LHAHS Chapter 434
"The special instructor's name was Akan, right? Haven't we seen that face somewhere before?" Chelsea remarked as she handed Leo a wooden bowl.
"He looks like Aaron, doesn't he?"
"Cough, cough!" Carl, who had been drinking water beside him, choked violently.
The surrounding students quickly stepped away from him.
Chelsea let out a gasp of realization. "Oh! Now that you mention it, he really does look like him."
Leo scooped some stew from a stone pot conjured through alchemy and handed it to Chelsea.
"Wow! It smells amazing!" Chelsea cheered at the delicious aroma wafting from the stew.
That morning, the one in charge of preparing breakfast was none other than Leo. Back in his past life, mealtime during expeditions had been one of the few moments to enjoy peace and relaxation. Because of that, even the Great Heroes had wanted to eat something delicious during those times.
They had taken turns preparing meals, and the most anticipated turns had always been Kyle's and Luna's. Kyle, having been a mercenary, was accustomed to camping and outdoor survival, while Luna, with her expertise in potion-making, could cook excellent dishes.
Lysinas was hopeless when it came to cooking, and Aaron was fine as long as you just grilled some meat for him.
Even so, when the two of them took turns cooking, the meals were at least edible. The real problem was Dweno.
"Cooking is an art! I shall prepare an original dish just for you all!"
Despite knowing more about alchemy than Luna, he would insist on his "creative" approach and end up making horrifying concoctions. Whenever he started behaving suspiciously by the campfire, Luna would rush over and kick him away.
"Mmm~!" Chelsea took a bite of the stew, her cheeks flushed as she held her spoon in her mouth, hands cupping her face with a blissful smile. She swayed her head side to side, clearly enjoying the taste.
"Is it good?"
"Yeah! It's delicious! Really delicious! I thought this before, but Leo, you're great at cooking too! Is there anything you can't do?"
Seeing Chelsea's bright smile, the students waiting in line behind her swallowed hard.
"Leo! Hurry up and give me some too!"
"We need something good to eat if we're gonna survive another day of that hellish training!"
The hungry teenagers, still in their growth spurts, clamored for food. Receiving bowls of stew from Leo, the students eagerly dug in.
"We're saved… Being in the same group as Leo saved me!" Tade teared up as he devoured his stew.
After the meager rations last night, their spirits had been utterly drained, making Leo's cooking feel like an oasis in the desert.
"Make sure Chelsea doesn't go near the food. Anything she makes is basically poison."
As Carl issued a warning while eating, Chelsea snapped, lifting her foot and pressing it firmly against his back. Even as he was being pushed, Carl remained resolute.
"I'm telling you, whatever she cooks could probably kill even demons."
With breakfast in full swing, voices of delight echoed throughout the campsite.
"Here, eat up, everyone." Chen Xia smiled warmly as she handed bowls to Chloe, Celia, and the other students in her cooking group.
But as soon as they did, their expressions turned… complicated.
"…The stew is green," Chloe muttered, staring at it with a stiff expression.
Chen Xia responded cheerfully. "I added an herb that's great for relieving fatigue. If prepared properly, it tastes great too. It might look a little odd, but I promise it's delicious."
Celia bravely took a sip. "Mmm. It's good. Chen Xia wouldn't give us anything weird, right?"
Encouraged by her confidence, the other students followed suit.
"Wow, this is actually really tasty!"
"I think my fatigue is going away."
"The color is a bit off-putting, but the flavor is great!"
"But what exactly did you put in here to make it green?"
"I used properly processed Atropy herbs."
"Ooh, Atropy? So that's what it tastes like. I never knew."
Just as the students were nodding in admiration, their movements suddenly halted.
"Wait, isn't Atropy a poisonous plant?"
"Not just poisonous, it's highly toxic!"
"Atropy is fine if prepared correctly. It helps with fatigue and tastes great. You didn't know?"
With a bright voice, Chen Xia encouraged them to eat more. Despite their apprehension, none of the students could bring themselves to refuse. After all, she had worked hard to gather the ingredients and cook for them.
Still, this was one of the better cooking situations that morning.
"What is this?"
"It's stew."
Eliza furrowed her brows as she stared at the unidentifiable mass in her bowl.
Eliana proudly declared, "It may look bad, but it should taste fine. Probably."
"Probably? Probably?! You didn't even taste it?"
"Well, whatever it is, it's definitely better than what you made yesterday!"
"Oh? Are you picking a fight with me first thing in the morning?"
"Duran, where are you going?"
"To find real food."
"I'm coming with you."
Eliana's cooking had turned her entire group's breakfast into a disaster. And it wasn't just Lumene students, similar scenes were unfolding at the other schools' campsites as well.
At that moment…
"Black Rabbit!" Aru came charging over and grabbed Leo, shaking him violently. "Because of you, my morning was a goddamn disaster!!"
As Aru raged, Leo said calmly, "Well, maybe you shouldn't have acted up."
"I didn't act up!"
"You were just about to." Carl chimed in, smirking.
Aru's eyes flared. "I wasn't…! Mmph?!"
Before she could finish, Leo stuffed a spoonful of stew into her mouth.
Aru's eyes went wide in shock, her ears and tail standing on end, and her claws extended as if ready to pounce. Like a furious cat, she was about to lash out… but then she chewed.
And as soon as she tasted the stew, she obediently began eating.
Leo handed her his own bowl, and she happily dug in.
Seeing this, Nella smirked. "Every time I see her, the Azonia rep seems so simpleminded. She just forgets all her troubles as soon as she eats something good."
"Kekeke, she's just that simple. Gah!"
Carl, laughing at Aru, was swiftly kicked in the ribs.
"Why'd you give her your portion?" Chelsea sighed and scooped up some stew. Then, she held the spoon up to Leo's mouth, saying, "Ahh~"
"I'm good. I already cleared that part of the training," Leo replied.
Chelsea pouted but quickly ate the spoonful herself. "So, when does this training end for the rest of us?"
"When we clear it." Tade groaned as he mumbled.
Leo chuckled. "We have to pass it before we can get proper training from the instructors."
"Ugh?!" Aru, happily eating her stew, suddenly widened her eyes. In a flash, she devoured the rest, gulped it down, and bolted to her feet.
"Then I have to clear it fast!"
She stormed off with unwavering determination, leaving the Lumene students bewildered.
"Why is she so hyped all of a sudden?"
"She must have her reasons."
Carl, still eating, leaned in and whispered to Leo. "It's definitely him, right?"
"Looks like it."
"What the hell happened?"
"Something we don't know about. I already cleared the training, so I'll ask him when I see him."
Carl nodded.
Thus, the second morning of the training camp began.
"Uraaaaaah!" Aru widened her eyes and began climbing the cliff at an incredible speed.
"Why is she acting like that all of a sudden?" Celia asked, startled by the sheer intensity with which Aru scaled the cliff.
But before she could reach the top, she lost strength and slipped right back down.
"Aru, are you okay?" Eiran cautiously asked as she looked at Aru, who lay sprawled on the ground.
Aru immediately sprang to her feet. "I'm gonna conquer this damn cliff and move on to the next stage as fast as possible!"
With her face covered in dirt, she started climbing again.
"I can't let Azonia's representative get there first." Duran scoffed.
Celia shook her head. "You always get competitive over the weirdest things."
"Hmph. Just wait, Celia Zerdinger. I'll be looking down on you from the top."
"What did you say?" Celia narrowed her eyes and growled at Duran before starting to climb as well.
"E-Everyone, please take it easy…" Eiran spoke in a teary voice, but none of them listened.
"Even earlier, I could tell… Kids these days are really something else." Aaron murmured as he shaded his eyes with his hand and looked toward the cliff from far away.
"You can see them clearly with just your eyes? Without using magic?" Melina asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Aaron nodded nonchalantly.
Melina marveled at the overwhelming physical abilities of a Great Hero.
Leo asked, "What do you think?"
"They all have incredible strength for their age. Especially that girl, Aru. She's become incomparably stronger since I last saw her. Hasn't it only been about a year since then?" Aaron looked in admiration at Celia and Duran as well. "That human boy and girl are also amazing. The breathing technique they're using… It feels somewhat similar to mine."
"It was developed by later generations based on your breathing technique."
"Aha. I see… So it can be applied like that. I never even thought of that." Aaron was deeply impressed. Then, tilting his head, he muttered, "If that breathing technique can be modified, do you think others could learn Hyper Perception?"
Hyper Perception.
Aaron's signature sensory technique. Even Leo could only mimic it at best.
"If that's possible, it would be a huge asset to the beastman race." Melina's face lit up slightly with excitement.
"I'm glad to hear that it would be useful." Aaron smiled in delight. "But that elf girl… She looks like Velkia. The atmosphere around her is completely different, though."
Aaron sniffed the air and tilted his head. "Even her scent is similar."
"Ah, that girl is actually Velkia's descendant."
"What?" Aaron's eyes widened in genuine surprise. "So… Velkia left descendants too."
Hearing that his disciple had a lineage, Aaron couldn't hide his joyful smile. "Somehow… It makes me really happy. It makes our efforts feel like they weren't in vain."
His tail swayed back and forth.
Leo added, "Out of all of them, keep an eye on that girl, Aru."
Aaron instinctively shrank his neck slightly. "She's a little scary, though… Is there a reason you're so insistent about that?"
Leo replied, "Her Howling has the ability to force the transformation of other beastmen."
"What?" Aaron's eyes widened as he stared at Aru, realizing she possessed the power he had always longed for.
"Now that's something to look forward to." Aaron's eyes gleamed as he smiled.