With the thought that he might be an injured Dragon in mind, the two Elders began to look at Cain differently. At first, Elder Ling had viewed Cain as an eccentric cultivator who was doing his best in a new world, but if he was an injured Immortal Dragon who had gotten trapped in this world, then he might really have a wealth of knowledge that they couldn't afford to lose.
The question was what they would be able to offer him to keep him around. Anything indecent was out of the question since he had so many lovely Disciples but didn't take advantage of them. In fact, the only one who had been spotted near his bed was Luna, who he had identified as his own daughter, and she was definitely too young for such things.
If she wasn't sleeping next to him, she was trying to bribe Penny into transforming into a giant wolf so she could cuddle it for the night. Not exactly the hallmarks of a forbidden secret tryst.
When the students finally finished lunch, Cain had them set up the buffet stations by their group. Each pair stood by their creations, and the Sect members could try whichever they wanted for lunch, a bit of Russian Roulette with their stomachs.
The chefs had assured him that none of it had such large issues that it would cause injury or illness, so Cain wasn't too concerned, but the students were on the edge of panic, waiting for the judgment on their first attempt at cooking a decent meal for the Sect teams.
"This isn't bad. I mean, it might be made by students with a master guiding them, but it's way better than the bland and boring that it replaced. What all did you have to add to it to make it taste this good?" One of the disciples asked curiously while the actual kitchen Elder listened in.
"That's just it. There isn't anything special in it except the garlic butter on the bread and the cinnamon in the dessert. The rest is just the same basic ingredients made in a different manner than usual.
We learned a lot from the chefs today, and it's just the first day. By the end of the training, we really might be able to impress people with a meal that we create. Can you imagine how many new Disciples we could pull with the image of the mellow guild with good food?
I mean, sure, we all still need to fight for resources, but while we're here, we don't have to fight all the time. Just win the competitions. Plus, energy control is way better for cooking than wood, and we are all Fire Element Cultivators, so the kitchen duty is really good practice for later." The student in front of her responded with a smile.
Cain hadn't thought of that. Since they all worked with fire in combat, continually using it in the kitchen was an excellent form of control training for them since the stakes were the quality of their own dinner if they failed.
"Smart. But it looks like a lot of work. I would rather work on my inscriptions and my blade work than cook in front of a stove all day like some mundane housewife." One of the disciples joked.
"Yeah, but Kitchen duty is also an everyday duty, and you can get pretty good resources from it without going outside, so the trade-off isn't bad." Another disagreed.
The Sect slowly gathered their meal and wandered off to eat, returning with empty bowls and suggestions for tomorrow's lunch, but very few complaints about today's meal, other than the one team who hadn't heated their oil enough before throwing the first of the turnovers in, leaving them a bit more greasy than intended.
In the afternoon, most of Cain's Disciples moved from combat training to practicing alchemy with a very odd Elder that Cain suspected was actually just stoned from putting her face over the alchemy cauldron all the time while Luna worked on Spell Crafting.
Cain had the advantage of experience and had seen a lot more species than she had, but with a little work, she was pretty sure that she could create her own unique style of combat using her own spells, which would get her a huge number of experience points for the ongoing quest that all the Disciples had to make him proud of them.
With his morning plans complete, Cain went to search out the Sect's medics. They relied upon pills made by the Alchemists to treat injuries and illness, but Cain knew that there would be at least a few magical creatures hiding in plain sight.
He wasn't the only one who realized that it was easiest to pretend to be human in this world for their own safety, and if he could find someone with an affinity for nature magic, he could give them a healing spell or two that would really help the triage ward deal with any problems that did come in.
They would have Inner Sect competitions beginning soon, and that meant injuries. Then there were the Alchemists, the mad scientists of this world, who had a habit of causing explosions and poisoning themselves by accident.
An area cure spell would make their craft immeasurably safer than it was right now. The Lotus Blossom Sect had been very good to them so far if the sounds of combat and arguments that he heard in the distance were anything to go by. It was like they were an island of calm in a sea of inflated egos and aggression.
The medical ward was fairly quiet, as most of the disciples who worked it were away at Alchemy training, learning to make healing pills, but there were two young Disciples here who looked a lot like Elder Chen.
[Name] Lu
[Species] Half Dryad
[Age] 55
Cain smiled when he saw the status of the first disciple. So the militant gatekeeper of the sect might not be the man-hater that she appeared. She might just be a jaded single mother. Fifty-five was young for a dryad, who aged more like the trees that they resembled in their natural form, so this could be her child.
"Disciple Lu, was it? Since you're the only one here, and I'm in the mood for a little teaching session, how do you feel about learning some healing magic? I suspect that you have an affinity for nature magic that you haven't been able to explore." Cain offered.
"And why would you suspect that?" The sandy blonde-haired young woman asked.
"I have my reasons. Call it intuition if you like. Would you like to try it? You are in the infirmary, after all."
"I don't see any harm in it. There aren't many injuries in the afternoon unless Alchemy class goes wrong." She shrugged, mostly bored with sitting around since she didn't have much affinity for fire element skills, which left her somewhat isolated in the Lotus Blossom Sect.
Cain activated [Modify] and tapped her forehead, granting her the nature spell [Regrowth], which both healed and cleansed an area, removing poisons and low-grade curses.
"That should get us started so that you can deal with anyone who comes in. Now, let us start with the eternally useful spell, [Creeping Vines]. It is among the most basic of Nature Element abilities and can be used almost anywhere with the ability to sustain life." Cain began.
"Wait, back up a second. What did you do to my head, and what is this skill? You can't just entirely skip over that part to start teaching me about vines and roots." Lu complained.
"It's an area healing skill. A lot of full-blooded dryads get it as an innate skill. Did you want to try it? I can curse and poison someone if you need."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a psychopath? There is something broken in your brain." Lu told him with the same incredulous look on her face that she had worn since he granted her the spell.
"But your reactions are spot on. Everything that I could have hoped for." Cain replied with a smile, watching her flounder for a response.
Two disciples ran in, carrying an injured girl between them. "Lu, are there any more healers? There is a big fight at the edge of Camp, the Red Scorpion Sect came to pick a fight, and it's not going well for the Lotus Blossom." They asked, dropping their charge on the ground for the healer to deal with.
The Inner Sect Disciples carried healing pills with them, as well as an assortment of other useful medicines, but the Outer Sect Disciples were usually flat broke from trying to advance as quickly as possible and took an advance against their future resource allocations if they needed healing like this.
"Change of plans. You are going to master the Regrowth Skill first. Then we can start on creeping vines. Now, heal this disciple, and let's go watch a fight." Cain instructed, nudging the Dryad into action.
"What, oh yes, right." A green glow emanated from her body, lighting up the triage tent, and the injured girl slowly stood up, the visible wounds closing in an instant and the cut portion of her hair where a blade had nicked her face growing back out to match the rest of her coiffe.
"You can use a healing skill with no pills? That is awesome. We need you at the fight, though, or someone could get very injured." The disciples begged, dragging her out while Cain followed behind, with his hands clasped behind his back, making it clear that he was spectating and not headed to challenge someone.
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