An hour and half later, Ajax found himself tired and sweating. He wasn't physically tired but mentally drained. The work he did at the restaurant could be considered very peaceful compared to what he was doing here.
As he entered the kitchen an hour before, he was immediately given an apron and some gear. After that, he was put to work immediately. First, he had to do the same killing and butcher job, he did at the restaurant.
Being a trainee, he was put to work on preparing ingredients for the same. The trainees could only have meat of tamed common livestock which were also at flesh strengthening stage and vegetables at the same level. This was because stronger ingredients have more mana and consuming them might cause injuries as they wouldn't be able to hold and control such concentrations in their body.
Ajax was quite used such ingredients and quite fast and adept at it. Even his ones who had joined the guard in the previous year and currently have taken up cooking as a job weren't as fast and efficient as him. It was because those that take up cooking and are still at the beginner level usually are the commoners with low foundations and talent due to lack of other options.
Ajax was clearly much stronger. So, as they manager noticed it, he was quickly put to cooking for normal guards instead of trainees. The guards are all usually in mana refining or higher stages. So, their food and ingredients are also at a higher level. Hearing the manager telling him to move to kitchen for spirit chef's, he was quite glad.
As he entered the newer kitchen, he noticed that the atmosphere was much different. Before the cutting of ingredients was just considered a job. They needed to be quick and make it into decently sized pieces without dirtying and wasting any. An ingredient was considered wasted only if they dirtied it by dropping it or not cleaning it well. Those were simply cooked moderately well and as long as it was edible, it was good enough.
Now, it was quite different. Here, there were strictly two categories that he could observe. One was the spirit chefs and others were apprentices. The spirit chefs each observed three to four apprentices and were continuously observing them. They were either correcting them or berating them for the simplest of mistakes.
"How are these slices considered thin," he saw one of them yelling at an apprentice as he pulled out a quarter of the sliced pieces from the apprentice's board. "'Thin' means at least 2 mm or lesser. Now these are wasted."
"Does it really matter," Ajax asked the manager pointing to them.
"It does. It is one of the basics. If it isn't thin enough it won't be properly boiled. Too thin, it is over boiled and breaks easy. You can't even cut the slice further as that would just be uneven slices and much harder than directly cutting a big radish piece," explained the manager.
"You boiled it much longer than necessary," said another chef as he took a small ladle and tasted a dish. "Acceptable, but only just. Do better next time."
"There are a lot of things that you think trivial are actually important for spirit chefs" continued the manager as one of the chefs came to manager.
"Chef Bloom," said the manager greeting a portly man with black hair, brown beady eyes and a thin moustache. He wore a white uniform and an apron with the warrior's wok symbol on it.
"Another prospect?" asked the chef with a slightly unsatisfied look. "I have enough on my hand already. I don't belong in this training area. When can I get back to the 2-star area?"
"I am sorry chef bloom, but I can't help. I have already informed them about your progress. But unless you train a one-star chef, you are to be here," said the manager.
"The old man is adamant, huh," said Bloom as he looked at Ajax.
"You new here?" asked Bloom looking at Ajax.
"New trainee Ajax, sir," said Ajax saluting him. "Today is my first day as cook."
"Of course, today is your first day as apprentice. No, you are just to be tested for apprentice here. Why are acting like a first-year soldier here?" said Bloom waving his hand. "We don't need military decorum inside the cookhouse as long you are respectful enough. Didn't you learn this working down there for a year."
"Sir," coughed the manager to get the chef's attention. "This is his first day in the military area. He is a new trainee, not just cook. It is also his first time in our kitchens."
"Really!" wondered Bloom as he just realized that Ajax wasn't like one of the others who didn't join the place due to lack of other options, but might be a talented person genuinely interested in cooking.
Most of the apprentices also turned towards him to observe. They all had tried to get posts as guards and mercenary jobs and due to not having much success in them, they chose this. Practically no youth would choose it as cooking was considered to be engaging in irrelevant work common work done in every household and that it was wasting time that would be better used for cultivating.
"So, you are interested in cooking?" said Bloom. He himself also started on this path because his lack of talent and his weaker physique, but he was discovered to be talented in the field and then, he gained interest in the topic.
"Well, I kind of eat a bit more and was asked to cook by myself by ma. Occasionally started to fry and grill small game that I got and eating secretly. Got used to cooking that way," said Ajax. That was the best answer he could come up on being asked suddenly and he still believed it was better than saying that he found it to be the best way to earn resources faster.
"I like you," said the chef as he nodded towards the manager who immediately took leave.
Thus, Ajax was started as an apprentice and in an hour, he was exhausted mentally. All he did was cutting vegetables which were easier to cut compared to meat that he did before, but for an apprentice chef everything needed to be precise.
The chef, Bloom was also a taskmaster. Ajax felt that he was being yelled at for every trivial thing. He specified dimensions for every vegetable and it was to be done exactly in that manner. He was yelled at for the slightest mistake.
Even his sword training in the palace didn't exhaust as much mentally. Everything needed to be precise in this kitchen. His sword instructor when he was a prince, definitely allowed a lot more leeway than what the cook allowed. There he used to hit a stationary target repeatedly for practice. Hitting the same mark with a sword or bow and arrow repeatedly was much easier.
Here, he need to move the vegetable (target) and cut that moving the target at an exact distance every time. This was much different and a lot harder to do with precision. He was glad that it came to an end in one hour.
Though Bloom felt like an angry yelling, crazy man, he was good at his job. The slightest mistake was easily noticed by him and that was hard to do while handling observing 5 people at once. Even when he was correcting one person and looking, he could identify when others made a mistake.
At the end of the hour, he told Ajax to stay for a few more minutes. He quickly summarized the general mistakes made by them and asked to focus on stuff they needed to improve. This took him about 20 minutes before he sent them off and began to analyse Ajax's work.
"70% were cut wrong and wasted," said Bloom making a slight calculation in his mind estimating Ajax's work. "Much improvement is expected. You will move on from cutting, slicing and dicing only when you can limit the waste to below 20%. If you stagnate, the loss due to waste will be deducted from your wages."
"I will try," said Ajax scratching his head. He was shocked to hear the amount he needed to improve and deductions that will happen. He began to think about choosing some other job, but quickly quelled the thought due to the issues that he might have to face. This was the most, low key, high paying job, he could get.
"Good, do you have any culinary education before?" asked Bloom.
"None," replied Ajax. He had a bit of knowledge as there were lot of times in his past life when he had to scrounge for food in forests and eat safe food, but he couldn't consider himself to know culinary arts. Especially in the world of magic, he believed that it would differ significantly.
"A blank slate, huh," said Bloom shooing him out of the kitchen. "No problem, ask the manager for basic books. I hope you are a fast reader. Expect you to know the basics in a week."
As he got out, he began to search for the manager and in a couple of minutes, he found the manager and informed him of the same.
"Congratulations," said the manager as he handed him three books.
"Congratulations?"
"If you were untalented, the chef wouldn't consider giving you these books. Only accepted apprentices would be given the books," said the manager as he took out a few other papers.
"Sign these," he said giving him the papers and the quill.
"What are these?"
"Accepting as an apprentice under the restaurant," answered the manager.
"How long?"
"No such duration, the books are investment and prices would be deducted from your wages."
"I will be paid even less then due to these?"
"Of course, the prices are deducted from your wages. But overall wage also increased. So there will be a net increase. Chefs are officially recognized as artisans. The artisan association wouldn't allow you to be paid the same as the basic cook. You will earn more and the documents would also submit you as a chef's apprentice under the chef Bloom. Its valid for 3 years," explained the manager.
Hearing it Ajax quickly had a look at the documents and signed them. As a prince whose mother was a healer and alchemist, he had long known about the artisan association which regulates and protects artisans.
He always wanted to get recognized by the association as an apprentice alchemist but he ended up recognized as an apprentice chef. Still, he was glad as it gave him a little influence and means to get money in many places. Moreover, artisans' rights are protected and many would think twice to attack or provoke him.
"You will get the badge in a couple of days," said the manager collecting the quill and papers. "In the meantime, thorough learn the contents of the book. This is just a probationary period in which a chef decided to teach you. Other restaurants and families needn't recognize your talents and will only consider you a student of chef Bloom. You can attempt apprentice chef exam once you learn the books thoroughly and only then you will get an individual apprentice chef badge and recognition. Only then, you will be given access to the Artisan's Association."
"Oh!" said Ajax as he remembered that he had to write an exam to be recognized as an apprentice by the artisan association. An artisan can take him as a disciple/apprentice, but it is not the same as apprentice recognition by the association. If he just needs an artisan's recommendation, he would have long ago been an apprentice alchemist by virtue of his mother.
"So, I need to pass an exam," asked Ajax.
"Of course, kid. Without proof of your competence, the association wouldn't recognize any artisan," explained the manager. "You work only in morning shift. You will have training in the evening."
"Ok," said Ajax as he left carrying the three books. He quickly ran back to his room and placed the books there. On finding it empty, he realized that it was lunch time and ran to trainee mess.
As he reached there, he found a guard blocking him. "You are late," said the soldier.
"Had been delayed in the cookhouse," said Ajax. "Was selected for apprentice cook. Had to sign some documents."
"You became an apprentice cook?" asked the guard.
"Yes, chef Bloom selected me," answered Ajax. He knew that the guard was sceptical and told the chef's name so that it would make it more believable.
"I will check," said the guard. "So, don't lie."
"Please, check sir. But I am getting late and need to join the drill after lunch."
"Fine, you got 5 min. Else; you will be late at the ground and they aren't as lenient as me."