ARIFURETA: Cooking to be the Strongest?

Hajime and Shin's combat practice continued without a care for the surrounding spectators. The brutal session ended with Shin again victorious, Hajime sprawled on the ground, utterly exhausted, both physically and from depleting all his magic power.

"Oi, Hajime, still alive?" Shin bent down, poking him with a new training sword he'd grabbed from the corner.

"Ugghh... time out. I can no longer move," Hajime groaned, utterly exhausted.

"Guess this ends today's combat practice. Rest there, and we'll evaluate the results later."

Hajime finally felt relief at Shin's words, but a shudder suddenly went through him when Shin emphasized "today." Just to confirm, Hajime, still laying on the ground, asked Shin, "Are you saying we'll do this every day?"

"Nah, that'd be inefficient. Your body needs at least one day's rest."

Hearing that, Hajime couldn't decide if he should feel happy or terrified by Shin's statement.

"I'm tired. Who will clean up this place?" Hajime stated, looking at their surroundings, which were now full of pits, protruding earth, and shattered debris.

Shin was also thinking when, suddenly, footsteps could be heard approaching from the direction where the summoned heroes usually trained.

The first to approach them was Meld, who greeted them with a friendly smile. "No need to worry about the cleanup, boys," Meld said. "There's always a staff assigned to handle the training grounds after each session."

Hajime was startled by Meld's sudden interjection. He looked behind them and saw the entire class, the Vice Commander, and some instructors standing there.

Hajime processed what Meld said and then looked at Shin's aloof expression. He remembered the times he'd been forced to clean up everything after their training sessions. Annoyed by Shin's aloof expression, he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to hit his friend.

"Hey, Shin, did you know about that?"

"The cleaning staff? Yeah, I saw them last time cleaning after training. Why do you ask?"

"Shin, can you come closer so I can hit you?" Hajime fumed after hearing Shin's reply, exasperated that his friend had been oblivious to the staff who cleaned the training ground after the summoned Apostles used it.

Shin, ignoring his friend sprawled on the ground, turned his gaze to the onlookers. "Hi, Meld-san, what can we do for you today?" he asked in his usual aloof tone.

Meld let out a hearty laugh at this teen's apparent obliviousness to the spectacle they had just created. His reaction startled his Vice Commander, the instructors, and the rest of the students.

"?" Shin tilted his head at Commander Meld's sudden outburst.

"Iya~ forgive me," Meld chuckled.

"It's just quite amusing that the two labeled as lazy by my subordinates seem to be the most hardworking of all." He strode closer, a genuine curiosity replacing his amusement.

"Honestly, Shin, Hajime. What exactly was that? I've never seen such... adaptable usage of Transmutation, and your movements, Shin... they were like a seasoned veteran, not a Cook. Mind if I... just confirm something?"

Meld then gestured, as if asking to check their Status Plates again, just to confirm they weren't some shapeshifting monsters that had infiltrated the training ground.

"Ah, the metallic ID," Shin said indifferently. He no longer cared about his Status Plate, having checked it countless times during their training.

While Hajime's stats had skyrocketed, especially his Vitality, Agility, and Magic Power, Shin's own plate displayed the exact same stats and skills as the first day: a big, fat Level 1 and 0 magic power.

Meld looked at Shin's Status Plate, his eyes widening slightly.

"Level 1... Unbelievable. Still unchanged. Are you certain this is your current status, Shin?"

He then turned to Hajime. Hajime's plate, however, showed considerable growth, reaching Level 20. His Agility, Vitality, and Magic Power had seen impressive growth, while his other stats were above average.

"Nagumo-kun, this... this is incredible!" Meld exclaimed, genuinely impressed.

"A Synergist with this level of combat prowess and mana control, and in such a short time? Extraordinary!"

As usual, Shin's friends from the Hero Party approached them, with Ryuutarou tagging along this time. Shizuku marched up, her usual cool demeanor replaced by a stern, clearly serious expression.

"Shin," she began, her voice tight,

"what in the world have you two been doing these past few days? We've seen you training, but... this?"

Shin instinctively reached for his pocket, but the usual bag of "Ration Cookies," which he also dubbed the "Anti-Nagging Bribe Cookies," were gone. Left with no bribe, he was bombarded with angry and stern questions from Shizuku.

"Answer me Shin! And Hajime, are you truly alright after all that?!"

Kaori, on the other hand, went straight to Hajime, concern etched on her face as she cast healing magic on him.

"Hajime-kun, are you really okay? You pushed yourself so hard! I was so worried when those walls started to..."

Her voice trailed off, a mix of awe and lingering fear in her eyes. Hajime wasn't truly injured, just exhausted, but he appreciated her concern. He found himself surrounded by Kouki and Ryuutarou.

"Nagumo, that was amazing!" Kouki exclaimed, his brow still furrowed with a mix of respect.

"I didn't think a Synergist could fight like that. Your terrain manipulation was... genius!"

"Yeah, Hajime! You really stepped up!" Ryuutarou added, nodding with kouki's statement, a rare display of genuine admiration.

Hajime, despite his exhaustion, felt a surge of pride at their words. He'd always felt inferior, especially next to the gifted Hero Party, but now... they were looking at him differently.

The other members of the class were also in shock. Setting aside Shin's frankly unbelievable display as a Level 1, their focus was largely on Hajime's impressive change and growth.

The physical difference was undeniable; Hajime's lanky build from the first day was now incomparable to his lean yet muscular form, barely hidden by his training uniform.

There were various reactions to Hajime's transformation. Many felt respect, especially from the Hero Party, for Hajime's dedication to keep up with them.

Some classmates were motivated, thinking that if a non-combatant like Hajime could work so hard, what could they achieve? However, for others who had looked down on Hajime, they felt nothing but inferiority and envy, particularly Hiyama's lackeys.

And then there was Hiyama. He was consumed by a maelstrom of negative emotions: envy, anger, murderous intent, and fear.

He felt envy seeing Hajime capture Kaori's attention, anger at Shin for shattering his pride, and murderous rage at Hajime, whom he had labeled inferior, for daring to surpass him.

Above all, he felt fear – fear of being seen as normal, perhaps even less, and utterly undeserving of Kaori.

________________

Shin, being bombarded with questions and what he perceived as nagging by his friend Shizuku, turned his gaze to the reactions of the other spectators.

Meld and the Vice Commander continuously flipped their Status Plates, as if to check if they were legitimate or if there was something wrong with their eyes.

He noted the various reactions from his classmates and assumed Aiko-sensei wasn't here, probably dragged again to the farm fields where she usually trained.

And then there was Hiyama, making a constipated face, probably from eating something bad, Shin thought with a smile.

He glanced back at Kouki and the still-nagging Shizuku. Then, he blurted out to the two, "Hey, Shizuku, Kouki, want to spar?"

That statement shocked everyone into silence. All gazes turned to Shin, who had just challenged two members of the Hero Party.

Meld and the Vice Commander's attention also immediately shifted from the Status Plates to Shin.

"Sure, why not?" Kouki replied, as if it were the most natural thing, reminiscent of their dojo days – but this time, it was Shin issuing the challenge, not him.

Shizuku also stopped nagging, letting out a heavy sigh. Since her words wouldn't reach Shin anyway, she decided to accept the match and teach Shin a lesson with her body.

"Fine," she conceded, "but don't expect us to hold back."

"Meld-san, can we?" Shin asked permission from Commander Meld.

Though still stunned, Meld was intensely curious about the outcome. If a non-combatant class could truly compare to a top combatant class like the Hero and a skilled Swordsman, it would change everything. Meld approved.

The Vice Commander tried to interject, "Commander, surely this isn't prudent! We have protocols for these matches, and their classes—"

Meld interrupted him, his voice firm.

"Silence. This is part of their training. A valuable opportunity for both sides." The Vice Commander was silenced.

With Meld's approval, he called for the cleaning staff to fix the current state of the training ground where Shin and Hajime had just fought.

Though each individual cleaned the field at a much slower pace than Hajime, the cleanup was done in a surprisingly short amount of time because there were so many of them.

Seeing this, Hajime, who was being assisted by Kaori and Ryuutarou to stand up and move, was completely stupefied, and his urge to hit his friend Shin came back with renewed vigor.

With the cleaning done and Hajime moved to the spectators' area, Shin, Kouki, and Shizuku moved to the newly prepared training ground.

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With the three moving towards the training ground, Hajime suddenly stopped Kouki and Shizuku for a moment. He leaned in and told them, his voice low but firm, "Give that friend of mine a share of beating for me."

Kouki and Shizuku, understanding Hajime's intention, exchanged smiles and both assured him, "Don't worry about it."

With that, the match was about to begin, starting with the first bout.

As for why Shin challenged the two, it was most likely due to his innate desire to test his limits. Conveniently, he wasn't tired yet from his combat practice with Hajime. And even more conveniently, two of his friends from the Hero Party were there, and his instincts were buzzing, telling him they were stronger than before. Seizing the opportunity, he decided to challenge them to a spar.

The first match was Shin vs. Kouki. Cheers erupted for Kouki, of course, the undisputed star of the class. For some reason, Hiyama was the loudest in his cheering. Shin stood opposite Kouki, holding his new training sword.

The referee was none other than Commander Meld.

The air around them was thick with the roar of the spectators.

But then Shin changed his stance. His usual aloof demeanor vanished, replaced by the sharp focus of a sword waiting to be drawn. Kouki, familiar with this change from their dojo sparring days, readied himself.

The rules were decided quickly, like their old dojo rules: the first hit marks the victor.

With Meld's commanding "Hold!" the two prepared.

Then, as he bellowed "Begin!" the sparring between Kouki and Shin started.