Chef in the Apocalypse

Heath and Lianna looked at each other, before turning their gazes back to Jayce with confusion. "W-What do you mean? I was healing Macie." Lianna replied, feeling rather indignant.

"Don’t you know what kind of state you’re in? You’re in no condition to be healing anyone right now." Jayce’s face was stern, his brows furrowed in annoyance.

"I-I was just trying to help." Lianna stammered, her eyes beginning to tear up in frustration.

"Go with Heath and Macie to where the injured are being kept." Jayce turned to Heath and continued, "Do not let her heal anyone while she is there, that is an order." Then after receiving a reluctant nod from Heath, he turned around and left, jumping over the city walls with ease.

Lianna watched Jayce leave, a crestfallen expression on her face. She had done her very best, saved countless lives throughout the siege against the Beast Tide. The only thing keeping her from falling over from exhaustion was her promise to become a capable woman that Jayce could rely on.

Yet instead of receiving praise from the man that she admired and loved, all she received was admonishing? The build up of exhaustion racked her body as she bent over and began to sob, her tears joining the blood that had dyed the ramparts.

In the next moment she fell asleep, crying into her knees like a frail girl who had had her heart broken. Heath watched the scene and let out a sigh, being an experienced man he could understand the situation from both sides. Yet there was nothing he could do for now.

He got to his feet, hoisting his unconscious wife up into a princess carry before walking over to Lianna who was snoring softly with tears on her face. He bent down and gently placed her over his shoulder in a fireman carry before heading off to the stairs.

Jayce’s mind was in turmoil as he dropped from the top of the city walls and landed onto the plains below. How could she be so stupid? To push herself beyond exhaustion, risking her life recklessly and unnecessarily in such a situation.

He had just lost Paul right in front of his eyes due to his inattentiveness, there was no way that he would let the same thing happen to anyone else close to him. Especially Lianna, who he held... certain feelings towards.

Jayce could tell that Lianna had been repeatedly using her healing spells to completely restore people who were injured. He did not want to sound ruthless, but all she needed to do was heal someone enough that they would not immediately die from their wounds. The increased healing abilities from their vitality would do the rest.

Not only was this not efficient, they also only had one healer. It was highly likely that some people in the infirmary would be dying unnecessarily due to how Lianna had spent her mana this time around.

For example, with Lianna’s mana and stamina she should have the capability to marginally heal upwards of 200 people, provided they were not on the brink of death. However, if she were to fully heal these people instead, she’d only be able to heal 40.

Yet he would keep this information to himself, vowing to never tell her that her inexperience could have possibly killed more people than she had saved. But what truly made him angry was how little regard she had for her own safety throughout the whole ordeal.

It was one thing providing healing from a well guarded position, like a makeshift infirmary, but she was on the front lines herself with no escort. What would have happened if one of the bosses who had stormed the walls killed her in passing? What if she was overrun by those monsters who scaled the wall in droves?

Jayce’s mind kept circling over those two words; mana poisoning. A horrible disease that affected those who were constantly running out of mana within a short period of time. Once afflicted with mana poisoning, the player would no longer be able to regenerate mana, becoming a death sentence for those in the apocalypse.

However, remembering the crestfallen face of Lianna after he had admonished her, Jayce felt a little guilty. He admitted that it was partly his fault, not giving out clear and concise instructions to his faction other than splitting them into melee and ranged units.

As he landed on the plains beneath the city walls, he resolved himself to apologize once he won the war. After all, life was too short to hold grudges, who knew which day would be the last one in the Apocalypse.

Jayce kicked off the ground with great force, sending up a dust cloud as he ran at great speeds through the plains. Within moments he had crossed the 200 meter flags, thanks to a singular path free of monster corpses. A small smile reached the edge of his lips, having an idea who could have cleared such a path.

By the 400 meter mark, he had yet to see any monsters that were alive, which suited him just fine. He could hear some sounds of fighting up ahead, so he continued forward, picking up his speed.

It was then that he saw an object in the distance, getting bigger and bigger as if it were thrown at him. He quickly stopped in place to try and get a better look, summoning his Bloodfang dagger and preparing to strike in case.

Recognition flashed into his eyes as he saw a giant muscled man heading straight for him, doubled over as if he had just received an enormous attack. "Colin?" Jayce muttered, recalling the dagger and bracing himself to catch his friend.

A sudden sound of impact resounded over the battlefield as Jayce caught the flying guardian, the weight of the large man causing his feet to drag over 20 meters before he could kill the momentum.

Colin was now in Jayce’s arms, held in a princess carry. Colin looked at Jayce with confusion for a moment before responding, "Hey Leader, you came just in time."

Jayce blinked a few times, feeling a little ridiculous that Colin had not tried to get down immediately. He quickly dropped the giant man on the ground and dusted his hands, "What sent you flying?" he asked nonchalantly.

Colin got to his feet, not mentioning anything about the earlier situation. "Ahem. I think you should probably see for yourself." he said, moving forward and leading the way.

Jayce followed, interested at what monster could possibly send Colin flying so fast.