Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce made his way to the giant tree in the middle of the town. Today was the day when they were going to explore the depths of the tree in order to find Magicite stones. If there were none, then they would just have to look elsewhere.

Originally he would have been fine if they had found regular Magicite stones, but now with his lack of mana, he wasn’t confident in creating them anymore. Perhaps he would still be able to transfer mana from magical objects, but something told him to prepare for the worst case scenario.

As he walked into the entrance of the tree he saw the usual crowd of townsfolk in the lobby. This place acted as a sort of trading hub for the town, where people would trade food, services and even just come to have a chat.

Usually he would just breeze past with only a few sparing him a look or shouting hello, yet today something seemed different. At first only a few people turned around, but that number began to increase.

People straight up stopped what they were doing in order to put their full attention on Jayce as he walked past. It was as if he was an extra terrestrial the way these townsfolk were gawking at him.

Feeling largely uncomfortable, he subconsciously moved faster, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. By the time he got the end of the lobby, he was almost sprinting. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Everyone in the room had already stopped what they were doing, their eyes focused on him as he disappeared through the doors.

"Wasn’t that the Leader’s Chef friend?" A woman asked, feeling her face flush for some reason.

"I-I think so. What happened to him, was he always that... Breathtaking?" A woman in her mid-twenties couldn’t help but fan her face in response.

The man beside her also seemed to be a little lost, yet in the next moment he snapped out of it. "What the hell babe? You’re pregnant with my child, why are you looking at other men?"

The pregnant woman scowled, "I saw you checking him out too! Don’t tell me that you also like men?"

Jayce finally sighed in relief after leaving the room, unaware of the fights he had started in the lobby. This room was the one where he had killed the Dryad that had been possessing Leah.

The room which had been half set on fire looked like it had repaired itself pretty well, returning to the pristine ecosystem it was in the beginning.

Tony heard the doors opening and walked down the stairs into the room, his eyes falling upon Jayce.

"Master Jayce, good mor—" Tony’s jaw dropped, almost unhinging from the impact.

"Damn it, not you too." Jayce groaned, tired of being ogled. He was wearing his tier 4 Chef’s equipment like usual, so there should be no real tangible difference in his appearance. So why was everyone looking at him like he was a piece of meat?

The older man quickly shifted gears, seeing the annoyance on Jayce’s face.

"Ahem. I meant to say good morning, the ladies will be down shortly." Returning to his professional self, Tony kept his thoughts to himself, trying not to stare for too long.

His mind was in turmoil. He had just seen Jayce last night, yet the difference was like night and day. It was hard to put it into words, but it was like he was giving off a divine aura, something that was untouchable.

It almost felt like he was a god, walking among mortals.

Just as he was having these thoughts the sound of footsteps rang in his ear, signaling the arrival of the two sisters. Jayce heard the noise and inwardly prepared himself for the comments and stares.

Lianna and Leah appeared, garbed in their class equipment. Lianna locked gazes with him, letting out a big smile, before a moment of shock flashed across her features. Yet in the next moment it turned into one of appreciation and excitement.

Leah greeted him as usual, yet her face suddenly changed once she laid eyes on him. Shock, confusion, but then weirdly enough it turned into joy. She all but skipped down the stairs, heading towards Jayce with a spring in her step.

Much to Jayce’s confusion, she leaned in and gave him a hug and whispered in his ear. "So you’ve managed to comprehend a Law?"

Now it was Jayce’s turn to be shocked. Why did Leah know about laws? Did Lianna also know? Was that why her face showed a look of appreciation?

"Let’s talk about it after we return." Leah had felt Jayce’s body tense up at the mention of the word Law, therefore she could tell that he knew what she was talking about. After getting confirmation, she decided the discussion could wait.

However, Jayce did not think that way. His gaze shifted between Leah and Lianna, going through theories in his mind. He had never mentioned the word before, which meant they would have learned it on their own.

There was no way that they had developed internal Qi, otherwise Lianna definitely would have mentioned something to him. That meant that there was something external that had exposed them to laws.

After a few moments of contemplation he felt as if a spark had entered his body, bringing up one word in his brain... Dryads.

He had already theorized last night that Dryad’s could have grasped the law of nature, thus granting them dominion over those who used the element. Considering both Lianna and Leah had been possessed by a Dryad, did that mean they had been exposed to Law’s this way?

To be sure, Jayce looked at Leah and whispered "Dryad?"

Leah nodded, not expanding. However, this was enough for Jayce to put the remaining pieces together. Due to Leah being possessed by the Dryad for a long period of time, it was likely that she was able to gain some inspiration, learning what the law was. But he doubted that she was able to comprehend it just yet.

Lianna on the other hand had only been possessed for a few hours, therefore the odds of her gaining anything were close to nil.

Eventually, Jayce agreed with Leah, deciding to postpone their discussion until after they got back from their trip. He did not want to waste anymore time, after all they had already waited two weeks for Leah to recover.