Cain woke everyone up bright and early so that they could train and keep themselves sharp after two days of mostly relaxing around the camp. In the morning, they would train their combat skills together. Then in the afternoon, they could pick a skill or trade skill to work on to expand their versatility.
While they worked on their combat skills, Cain was scheduled to begin training the Disciples who wanted to learn to cook. Every Disciple had a task back at the sect, and they were often rotated, then the Disciples would trade back for the ones they wanted or were good at, with some taking less desirable tasks for extra resources or due to unpopularity.
The Kitchens seemed like one of the better tasks, and if they could improve the quality of the food with the limited resources they were given, it would make them many friends.
They had learned enough from Luna and the ladies of the Forbidden Treasure Sect to know that most herbs and spices simply grew wild. They just needed to find the ones that they needed. Cinnamon trees were quite common near their Sect, as was Nutmeg, so they at least had a decent start to their endeavor toward culinary acceptability.
Cain had set up stations for all of the trainees today and brought out even more Puppets to assist him so that he could keep everyone on track, despite their complete lack of knowledge.
He had managed to get twenty volunteers for the lessons, and he had called ten puppets to assist, with the disciples working in pairs, just as they would in the kitchen during a regular service.
"Welcome everyone to the first day of cooking class. We are going to keep it very simple. We will cook a nice stew with flatbread, and because that is no real challenge, we will finish with apple turnovers.
The Sect generously provided a large number of apples for us over the next week, so we will be finding creative ways to use them all before they go bad. That is an essential skill of all kitchens, the full and complete usage of resources. Every bit of waste is the waste of money and effort to stock them, so we will do our best to use up what we have.
Pastry dough isn't easy to make, so we are starting with fried turnovers, which aren't as particular about mistakes with the dough creation.
Each team of two has an assistant assigned to your station. Feel free to say hello. They are people with personalities, though they are summoned, so insulting them will bring repercussions in their assistance, just like with anyone else you are working beside."
The disciples seemed startled, and the Puppets all began to laugh at the look on their faces when they realized that the placid waiting faces were just that, the puppet waiting for the speech to finish, not a sign that they were inanimate or unintelligent.
"Each of them has the skills of a master chef. They all share identical skills, so nobody gets an advantage over their peers, regardless of their rank as disciples within the Lotus Blossom Sect.
Now, chefs, would you kindly begin teaching your disciples to prepare the stew for today's lunch?" Cain instructed.
This might still technically count as him teaching since he had summoned the teachers, but Cain didn't intend to do any more than supervise the process in case a group was so bad that their assisting puppet couldn't deal with them.
Cain noticed right away the dismay on one disciple's face when her mind control skill didn't work on the puppets. She and her partner had intended to just breeze through the lecture, listening while the chef did all the work, but Puppets can't be mind controlled. They are under the control of Cain already, so to influence them, you need to break or override that bond.
That's not something the average disciple can do, so it only annoyed their chef.
It didn't take long for the strict taskmaster to get them straightened out with threats of revealing their attempts to slack during training, a matter that the Elders took seriously as a sign of poor character. Everyone was making good progress on the stew, which needed the most time, so the chefs started them on the dough, which would be fried directly inside an empty cast iron cauldron, which was filling the role of a tandoor oven today.
It made a lot of bread quickly, which was what they needed to serve a hundred people lunch on time.
Everything that Cain planned to teach them over the next few days was quick and in high quantity, with the fancy dishes coming once they had the daily basics down.
The best part of the stew was that it had a rich meaty, and spiced scent that carried everywhere as it was simmering over the fires. Knowing what was for lunch always improved Cain's mood in the morning when he was beginning to get worn out from training or business, and these Disciples couldn't read minds, so a scent was the best way that he could think of to give them the same motivation.
Luckily for the students, they only had a little over a hundred of their Sect Mates here in the camp, so the workload wasn't extreme or even remotely taxing with so many hands because some of them were seriously struggling with the first day's training.
All of the motions were unfamiliar to them, the process was unknown, and the order of ingredients, as well as the reason for such a thing to exist, all had to be explained so that they wouldn't make mistakes and serve everyone an inedible meal.
After a day or two, that would end, and they would begin to get comfortable with the trade skills, but today they were not having fun. At least not until they got to the part where they began to core and chop apples to make the filling for the fried turnovers.
"Why are we only making a dozen of them? The pot can boil more filling in a single batch." One of the disciples asked Cain as he walked by to see how they were doing.
"There are one hundred and six people in the camp. Ten pairs making a dozen each is one hundred twenty pies. Enough for one each and a few extras for the Elders with a sweet tooth. We can't be turning the whole Sect into gluttons, and the pies aren't a very healthy option for lunch." Cain explained.
"Oh, that makes sense. But what happens if we mess them up?" The disciple asked.
"Well then, you will get some constructive criticism about your efforts today. Learning by practice is the best way, after all." Cain shrugged, ignoring the puppets' amusement and the Disciples' horrified looks as they were reminded that all their friends would be eating the outcome of their lessons for lunch.
"Look how serious they are. Letting them serve lunch was a great call. I don't think I've ever seen them this focused on learning a new skill." Elder Ling whispered to Cain as he reached the edge of the group.
"They have realized that everyone's lunch relies on their efforts, even though it's the first day. They will relax in a day or two once they get the hang of things. That's when I expect the first major mistakes to happen. Incompetence with a good teacher will bring better results than complacency and arrogance."
That particular bit of wisdom was a direct quote from Record Keeper, who was even more philosophical than Oath Breaker was on the rare occasions that he deigned to speak in Cain's mind without being spoken to first.
The scent of spiced stew had filled the area around the Lotus Blossom Sect camp, thanks to a healthy breeze and the open stew pots, and Cain could feel all of the envious eyes on him from their neighbors. The Lotus Blossom drew a lot of attention all of the time, thanks to the abundance of beauties, but the last few days' increases in laughter and sociability were enough to make the neighboring Sects envious of their mealtimes.
The level of competition for resources led to often violent rivalries in every Sect, even the Lotus Blossom, so the relaxed and friendly atmosphere was a harsh contrast to daily life for most disciples, and it wasn't helping their mood at all.
Elder Ling began to wonder if Cain wasn't secretly waging psychological warfare on the Sect's neighbors to weaken their wills before the Inner Sect competitions began, but he didn't have any Disciples of his own in that category, so he didn't stand to gain anything from it.
It was Elder Chen that suggested that he might be doing it for their benefit, an effort to help his hosts since they had provided for his disciples without asking for anything.
"Why would he do that?" Elder Ling asked, confused as to the woman's reasoning.
"We all know the legends, right? A mysterious stranger shows up in need of assistance, but he is actually a Dragon or other powerful being in disguise, and he grants the ones who treat him well a blessing in return for their kindness.
No normal cultivator, especially not a wandering cultivator, gives out knowledge so freely. I think that means that what he is teaching means nothing to him and that the benefit of a comfortable place to stay is what he is after." Elder Chen told her counterpart.
"You think he is some legendary Dragon, wandering around with a random group of little girls for his own entertainment? I will admit that it crossed my mind, but from what I can tell, he really isn't hiding any more power, his core is damaged, and this is all he can manage. I think this is more of a convalescence for him, keeping himself from getting bored while he heals." Elder Ling countered.
"Think what you want, but examine his cultivation core more closely. It was at least Immortal before it was damaged, and I don't think it belongs to a human at all. Unless he trains in a Dragon Art, which is possible, given his disciples, I think he is a Dragon himself." Elder Chen whispered so that none of the other Elders or Disciples could listen in.
Dragons held a lot of respect, even in this world, for their might and ability to rise above the masses with enough time. For a Dragon, Immortality wasn't a matter of chance and hard work but patience.
Plus, there was the matter of their innate power, which could make relics that most Sects would fight tooth and nail to get their hands on.
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