Chef in the Apocalypse

Colin stared at his shield in surprise, then at his new body which seemed to hold double his original power. He looked at his gear, which seemed to be 5 sizes too big for him, making him look like a scarecrow that had been fitted out with warrior clothes.

He inwardly cursed, appalled at his new aesthetic. However, he soon got over it, musing to himself that he would rather be like this than be dead, but only marginally.

Jayce used this opportunity to gather his party members, giving them a stern warning. "This is my new skill, Dinner Rush. It gives us a 100% stat boost for 30 minutes."

At these words, the party’s eyes widened. "That’s OP!" Amber said, her tone laced with disbelief.

Before the group could continue to praise the skill, Jayce quickly spoke over the top of them with authority, his hoarse voice relaying a sense of urgency. "We only have 30 minutes until it ends. Upon which, we will essentially be unable to move."

At these words Colin nodded, "So we got 30 minutes to take down this muppet? Shouldn’t be too difficult now that we’ve powered up."

Jayce spoke up "I’m not sure how we take this thing down. Ideally i’d like to take care of the heads one by one, but I’m worried that just like in Hercules the Hydra’s heads will spawn two for every one that we cut off."

Ben tilted his head, "But we have a fire mage, can’t we just do what Hercules did to defeat it?" he asked questioningly.

Jayce’s eyes widened, "Ben, what did he do to defeat the Hydra?" he asked with desperation. He had been stuck on this point for a while, but could not remember the whole story.

Startled, Ben replied, "He cauterized the wounds after chopping each of the heads off. That way the Hydra couldn’t regenerate anymore heads."

"Perfect!" The tale suddenly began to come back to him after Ben’s prompting, giving him a wave of hope. Yet when he turned his head and saw the pissed off Hydra, his expectations dropped a little. The only sword they had on hand was Ben’s, yet the poor bastard did not have a decent enough weapon for his level.

It was then that he suddenly remembered Paul’s sword, which he had reclaimed after he had defeated the Mantis Boss monster. He turned to Ben, a serious expression on his face as he retrieved the Epic sword out of his Inventory.

"Take it. Paul would have wanted you to have it." Jayce said solemnly, before turning back around to the monster. It looked like it had finished having its fit of pain and was ready to take out its anger on their party.

Ben held the sword in his hands with deep emotion. His best friend and rival within the party had always boasted about this sword, using it to piss him off whenever they would get into a quarrel. His hand clasped around the handle, accepting it wholeheartedly. "This is for you brother." he muttered under his breath.

"Amber, follow Ben and do your best to cauterize the wound after he lops off the head. Everyone else, it’s our job to distract the other heads while those two do the real damage." Jayce spoke his orders, holding the Bloodfang Dagger in his hand tightly.

"Yes Leader!" The group said in unison, their faces showing grit and determination.

"Ah, I almost forgot." Jayce brought up his skill menu once more and hovered over a skill before selecting it casually.

[Skill Domain has been activated]

Dark flames, flickering with an otherworldly intensity, erupted around Jayce like an inferno straight from the depths of hell. The raging fires spread outward in a 300-meter radius, bathing the entire battlefield in their ominous glow.

Colin and the rest of the party, already elevated to near-superhuman levels by Dinner Rush, let out a collective, pained roar as a newfound power coursed through them. Their bodies, previously pushed to their limits, were now filled with an even greater reservoir of strength. It was as though the very essence of their beings had been stoked by the malevolent flames of Jayce’s Domain.

Jayce was taken aback. He had never fathomed that his Domain skill, employed almost as an afterthought, could manifest with such terrifying might. The energy swirling around him was like an unstoppable force, a dark aura that had transcended the realms of mortals.

His Domain skill was an upgraded version of his Executive Chef skill, which meant that it passively gave his faction members his temporary boosts. Thinking along these lines, his eyes widened in realization. "I-Isn’t that just too ridiculous?" he muttered in shock.

Both his Domain skill and Dinner rush abilities were extremely powerful by themselves, this was proven due to them both being labeled as unique skills. However, when used together...

Dinner Rush not only doubled his base stats, it also doubled his permanent and temporary boosts. This meant that once he enabled his Domain, the party would receive his doubled permanent and temporary boosts, on top of the initial boost.

Jayce’s brain fumbled as he tried to understand the logic that was hidden underneath the synergy of these two skills. He quickly analyzed Colin and confirmed that his temporary boosts were higher than his own by 50%.

He decided to throw it to the back of his mind for another time, as there were bigger fish to fry, or in this case, snakes. "Ready?" Jayce called out in a hoarse voice, ignoring the questioning stares that were thrown his way once again.

"Yes Leader!" Yet again the group replied, feeling more invigorated than before.

With that, Colin, Jayce, Jackie and Zane all went to the left while Ben and Amber ran to the right. Colin yelled at the top of his lungs, letting out an almighty taunt which drew the attention of all eight of the Hydra’s heads. Jackie did her best to send probing attacks, to distract at least one of the heads so that Ben and Amber would have a better chance of completing their mission.

To her’s and Jayce’s surprise, the probing attacks actually pierced the tough leathery skin of the snake, something that was impossible not even 5 minutes ago. "It’s weakened!" Jayce yelled in elation. He had forgotten that his Domain skill also affected enemy monsters within the 300 meter radius.

While the attacks landed, they did not do any real damage to the behemoth Hydra. It sent the first head down, its mouth filling up with red flames, ready to burn them to a crisp.

Colin produced his large shield, ready to take on the torrent of flames once again, however, Jackie had other ideas. Weaving her hands together, she conjured a giant Ice lance, similar to the one that pierced the High Troll, yet much more powerful.

With a few hand gestures, she sent the large Icicle flying towards the open mouth of the flame head of the Hydra. It pierced through its mouth and traveled out through the back of its head, causing blood and flesh to be sprayed about.

"Holy shit!" Colin exclaimed, his mouth wide open in shock. "Nice one baby!" he complimented, sending a wink to his wife with a proud look. She looked at him, her eyes traveling up and down his body, before huffing in disgust.

Colin’s mouth opened wide, feeling hurt deep inside. ’Damn it! I hope I get my muscles back soon.’ he cried inwardly

Yet it seemed that it was too early to celebrate. One of the heads on the opposite side floated over and opened its mouth towards the fallen flame head. Its skin was a pale white color, a stark contrast to the almost black scales of the other heads.

It breathed a gentle light onto the fallen head, which rained down like sparkles. Jayce saw the wounds on the downed snake head begin to heal instantly, causing the hairs on his neck to stand up.

"Kill that one first!" He yelled out, trying not to draw attention to Ben and Amber.