Luckily, the storm abated towards the end of the flight.
“What will y’all be doing?” Dev asked Mr. Palta and Mr. Serenata, “I can’t imagine that they’ll have you taking part in the camp.”
“No, we’ll be managing the islands,” Mr. Serenata said. “If we’re still here in a couple of weeks, one of us will likely be reassigned, while the other is left in charge of making sure you kids get back home.”
They dismounted the plane, and were shepherded onto buses to go to the training location. As they did, the two officials said their goodbyes.
“Have fun, I know you’ll do great!” Mr. Serenata said.
“This shouldn’t be dangerous,” Mr. Palta said. “I’ve seen the preparations, if anything, you’re at risk of getting booted early because the devices are too sensitive.”
They all nodded at that and got on the bus.
The bus ride was only around fifteen minutes, and when they arrived, it was to a forested area where they were all ordered off the bus by a new person in armor.
“Everyone needs to get off the bus and follow me to your camping area!”
They followed him off the bus and he continued to talk to them along the way.
“I am a member of the Imperial Wanderers, and I have been reassigned to be your guide for this training camp. As long as you are here, you will be learning from me. If you have any problems, you come to me. I will assist you to the best of my ability. Everyone split up, two people to a tent.
“You have ten minutes to get your stuff unloaded, then you need to be out here and ready to help prepare dinner.”
The campsite was a clearing in the forest with twenty tents in it. Looking around, Dev could see several other campsites nearby.
He walked over to a nearby tent, where he was joined by a boy he vaguely recognized from the plane.
“Hi, I’m Dev,” he said, reaching out his hand.
“Ha! I’m Dave!” The boy answered amiably, reaching out and taking his hand for a quick handshake.
They both ducked into the tent.
“You care what side you take, Dev?” Dave asked.
“Nope. Want to flip a coin?”
“You gotta coin?”
“No, you?”
“How about I just take the left side?” Dave said with a laugh.
They set down their bags and Dave asked, “Hey, you were one of those people helping out on the plane, right?”
“Yeah,” Dev said, slightly uncomfortable at being called out for it.
“Thanks for that. Somebody else helped me, but I could feel your axiom.”
“No problem.”
“We should probably get outside. Wouldn't want chief outside to think we’re slacking.”
“Good point. Chief?”
“He’s supposed to lead us,” Dave said. “It’s good enough for now.”
They ducked back out of their tent and made their way to where the leader was standing with a few of the other campers. Slowly everyone else joined them, surprising Dev when there weren’t any stragglers at the end of the allotted time. I guess the people here really are committed to doing this.
“Campers, my name is Warren. As I said previously, I will be your guide for the next three days as we prepare you for the Flying Islands. This will not be an easy time for you. The islands are designed to test applicants in a variety of environments made to simulate being on different planets. But more on that later! For now, it is time for dinner.”
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Saying so, he pulled a deer carcass out of seemingly nowhere. Several campers stumbled backward at the sudden body.
“Was that a spatial ring?” one of the campers he didn’t recognize asked.
“Yes, the Imperial Wanderers have relatively easy access to spatial rings. Something to think about if you ever want to join. But anyway, we’re going to start with me teaching you how to field dress this deer. Most of you will not end up hunting anything of this size any time soon, but it will be good practice. Actually, real quick, could we go around and introduce ourselves?”
They did so, everyone stating their name as Warren pointed at them.
“Okay, now that that’s done, back to cooking! First, you’ll want to make sure the deer or other animal you wish to dress is dead. They tend to take offense to you trying to dress them while they're still alive,” he joked. “Of course, you don’t need to worry about that with this one.”
Warren then pulled out a knife and got to work on the field dressing, removing first the genitals, then the guts, explaining along the way. Several campers gagged at that, and Dev was left feeling rather uncomfortable at the site.
“Next, you’ll want to hang it upside down, so the blood drains properly. While it’s hanging, we’ll go ahead and remove the head and skin.”
He demonstrated once again, cutting along the legs and slipping the skin off, before cutting through the neck to remove the head.
“The day after tomorrow, I’ll teach you how to tan the hide, but for now, I’ll be placing it back in storage.”
He did so, then began his instruction on how to butcher the deer.
“You’ll want to start by disassembling the deer, first cutting off the front legs around the shoulder joints. Now, this is all the meat you’ll likely be able to use from a single carcass right here,” he said matter of factly, “But we will be continuing, because this is our dinner, and this information may help you in the future when you need to provide for large numbers or have access to food preservation.”
He continued the demonstration, deboning the deer and eventually ending up with a massive pile of venison.
“Next, we’re going to trim some of the fat from the meat. I will be requiring each of you to participate in trimming the fat, as we have enough pieces for practice.”
Warren started handing out cuts of meat with knives, and demonstrated how to cut the fat away before letting them try. Suddenly, Dev heard another boy cry out, having accidentally sliced into his thumb.
Warren was over there in a flash, and a deep, sage-green light poured out of his hands, erasing the wound.
“And that is why I am okay with letting you all use knives. You are not in danger with me around.”
“Sir, was that a life concept?” one of the girls asked, wide-eyed.
“First, my name is Warren, not sir. Second, yes, it is a low second-tier life concept that allows me to easily heal any of you due to the tier difference. Lucky you. Now, get back to work, I want to have dinner going by nightfall.”
Dev went back to preparing his deer. He thought that he’d done a passable job with it, but was giving it a one-over.
“Okay everyone, who here has experience cooking?”
Dev put his hand up, along with about half the class.
“Okay, that experience will be helpful, but it’s not everything. We’re going to be cooking with primitive cookware tonight, because you never know what you’ll have available. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be cooking with the utensils you’ll be given for the islands.”
Saying so, he got out several slabs of rock and some wood, showing them how to build a fire.
“There are many ways to cook when your resources are limited. Tonight, we are going to use hot stone cooking, but we’ll also work on some spit roasting and hot rock boiling in the next couple of days.”
After the fire got going, he set up the slabs of stone over it and began the demonstration, plopping down a venison steak.
“Now, luckily for you, I have decided to provide spices for the steaks tonight. You will not be so lucky tomorrow.”
Saying so, he got out a collection of herbs which he quickly ground and diced into a paste that he brushed over the steak.
While the fire heated the stone, he guided them all through making the seasoning.
“Okay, now that the table is hot, it's time for a quick grilling session.”
He put the venison on the hot section.
“Now, I am going to cook the steak to medium rare, which is my preference. You will be allowed to cook your steak to whatever degree you want, though I’d recommend higher degrees of cooking out in the field when you can’t identify the healthiness of the animal.”
He quickly went through the process, which was fairly similar to pan searing.
“Now, the steak is ready to eat,” Warren said, bringing out an aluminum plate to place the steak on.
“Now, it’s time for you to begin cooking. Come on, we can do ten people at a time with this rock. People who want their steaks more well done, place your steaks closer to the outside for reduced heat.”
After Warren finished guiding everyone through, he gave everyone permission to dig in. The food wasn’t the greatest Dev had ever eaten, but it certainly beat his usual expectations for camp food.
After the meal, Warren taught them safe food waste disposal before sending them to their tents for an early morning.
Laying in bed, Dev whispered, “Warren seems to be a cool dude.”
“Yeah, I think he'll be able to teach us well,” Dave answered.
“Yeah.”
They lay in silence for a while before both getting to sleep.