Chef in the Apocalypse

By the time the trio had finished enhancing the remaining number of Magicite stones, the sun had begun to disappear over the horizon. The three were currently drenched in sweat, exhausted from using all of their mana reserves.

Jayce looked at the pile of Magic Stones which were shining with a blue hue, feeling a sense of accomplishment in his heart. Having used his Enhancement and Mana Affinity abilities consistently, he was happy to see the notifications that popped up in front of him.

[Congratulations, skill Enhancement has leveled up to lvl. 5]

[Congratulations, skill Mana Affinity has leveled up to lvl. 8]

He got up from the ground, patting the dust from his legs and behind and stretching his stiff muscles. He turned to the two women and produced a soft smile, "Great work, let’s go have a meal before we head back to Bastion."

Jackie and Amber merely nodded, too tired to respond. Jayce rounded up his party and the others before setting up his cooking equipment near the not yet assembled teleportation array. Before long there was a fire raging and the rhythmic sounds of Jayce’s knife work sounded.

Agni, Tai and the rest of their factions sat around chatting, eager for their meal. Over the past week they had enjoyed Jayce’s meals, therefore after finding out that they would have to go back to their boring diet, they despaired. That’s why they vowed to eat their fill tonight.

Throughout their week-long journey, Jayce had learned more about the two supporters. This allowed him to get a gauge of their strength, as well as their personalities. Agni was an ambitious man, however he was like this because he wanted to be able to provide for his family and friends.

Tai was a little more complicated. He was intelligent on the border of shrewd, able to make use of anything and anyone in order to survive any situation. Yet this was only when it came to outsiders. When it came to those he had accepted as a friend, his whole personality seemed to change.

His ruthlessness disappeared and he actually began to laugh and joke, although the jokes he told were quite lame. Yet for some reason the fact that they were so lame and cheesy actually made everyone laugh.

Jayce reaffirmed his decision to let these two supporters into the Human Alliance, after all they seemed like decent people. They were also both in the top 5 on the supporters list, not that he knew what the ranking system was to begin with.

Before long he handed out bowls of hot curry and coconut rice. The meat was leftover from a Boar monster they had killed earlier which had weighed at least a tonne. The group took their bowls with a sense of urgency, their stomachs growling in anticipation.

There was plenty of food for everyone to have a few servings. Jayce himself had felt starving after his rigorous use of mana throughout the whole afternoon, so he made sure to cook additional. He also knew this would be the last time they would see their new friends for a while.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Jayce packed up his cooking equipment neatly and placed it into his inventory, making sure to clean them properly beforehand. He sat back in contentment, rubbing the enlarged stomach with satisfaction.

It was then that Agni called out to him, his face looking a little troubled. "Jayce. How can I– We become stronger?" he asked eventually.

Jayce’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before smiling. It was good that Agni had set aside his pride and asked him directly, it meant that he valued the strength and wellbeing of his faction more than he did his pride.

He turned to his party briefly, before asking Agni, "Have any of you got your class upgrade quest yet?"

Agni and Tai looked around with confusion, not expecting the question. "No, I didn’t know there was one?" Tai responded, feeling a little embarrassed. However he was at least thankful that Agni also did not know.

Jayce responded with a dry chuckle, he had expected this would be the case. After all, he was the only one with the memories from his past life. "Group yourselves into your classes, Mages, Archers, Guardians, swordsmen." He said, standing up in one fluid motion.

After a moment of silence, everyone began to separate into groups just as Jayce had directed. Like he had thought, there were a lot more swordsmen then the other classes, followed by mages which were about half the number of swordsmen.

This was only true for Agni’s faction, as Tai’s faction were completely made up of Archers and Assassins. Jayce thought for a moment before pointing at someone in the front of the line and asking, "Why did you pick the swordsmen class?"

The young man was a little startled, looking behind him to make sure that Jayce was talking to him. When he finally realized he was being spoken to, he answered in a small voice, "I’m sorry, W-What do you mean pick?"

Jayce’s eyes narrowed, before he turned his gaze began to wander over those present. Looks of genuine confusion were painted on their faces as they awaited his response. He looked over his shoulder to see the same faces mirrored on his own party members.

Colin leant forward and whispered, "We never got a choice at what class to pick Leader. We were all assigned our classes." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

It felt as if a series of bombs had gone off in Jayce’s head, forcing his mind to blank for a moment. He shook his head briefly, before clearing his throat, "Ahem. Nevermind. Colin, Zane, Amber, Ben, please go and educate your class members."

"Yes Leader." Everyone responded, choosing to ignore their leaders’ weird words and actions.

Jayce held his chin, deep in thought as his party members went forward and began to teach the members of Agni and Tai’s factions. The revelation that no one in this life had been given a choice of which class to pick once the cataclysm descended was a huge bombshell.

’Was it because they had already been assigned a class in my previous life?’ he mused inwardly. But so many things had already changed from his past life, so what would be the reason for this to happen?

He originally thought that it was only himself who had not had an option to choose his class. After all, the idea was so ingrained into his head from before he regressed that he hadn’t even thought about nor even mentioned it until now.

Perhaps this could be related to his regression, and if that were the case what other effects could it have had on this world? Jayce had no idea, feeling at a loss with the new information that he’d just been given.

Before long, the party had taught the relevant information to the others. If they were to unlock their class upgrade quests it would allow them to grow a lot stronger in a short period of time, making them filled with fighting spirit once they heard the news.

Jayce, who was still deep in thought suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, startling him for a moment. He looked over and saw Heath who was staring at him with stern eyes, "It’s getting late, time to go." He said, his overprotective husband side was on display for all to see.

"Yeah, it’s time to go." Jayce said, lacking his usual calmness.