The finish line for the First Phase came not in the form of a goal tape or a huge welcoming committee, but rather a building that looked like it had been plucked out of a fairytale and carelessly dropped into a forest.
Said building was a mansion of white, its entrances accented by graceful arches and pillars and its roof crowned with red shingles. The regal, fairytale look was enhanced by the presence of formidably thick walls made of white brick that belonged to a castle. The décor and color scheme made it stand out from the surrounding green foliage in the same way a red wine stain stood out on a white tablecloth.
The pathway that Kurapika, Asterra and Gon were running on led them right up to two massive metal gates around which the applicants were gathered around. The arrival of the three brought the number of applicants who had cleared the Swindler's Swamp to 148. Currently the majority of said 148 applicants were either doubled over, sitting down, or leaning against whatever solid object was available, trying to catch their breath before another challenge was thrown at them.
The three applicants slowed down to a walk. "Looks like we made it in time," Kurapika said.
Gon and Asterra could have cared less about that at the moment; both were looking left and right for Leorio and Kikiri, respectively.
"Hey, over here!" Gon yelled and the two older applicants rushed towards his voice. The three found Leorio sitting against a tree, dazed, right side of his face swollen. His teashades lay in his lap and Kikiri lay next to him, curled up in a ball.
"Kikiri!" Asterra half-yelled, picking up the Dokujo in a single scoop. "Wake up, wake up!"
Kikiri didn't open his eyes; instead he rolled over in her arms and muttered, "Gimme five more minutes…"
Asterra gave an exasperated laugh that had undertones of relief and shook her head.
Gon and Kurapika smiled at the scene, then Got set Leorio's briefcase down by the young man. "Man that stings…" Leorio winced, rubbing the side of his face with a confused look on his face. "Why am I all beat up?"
The three applicants looked Leorio, surprise written across their faces. "Don't you remember what happened?" Asterra asked.
"My memory's kinda hazy…" Leorio admitted. "I remember up to the point where Hisoka killed the guys in blue, but other than that..."
That must have been one hell of a hit,Asterra thought.
Then Asterra saw Kurapika beckon at her and Gon from the corner of her eye. She and the boy leaned towards the blonde, who then whispered, "Maybe we shouldn't tell him what happened."
"Yeah…" Gon replied.
"Why?" Asterra asked. "How's he supposed to learn from the fight?"
"The only thing Leorio could have learned from that fight is that a) Hisoka is clearly dangerous and skilled, and b) Hisoka could have killed him," Kurapika replied. "And if Leorio remembers seeing those applicants in blue being murdered, as he mentioned, he knows the two former facts already. Telling him that he could have been killed would just be cruel and unnecessary."
Asterra remembered her reaction to her realizing that Hisoka could have killed her. She didn't think that jogging his memory was completely unnecessary—she had found it extremely useful as a wake-up call. But if the action evoked a panic attack in Leorio as well…it would slow them down. "All right," the Resca nodded. "I won't say anything."
The three turned back to Leorio, who had opened both eyes. Said eyes widened as they saw the contusion blooming a vibrant blue-purple on Asterra's jaw. "Whoa, what happened to your face?"
Asterra chuckled softly at the question. "Probably not the best way to greet a girl, Leorio; stick with the standard 'Hey, how's it going?' Oh, and while we're at it—your face doesn't look any better."
"Hey, that doesn't answer the question!"
Asterra shrugged. "It's not like I have to." Then the Resca remembered that she still had Leorio's pocketknife with her. She dug the weapon out and threw it to the man. "Here."
Leorio caught the weapon with both hands. "My knife…? When did I lose this?"
"You…" Asterra fumbled for a lie, then found one. "You lost it when you were being swung around by that dinosaur."
"Really?" he looked down at the weapon and then put it in his trouser pocket. "Thanks."
Asterra nodded.
"Gon!"
Gon looked to the right to see Killua walking towards the group of four, hands in pockets and skateboard tucked under his arm.
"Killua!" Gon yelled.
"I can't believe you actually got here…" the silver-haired boy smiled. "I thought you were done for."
"I tracked Leorio's cologne here," Gon replied.
"Cologne?" Killua's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's all? No tracks, no footprints?"
"Yep. Just cologne."
"Jeez…you definitely are weird."
Gon cocked his head at Killua's comment.
A familiar voice cut through the air before Gon could respond. "Everyone, good job," Satotz's voice wafted to them from in front of the two gates. "Phase Two of the exam will occur here, in Biska Forest Park."
Forests. Asterra took a deep breath and inhaled the forest smells and sighed as the smells reminded her of home.
"So on that note, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you." With that Satotz walked off, his steps abnormally large due to his strange strides. The applicants watched him disappear into the woods he had lead the applicants through.
After Satotz was swallowed up by the forest, a giant groaning sound caught the applicants' attention. All of them whirled around to see that the two gates were sliding open.
"Will all applicants who passed the First Phase please enter?" a feminine voice called out.
The applicants looked at each other and then warily entered through the gates to arrive in the courtyard of the mansion. It had the standard courtyard look—a lush lawn, a flower garden near the house, and some tall trees towards the edges—except for the fact that on the lawn there were countertops, gas stoves and cooking spits. It reminded Asterra of a competitive cooking show she had seen on TV once.
Looking further up the pathway that led to the house revealed a woman lounging on a sofa that was set on the porch. Said woman had a tan complexion that suggested she was an outdoorsy type, and her turquoise hair was gathered up in five topknots in a star formation. Shorter hair that could not be pulled back into a topknot framed either side of her face. Her open posture suggested that she wasn't afraid to show off her curvaceous body, which was clad in a bikini top with a mesh shirt over it and daisy duke denim shorts. "Welcome. I'm Menchi, the Second Phase Examiner."
Behind the woman was a figure that starkly contrasted Menchi- the fattest, largest man Asterra had ever seen before that looked like a small mountain made up of human flesh. His dark hair was cut short and triangular eyebrows floated over his small dark eyes. The man wore long dark green pants and a yellow long-sleeve shirt that was too tight to cover his bulging stomach. "And I'm Buhara, the other examiner."
After Buhara spoke a growl akin to that of a large animal echoed though the courtyard. The male examiner put his hands on his swollen stomach.
Menchi looked up at Buhara, a small smile on her face. "Guess you're hungry, huh?"
"I'm starving…" Buhara pined in a way that reminded Asterra of Kikiri.
Menchi turned back to the crowd and stood up. "There you have it, applicants. Since Buhara's so hungry, the Second Phase of the Hunter Exam will be focus on…"
A tense silence filled the air and the applicants unconsciously leaned towards Menchi.
"Cooking!"
"C-Cooking?" The bald man with a red scarf asked.
Huh. Cooking. Now that was a curveball of an exam phase topic, but it would be a change from running through swamps full of man-eating creatures.
"Cooking?!" the wrestler Tonpa had pointed out-Todo-exclaimed. "We're not here to become chefs; we're here to take the Hunter Exam!"
"So you are," Menchi replied. "And I'm your examiner, which means I get to choose the topic for this phase. Your challenge is to produce a dish that will satisfy our palate."
"Why do we have to cook?!" Todo argued back.
Irritation started to build in Asterra at the applicants' reaction towards the topic of the Second Phase. "Arguing with the examiner isn't going to change the topic of the exam," she yelled out loud enough for all of the applicants to hear. "So why don't you just let the phase begin already?"
Todo's angry eyes combed the crowd for the source of the voice; however he failed to find Asterra, as she was towards the back of the group and hidden behind tall people. The wrestler turned forward again.
"I like the enthusiasm over there," Menchi said, then looked directly at Todo, hands on hips. "I'll tell you why we're making you guys cook for the exam. It's because we're Gourmet Hunters."
After a brief silence caused by minds processing the answer, Todo started to guffaw. Other applicants joined in as well, until a good majority of the applicants were laughing.
Asterra couldn't understand why they were laughing—from the way she saw it, the action would only make things harder for themselves. Menchi was one of the examiners who was going to determine who would get to go on to the Third Phase. And by laughing at Menchi the applicants were pissing her off. That would make her less lenient to all applicants, regardless of whether or not they had laughed at her, which would in turn make it harder to pass this phase.
Menchi's eyes narrowed dangerously in irritation and the examiner crossed her arms with a sigh.
When the laughter subsided, Todo asked, "So, Gourmet Hunters. What are we supposed to make?"
Menchi apparently did not feel like dealing with the wrestler and other applicants. She waved a hand and said simply, "Buhara."
The human boulder stepped out from behind the couch Menchi had been lounging on and Asterra felt the ground shake from under her feet. "The required ingredient is pork," he boomed. "You're free to use meat from any species of pig that live in Biska Forest. When you capture one, you must use the facilities here to prepare the pork."
Asterra looked back at what was available more closely: stoves, roasting pits, knives, vegetables, pots, salt and pepper…Well, at least the resources available gave her the ability to make anything that was in her cooking repertoire-roasts and simple soups and stews.
Buhara continued. "And you only pass if we both find it delicious."
"And we're going to evaluate more than just taste," Menchi added coolly. "So don't underestimate the intricacies of cooking, all right? Oh, and fyi—the exam phase ends when Buhara and I have both eaten our fill."
Todo moved his hands like he was batting away a fly. "All right we get it, we get it. Let's just start."
"Then the second phase of the Hunter Exam will begin"—Buhara hit his stomach and a drum-like sound rang out—"now!"
=o=o=o=
"Catch a pig and cook it," Leorio said as he, Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Asterra climbed up a hill. "This is way easier than First Phase."
"Hopefully," Kurapika murmured.
"See any pigs, Kikiri?" Asterra asked.
"Nope," the Dokujo, who had woken a little while back, replied from on top of her head. "Just a bunch of trees."
"Hm, I wonder why. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that we're in a forest park."
"Shut up."
Asterra smirked.
That was when she saw Gon jump and start sliding down the hill on his rear. Killua's eyes widened with glee and he followed suit, whooping as he sped down after the dark-haired boy.
The three older applicants looked at the two boys sliding down the hill then at each other. "Well, it's quicker than walking down," Asterra shrugged and jumped after them, Kikiri cheering in glee from her shoulder. Then Leorio and Kurapika jumped down as well.
Gon came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, and Killua expected to move so that they wouldn't crash.
Except Gon didn't move.
Killua, who was going too fast to change direction, hollered at Gon to move. But still Gon didn't move, and Killua crashed into Gon's backpack.
"Move it!" Asterra yelled as she neared the two boys, trying in vain to use her hands to change direction. But before Killua could scramble out of the way she crashed into him, her knees digging into his back. Then she winced as Leorio's knees dug into her back, and there was another thud as Kurapika's knees dug into Leorio's back.
"Hey! What was that about, Gon!" Killua fumed.
"Found them," Gon replied.
Asterra looked around. "Found wh-" Her question was cut off as she saw what Gon had found. "Oh."
The five had slid down to a clearing of sorts with pink creatures-pigs. Very big pigs. Very, very big pigs that happened to be chewing on something that normal pigs didn't usually chew on.
"Uh, guys…" A bead of sweat trailed down Leorio's face. "They're chewing on bones."
"You've got to be kidding me…" Kurapika murmured. "They're carnivores?!"
The five met eyes with the pig they were closest to and for a tense, silent moment the six living beings had a staring competition. Then the pig snapped down on its bone with a crunch and roared, the sound released akin to the roar of a steam engine.
The other pigs in the clearing turned towards the pig that had made the sound and started roaring as well. And soon the group could hear the roars of pigs coming from farther and farther and farther away.
"Exactly how many of them are there?" Asterra breathed.
Nobody answered, since they were more focused on the pig that was now glaring at them with a beady, dark-colored eye. The pig took a step forward.
It was time to make an exit.
Leorio yelled and as if on cue the five applicants scrambled up to the feet. In the next moment they were desperately clambering up the grassy hill behind them on all fours, trying to put as much distance between the pigs and themselves. Thanks to the slow acceleration of the pigs the group was able to make it to the top of the hill before the pigs hit their dangerously fast stampeding speed.
Applicants who had been searching for pigs near the grassy hill heard yelling and a thundering sound and they looked to see what it was.
A heard of gigantic pigs had not been on the list of expected sources of the sound.
Applicants screamed and scattered, diving this way and that. The pigs rammed into the slower applicants with their abnormally large snouts that curled up in front of their foreheads, making them go flying towards the back part of the herd.
"These pigs are crazy!" Leorio yelled as he saw the applicants go flying.
"What'd you expect?! This whole exam is crazy!" Kikiri yelled back.
The group of five bolted for the border of the forest, leading the pigs into the main body of the crowd of applicants. With the appearance of new people the pigs began to split away from the herd, each going after a single applicant with a crazed, determined look in its eyes.
Todo was one of the first to fight back, using his strength to lift up a boulder. "Take that!" he roared and he threw the boulder at a charging pig. The object flew through the air, only to break into pieces as it hit the pig's snout.
Gon roared and tried to smack one with his fishing rod, only to be rammed. The boy landed neatly on his feet in front of a tree. He looked up to see the pig charging at him again and jumped to the side to dodge.
There was a thud as the pig crashed into the tree nose-first. But even that didn't seem to faze the pig, which simply turned to Gon with an even more enraged look on its face.
The pig scratched the ground with a foot in preparation to charge again.
That was when a fruit from the tree it had crashed into fell on its forehead.
Gon tensed, expecting the strike to enrage the pig even more.
Instead the pig stiffened and froze, which allowed a cascade of fruit to hit it on the forehead. The pig screwed its eyes shut and cried out in pain.
Gon's eyes widened as a hunch came into his mind. The boy lunged at the pig and brought down the fishing rod onto the pig's forehead. There was a sickening crack of metal against bone, and the pig cried out one final time. It then rolled onto its side, dead.
The action proved that his hunch had been right.
"So the foreheads were their weaknesses?" Killua mused.
"That makes sense," Kurapika said. "The pigs must have evolved large, strong snouts to protect their soft foreheads."
Asterra smiled at the information, then dived to the side to dodge a charge from a pig that had set its sights on her. She rolled into a crouching position as the pig went flying by. So I need to hit in the forehead, eh?
The pig, which had apparently realized that Asterra wasn't in its sights anymore, skidded to a halt. Asterra grabbed onto a branch and pulled herself up and cooed, "Here piggy piggy piggy~"
Little pink ears pricked and twitched at the sound and the pig slowly did an about turn, step by step, until its eyes were zeroed in on the tree Asterra was in. The pig scratched the ground once, twice.
"Come on piggy," Asterra continued to coo. "Over here~"
The pig lunged.
Asterra scrambled onto a higher branch and threw her arms around the trunk of the tree in a bear hug. Right hand clamped left wrist like her life depended on it.
The tree trunk quavered as the pig thudded into the lower part of it and Asterra's hurt jaw was bounced against the trunk. The Resca hissed in pain then peeked down at the pig below her, which was currently shaking its head.
Its forehead was right beneath her.
Gotcha.
Asterra let go of the trunk and dropped down from the branch. Gravity dragged her down and her left foot landed square on the pig's forehead. The creature screwed its eyes shut and cried out in pain as Asterra's full body weight slammed into its weak point but still refused to go down. In response the Resca smoothly dropped to her knees, fist rising then clubbing the vulnerable spot.
That did the trick.
The pig cried out again and started to tip to the right. Asterra snapped back up and jumped to the low branch from before.
There was a thud as Asterra pulled herself onto the branch. The Resca turned to see the pig on its side. After waiting a few moments to make sure that the pig was truly dead, the Resca dropped down to the ground and landed in a crouch.
"Now"—the girl stood up and put a hand on her hip—"to cook you."
=o=o=o=
Menchi and Buhara were astonished by the number of applicants that came streaming in through the mansion gates carrying dead pigs over their heads.
"Wow, they caught a lot," Menchi observed, surprise evident in her voice. She had expected more applicants to be killed or severely injured by the ferocious pigs— known as the Great Stamp—that lived in Biska Forest Park.
Buhara just grinned, drool dripping from the side of his mouth in anticipation.
The applicants scattered, each claiming a work station for their own. Asterra, Kurapika, Gon, Leorio and Killua took cooking stations that were near to each other.
Roasting pits flared to life, and soon the majority of the applicants were roasting the pigs whole. Asterra crinkled her nose at the combined smell of charcoal and roasting meat and looked back at the pig she had carried back, which was so big that its limbs hung over the table and the girth blocked her view.
Kikiri squealed with delight at the sheer size of the pig. "What are you making?" he asked.
"Roast, soup or stew," Asterra replied simply as she debated what to do.
From the size of the pig, roasting it whole didn't seem such a good idea. At Training it had been taught that roasting was easier to do with small animals because the ratio of their surface area (the skin) to their volume (the meat) was smaller. This meant that the inside of the animal could be cooked thoroughly without burning the skin. Getting this perfect balance was difficult with larger animals, and roasting one improperly could result in the consumption of raw meat. And that could lead to a number of health problems that soldiers couldn't afford to worry about.
That left soup or stew. For both all she would have to do was cook chunks of meat and vegetables in a pan, then add water. Asterra looked under the sink portion of the work station to see a huge pot, then glanced at the vegetables she had. She could make either one now, but then she remembered that the exam would end when the both of the examiners were full. That meant that it would be a more logical choice to cook soup since it would be quicker to finish.
"Eh, soup it is." The Resca shrugged her hoodie off, revealing a dark-colored tank top, a completely bandaged left arm, and a right arm bandaged to the middle of her forearm. A hexagonal wooden tag with a symbol carved into it hung from a sturdy black cord around her neck.
With a swish and swift movements from her fingers the apron that had been provided covered her front. Then Asterra took one of the knives started to make incisions that would make it easier to skin the pig.
"Asterra~" Kikiri called to her in a tone of voice that the Resca had learned to associate with the phrase "Can I have some meat?"
The Resca carefully drew a vertical line down the middle of the pig, starting at the throat. The wickedly sharp blade traced the sternum and the center line of the abdomen, slicing through the skin easily. "If you're hungry, you can have some of the organs," she replied, pointing her knife at the abdominal cavity of the pig. "I'm saving the meat for the examiners."
The Dokujo pouted at her words. "Really? This is how you treat me, after eight years of being together?"
She glanced at the Dokujo, eyebrow raised, before making a horizontal incision across the stomach area. "I thought you liked organs. That's the first thing you eat when you catch something."
"Just because it's easier to get at doesn't mean I like it better," Kikiri replied. Asterra stopped prying the muscle apart to look back at him and answer, only to end up looking into pleading doe eyes that made a usually cute-looking Kikiri look unbearably cute.
Asterra grimaced and started pulling off the skin. Stay strong, Asterra. Stay strong.
Kikiri stayed like that for a while, then gave up and muttered in a voice just loud enough, "Oh yeah, you still owe me something from the butcher shop for getting that guy's name. Guess I'll have to get the most expensive cut of meat to make up for this, then."
Asterra looked to the Dokujo in horror. Kikiri just grinned evilly.
She finished skinning and next started gutting the pig. Kikiri knew that she kept her promises, and knowing him he would use that knowledge to make her buy a cut of meat that completely cleaned out her wallet and made getting home a lot tougher than it needed it to be.
A couple minutes later, she scooted off some of the fatty meat from the abdominal area of the pig towards Kikiri, muttering, "You are a pain in the neck, you know that?"
Kikiri cheered with glee and attacked the meat.
"So, we even now?"
Kikiri nodded and Asterra continued to peel off and dice meat.
=o=o=o=
Less than five minutes later, the first dish was served-a blackened pig on a platter that looked a little too crispy to be appetizing.
Todo unceremoniously put the dish down in front of Menchi and Buhara. "Now eat up and send me to the next phase already."
Asterra looked up from cutting up carrots.
"Oka~y, evaluation time," Menchi said in a bored voice.
Buhara bit into the pig with gusto and a couple chews later held up the "approve" side of the sign he held.
Menchi, on the other hand, didn't even touch the meat and held up the "disapprove" side of the sign. "It's overcooked. The tough texture ruins the flavor of the meat."
"What? You haven't even tried it!" Todo protested.
"It's so obvious I don't need to try it!" Menchi snapped back, accenting each word by waving the sign at Todo.
"Dammit…" Todo growled as he turned his back on the examiners and walked down the stairs.
"Hey Hanzo! You're done already?"
Asterra turned to the source of the voice and saw the bald man in the red scarf—who she assumed was Hanzo—taking another platter with a blackened pig on it to the examiners.
Hanzo put the platter down on the table. "Okay! Tuck in!"
Buhara did, and held up the approve side; Menchi once again didn't take a bite and held up the disapprove side. "Charred on the outside, uncooked inside. Your fire was too strong."
Buhara continued to chow down on the meat regardless and Asterra frowned. Wasn't he afraid of getting food poisoning? What about possible parasites that might remain in the intestines?
Applicants continued to bring charred pigs up to the two examiners and the pattern of Buhara approving and Menchi not approving continued. And with each failing dish Menchi's critiques became louder and harsher. By the time 45 minutes had passed all of her criticism could be heard by every applicant on the lawn.
"No one's passed yet…" Leorio noted, his roasted pig sprawled in front of him on the counter.
"And Menchi hasn't even taken a bite…" Kurapika followed.
"Hey! Can't anybody cook a meal that actually tastes good?" Menchi hollered irritably from her couch while waving her sign around.
Kurapika snapped his fingers. "That's it!"
"What is?" Asterra asked as she checked the soup.
"This phase of the exam is a cooking test, but they're judging us on originality and powers of observation."
"I see…" Leorio smiled, putting a hand to chin. "Then let's see how she likes this!" He put his pig on a platter and stuck a little flag-one often used in restaurants to decorate kid's meals-into the pig's back.
"I don't think that's what Kurapika meant," Asterra said.
"No, it is," Leorio grinned before he set off for the examiner's table. He set down his pig on the table and asked, "How's this?"
Menchi was too grouchy to even give time for Buhara to dig into the pig. Instead she shot up from her seat, put her hands underneath the platter and threw the whole dish up into the air. Both the platter and the pig went flying. "What the fuck is this supposed to be, a kid's meal?!" she screamed at Leorio.
Buhara caught the pig and started tearing into it.
Leorio returned to his work station, hands in pockets and muttering, "Man…"
"All right, finished," Gon sang and Asterra turned to see what Gon had made.
In front of the boy was a whole roasted pig on a platter, except this one had a lei on top of the pig and around it as well. Pink ribbons decorated the pig's ears and tail.
"I don't think that's what he meant either…" Asterra trailed off.
Gon walked up to the examiner table and presented his dish. Not even a second had passed before Menchi tossed it to the side with frightening strength, screaming, "That's basically the same thing!"
Asterra's heart fell as she put a pinch of salt in the pot. If things kept on going like this she was going to have to find a new group to go through this exam with.
Fifteen minutes after Gon had presented his dish, Kurapika said, "Finished," Asterra turned around to see what the blonde had made. For a change, it wasn't a whole pig; instead it was a stack of alternating layers of vegetables and meat patties. That looks promising,she thought.
Kurapika took the plate up to the examiners' table and set it down. "Finally, something that resembles an actual dish…" she muttered, twirling the approve/disapprove sign between her thumb and index finger. She grabbed a fork and took a bite-
-then spat out the food. "Ugh, yuck! What did you do to the pork?!"
"Huh?!" Kurapika's eyes widened.
"Appearance is important, but it's got to taste good first." Menchi took a swig of water and then she showed the disapprove side of the sign yet again. "You're no better than number 403!"
Kurapika choked. Number 403 was Leorio.
Kurapika made his way back to his working station, head sagging. When he was in earshot Leorio laughed, "Too bad!"
"No better than number 403…" Kurapika murmured in a crestfallen voice.
"What happened?" Asterra asked as she tasted the soup.
"I thought that the point of this was to highlight the pork as best as possible," Kurapika explained.
"Sounds reasonable."
"And that the taste didn't matter."
Upon hearing the words Asterra spewed soup. Some droplets landed on Kikiri, who was taking a nap on a corner of the counter.
Kikiri's eyes flashed open. "Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!" the Dokujo yelped as he danced around the counter.
"What?" Kurapika asked an Asterra that was barely managing to keep herself from laughing. An uncharacteristically wide smile was spread across her face. "What's so funny?"
"Isn't one of the goals of cooking to make meals that taste good?" Asterra asked.
Kurapika opened his mouth to say something, then closed it as no arguments came to mind. He crossed his arms and pursed his lips in annoyance.
"Well, I'm off," Asterra then turned off the stove—the soup had tasted good enough to her—and she put on oven gloves. Then she carried the soup pot up the stairs and set down the pot in front of Menchi and Buhara.
"Huh, this is new," Menchi mused. She opened the lid and checked the contents, then dipped a spoon in and brought it to her mouth.
A second passed, and then Menchi spat out the soup.
"What the hell did you not do to the soup?!" she screamed.
Asterra cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"This broth is…it's like water! No zest, no taste, no nada! And soups and stews might as well be made of shit if the broth doesn't taste good!" Menchi thrust the sign at her, disapprove side up. Asterra's heart fell and she felt like she had been kicked in the gut.
Then Menchi continued, "Where the hell did you learn how to cook—some military boot camp?"
Asterra choked as another figurative kick to the gut winded her.
Buhara, on the other hand, just picked up the pot and downed the whole soup in one go.
Asterra walked back to her station, hands in apron pockets and shoulders slumped. She had taste-tested it beforehand and thought that it was fine….So why had Menchi said that the broth had no taste?
"Isn't the point of cooking to make stuff that tastes good?" Kurapika smiled as Asterra dejectedly took off her apron and put her hoodie back on.
She glared at him. "Touché, Kurapika. Touché."
=o=o=o=
Fifteen minutes after Asterra had presented her dish to the examiner, the pile of pig skeletons behind Buhara had grown even more until it was a fully-fledged graveyard. The examiner drummed his overly full stomach that was bulging even more now. "Man, I'm stuffed!"
"I'm stuffed too," Menchi said. She uncrossed her legs and stood up from her couch. "Which means the Second Phase is officially finished! The results: 148 failures and 0 passes!"
Fun Fact: I wrote this after my high school biology final-dissecting a fetal horse and making a guide for the process. Hence the fact it sounded like Asterra was dissecting the pig.
Resca Culture 101
During Training, Resca trainees are fed bland-tasting food for so that they're not picky about sustenance when they're in adverse situations. As a result they develop a taste for bland food and cook according to these tastes. So what tastes good to Asterra is actually light in taste or tasteless to a normal person.