No Blessed ✓

Bribe

With all the ingredients they had gathered, Victoria had lectured him step by step on how to make a sorbet, although she had added a little twist with the gelatin they had produced, making the dessert wobbly like jelly.

Mikel had been dismayed when she reneged on her pledge to help him and when he had asked, all she had said was that he needed to make it himself to show 'his unending love' and all the while she was smiling manically. Immediately Mikel caught on and he groaned.

"I'm making it for Astra as a sort of bribe." he explained and suddenly the fog in Victoria's eyes cleared and she stopped swinging her legs happily.

"What?" she asked, although the question was more of a yell. "What do you mean by that?"

"If I treat Astra to something sweet, he'll coach me in hand to hand combat," Mikel said as he labouriously whisked the mix. "In essence, I'm buying him off with this."

The expressions on Victoria's face were like a slideshow. First disbelief, then shock, next came anger before it finally settled into a creepy happy smile. She could have auditioned for Happy Sugar Life and won the main lead with that smile.

"I know what you're doing," she teased, resuming swinging her legs with extra vigour, "I know exactly what you're doing my dear, dear minion."

"Hmm?" Mikel asked, distracted by his work. He watched it eagerly as the mix became smoother and smoother.

"You're trying to hide a secret relationship from me!" she giggled aloud and the sound was forever imprinted in Mikel's mind. "But don't worry, I won't tell."

Mikel did not bother replying her, seeing as she was in her own fantasy world, probably consisting of half-naked men.

"She's like a rabid yaoi fan girl," he mused to himself as he tasted what he had made. "There's no convincing her."

With a simple spell, he froze the dessert, watching in pleasure as it took form before his eyes.

Finally, his bribe was done. And man, was he proud of it. That was perfect Food Wars material in front of him, no doubt about it.

*

Mikel finished dinner rather early, partly out of a desire to start his self-training earlier than usual and partly out of a lack of appetite.

Swallowing Gar in Irina's class was becoming easier and easier as the weeks passed (although he still fainted occasionally from the pain like a majority of her class) but that did not mean it didn't still affect her students in various ways.

In his case, he could never eat much no matter how hungry he was. Everything started to taste like Gar after a few minutes.

Besides, now that he had to fit Astra's paramilitary after school classes into his training, it meant that his spells had to be done earlier since he doubted he would be able to move after going one on one with the brutal Spartan.

He went over to the open field and carefully looked it over before setting down his books and staff as well as Astra's 'bribe'.

It was still early in the evening so he didn't need to light the lamp yet. A small breeze was blowing through and Mikel took off his coat to enjoy it, folding the large material neatly before laying it on the ground.

He picked up his staff, and held it in front of him aiming for a nonexistent enemy.

"Okay," he prepped himself quietly. "I can do this. Just picture Sean Bishop."

His eyes locked on a small boulder a few feet away and he aimed his staff there.

"Let's go," he breathed.