Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce began to mine the Mana Stones within the deposit, choosing only the Low and Mid-tier stones to take with him. With his strength and the sharp Bloodfang Dagger, it was rather easy to mine the stones, yet it was far from efficient.

In his previous life when Mana Stones were first discovered, thousands of people were commissioned to mine the deposits. Even then it took almost a full two years for the mine to be depleted with so many workers.

There was no way that he was going to spend his life mining this deposit, which was why he was targeting enough Mana Stones in order to create a few teleportation arrays. In the worst case scenario, he could just teleport back here in order to mine some more in the future.

Jayce spend the next few hours cherry picking Mana Stones within the mine, leaving any that looked like they would cause him trouble removing. Soon enough, he felt as if there were enough in his inventory to accomplish his goals.

Walking out of the hole he had created, Jayce dusted himself off, feeling as if he had taken a trip down a chimney. There was a river and some lopped trees that were calling his name once they returned to the surface.

Unfortunately for him who had already completed his goals for this trip, the two ladies were still deep in meditation with Tony pacing back and forth worriedly. Jayce stifled a laugh, finding Tony’s concerned parent face to be rather amusing.

"Pacing isn’t going to make their enlightenment go any faster." Jayce chuckled.

The well-groomed man turned to Jayce and let out a worried smile. "Master Jayce. I don’t quite understand what you mean by enlightenment, are they in any danger?"

Jayce shook his head, "Maybe I should have explained it to you a little better. My bad."

After saying so, Jayce pulled out his portable cooking bench and utensils. The ease of which he did so showed just how often he had done such things before.

"Let’s have a meal, I find it easier to chat after eating." Jayce said with a smile.

At the prospect of having one of his meals, Tony’s worry seemed to subside a little. Jayce also seemed to not be anxious, therefore they probably wouldn’t be in any trouble.

Jayce began to wash some rice before flicking his fingers at the fireplace he’d just set up. The flames danced on the wood, looking much milder than his earlier display of power.

"What are your thoughts on the system?" Seemingly out of nowhere, Jayce asked this question, causing Tony to raise his eyebrow in response. He tried to gauge the Chef’s facial expression, yet he was busy getting ready to cook.

"I haven’t really thought about it." He scratched his head, trying to understand what Jayce was getting at. Seeing that Jayce had yet to elaborate, he added on, "I guess the system is something good, because it gives us the strength to survive against those monsters."

Jayce nodded, not stopping his work throughout. He popped the washed rice into the pot of now boiling water, before his serious gaze met Tony’s. "What would you do if your system disappeared tomorrow?"

"Ah..." Tony yet again was not expecting such a question. Why would the system disappear overnight? Yet in the next moment he shivered unconsciously. The system had appeared overnight, what would stop it from disappearing in the same manner?

"What are you trying to say?"

Jayce shrugged, "I guess all I’m trying to say is... Do you really think the system is your own strength? Is it something that you can rely on at the end of the day?"

"My own strength..." Tony muttered, his face turning into one of deep thought.

"While at first the system seems like something we were granted because of the Apocalypse, I feel that it doesn’t belong to humanity, nor is it something that is permanent." Jayce said, continuing his cooking as if he hadn’t just dropped some bombshells on Tony’s sanity.

He continued, "We no longer have technology, but were granted the system. If we lose the system then we’ll just be in the same position as we were in the beginning."

"I’ve also felt that the system is too rigid, it almost seems as if it is limiting our growth through one way or another. Take the class upgrades for example, why were there hidden objectives one must complete before unlocking the quest?"

Jayce’s words showered down on Tony, causing his frown to deepen in response. He had never thought of these things, merely accepting the system as its own entity that had allowed humanity to grow strong.

"Not only that, why are we limited to classes and elements? While it could be chalked up to elemental affinity, I do not think so. As a non-combat class, I’ve managed to learn two types of elements, Fire and Life."

"While it may seem as if we are being given power, we are actually being limited by what the system offers us. Why should we trust and rely on something that is doing its best to hold us back?"

Tony was flabbergasted, the words resonated with him intensely as if they were calling out to his soul. Yet he was lost, if they could not rely on the system, then how could they get stronger?

"Then can we get stronger on our own without the system?"

"Hehe. This is why I like you Tony, you always ask the right questions." Jayce flashed him a smile.

He continued, placing his knife down. "This is what I’ve been doing in the forest for the past couple of weeks, working on a way to get stronger without the system. Using it as a guideline to try other things independently."

"And did you come up with anything?" Tony gulped, feeling that his mouth was a little dry.

Jayce laughed merrily. He opened his arms wide and gestured to the surroundings, "You just witnessed it."