As for why he possessed such powerful strength, she couldn't and didn't want to know. Some things were better left ambiguous. If she had to trace everything to its source, then her time as principal would be over.
Sora shrugged his shoulders at this and then headed towards the new student entrance examination venue. In just over ten minutes, he arrived outside the examination site, where there were two ten-story buildings.
One side accommodated three thousand examinees, and the other side accommodated four thousand examinees. Whenever an examinee passed the assessment, their information would be entered into the system archive, displaying 'passed' until five hundred people were reached.
At this time, the assessment had already been ongoing for two hours. The theme was to make a dessert using vegetables. There were three attempts allowed, and those who failed all three times were expelled from the examination hall. Those who didn't finish by the time limit were also expelled.
"After such a long time, only twenty people have passed…"
In front of the two buildings, there was an electronic screen clearly displaying the number of people who had passed. This was set up to let people outside know what was happening inside.
Of course, the contestants inside didn't know how many people had passed. At this moment, they gritted their teeth, seizing every minute and every second to avoid becoming the five hundred and first person.
But it was precisely this mentality that caused some who could have done well to ultimately fail.
"After all, it's an Oriental Academy assessment. Turning vegetables into dessert, I wonder which genius came up with that. The later examinees will find it increasingly difficult."
"After all, there are only a few common combinations. The judges will naturally get tired of eating them. It's very, very difficult to pass by imitating previous dishes, unless your skill level is truly high. But if you have such a high skill level, you wouldn't need to imitate others."
Hearing Sora's sigh, two passersby suddenly approached him and naturally struck up a conversation. Clearly, this year's assessment topic was also quite difficult compared to previous years.
"I hope it won't be like more than ten years ago, when only over three hundred people passed one assessment. That assessment was truly unbelievably difficult: cooking a dish using different wild grasses without using pre-made seasonings. How bizarre!"
One of them shook his head and said, this was no secret in the culinary world.
"Those three hundred-plus people were truly amazing, being able to cook weeds so deliciously, it was astonishing. Ultimately, it was just that other chefs weren't skilled enough."
"You can't say that. After all, what chef would be so idle as to cook with wild grass? And without seasonings? This theme is simply terrifyingly tricky! It's understandable that everyone didn't do well."
The two argued back and forth. Sora did not interrupt, but silently stared at the stairwells of the two large buildings.
As time passed, Eri Nai Erina and Hisako Arato walked out of Building A side by side.
Seeing Sora, smiles appeared on both their faces simultaneously. They then quickened their pace and ran up to him, clearly having passed the assessment with ease.
After that, Alice Nakiri, Tadokoro Megumi, Yumeko Jabami, and others also came out one after another, gathering beside Sora. As he expected, no one failed this assessment.
"Mahiru, over here, over here."
Looking at Shiina Mahiru, who was the last to come out, Sora felt a bit nervous. Hojo Miyoko, who came out before her, only successfully passed after failing twice. What about Mahiru?
"I passed smoothly, Hoshino-kun!"
With a bright smile on her face, Shiina Mahiru directly pounced on him. It was clear she was extremely excited at this moment because she only failed once and successfully passed on her second attempt.
"Good! I knew you could do it, hug."
Looking at Shiina Mahiru who pounced on him, Sora smiled and opened his arms, lifting her up and spinning her around twice in the air. He then held her and lingered for a while before finally letting go.
"Hoshino, how are things on your side?"
Sora was still dallying with his wives when Soma Yukihira walked out of Building B. At this moment, his forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and he looked quite tired.
"Everyone passed smoothly. What about you?"
Seeing Soma Yukihira, Sora said proudly.
"I also passed smoothly, I failed twice."
He shook his head. Because it was a topic he wasn't good at, Soma Yukihira almost messed up. It would have been quite miserable if he had been eliminated in the first round. Fortunately, he finally made a Passed dish.
"Too simple, I passed on my first try."
Hayama Akira also came over at some point. Hearing Soma Yukihira's words, his voice carried a hint of pride. Because he possessed a Divine Nose, he was exceptionally sensitive to changes in taste and easily passed the assessment.
"A piece of cake."
Takumi stood beside Hayama Akira. He failed once before successfully completing it. The brilliant performances of the chefs around him made him gasp. No wonder Oriental Academy was said to be a place where geniuses gathered; high-level chefs could be seen everywhere.
However, when it came to cooking, he didn't think he would lose!
"What about Kurokiba?"
"Oh right, I haven't seen him at all."
Hearing Soma Yukihira's puzzled question, Takumi also looked around but didn't see Kurokiba Ryo, even though they had agreed to meet outside.
"He might still be in the examination hall. It's getting late. If there's nothing else, we'll leave first. See you at the afternoon exam."
Feeling the pangs of hunger in his stomach, Sora chatted with them for a few more sentences, then turned and left.
The others immediately quickened their pace to follow. Now was the perfect time to enjoy afternoon tea at "East Pearl," and there was still plenty of time to get to the competition venue by five o'clock.
At this moment, the girls were excitedly discussing what they wanted to eat later. Hojo Miyoko listened for a while and then joined the conversation, blending in quite naturally.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"