The trio in the park enjoyed talking while they ate and waited on Sven to return. It seemed their time raced by and they suddenly found themselves in front of their school building. Since their classrooms were right across the hall from each other, Blaine told Lana to enjoy her classes and he'd see her later. She blushed and went into her room. She and Kattie were alone but not for long so they were unable to talk about much. They saw the class marching toward them as they entered the building.
"He's a bit sweet on you," Kattie said with a smile.
Lana chuckled, "he feels sorry for the weak girl…I do feel a strong sense of safety with him though. Stronger than with Dobin. He has a tender touch and he seems to know exactly what to say to me when my emotions get out of control."
They couldn't continue the conversation and quickly took their seats. Her beast education class had interesting parts and quite boring ones. There were 10 levels of beast strength and it wasn't always easy to tell what level they were. They were told to assume the beast was the higher level if they were in doubt as to how strong one was. They were also informed they would not be learning about every beast because so many were unknown or recently discovered. Part of some planetary expeditions were to learn about the plants and beasts to see if they were of value.
Each beast had a core crystal about the size of a fist or smaller in addition to their heart. This was used to forge weapons, armor and clothing. Some accessories were even made with these crystals. Beast jewelry was valued more than traditional diamonds and rubies. Lana preferred the older stuff.
Not all beast crystals could be made into something. Sometimes they could only be made into one thing. Only an experienced crafter would be able to tell. There are even beasts whose cores can only be used as a power source because they had no special properties. The more powerful the beast, the more likely the core will provide some special equipment.
It was also possible to run into plants that were beasts or at least plant-based.
Lana thought that portion was interesting but the idea of hunting a beast just for a crystal was as big of a crime to her as the old tales of poachers hunting elephants and rhinos for their tusks and horns. It was one thing to hunt for food but to kill a living being just for its parts… it sounded barbaric to her.
Soon the afternoon classes were over. Kattie was heading to the library to buy pie tins while Lana was heading to her daily torture session. This was how she felt about it. The only upside was she could spend time with Blaine.
They worked on kicks for the hour then were finally able to rest for the evening. In her room, Blaine was looking forward to seeing what she was going to come up with. She had been quiet about what was going in these. He had been eating food prepared by some of the most renown chefs in the world back home. While her cooking wasn't superior, it was a far cry above what was provided by the school.
Once again, they were last to show up, the door already open. Kattie had purchased eight tins and she also surprised Lana with something. She bought 4 packages of thick-cut bacon.
When Lana saw the purchases on the counter, "Kattie, I could kiss you!" and she gave her friend a hug.
Blaine's eye twitched.
Lana dumped all her produce in the sink from her bag and smiled. She sifted through her options of meat in her fridge and chose a few beef options. She set aside two packages of bacon and put the other 2 away.
"What kind of cuts do you want on the veggies?" Kattie asked.
"Small diced," and Lana demonstrated half an inch with her finger and thumb.
"Can we help with anything? We always sit and watch while you ladies do all the work." Almin asked.
Lana nodded, "That stew pot there, could you fill it halfway with water?" She watched as he did while she chopped up the meat, bacon first so she wouldn't contaminate her bacon.
"Anything else?"
Lana walked him through mixing the dough for the crusts. She wanted to get the bottom crust in all the tins before the filling was tender enough to go in the oven. She cooked the meat up on the stove while Katie finished chopping the veggies and adding them to the prepared pot. She turned off the heat on the stove and rolled out the pie dough while Almin continued making more. The bowls weren't big enough to make a huge batch so he could only make 2 crusts at a time.
Eventually, everything was ready and she was able to cook 2 pies at a time in the oven. Lana cooked hers and Kattie's last since it was their room. Blaine and Dobin were the first to be served. Lana placed them in front of them with shaky hands.
"Why are you so nervous?' Blaine asked.
"Before coming here, I had never had access to meat to cook nor an oven. This is all new to me."
"Then I insist you stand right here while I taste it," Blaine said while Kattie put the next two in the oven.
Blaine cut into his pie, "this smells delicious!" as he deeply inhaled over his dish. He put a bite on his fork and blew then tasted it. "It's quite good!"
Lana smiled.
"Can I give you a small bit?"
She nodded and he replied, "just a small bit more of salt and this would be divine perfection!"
Lana squealed and gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. She then returned to the oven, which wasn't far away to wait for the timer to go off on the next two. Soon the other two boys were served.
Based on the fact conversation ended and only sounds of eating could be heard, Lana smiled.
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