Hello everyone!, 2 of the 3 new fanfics that are on the poll are up!!
The winner will get picked up! How will the winner will be decided?
The One With The Most Power Stones = 1 Point
The One With The Reviews = 1 Point
The One With The Most Votes On The Poll= 1 Point
The Poll will start on Sunday and it will last a week, so make sure to support your favorite ones. (I may pick more than one depending on how good they did.)
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[Starting from Tokyo's The King of Fighters]
[Shokugeki No Toriko!]
Plus One More That Will Be Added Later!
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Morning of the third day.
After spending a full three days at it, Shun finally finished slicing nearly a thousand Nut Radishes.
When the last radish blossomed under his knife into crystal-clear petals, the motion was already burned into his muscles.
The rusty kitchen knife in his hand felt alive; every rise and fall traced the produce's natural grain, leaving a cut surface so smooth it could catch a reflection.
"Ding. Congratulations, Host—Knife Skills improved. Culinary Composite Score increased to 216."
"150?"
It went up that much?
Shun remembered that before coming to Shokurin Temple, his Composite Score was only 36. In just three days, it had risen by over a hundred.
A brief thought, then the reason clicked.
It wasn't only the knife work—he'd also fused with Gourmet Cells.
A chef's composite score isn't just about cooking technique; physical aptitude matters, too.
"Nicely done."
A voice sounded behind him.
Shun came back to himself and looked toward the wooden hut's doorway. "Shuu-sensei, I've finished cutting. Could you check if it's up to standard?"
Shuu walked to the board, lifted a single slice to the sunlight, and the petal gave off a faint seven-colored sheen.
"To reach this level in three days—no wonder, for someone with Gourmet Cells. You've got talent."
He set the radish slice down, approval in his eyes—but also scrutiny. "However, slicing radishes is only the most basic practice. From here, we begin the true training of Food Honor."
"The true training?" Shun asked, puzzled.
Shuu only smiled. "Rest well today. At dawn tomorrow, we start formal training. If you're hungry, keep eating these Nut Radishes—or, if you have the skill, try capturing other ingredients around the temple."
With that, he turned and left.
After Shuu-sensei departed, Shun stared at the mountain of radish petals. His stomach grumbled in protest. Tasty as Nut Radish was, three days straight would make anyone sick of it.
"Capture other ingredients, huh…" He rubbed his chin and looked outside.
Shokurin Temple's courtyards brimmed with rare plants; faint rustles came and went in the grass, as if creatures were weaving between the leaves.
"If this is training, I can't live on radishes forever."
Shun stepped out of the hut. Sunlight warmed his face. He took a deep breath—the air held a delicate fruit aroma, like something perfectly ripe.
Following the scent, he reached a garden.
In its center sat a small pond, about five square meters across.
The pond itself wasn't unusual—except for the bubbles rising constantly to the surface.
They were half-transparent, and under the sun they gleamed green.
That fruit-sweet aroma wafted from those bubbles.
"Wait… is that Shokurin Temple's treasured Soap Bubble Fruit?!"
Shun's eyes widened at the stream of green bubbles welling up from the water.
The Soap Bubble Fruit—the temple's sacred treasure—was a legendary ingredient said to test a trainee's mastery of "Food Honor"!
In Toriko's story, Toriko and Komatsu went through hell just to earn the right to even touch one.
And now it was right in front of him?
Except… this didn't seem like a real Soap Bubble Fruit—it had the scent, but it was hollow inside.
More precisely, these were "empties," special practice bubbles crafted by Master Chin Chinchin so disciples could train to capture the genuine Soap Bubble Fruit.
The real thing wasn't kept within Shokurin Temple at all.
"Grrrr…"
His stomach complained again.
Even if it was only part of the Soap Bubble Fruit's fragrance, it made Shun swallow unconsciously.
"If I could capture one… no—even a taste…"
He approached the pond with care.
He adjusted his breathing and eased into the state of Food Honor.
"Grateful to nature for its gifts. Grateful for this flavor."
His mind settled; stray thoughts were shaved away, little by little.
When he opened his eyes again, they were clear as still water.
He stretched out a hand toward a floating green bubble—
Pop!
The instant his fingertip touched it, the Soap Bubble Fruit burst.
Shun wasn't surprised.
Even a mock Soap Bubble Fruit can't be touched without near-perfect Food Honor.
He shook his head, returned to the hut, and kept working through the radish petals.
—The next day, 5:00 a.m.
Before dawn, Shun began formal training at Shokurin Temple.
Inside the hut, he sat cross-legged with hands together. A grass lamp flickered in front of him.
He closed his eyes and started the practice called "Food Zen."
"Food Zen is the preparatory act of giving thanks to food," Shuu-sensei explained, hands clasped behind his back as he watched the burning tuft of Torch-Head Grass. "First, calm your heart and listen to the drumbeat of your own life."
Torch-Head Grass—Capture Level 2. A special pen-nib-like grass that grows as a natural torch.
Its head is oil-rich and can burn continuously for up to one hundred hours. The temple's Torch-Head Grass has been selectively cultivated by Master Chin specifically for Food Honor training.
The rule: the moment it senses any thought other than gratitude, the flame dies at once. It's edible, but in the Grand Temple of Food Honor—Shokurin Temple—it's mainly used for training.
That was today's morning regimen.
Sit before a single Torch-Head Grass with a mind free of distractions and keep its flame alive for thirty minutes—then the session counts as complete.
It sounds simple; it isn't.
Let a stray thought arise, and the Torch-Head goes out immediately.
Shun listened, then couldn't help asking, "Shuu-sensei, what you just said—that's the state of 'no-self,' right?"
"No." Shuu denied at once. "What people call 'desirelessness' is, in other words, a state that expects desire. For Food Honor, that very expectation is a distraction. The foundation is to express gratitude—that is the basic of Food Honor."
Shun nodded. "I understand."
"Good. Start with a single Torch-Head Grass. As we increase the number, it'll be easier to detect stray thoughts. Begin now," Shuu said.
Shun closed his eyes and entered his training at Shokurin Temple in earnest.
…
(End of Chapter)
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