonderfully. Every bite of your creation was as if though the universe was singing to me and edifying your dish. Cooking is an artwork and while it was rough, it"s concept, ingenuity and flavor was a masterpiece. The very reason I began cooking was to experience the dish you put before me. In all the years I have conducted this apprentice test this is truly the first time I have been satisfied and surprised. Normally garbage like that boy"s dish over there is put in front of me and they are always confused as to why their waste that they call food is so appalling to me. Because I am civilized, I refrain from telling them how horrid it really is, and they still leave upset as if though I was the one who had failed." Sampson said to Aker while pointing at Alfred.

Alfred seeing Sampson point at him while describing his dish as garbage destroyed him, he began shaking he was so embarra.s.sed and mad at the same time.

"Thank you for your word Teacher" Aker responded back humbly.

Aker had learned that each of his teachers wanted to be treated differently. Dr. Life & Death was very solemn and because of that when Aker would interact with him, he would remain stoic and unemotional. Now that didn"t mean that when Dr. Life & Death walked away that Aker and Kara didn"t make fun of him...because they did, lots. They would try and talk to each other about humorous topics while trying to maintain a serious and stoic face and voice just like Dr. Life & Death while the other one tried to make them laugh. Right now, Aker was winning big time over Kara who couldn"t maintain a serious face for more than a few seconds.

When Aker was interacting with Mavis he had to act quietly and manly. Mavis liked to laugh and brag and so when Aker would talk with Mavis he would usually do it with his hammer while bragging.....well, about his hammer. This would always set Mavis off because there was nothing Mavis liked more than telling you how great he was. Every time Aker would compete with Mavis by telling him that his swing was starting to look better than Mavis"s, that teacher of his would pick up his hammer and "prove" that his hammer was better. Aker wanted to shout at him "Of course your hammer is better, I"m barely at the Novice Blacksmith Beginner level and you are at the Intermediate level". For Mavis none of that matters though, if you challenge him, no matter your skill level or ability, it is a challenge and he has to accept it, that"s what a man does. No matter your skill level or ability after he defeats you, he has to brag about it constantly because that"s who Mavis is.

While Aker hasn"t had a lot of interaction with this teacher Sampson, he could tell almost instantly that this teacher enjoyed civilized, calm and n.o.ble behavior. It was obvious from Sampson"s designation and structure of the kitchen that he was hierarchical by nature, enforcing a strict system of status. The closer one was to the center of the kitchen the closer one was to perfection was one of Sampson"s motto"s and it was something every apprentice and cook in the kitchen strives for under Sampson"s leadership.

Aker had decided that when he communicated with Sampson, he would choose to be humble to him as he was the highest "ranked" n.o.ble in the kitchen.

"Little boy, like the little girl asked, how did you make this supreme delight?" Sampson could not contain his curiosity and antic.i.p.ation. Aker"s meal seemed revolutionary by design as most chef"s followed the same formula as Alfred. When presented with ingredients they would follow the same process of preparing it and the only difference would be in their use of herbs and or cooking order. Their version of getting creative was using the mega spicy pepper instead of the spicy one. Aker had turned everything over and started from scratch creating something beyond unique with the same ingredients as everyone else.

"Teacher it"s hard to explain, could I just show you? I don"t know the names of the cut"s and such that I do, I had only seen the other apprentices do them and practiced them, I never got to learn their names as no one had explained them to me, so it would be very difficult to explain the process."

Hearing Aker"s words the already shocked kitchen was seeing stars. The only meal that Sampson had ever said was a masterpiece, the meal that Sampson had been waiting for all these years and the one who cooked it didn"t even know the names of the cuts? Was this possible? Wouldn"t it be more likely to get hit by lightning on a clear day than the scenario they saw before them?

".....he....hehe.....hehehehe.....hehehehehehe...doesn"t even know the names of the cuts you"re doing, this is the beauty of art, it doesn"t judge its creator, it only reflects the talent of its creator.....yes, let"s see how you created this superb dish little boy. Someone bring a full set of the ingredients over." Sampson said while laughing. This was only the third time the apprentices and cooks in the kitchen had ever heard Sampson laugh, the other two times was the day that Sampson brought Aker into the kitchen for the first time.

When Sampson called for the full set of ingredients to be brought over everyone of the chef"s already knew who would be doing the grabbing, it would of course be that bald senior. The bald senior was the lowest ranking Novice Cook in the kitchen, as such anytime there was grunt work to be done he would be the grunt. The bald senior was excited for the next Novice Cook to come in that way he would have someone else to do the grunt work, however his excitement was misplaced. The rest of the cooks didn"t decide who would be "Mr. or Ms. Grunt" based on time seniority but skill. Already it was hard to imagine someone coming into the kitchen with lower skills than the bald senior and still qualifying as a Novice Cook, therefore no matter who came in this bald senior would still be running the errands and doing the c.r.a.p jobs.

The bald senior began walking the plate of ingredients over to Aker"s reject station and even Aker took a couple of steps in that direction, but before the bald senior and Aker could make it too far Sampson called out "What are you doing, bring the ingredients over here to my station, you wouldn"t have me go to the waste pile would you?" The frustration and anger in his voice echoed into the bald senior"s ear and he hurriedly came over to Sampson"s station making sure not to make eye contact or say a word.

Earlier he was only saved due to Aker"s interruption and this bald senior hadn"t forgotten it. He didn"t want to do anything to draw attention back on himself.

"Go ahead Little boy lets me see how a masterpiece is created, let me revel in the art and majestic glory of the creation of that flavor, that dynamic and explosive aroma." The antic.i.p.ation on Sampson"s face made him appear to be a small child waiting for his gift on his birthday, he couldn"t contain his enthusiasm and was almost visibly shaking with antic.i.p.ation.

For someone like Sampson who almost worshiped cooking, Aker"s meal was the equivalent of discovering a lost religious artifact. It was a new way of thinking, of creating, a new form of art.

Seeing the ingredients Aker began by boiling water. Once the water was fully boiling, he took the astrio root and tossed it in. This first step was already highly unusual as no one boiled the astrio root, the accepted cooking method of astrio root was to cook it over fire.

While the astrio root was boiling Aker began by mincing up the flux flower. Once he was done mincing the flux flower, he put the caguseed over a fire for a minute heating it up and then proceeded to use a metal roller to squeeze out its oil. After removing the oil from the caguseed he put it into a bowl and set it off to the side. Aker had quickly heat up the caguseed to soften it up and make it easier to extract the oil from it. When he would experiment, if he didn"t heat the seed first, the caguseed would just be crushed and he wouldn"t be able to get oil out of it.

Aker followed the exact same process for the puggaves and sea vine putting the juice from each of them into a separate bowl.

At this point Aker pulled out the astrio root, pealed the skin and began mashing it while mixing in the sea vine juice. After the astrio root was completely mashed up, he set it to the side and began cooking the badenise. As Aker roasted the badenise he would take a brush with the puggaves juice and coat it over the badenise.

Aker listened to the badenise cook and when heard a crackle from it and saw a couple of drops from it he removed it and poured the remaining juice from the puggaves over it. He then cut it up finely and mixed it into the mashed astrio root with sea vine juice. After mixing them together he shaped it all into a ball and took the minced flux flower and began to put it on the ball of mashed astrio root and badenise.

After covering the entire ball with the minced flux flower Aker took the oil he extracted from the caguseed and began rubbing it over the entire ball until it was completely covered. Once done he put the ball onto a skillet that he put over the fire and then let it cook as he slowly rolled the ball around.

As soon as the skillet was over the fire, the ball covered in caguseed began to sear as the oil cooked. As the oil cooked and mixed with the flux flower it began to harden and create a crispy sh.e.l.l. While the outside was developing a sh.e.l.l, the inside of this dish was simmering as the meal was coming together.

After cooking the ball for roughly ten minutes the entire sh.e.l.l was a crispy and flaky golden brown and emitted no aroma at all.

Everyone in the room knew better than to be surprised by its innocent look as they were all aware that once that sh.e.l.l broke the entire atmosphere would be overwhelmed with its flavor.

Sampson who had watched the entire process with bated breath was now breathing heavily seeing the once again completed Dragon Roll. Had there ever been a plainer looking ball of ma.s.s on a plate? But for those that have experienced its overwhelming taste they couldn"t help but find themselves antic.i.p.ating the sh.e.l.l cracking.

This kind of dish which wasn"t only amazingly delicious but also had an entertainment factor was something that Sampson had never seen nor heard of. His breathing was getting heavier and heavier as he examined this Dragon Roll. He examined all the nuances of the cooking that created such an explosive and delicate meal.

From extracting the juices from the ingredients to mincing up an and using the flux flower as a crust. It was the oil from the caguseed that allowed for the flux flower to act as a crust as well. Flux flower was known for its ability to absorb so covering it with the oil from the caguseed was brilliant as it would absorb it and when put under fire bake and harden.

Mashing the astrio root into a paste and mixing in the sea vine allowed for the puggaves explosive fiery hot flavor to fully consume the badenise due to its ability to act as a calming agent. This was the reason you had that initial kick of spicy flavor while swallowing it down was settling.

Every ingredient was used in a new brilliant and inventive way. Each of these ingredients had a set format for use, and as such by choosing this combination for the test what every other apprentice had cooked was not just the standard, it was the only possible dish, that is until Aker"s Dragon Roll.

"Little boy thank you for sharing this with me, watching your art has moved me and allowed me to feel your expression. The use of ingredients, the blending of flavors, the originality, the delicate knife work, your timing with the food, all of it was superb. Congratulations my dear boy on...."

The entire room was eerily silent. Alfred who had watched as Aker cooked up his Dragon Roll again was standing in disbelief as everyone was fully aware of the next words that were going to come out of Sampson"s mouth. There was no doubt and he was devastated. Wasn"t this his moment? Wasn"t he supposed to be the one being praised by Sampson as the entire kitchen watched him as he stood there in all his glory? How could some kid who cooked out of the trash ever compare with him?

"Impossible! This is impossible, there is no way this is really happening. How could they all look at this worthless prisoner as if though he was an amazing talent? Don"t they see me standing here? This must all be setup by that worthless master cook Sampson, he must have secretly been supporting this impudent kid and that"s why he is acting so impressed"

Alfred"s mind was running wild as he was fully aware of what this scenario meant. Alfred had been the top apprentice who everyone looked up to and envied when this test began. He was going to be a Novice Cook earning his reputation in one of the toughest kitchens in this part of the Universe to getting demoted to 3rd apprentice whose dish was called garbage in front of everyone. Once word got out would anyone ever want him in their kitchen? Rarely had Sampson used such vulgar words to describe a dish presented to him, but this time those simple words would ruin Alfred.

"I"ll get even with you; I will destroy you just like you destroyed me you garbage diving cook!" No one heard Alfred"s mumble because they all had their attention and eyes on Aker and Sampson as they waited for Sampson"s next words....

"Advancing to Novice Cook Peak..."

He had directly advanced Aker to the peak of Novice Cook and had allowed him to bypa.s.s all of the sub-levels of beginner, transitional and advanced.

Everyone just stared at each other, their brains incapable of understanding what just happened. Had they even heard of someone going directly from not even an apprentice all the way to Novice Cook Peak? Not only had it happened, but it was done directly by Sampson of all Chef"s, there wouldn"t be a person who would question his decision. Sampson was known for his discerning eye and harsh standards.

"You"ll need at least that level to be my student, starting from tomorrow you can work at my station when I"m not here and when I am you can a.s.sist me."

BOOOOOM! Sampson"s words were like an explosion in everyone"s ears. Aker would be Sampson"s student? He would be at the center station at all times and would a.s.sist Sampson? Everyone, even those older seniors couldn"t believe their ears. This was all too much. The only one who was nodding his head up and down in agreement was that bearded senior who had tasted Aker"s dish previously. He couldn"t agree more with Sampson"s decision, and if Sampson didn"t take him as a student this bearded senior had every intention too. In fact, he is planning on trying to convince Sampson to let him train the boy since Sampson rarely worked in the kitchen itself.

Just as everyone was getting ready to lose control a heavy voice called in "Aker it"s time to head to the arena, you"re up next." Vance"s voice cut through all those disbelieving eyes and reminded everyone that this kid who just advanced all the way from trash cook to center chef station was a prisoner in The Pit.

"Yes, Master on my way" Aker responded back to Vance who was at the doorway to the kitchen after making a promise to himself that he would never enter the kitchen again.

Aker turned to Sampson and with grateful eyes "Thank you teacher for letting me cook in your kitchen this past year I learned so much and I look forward to being able to make something wonderful with you."

All eyeb.a.l.l.s were on Aker as he walked out to go fight a life a death battle moments after advancing to the Novice Cook Peak level.... a level they could only dream of right now. Many of them had thought about what they would do the day they reached that level, how they would celebrate.

Seeing Aker, all of them felt a little embarra.s.sed at their thoughts and realized that instead of thinking on how they would celebrate they should just focus on their cooking. Didn"t Aker just open a whole new world of cooking to everyone here? As if though they could all communicate without speaking everyone suddenly became excited forgetting about the test, no one didn"t want to jump into their station and begin experimenting right away.