It was a cool day today. It was already half-way through January. The scent of incoming summer rain loomed in the air.
"I'm glad we could finally play outside Hugo!" Margret shouted. They were in a park.
"Let's not forget why we're are really here," Hugo stated as he placed a cooler next to one of the barbeques.
"That's right," Margret stated. "I'm here to train for that battle."
"Until now we had to train in the gyms that were set up specifically for training for the competition. But it's too public and getting in is tough. It's easy for us since our father has a membership and we can take his slot anytime he can't use it." Hugo stated.
"That's right. The hot weather left us at a disadvantage."
"That's also why I wasn't bringing my A-game either."
"Ah! So that's why your food didn't taste as good as it does at home!"
"Right on the money, little sister." Hugo opened his cooler and began laying out the ingredients he had stored inside. "It's the same reason why I told you not to train at your full potential. Everybody there is entering the competition, so if they saw us they would note our moves."
"So fighting isn't just about skill, it's also about deception. I knew you are an excellent cook, but I didn't know you were smart."
Hugo laughed. "You don't give our parents enough credit. They may seem to busy nowadays, but ever since the UWWFEC, they have been training us both to take home that prize money."
"Ah, yes! Mum and dad are really smart. Mum is a technology wizard and Dad knows so many different languages and is a strong martial artist. He gave me a black belt because I trained with him so well."
"That's right. It also means nobody will try to kidnap you. However, mum and dad are still very well known and people believe they are rich. So I might be a kidnapping target since I have no means of protecting myself."
"Yeah, I remember the last time you used a food ability in December last year. You actually froze the entire shopping mall."
"That was also the first time I successfully created a dish that granted a level five dish. No dish could grant greater abilities."
"What about the dish that can be created by the recipe that the seeker's guild wants to find?"
Hugo started chopping up some vegetables and he turned on the barbeque. "The golden goal, a recipe to create the ultimate ability. Rainbow, the ability to use every ability. Yeah, I've heard of it, but how did you know about it."
"Well, Hugo." Margret waved a hand fan in her face to make herself cooler on this already cool day. It had Japanese art and symbols on it. A souvenir from their father's most recent trip to Kyoto. "It's because you talk in your sleep."
A look of dread appeared on Hugo's face. 'Just how many times have you visited my room anyway?' He thought.
"So I guess this means there won't be any fun for me today," Margret stated distraughtly as the food Hugo was cooking sizzled. "Since I'll be training harder."
"Yeah, this area is very secluded, perfect for training," Hugo replied, he was now creating a broth for a soup from scratch. "Feel free to play as much as you like. I have to keep practising my cooking. I'll use my attribute to speed things up, but that only halves the time that I spend cooking. I'm cooking many things. Usually, these dishes would add up to 2 hours, but I can finish them all in one hour."
"I'm well aware of how your attribute works Hugo. So I can play for an hour."
"Yes, but don't go too far."
"You're still concerned that someone will kidnap you?"
"Very."
"Okay. I know the signal, just remember to send it if they are too much trouble." Margret placed her fan on the floor and skipped off.
Hugo placed it beside his cooler, somewhere where the head from the barbeque wouldn't disturb it.
Hugo then activated his attribute. Double chef speed, or just double chef for short. Basically, this ability allows Hugo to complete the food he makes in half the amount of time it takes for somebody to cook it at a normal speed. 'That's impossible!' You may be thinking, 'how can he do that? Most food requires it to be cooked for a certain amount of time!' You may not believe it, but his attribute also allows his food to cook twice as fast as well. It's the ultimate weapon when you want to make something complicated, foodwise, within a deadline.
Thirty minutes passed by peacefully and slowly. Hugo had already finished creating a few dishes. He used a potion on the food. The scientist who created it used protein bars as the main ingredient. Everybody knows that if you eat a protein bar you gain fire level 2. He was using the potions to keep the food warm until he was finished, he only had to use one as the ability lasts one hour. He wished he could consume a protein bar himself and keep the food warm while he cooked, but that would mean sacrificing his attribute. Both can't be used at the same time.
Suddenly Hugo heard a strange rustling, he could hear heavy movement. Two, three? No Five! He was focused, and he had accurately predicted that there were five hostile people nearby. Yet he kept cooking, pretending to be unaware. He quickly picked up his sisters hand fan and placed it in his belt in front of his pants.
Hugo noticed Margeret place a device on her fan before she left. She was discreet enough that if anybody else was watching they'd probably not see a single thing. But she made sure he noticed. Margret had both brains and brawn. She was an unstoppable force. Hugo, however, was just brains and talent. He couldn't use his intelligence to escape this situation. Their mother designed the device Margret placed upon the fan.
The rustling of the leaves and the sounds of footsteps intensified. They smelt the lovely scents of Hugo's barbeque buffet, but you could bet that they were not here to dine on Hugo's fantastic food.
Five men appeared out of the foliage behind him, all of but one of them were wielding guns. They slowly approached him.
"Gentlemen, there is no need for that." Stated the man who held no gun, he was a tall blonde man with emerald green eyes, he was wearing a beige suit and pants. His clothes smelt so strongly of lavender that Hugo could smell it through the wonderful scents of his own cooking. Hugo wanted to turn around and see who the man was. But he didn't want to lose his attribute. He'd already been cooking for thirty-one minutes. If he stopped he won't be able to use his attribute again for sixty-two minutes.
"He has a knife, and look at that speed. He might be able to block our bullets or dodge them!" Stated one of them.
"There's no need for violence like that. Besides, his attribute's activation condition is that he must be cooking to use it. So if he decided to attack us, it will be at normal speed. Isn't that right Hugo."
"Who are you? Do you want to kidnap me?" Hugo inquired, still focusing on cooking his food.
"No. I'm sorry we gave you that impression. I honestly thought they'd keep their guns in their car. But you can never be too cautious." The man explained.
"What do you mean?" Hugo inquired. Even though he was quite focused on his work, it was clear from his tone that he was confused.
"I know I brought about distrust by approaching you in this manner and with four armed men. But you not being kidnapped serves our purposes too."
"So, how can I trust you?"
"Good question. Gilford, since you threatened to shoot him you can apologise to him."
Gilford placed his gun on the floor and kicked it into a bush in Hugo's eyesight. He then walked to him with sadness in his heart and tears in his eyes. He knelt and grabbed the bottom of Hugo's pants. "I'm so sorry, you seemed so frightful and the things they say about your sister just frightened us more."
Hugo looked at the upset man for just a few seconds. Before returning to his cooking. "I can understand your fear, and I forgive you. I can only guess you are working on behalf of someone competing in the contest on the 28th."
"Yes. That's what I wanted to convey. But now we have a problem because one of my men stuffed up. I do hope that this does not leave a poor taste in your mouth about me."
Hugo turned around and gave the main man, the one who didn't hold a gun and only for a few seconds and turned back to his food and resumed using his attribute. 'A tall man with green eyes, blonde hair, wearing tan suit tan pants, a zebra tie and always smells like lavender. There's no doubt in my mind. This means...'
"My name is Ryan Seacrate. Or you can call me Oceania."
'I knew it. This man is a friend and an enemy. A member of the seekers guild. Ryan Seacrate, also known as Oceana. His attribute is the ability to communicate with sea life, and he's the only one with that attribute at this time.'
"I know you want in on our family. I'm so sorry about Gilford, he's the most unprofessional and I will apologise again for his behaviour. Drop your weapons."
Hugo heard the man put the safety on their weapons and threw them away.
"There's no need to signal your sister with that fan of yours. I just want a fair fight."
Hugo felt even more shocked, how did he know about the device? "How did you know about that, and why battle us?" Hugo inquired.
"We are experts, we notice even tiny things that others wouldn't notice, I'm sorry it took us thirty minutes to give you our proposal. The road back there was very hard to manoeuvre. As for why we want to fight you? We have heard about you two, a magnificent chef and an unstoppable fighter. You have also joined the food power contest. The twelve teams to make it to the final battle at the end of December get invitations to our guild."
"I'm very well aware oft that." Hugo replied, still cooking.
"You have a great chance at taking the number one spot at this months contest and making it to the final round in December. I just want to test out how strong you guys really are. But let's make sure this is a fair battle. Your sister isn't allowed to use her unique attribute. I can't use mine, so she can't use hers either."
"So this is basically a test to see if we are ready to join your guild or something."
"No, this is us scouting out our potential allies. It's likely that you will join our organisation, and we hold private training battles all the time. Sometimes our members enter the contest as well. We want you to be prepared."
"Very well then." Hugo skilled. "Bring your best and I shall do the same. You really want a taste test? I will make sure that you enjoy your meal!"