Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce felt his consciousness begin to blur as he stared at the burning pile of vines which was still grasped tightly in his hands. He tried to fight the inevitable exhaustion that invaded his body, wanting to check on Lianna, however there was nothing that he could do.

His eyes slowly rolled into the back of his head and he lost consciousness. His ultimate skill Dinner Rush was amazingly powerful, however in order to keep the balance, there must be a price. He would now be as vulnerable as a newborn kitten for the next 24 hours.

A few hours later, Lianna began to stir from her sleepy state. Her head pounded as if she had woken up with a nuclear level hangover, and her eyes were stuffy as if she had been crying for a long time. She slowly sat up, rubbing at her sore eyes and moving her stiff muscles.

As she stretched, she noticed a breeze which gave her goosebumps and caused an involuntary shiver to wrack her body. It was then that she noticed the state of her clothes, shocking her greatly. "W-What happened?" she asked, trying to put some of the pieces together.

She looked around hazily, trying to find any landmark that she could tie into her memories, however the dimly lit cavern seemed foreign to her. It was then that she suddenly spotted Jayce who was laying behind her.

"Kyaa!" She jumped up in fright, covering her bra and panties which were now exposed thanks to her tattered robe.

However, she quickly noticed that there was something wrong. Jayce had no reaction to her girly scream, he was simply unmoving, covered in blood and scorch marks. A feeling of pure panic shot through her body, forcing her into action.

She quickly ran over, not caring about the state of her clothes. "Please be okay, please be okay." she murmured, feeling her sore eyes begin to once again tear up.

After a few tense moments Lianna sat back with relief, realizing that despite being covered in blood, none of it was Jayce’s. Now that she knew that he was fine, she got curious, wondering how many monsters he would have had to kill to become like this.

It didn’t take long for her to find out. The stench of the charred remains and blood that was splattered all over the place began to waft in her direction, forcing her to pinch her nose. Lianna decided to get up and investigate, following the nauseating smell.

Lianna approached a grotesque sight, a mound of Draconic Panther corpses that lay strewn across the ground. Their once majestic scales and fur, charred and marred, bore the scars of a deadly conflict. Some lay partially incinerated, their fiery essence snuffed out by an unknown force.

Others were more intact, their bodies pierced in vital places, a testament to a merciless onslaught. Their forms, once formidable and fierce, were now lifeless, their vibrant eyes now dull, never to open again. It was a grim testament to the fierce battle that had taken place.

She was confused. She had only ever seen Jayce fight with his dagger, which was why she didn’t understand why there were so many charred corpses. It was as if they had been struck by Amber’s Meteor skill, or something even more deadly.

Even discounting the charred corpses, she counted at least 20 Draconic Panthers, with quite a few at the same size or even larger than the one that had ambushed them in the forest. Lianna’s mouth widened in shock, ’He killed this many monsters by himself?’

"H-How?" Lianna murmured, feeling as if she had seen another side of Jayce. Whenever they fought as a party, he would take the role of the General, someone who would delegate and dictate the pace and outcome of battle.

While he did get his hands dirty every now and then, he preferred to let everyone in the party fulfill their role, merely stepping in when required. Now that she had seen what he was capable of individually, she had a newfound respect for him.

With another waft of the nauseating smell entering her nostrils, she decided to retreat, eventually finding a few caves on the other side of the cavern. Lianna walked over to Jayce, lifting him gently onto her shoulders and carrying him to one of the caves.

Jayce was around 75kg, which wasn’t light. However, she lifted him with ease thanks to her decent strength stats. After gently laying him down, she placed her hands on his chest, sending a warm current of mana into his body and healing his worn muscles.

Despite the lack of visible injuries, Dinner Rush put a lot of strain on the body. So while Jayce had made it out relatively unscathed, there was still internal damage done to his muscles and organs because of the pressure he received from the skill.

Compared to the rest of the party, Jayce could withstand more punishment thanks to being a tier 4 class already. During the process of advancing to a higher class tier, one’s body would progress to a higher level, almost as if evolving into a higher life form.

Therefore his body could better adjust to the sudden increase in strength. Unfortunately, what tier class one was would not have an impact on the Exhaustion status. Everyone would remain in the same state for 24 hours no matter what.

Thankfully for Lianna, she had not been present when Jayce activated his Dinner Rush skill, otherwise she would be in the same state as Jayce. This meant that much like last time after the Beast Tide, she would be able to take care of him.

Lianna watched Jayce’s chest rise and fall, feeling a pang of pain in her heart. ’Why am I feeling like this?’ she asked herself in confusion. It was as if she knew something in her heart, yet her brain had stowed it away.

After being deep in thought for a while, she shook her head, trying to remove the feeling. Looking down at her ruined robe, she sighed before standing up and disrobing. There was no way that she would be able to face Jayce in this sort of attire, at least in this part of their relationship.

Jayce’s eyes began to move momentarily behind his eyelids, as if he was having a dream. They flashed open in the next moment, showing the inside of a cave. He looked around in confusion as his brain tried to catch up.

It was then that he saw it, the soft and slender body of Lianna which seemed to shine in the dull lighting.

The supple skin and bouncy behind that was laid bare for his viewing, sent shocks over his tired body, almost jolting him awake. He blinked a few times, trying to piece some information together.

Then, as if his mind had finally come up with a reasonable explanation, he muttered, "Ah, it looks like I’ve died and been sent to heaven."