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It's been almost a week now that Makao began working for Xander at the Demon's Domain. The otter worked with six others, four in the kitchen including him and Xander, while the other three worked as waiters.

Regi was finally back, having defeated his cold, he was ready to get back to work, although Xander assigned him to a waiting job, seeing that Regi was still feeling some of the after-effects of his sickness.

During the night shifts, many regulars were also happy to see Regi back in the restaurant, some being either more vocal or intimate with their delight to have the equine back and just like Rod, Regi had no problem showing his appreciation and accepting that of others.

And tonight was no exception, almost every time Regi passed a table or another, he would either get an ass or crotch grab. He was wearing the same jockstrap as Ben and Rod so there was nothing left to the imagination, the pouch that formed at the front of his jock made Makao think that he was bigger than Rod, or at least thicker.

“Getting used to things around here?" Xander asked as he stood beside Makao and watched the equine getting appreciated.

“Yeah, I guess," Makao mumbled to himself, but it was loud enough for Xander to hear.

“Say, are you free tomorrow night?"

“Aside from the restaurant, I have nothing scheduled. Why?" Knowing what he does about Xander till this point, Makao was actually feeling skeptical about what the human wanted.

“Just going to run an errand tomorrow and want you to accompany me." Xander's wide smile didn't do much to ease the otter's suspicions.

Makao just nodded and went back into the kitchen to work on an order, things around here have been pretty hectic every day, but he's strangely gotten used to it pretty fast, maybe it's the company.

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Tonight's shift ended with no problems as usual, Makao went to the back room to grab his shirt and hang the restaurant's apron, not really minding that Will was getting spitroasted between Ben and Rod, with Regi and Louie sitting on empty chairs and waiting their turn. Makao had to admit as he looked at Louie that the red panda had and impressive build for someone his size, despite being toned in build, his muscles were slightly bigger than Makao's own.

He became strangely immune to such events to the point that they didn't surprise him anymore, chucking them into his new everyday common occurrences. “I'll be heading out now, see you guys tomorrow." He got some replies from everyone except Will who was busy getting lost in their little orgy.

He walked home while thinking of what could be the errand that Xander was talking about, as he walked he passed by what looked like a bar, loud and obnoxious noises easily drowned the sounds of music in the background. He decided that this wasn't the place for him so he kept on walking, taking a quick glance at the sign above the store. It was a wooden board with the name of the bar written on it 'Big G's Tavern and Bar'

Just then, the door opened and Makao instinctively turned to see who it was. A middle aged wolf left the bar, giving his back a good stretch as he groaned. “Fucking hell, damn orcs don't know how to hold back." The wolf turned and noticed Makao standing there, giving him a small smile and wave, the wolf waved back politely. “Careful on your way back kiddo," he said, then turned to go his own way.

Makao watched the wolf walking away, for someone his age he sure kept himself healthy and well kept, arms and legs were brimming with muscles and his pecs pushed at his shirt slightly, aside from the clear belly gut the old wolf was pretty fit. He also noted that the he looked pretty cute the way that his fur grew on his lower jaw and front of his snout all shaggy and fluffy like a beard, it being a brighter variation of his darker grey fur.

He strangely reminded him of Will.

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The next day went without a hitch, luckily no rush to deal with this time so things were pretty mellow and easy so far, then as they were getting ready for the night shift, Makao felt Xander's hand on his shoulder. “Ready to go?"

“Yeah, I am. But where are we going?" Makao asked as he took off his apron and hung it. “And will everything be okay over here?"

“Don't worry, those guys are more capable of handling things without us, I've been doing this for a while and I never heard anyone complain." Xander explained as he did the same. “You know that I'm the one who goes and gets our ingredients, right?"

Makao remembered how one of the patrons told him about it. “Yeah, one of the customers told me that you're a Cuisine Warrior, right?"

Xander scratched his cheek as a small blush formed on his face. “Not really, I mean sure most of our ingredients I hunt myself, but nothing big or drastic to be called a Cuisine Warrior over," Xander sighed, almost in disappointment. “All I've seen around these parts are small critters and natural cattle animals."

They left the restaurant after Xander instructed the others to behave and not do anything stupid, this was mostly aimed at Will than the others. He had Makao carry what seemed like a two delivery box, while he himself carried three. “Our first stop is to deliver these orders to the post office."

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The post office building was pretty decent in size, they walked after one of the employees opened the door. “I got an order here for Mr. Benedict," Xander spoke as he slowly lowered the box he was carrying and pulled out a small notebook from his pocket. “Let's see here… we got four orders of grilled Basteel Shrimps, two Fire Bomb onigiri sets with Blue and Yellow Slime sauces, two roasted HoneyFullo beef steaks, three bowls of grilled OniTori Oyakodon and one large smoked Drakkon ribs… Did I get everything?"

“Yep, that's all. Thanks for that and sorry for such a big order." The employee took out his credit card while Xander pulled out a card reader, inputting the price to be deducted and sliding the card through the scanner, a few seconds later the transaction was complete and the employee called others to carry in the boxes. “Sorry again."

“No worries my friend, we are capable of handling this kind of order, plus we got a new hand helping around," Xander explained as he patted Makao on the shoulder. The employee thanked them again and they went on their way.

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Their next stop was a local spice shop that Xander has been dealing with even before the restaurant, the current owner was actually the successor since the previous owner passed away two years ago from old age. The crow avian was putting some spice containers on the shelves behind the cashier counter.

Xander opened the door, the bell on top of it ringing and indicating the presence of new customers, the crow turned to the door and his beak split into a wide smile as he saw who it was. “Ah, Xander, our most loyal customer, what can I help you with this time."

“The usual, bring me stacks of four of the best spices you have, also what do have that can go with different kinds of meat?" Xander asked as he walked up to the counter, while Makao was busy looking around, his nose getting tickled with the smells of a wide variety of spices and herbs.

The shop owner soon came back with a small pile of containers that held differently colored spices. “We also got a few new items in store." He went back quickly and brought out three more containers, one held a dark moss colored powder, the other was deep red and the last was navy blue. He held up the moss colored powder up first. “This is actual dried and powdered moss from an aging Sugar Plume Tree, although this is for smoking purposes not seasoning."

The Sugar Plume trees are native to Alteria, they're big trees that grow in meadows and can get pretty tall and wide in stature, their sap is pretty sweet tasting, almost like honey and their sawdust is prefect for smoking food.

The owner then picked up the red one. “This a spicy seasoning that really packs a hot punch, it's pepper that has been mixed in the extracts of a Magma Lizard's flame glands, giving it its ominously red color."

True to its name a Magma Lizard is a type of dragonic lizard that lives in volcanic areas, more precisely near active volcanoes, the only thing edible in it are its leg and arm meats and tongue, it's innards are filled with toxic and flammable gas that can instantly kill a human if ingested.

Then finally the blue one. “And this is crystallized Deep Sea Salt-"

But he was cut off by Makao. “From the Himeni region, right?" His face beamed slightly, but instantly fell, “Oh, sorry for interrupting."

“Not at all my boy, you must be pretty knowledgeable to guess the origin from just a look," the crow stated with clear amazement in his eyes.

“Yeah, actually…" Xander placed a hand softly on Makao's head, giving it a few ruffles. “This kid here is actually a native to the region, he just traveled to learn about the different cuisines and is currently working in my restaurant."

“Oho, no wonder. Good choice in work places too boy, can't really find a better boss than Xander here." The shop owner's praise caused a small blush to appear on the human's face.

Xander took those three containers with the rest of his purchases for experimental purposes. They then left the shop owner to deal with another customer that just came in.

The rest of their stops were pretty normal as well, a butcher shop, the local market to look for vegetables and fruits and finally the local fish store.

Makao breathed a small sigh of relief, wondering what he was worried about, the sun has set pretty far down at this point, he guessed that they were going back to the restaurant with their recent purchases and start preparing. Just then Makao bumped into Xander who had stopped in his tracks for some reason, his head turned to look at the place they stood in front of.

When Makao looked up, his stomach did a small flip as he read the sign above.

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Big G's Tavern and Bar was a pretty big and wide establishment, Makao sat at the bar beside Xander as they waited for the owner/bartender. Soon a big orc came out of the backroom, wearing a leather harness that crossed over his puffed out chest, flecks of hair lined through the valley between his pecs, and made a trail that goes past his abs then went even lower. His lower jaw was covered in a thick beard with two locks braided together and his hair flowed from the top of his head and down to the middle of his back, almost like a beast's mane.

The place was just as Makao imagined it, loud, obnoxious and filled with men who clearly chain smoked and smelled like either a garbage dump or a brothel, not that the otter knew what the latter smelled like, but most of the men there smelled clearly of sex. The other thing he noticed is that they dressed in a similar fashion to the orc's or close enough, boots, vests, some wearing caps and bandanas, this place is feeling like a genuine biker's bar.

The orc placed a small mug of beer in front of Xander and another mug of a sky blue-colored fizzy drink in front of Makao. The orc noticed the otter's skeptical look. “Don't worry kid, no alcohol in that one." then turned to Xander. “Got your orders waiting around back, guessing you want them now from your visit?"

“Come on, Big G, it's not like I only visit when I want something," Xander jabbed back.

“Yet you don't visit regularly like most of my patrons." Big G grabbed an empty mug from the bar and began cleaning it out. “You got any new orders while you're at it?"

“Nah, in fact, I might close the restaurant for a while." Xander announced as he crossed his arms.

“Wait, what?!" Makao exclaimed as he almost choked on his drink.

Big G chuckled deeply. “Yeah, I heard, the tournament's around the corner. You're taking part this year too?"

“Me and my Chefs as well, that's why I'll be closing shop for a while, Ben and Rod are only waiters and can't cook as well as the others, so I can't leave the place in their care," Xander explained as he took a swing of his beer. “Damn you always bring along the best of drinks Big G."

The orc laughed pretty loudly. “You liked that, huh? This here is the finest of my Seisma Stallion Beer." Then turned to Makao “And that kiddo, is a drink made from the mane of a Meadow Mare."

Noticing the otter's confused face, Xander chuckled softly then began explaining. “Both Stallion and Mare are two sides of the same coin and live in the green plains outside of the city, the Seisma Stallions are pretty territorial and have a high chance of attacking travelers that come near their feeding grounds, while the Meadow Mares are the complete opposite, mellow, calm, serene and pretty easy to tame and befriend."

“What gave them their names though?" Makao asked before takes small sips from his drink.

“Well the Seisma Stallions got their name from their ability to cause miniature earthquakes." Both Xander and Big G chuckled from Makao's wide-eyed expression. “Easy now, they're not actual earthquakes, but when a Seisma Stallion rears up when angry, it will gather high concentrations of heat from its body and immediate surroundings into the bottom of its hooves, when it slams them down the concentrated heat explodes into a powerful shockwave that travels through the ground in a certain radius, the older the Stallion, the greater the radius and bigger the shockwave."

Makao took in every bit of information with awe at Xander's knowledge. “What about the mares?"

“Meadow mares don't have any powerful abilities like the stallions, but as long as they're in a herd and unharmed the stallions won't do anything as the mares are natural pacifists and the smallest sign of conflict could lead to great amounts of stress to them, which in turn has a high chance of causing them to get sick."

Makao couldn't help but chuckle softly. “So despite being known as powerful loose cannons, the Seisma Stallions are actually pretty big softies when it comes to the mares, huh?" This revelation brought a chuckle out of both Xander and Big G as well.

The orc bartender rolled his shoulders a couple of times before speaking. “Wait right here, I'll bring your orders out in a few," he said, heading to the back while mumbling to himself. “As long as I remember where I put the darn things."

Xander and Makao enjoyed some small talk as they waited. Just then the door opened and the bell rang, welcoming yet another customer, both Makao and Xander turned to see who it was, only for Makao's eyes to shoot open in surprise. “Hey there kiddo, didn't think this was your kind of place." The deep, yet cheery voice of the wolf from last night came from the door as he walked up to them, placing his arms around both otter and human. “What brings you two cuties around here, hm?"

“Hello to you too Mr. Valgerd, pleasure to see you too. Not much, we're just here to pick up an order from Big G," Xander explained as he smiled softly at the older wolf.

The kogs in Makao's head were slowly turning until the bulb lit up. “Valgerd?... you're Will's father?"

“Ah, you know my boy?" The senior Valgerd took a seat besides Makao, his arms crossed over the table. “How's he doing these days, still the little devil I presume."

Xander was the one to answer. “You have no idea, last week he tried coming into the morning shifts completely shirtless, there were children around for goodness sake."

The wolf let out a loud laugh while softly tapping the bar. “That's my boy, forward, outgoing and adventurous, just like his father, eh?"

Just then one of the patrons, a largely built croc stumbled up to them, dropping his weight on the wolf's back, his voice deep as he slurred drunkily on his words. “Yo Seb, *hic* yer late. Was afraid we *hic* we were gonna start without 'cha."

“Hey Greggy, um… maybe not in front of the newcomer, plus I'm still a bit sore from Big G last night. Give me a breeEEAAaack~" Sebastian's complaints were cut short as one of the croc's heavy hands began rubbing at his pants-covered butt. “O-okay, just be gentle, yes?"

The croc snorted in amusement as he gave the wolf's ass a hard smack. “Yeeeeaaaahhh~ Gentle's not really my thing." He then grabbed the wolf by the arm and dragged towards the table that he and a few others occupied, practically throwing him on it with his ass to the rest of the bar. Gregory then groped at his ass a few times only to dig his claws into the fabric and tear a large piece of the backside off.

“Really Greggy, that's the third pair this week!" Sebastian complained, but didn't really do much to stop the big croc, who slowly knelt down, spread the wolf's cheeks open with his rough hands and dove right in, loudly slurping and huffing into the wolf's crack as he spit lubed him.

Yet another place that does this kind of stuff so openly like that, Makao thought to himself as he watched, unable to turn his eyes from the action happening in front of him as a tent began forming in the front of his pants.

The croc then stood up, wiping some spit off his jowls with the back of his hand, using the other to open up his own pants. Makao expected a cloaca, but instead a thick piece of man meat flopped out heavily, the skin covering it was darkish yellow, just like the crocs underbelly. Gregory jerked himself a few times, stopping once to spit in his hand and lube up his length before taking aim and slowly impaling the wolf with his meat spear.

Sebastian's deep moan was easily drowned by the cheer of Gregory's friends as the croc bottomed out in the old wolf and began fucking him in earnest. Xander chuckled softly at the view as if it was the most normal thing around. “Hey Gregory, go easy on him will ya, he said he was sore, yeah?"

The croc chuckled loudly. “If he didn't want it then he shouldn't have come here, parading that ass of his like a prized trophy." Gregory gave Sebastian's ass cheeks a hard smack each for emphasis, electing a yelp out of the wolf for each smack.

Makao was so engrossed in the events happening that he didn't notice the man standing beside him, not until he felt a big hand grabbing at his tent. This made him jump slightly and turn to the owner of the hand, only to find an old boar leaning on the bar, propped on the table with his other arm. “Hey there cutie, don't think I've seen you around here before."

Makao tried to stammer out a response, but it only came out as gibberish. He was amazed by the boar's build, in fact every man here was almost built like a tank, he guessed that every one of them at least worked with heavy objects regularly. Xander decided to help the poor otter out. “Hey Boris, go easy on my new employee, he's new to this kind of stuff," he stated amusingly as he finished his beer.

“Don't call me that and no need to worry, it's not like I'm gonna eat him or something." He gave Makao's tent a firm squeeze, electing a small groan from the otter. “Unless he wants me to."

Makao briefly turned to Xander with a deep blush on his face, first Will and now this man, this was just too much. Xander on the other hand just chuckled. “Just go with it, buddy, it's not like you can walk with your pole pitching a tent in your pants. You're not exactly average, you know."

Makao breath out and nodded to the boar, who smiled widely showing off his teeth and tusks, then squatted down in front of the otter, their position was perfect since Makao was sitting on the stool and Boris was tall enough. He opened Makao's pants and let his member spring out, the boar was clearly impressed, a familiar expression that Makao saw on Will's face their first time as well.

Boris licked his lips and pressed his wide snout right into Makao's crotch, taking deep breaths of the otter before opening his mouth and taking both of Makao's furry jewels into his mouth. This elected a feral squeak out of Makao, which brought a chuckle out of Xander and whoever was close enough to hear him, Boris however wasn't ready to let him go as he began licking and sucking at the otter's balls.

Xander turned back to watch Gregory owning Sebastian's ass, the wolf's complaints now nonexistent as he spread his legs and submitted to the croc's onslaught. The croc growled deeply before thrusting in one last time and unloading deep and hard into the wolf under him, pulling back and out once he was done and giving Sebastian's ass a light pat of appreciation. “Get it while it's hot boys!" he called out to the others who whooped and cheered as they began taking turns on the wolf, some getting so impatient that they decided to use the wolf's mouth and throat instead.

Big G finally came out of the back room, his face at first showing a stunned look, which slowly turned into an amused smile, shaking his head as he placed two boxes one big and the other slightly smaller beside Xander on the table. “How long has this been going on?" He gestured to both the orgy happening some feet away and Makao's little private service.

“About as soon as you went to the back," Xander replied casually as he began inspecting the contents of the boxes, the smaller one held bottles of Big G's Seisma Stallion beer and the other, bigger box held horns of different kinds. “Niiice~" he stated as he held a long spiral horn in one hand, inspecting it. “This looks like it'll make a nice short sword or dagger."

While Xander was inspecting the goods, Makao was balls deep in Boris' mouth and throat, the boar groaning and moaning out his appreciation regularly. Soon Boris' skills proved too much for Makao to handle, so he instinctively grabbed the boar's head and pushed him hard into his crotch as he groaned and hissed, unloading deep into Boris' throat, the boar moaning out in appreciation yet again as he swallowed every drop that Makao had to offer and the otter proved to be quite generous.

As he was orgasming, both Xander and Big G watched in astonishment for thefew seconds that the otter required to finish his orgasm.Once he was done Boris slowly pulled off of his cock, giving his balls a small kiss each as if saying thank you and being the… 'gentleman' he is, helped tuck the otter's cock and sac back into his pants.

“Good, you're done." Xander called for his attention as he handed him the box of beer, while he carried the box of horns on one shoulder. “Come on, we need to head back already." Then the human went to make his exit.

Makao followed behind him with the box in his arms, his legs slightly wobbly from the intense blowjob and orgasm. Just as he reached the door, he felt someone hugging him slightly from behind, and turned to see Boris' smiling face. “Thanks for the snack, kid." He then slipped a small piece of paper into the otter's back pocket. “In case you want those beauties drained again, you know who to call." He gave him a small wink and a couple of pats on the crotch before releasing him.

“Everyone's pretty nice aren't they?" Xander asked the otter with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“It was nice, if not a bit overwhelming." Makao chuckled softly as his face lit up with a faint blush.

“Yeah, that place is well-known for attracting powerful men to it. And Big G has a pretty good eye for the capable ones," Xander explained briefly

“Powerful men?" The young otter asked with a tilt of his head.

“Didn't you notice, most of the men gathered there are Hunters."

“What?! Really?!" Makao asked as he almost lost his balance.

“Yep, the rest of them are a mix of local bounty hunters, construction and dock workers."

'That explains how each one of them is built like a walking fortress.' Makao thought to himself before speaking up. “But why gather there like that?"

“Big G's place is where Hunters can take on jobs posted by the citizens of the city to hunt certain ingredients and/or animals or plants, the others probably just found a bar with a decent atmosphere that was to their liking." Makao nodded his understanding as they neared the Demon's Domain. “Plus he's a pretty charismatic fellas himself."

“How so?"

Xander smiled softly before answering. “He's like me: a Cuisine Warrior." Xander knew that Makao almost lost his balance again, but managed to compose himself. “Although his specialties are drinks and small snacks. He's got a few chefs working in the back when it comes to actual food."

Makao nodded as he heard his boss talking, he's never seen a Cuisine Warrior in his life, only heard and read about them, now he personally met two in the flesh in the span of a week.

______________________

They finally reached the restaurant, the sky already dark and the moon and stars dominating the skies. They brought their new purchases through the back, and once everything was put in place, Xander turned to the otter. “You can take the rest of the night off if you're tired, I did drag you through almost half the city after all."

Makao shook his head. “No sir, I'm still ready for work." He had a determined look on his face.

Xander nodded and opened the door to the kitchen after both of them dawned their night shift uniforms. Louie, Regi and Will busy in the kitchen, greeting the duo as they walked through the back door. True to his word Makao instantly went to work, his skills haven't dulled one bit from fatigue, in fact he looked refreshed even.

Xander shot the otter a suspicious glance as he remembered the brief talk he had with Big G when they saw the otter back at the bar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earlier at the bar.

Xander and Big G looked at Makao in surprise as his body glowed a faint blue throughout his orgasm, the light fading away once he was done. “You see that?" Big G asked the human who shook his head, trying to confirm what he saw.

“Yeah… I did," Xander replied, almost weakly.

“You think he's aware?" Big G asked, seemingly calming down slightly.

“From the looks of it, no he's not." Xander put the horn back into the box before closing it. “But I don't think he's ready yet. He'll have to find out on his own." Big G nodded his confirmation as he gave the otter one last glance before going back to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present time, at the Demon's Domain.

Xander shook his head as he decided to concentrate on his work at the moment, he also needs to schedule some training sessions for the chefs if they're to be qualified for the tournament.

______________________

The next day Makao was jogging lightly towards the restaurant, only to find the closed sign is still up, he was pretty confused as he was sure he was early and on time for them to open. Then he saw the notice paper plastered below the sign.

'Due to the Cuisine Warfare tournament closing in, the Demon's Domain will be closed for training and participation purposes, we hope you understand and greatly apologize for the inconvenience'

Below the news were chibi-sized portraits of Xander and the other chefs, including Makao bowing slightly in apology. The otter chuckled softly as he thought this to be a bit cute.

He walked towards the back door and went in through there, once he was in his nose was assaulted with a wide variety of delicious smells.

When he got into the kitchen, he found Will and Louie standing on one side of the prepping table while Xander stood on the other side, two plates with different dishes in front of him, still steaming so it was clear that they were just done.

Xander was in deep thought for a few seconds before finally speaking. “Looks like Louie's the winner." The red panda whooped and did a couple of fist pumps, while Will slouched in defeat. “Your idea was good Will, but there was still too much saltiness, try using some sweetener agent or ingredient next time to balance things out." He finally noticed Makao in the kitchen. “Ah, glad you could join us, now Regi can have a fair practice."

“Umm… what are we doing exactly? Shouldn't we be open at this time?" Makao asked as he donned his apron.

“Usually, yes, but the Cuisine Warfare tournament is around the corner, about a month away from today, so we have about two weeks of training, one for travel by coach and blimp, then the last week will be cramming some last minute practice and minor sightseeing before the tournament officially starts," Xander explained briefly.

“Oh… so I heard that the tournament takes place at a new location every year or so, where are we going?" Xander smiled widely as he pulled out a brochure from his back pocket and pressed it to Makao's snout, the otter looked at the paper briefly before his eyes shot open and sparkled in awe. “Seriously?"

“Yep, the capital city surrounded by nothing but beautiful and clear ocean, the city of Syrene!" Xander announced almost triumphantly.

“Wow, I always wanted to visit Syrene, the crystal clear ocean, the beautiful and colorful reefs and the tastiest and rarest of marine species and beasts always flock in that region for mating season!" Makao ranted as he had a dreamy look on his face.

“Yep, but we're not going there for sightseeing, we're going to participate in the tournament and win, am I right?" He called to the others who whooped and cheered.

“Yeah, we'll totally win this thing." Makao stated, much to the surprise of the others. “What didn't I tell you? I'm a participant too, got my acceptance letter and everything." He announced, puffing out his chest pridefully.

“Awesome! All the more reason to join our practice sessions then." Xander stated as he walked back to the refrigerator, Ben and Rod already grabbed Will's and Louie's dishes and began shoveling their contents into their mouths.

Xander pulled out two salmons, it looked pretty normal though. “This here is a Seven Serve Salmon, it was named that after it's different 'inner' colors, all of them are of the different spectrums of the rainbow."

“But why are they called that, I don't see anything different?" Makao asked as he looked at the fish from different angles, but didn't find any different coloring than the normal.

Xander smiled and pulled out a small knife, pressing the tip near the neck of one of the fishes and slowly dragged it along and stopped near the belly, the meat glowed briefly much to the awe of the others, when Makao looked inside the meat was actually blue! Xander moved to the other fish and did the same, revealing a bright sparkling yellow meat! He chuckled softly to himself. “Sorry, I just remembered some men in my tribe calling them Homo Salmons, but it's all in good nature, not for insult." He waved his hand to make sure that the others got the meaning.

He cleared his throat and stood up straight, his arms crossed and began speaking again with a slightly professional tone. “Alright, Maki…" He nodded at the young otter. “Regi…" then to the equine, both nodding back. “For Maki's sake I'll explain the rules of a Cuisine Duel briefly. To start things off, an appropriate place must be chosen, in this case it will be the Demon's Domain."

He waited briefly for the first part to sink in. “The second part is to agree on a certain theme, it can be one of three things, 1: a part of a full course menu, desserts or appetizers for instance. 2: ingredients that are harvested from a certain biome, be it forest, ocean, tundra so on and so forth. 3: a certain ingredient chosen by either the public or the judges. Since I'm the judge, I chose the Seven Serve Salmon as your theme today, that means you are free to make any dish with it as you like, but you must incorporate the salmon into your dish."

He waited again, hearing no questions from either, he resumed. “Finally, once everything is set, both duelists must agree on whether to allow Sous Chefs to participate, but most of the duels are done solo, so that's what we'll do. Sometimes judges might choose your partners for you, so you must be careful." He looked back and forth between Regi and Makao. “Alright you two. Let's fire it up!" He called out as the start of the duel.

Both otter and equine instantly went to work with not a second to spare, grabbing knives, pots, pans and whatever else they'd need. Makao took a small piece of the blue salmon he chose and put into his mouth, true to its color the meat was almost as sour as a grape! He'll have to find something to either dull or counter this extreme sourness.

Regi's tasted sweet so it was perfect for the dish he had in mind, he started cleaning the fish and removing its scales, each step was done quickly, yet with almost delicate accuracy as if the whole fish would crumble to dust if he made a wrong move.

Makao watched Regi working in awe, pretty amazed at his fish handling and cleaning skills, but Xander's voice woke him from his trance. “Hey Maki, wake the hell up! You're on the clock, if you don't deliver your dish to the judges during the time limit, you're out!" This got Makao working again as he finally started on his own dish.

The others watched the two seafood experts working their knives through pieces of the salmon Regi used a small rectangular sashimi knife and began cutting away, pretty clear what dish he was going for from that point, while Makao took big slices and began putting them in a small pot of boiling water.

Xander watched the otter with a small smile. 'Nice idea, soaking is one of the main ways of reducing an extreme taste.' he thought to himself as he looked at the watch on his wrist and calling out. “7 minutes you two, chop chop!"

Makao pulled out the pieces from the boiling water and started cutting them into smaller ones until they were about six or seven small rectangular pieces, then Xander noticed the other pot with warm water and some rice in it, his mind instantly went to sushi, but he can't be certain of anything until the dish is served.

Regi placed the thinly cut pieces on a plate puffer fish style throwing a pinch of dry herbs on them and a tiny bowl of soy sauce on the same plate, right in the middle. Just as he was serving his dish Makao put the rice in a bowl with the pieces of salmon lined up in a neat circle and a lemon cut into a flower right in the middle and served it as well.

Xander eyed both dishes briefly before taking a pair of chopsticks in hand, Regi, Makao and the others watched with bated breath as Xander grabbed Regi's plate first, taking two pieces of sashimi between his sticks, dipping them in the sauce and finally eating them. He chewed slowly to savour the taste to give his best judgement.

He finally swallowed and after a few seconds replied. “Kudos on the choice of herbs Regi, they went pretty well with the fish and helped block most of the sweet taste to a bearable and nice level." The equine let out a breath of relief.

Xander then took Makao's dish, taking a piece of the fish with some rice and ate, he repeated the procedure briefly before his eyes shot open for a moment, then closing slowly. His silence was getting to everyone as he pondered on what to say. Makao was about to speak, but Xander beat him to it. “Draw." He waited briefly for the news to sink in, then opened his eyes and smiled. “It's a draw."

The others looked at him confused, so he explained, looking at Regi first. “You used slightly bitter tasting herbs to dull out the extreme sweetness of the salmon's yellow meat, that also made it more tangy and fun to eat in the end, so you get points for that." Then turned to Makao “You soaked pieces of your fish to reduce the sourness of the blue meat, then glazed it with a thin layer of honey, giving it that nice balance of sweet and sour that many love, so that gave you some points in your favor."

He stood up from his stool. “The problem with the Seven Serve Salmons is that the more mature the fish, the more pronounced the taste, sometimes it reaches the point of being inedible, you two realised that and picked the right ingredients and cooking methods to dull out the strong taste. So you both got equal points for that."

After hearing Xander's explanation the other cheered the two chefs, while Regi reached with one hand to shake Makao's own, both accepting one another as a rival in seafood cuisine.

“You both did well in handling seafood, naturally since it's your specialty, but you're gonna need to work on your skills in other types of cuisine to be true chefs and earn your place in the tournament, so these two weeks will be nothing but training, am I clear?" His little speech was directed at all four chefs, who all exclaimed their understanding.

___________________

True to his word, the rest of the week was nothing but training and practice matches, although seeing the greatly disappointed looks of their customers and regulars kinda hurt Xander and the others, they'll need that week for proper practice. Once they reach Syrene there won't be anytime for proper training.

By the time they were ready to start their journey towards the capital they knew the basics of every cuisine known to them. Now each of them was as ready as they could be given the time, each carried or dragged a decently sized travel bag filled with essentials. They stood at the bus station waiting for the bus to arrive, having some small talk and asking Xander for advice on something or another.

Once the bus arrived, they got in and were on their way to the nearest blimp station, which would take them about two days to reach, which means a stop for each day before arriving.

Makao was pretty excited, the city of Syrene was literally surrounded by nothing but oceans, making blimps and boats the only method of travel between it and the rest of Alteria. He traveled by sea a lot, so this would be the first time he would do so by air and to one of the most luxurious cities in the kingdom to boot.

Their first stop was at an inn, Xander paid for their rooms, Louie and Will will take one, Xander and Makao in another and the last room will be Regi, Ben and Rod together. The inn had a great service where participants of the tournament can get rooms for half the original price.

There they met with a couple of other competitors, a young, slightly chubby mouse man with white, black splotched fur and an elf lady with a slightly tan skin, they sat with Xander and his group discussing recipes, cuisines and different cultures. The rest of the people who arrived at the inn for the tournament were just tourists.

That night, Xander and Makao were in bed, but the otter woke up needing the bathroom, he passed by Regi, Ben and Rod's rooms, hearing faint sounds of guttural groans and macho growling. He sighed to himself almost in defeat, how can someone have the energy for something like that in the middle of the night?

_____________________

The next day, two bigger buses came along to carry the extra people, one had more contestants and the other was for tourists. Makao slept about half the way there, having been awake most of the night thinking of the trio of studs that were in the room beside their own last night, until Xander nudged him awake softly.

When the otter opened his eyes and looked out the window, his eyes bugged out as he pressed his face to the window, looking out toward the blimp station and the different sized blimps coming and going from it.

The station was a wide oval-shaped building with no roof to allow the multitude of blimps to pass through back and forth with no troubles. Xander had to drag Makao by the arm as the otter stopped to look at the different designs of blimps every now and then, until they arrived at their own blimp that would be taking them to Syrene.

It was clearly a luxury sky cruise blimp, pretty huge and slow, despite having two propellers and two hot air balloons to carry it. This was reserved for the participants of the tournament and can carry a decent amount of both them and tourists, the rest of the contestants will be riding on another similar blimp while the tourists can do whatever they wished.

The insides of the blimp was bigger than it looked from the outside, with multiple floors that truly made it a cruise ship in the sky. The floors were covered in a lush red carpet, the 'ground' floor, so to speak, was the dining area and kitchen, where the tourists and contestants alike can enjoy a nice meal during their trip. The contestants are also allowed to volunteer for kitchen duty, both for training and showing off their personal skills.

Xander decided to go to his room and rest for a bit, but the others, too excited to rest, went to the kitchen and volunteered. There was talk that they were going to pick some of the tournament's judges up halfway, and if it was true then it was a good chance for the contestants to show them what they were capable of even before the tournament itself, maybe even get on their good side.

Xander wasn't like that though, he personally thought that those who try to get close to the judges are just not confident in their own abilities and should just go home.

______________________

Xander woke up that night feeling a bit restless, guess the excitement of being part of such a tournament was finally getting to him. Luckily the kitchen was open for contestants, as long as they show their badges, which they received before boarding the blimp, to security.

He met a couple of guards keeping watch, but other than that, the place was dead silent, if you excluded the couple of rooms that sounded like they were made for huge beasts.

He arrived at the kitchen and was surprised to hear the faint sound of pots and pans, when he went in he found Makao working on a dish. “Can't sleep either?" he asked the otter with a small smile, crossing his arms as he leaned on the door frame.

Makao slightly jumped in surprise, but relaxed instantly once he realized that it was just Xander. “Not really, I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep, but aside from that, guess I was too excited to sleep." He heard one of the pots bubbling and went to check on it.

Xander looked over his shoulder, it was the same salmon they practiced with back at the restaurant, but this meat was almost crimson, even after being cleaned. “You trying a new recipe?"

“Yeah, I thought if I ever get the chance to work on the Seven Serve Salmon again, I'll need to be familiar with all the colored meats, so far I know how to handle the sour blue meat and I watched Regi working on the sweet yellow meat so I have a basic idea on how to handle it, this hear I believe is the hot red meat, the one that's supposed to be extremely spicy," he explained as he pulled the meat out of the boiling water. “I thought that since soaking worked before, that I try it again."

Xander tapped his chin a few times in thought. “Well you could, or you could soak it in warm water to get rid of some of the taste, and dull out the rest by glazing it in a cold tasting sauce…" he went silent as he began thinking again. “Maybe sour cream for example."

“Or maybe try yogurt." They both turned to the strange, yet familiar voice coming from the kitchen doors and found the mouse contestant from back at the inn.

Xander looked at him with half-lidded eyes. “Yogurt?... On fish?... You're serious?"

“Hey I'm just throwing ideas out there, heard that yogurt helps with spiciness." The mouse shrugged, smiling softly.

“That's only if your mouth was too hot to continue eating," Xander countered, softly smiling back.

“Maybe I can use it as an ingredient for a dipping sauce for another dish." Makao shrugged as he threw his own idea out there.

The middle-aged mouse snapped his fingers and finger-gunned pointing at the otter. “That's an idea too." He walked in and began looking around for some utensils himself. “Don't mind me, this is my first time in the tournament so I'm pretty much too excited to sleep." He then suddenly began taking off his shirt… and remained shirtless after, didn't even put on an apron. “Hope you don't mind fellas, but that's how I cook at home since I live alone. Besides it's nothing you haven't seen before."

Makao blushed softly, wondering to himself if everyone in this region is an exhibisionist of some sorts. Xander simply whistled as he noticed the mouse's build without his upper clothing.

The tight beer gut aside, the man was pretty fit, thick arms that looked like they could carry the mouse's weight if not a few pounds more, a well sculpted back that seemed to be the result of hard work from an early age. “Like what you see boys?" The mouse asked with a wide, lewd smile as he flexed his back.

'What a sight!' Xander that to himself before he shook his head softly to clear his mind and began working on the kitchen as well.

As the trio worked around together, Xander and Makao learned more about the mouse, or more precisely about Donovan Keegan. A middle-aged man in his mid thirties, was engaged to a woman before, but both agreed to stop right there and remained as friends instead, lives alone, has a family that lives in a city neighbouring Lavender and although neither Xander or Makao asked, is interested in both genders, preferring them slightly younger than himself, but not in the pedo way. He suddenly apologised about going half-naked from the waist up, he admitted that he became pretty uninhibited ever since he began living alone, but he's no exhibisionist in anyway. What amazed Xander even more is that Donovan, or Don as he prefers, taught himself how to cook, all of it from scratch.

The three of them had a blast working together, crafting recipes and trying different things, some results were delicious and heavenly, others were to never be spoken about again. All three were pretty tired by the end of it all so they decided to call it a night and went back to their rooms, but not before Don gave both human and otter a firm pat on their rears.

______________________

The next day, the blimp briefly stopped at a station to pick up some of the judges. Some of the contestants began scheming on how to get on their good side, while others were pretty confident with themselves that they didn't see a merit in getting all buddy-cuddly with the judges, and then there were the rare few that didn't care either way.

Xander's group decided against coddling up to the judges, since it first and foremost, would be an insult to the person who trained them for an entire week, if not more if you count the time they spent working for him at the restaurant.

Xander walked around the blimp, meeting with Rod near the dining area, the bull just leaving as he patted his belly. They went to the balcony and looked down to the sea and lands under them, the view from the sky like this was truly beautiful. “Beautiful day, isn't it boys?" They both turned to find a man, middle aged, wearing a suit and a top hat, his blond moustache covering most of his mouth. “Lovely weather, breathtaking scenery and quite the nice company."

“Why thank you sir," Rod said with a polite bow, his eyes turned to Xander who had that suspicious look in his eyes.

But the human replied soon after. “Charmed, sir. And you are?"

“Ah, please excuse me, the name's Fred, Frederick McAllister." He took off his top hat and gave a small bow.

“Pleasure," Xander replied flatly, still getting a bad vibe from the man. “Xander Ballard and this bull beside me is Rodrick Bannerman." Rod gave a small bow as he was introduced.

“Charming, charming. Would you boys care to join me for dinner tonight, strapping young men such as yourselves can surely put away a plate or two, yes?" He gave a wide, yet polite smile that pushed his moustache slightly upwards, the sight almost cartoonish.

Rod was about to agree, but Xander grabbed his arm tightly. “Thank you for the invite, but we don't want to take any of your undoubtedly 'precious' time." He put a sarcastic emphasis on 'precious', then dragged Rod away. “We should be on our way now, we have a lot to go through before the tournament."

'This man was bad news', he kept repeating that line in his head as he pulled Rod along, speed walking away.

____________________

Once back in the kitchen, Xander wasted no time in training his little troupe since they still had about 2 days till they reached Syrene.

All of Xander's chefs were pretty exhausted by the end of it, except of Makao who explained that his father was quite the drill sergeant, so he was used to strenuous training sessions.

The otter then turned to the prepping table which was full of food, the aftermath of their training. “Kinda feel bad for all the food here, no one to really eat it, plus it'll be too much for Rod and Benny alone."

“Which is why, we are going to serve it to the customers in the dining hall, give them an early taste of what the chefs of DD are capable of," Xander stated with a smile on his face.

The others nodded and picked up the dishes while Xander went out to speak with one of the blimp's employees about serving their food. They got the OK and walked out with their creations, the present customers waited in anticipation. Once the dishes were placed in front of them they instantly began digging in, their faces splitting into wide, blissful smiles after a couple of bites, which boosted Xander and co's confidence.

Makao noticed one of the patrons sitting alone, so he decided to give him something as to not feel left out, he prepared the same dish he did when they first started training all the way back at the restaurant, grabbing a miniature dish full of fish pieces and went over.

The customer in question was a human, he had crimson red hair and what looked like a chef's outfit, his hair was smoothed down to one side and glimmering with hair gel. He was sitting with one leg over his thigh, observing the room, turning his head just as Makao with his small plate. He gave the otter a look over before his eyes set on the small pieces of fish. “And this is?"

The otter just offered a smile. “You just looked so down and alone, so I thought some food might cheer you up." The others just stood in their respective places as they watched the otter trying to impress one of the customers.

The man took on piece of fish in one hand and took the smallest nibble possible, more like rolling it around on his tongue instead of chewing… only to spit out like a rotten morsel, which surprised Xander and the other chefs of DD.

And to add salt to injury, softly flung the remaining piece right at Makao, hitting him in the chest and getting sauce all over his uniform's chest area. The man just scoffed in both disgust and arrogance. “You should give up while you still have the chance, you'll only be embarrassing yourself."

Makao just stood there, still shocked that someone hated his cooking that much that he wasn't able to speak for a while. The others however didn't have that problem. “What the freaking hell, asshole?!" Will stood beside the otter with a scowl on his face, baring his fangs slightly.

“No reason, I just don't eat the commoner's food," the man stated in a matter-of-fact fashion, like his reply was a common answer instead of a downright insult.

Xander walked up to them and gave the wolf a pat on his shoulder, getting his attention and shaking his head. “That's enough Will."

“I know boss, but if he didn't like it he didn't have to be such a snob about it," Will replied as Louie came closer, one hand behind his back as the palm began glowing slightly.

“Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" They all turned to a effeminate male voice, finding a rabbit wearing what could only be described as posh clothing. He took a quick glance to the chefs, the half empty plate, the poor disregarded piece, then finally to the man sitting on the table. “Oh dear me, again?"

Will wasn't able to keep quiet, however, pointing accusingly at the sitting human. “This snobbish ass, judged my friend's cooking as bad when he barely ate anything of it." He got a small backhand to the abdomen from Xander to shut him up.

The rabbit nodded softly. “I see. How about I be the better judge here, hmm?" He asked as he walked up to the table. “Hmm… the dish has a nice setting to it, pretty good on the eyes." Then picked up a small eating knife, cut a slightly bigger piece than the human took and put it in his mouth, chewing it properly before swallowing. “Oh dear me. How could this be horrible?"

His reply didn't sit well with Will and the others, as he was literally about to lunge at the rabbit, only to be stopped by Xander, while Louie stood closeby, as embers began dancing in his palm.

While Makao stood aside, tears welling up in his eyes, as he silently wondered why he bothered joining the tournament if he wasn't worthy.