Chef in the Apocalypse

When Tony woke up, it felt as if someone had hit him in the jaw with a sledgehammer. He sat up slowly and looked around in confusion. The last thing he remembered was checking on Jayce who had fallen unconscious out of nowhere.

Yet the pain in his face soon became an afterthought as he smelled an amazing fragrance enter his nose.

"Oh wow, your cooking smells so good it could even raise the dead." Leah said in a playful tone, flashing a look at Tony. It seems she still hadn’t forgiven him for eating so many servings last time.

Tony ignored the jab, making his way over to the two who seemed to be having a picnic.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is you two fainting." He said, rubbing his aching jaw.

"We were just exhausted."

"We were tired."

The two answered at the same time. Tony looked at them suspiciously, not sure whether to believe their words or not. Yet he quickly forgot about it as Jayce shoved a full bowl of fragrant meat and rice into his chest.

Like a dog who had not eaten in days he began to stuff his face, not caring about his appearance.

Leah suppressed a giggle. Her Uncle used to be extremely picky with his food, his standards were too high for regular restaurants and dishes. However, seeing him stuffing his face merrily made her happy.

Not long after Tony had finished his second bowl, Lianna finally awoke from her enlightenment. She looked around in confusion, her face brightening up when seeing the others enjoying a meal.

"You sure took your time dear sister." Leah said with a smirk, handing her a bowl of food.

"Hehe." Lianna blushed a little, receiving the bowl and thanking Jayce.

Soon enough, the atmosphere was filled with laughter and joy, all worries thrown to the back seat. This was why Jayce enjoyed cooking, it gave him deep satisfaction to see others enjoying his meal, giving them a reprieve from whatever was bothering them.

In fact, he also felt a lot better. While the weight of the World Quest was a heavy one, he at least had a direction to focus on. There was also the enigmatic Rubick, was he a friend or foe?

But the biggest surprise that still had him reeling was the was the situation of Earth itself. He had been living his life through the Apocalypse thinking that the game Cataclysm had descended and merged with Earth, bringing with it monsters and destruction.

However that did not seem the case anymore. The Earth was evolving into a higher realm, and it was not the first time it had done so. This added even more questions to his already large list.

What was Cataclysm: World’s End? Why was everything so similar to what they were experiencing now?

If Earth was evolving, where did these monsters come from? Were they just part of the trials of evolution?

"There you go again, deep in thought." Leah quipped, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Don’t worry, you get used to it eventually." Lianna chuckled, thankful that it was not just her who had noticed such things.

Jayce stared blankly at the two sisters who seemed to be making fun of him, before he let out a little chuckle. "You’ll understand the plight of adults when you get a little older."

Tony nodded, resonating with the statement. "Jayce is right, adults have a large responsibility and they need to think of others instead of just themselves."

Both Lianna and Leah both scoffed at the same time.

"You’re only a few months older than me!"

"You’re still a teenager!"

The two seemed to have had their backs up as if these words had insulted their pride. Yet in the next moment both Tony and Jayce broke out into laughter, reveling in the cute and pouting faces of the two.

They were like two old men who were getting a kick out of bullying a couple of kids, guffawing with each other merrily. The snorting laughter of Tony seemed to be contagious, causing Leah and Lianna to join in laughing.

The laughter lasted for a few minutes before everyone eventually calmed down. Everyone was wiping tears from the corner of their eyes after laughing so hard, their moods improved considerably.

"How did your enlightenment go?" Leah asked after a while, probing her sister.

In response, Lianna held her hand out and showed similar motes of light that she had earlier. This only further added to their theory that the two would not be able to utilize their Laws properly while they still had mana.

"It feels like I can’t control it properly." Lianna said, a little downcast.

Leah placed her hand on her sisters shoulder, consoling her. "Don’t worry, I’m also like that. Jayce has a theory that its because of our mana."

"Because of our mana?" Tilting her head, Lianna looked like a confused puppy.

Taking it as his queue to step in, Jayce explained the situation to Lianna and Tony, leaving nothing out except for the parts about Rubick and the World Quest.

Lianna was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Wait, so you have no mana??"

’That was her takeaway from this whole thing?’ Jayce almost laughed aloud. "No mana, instead I’ve got Qi. That’s how I was able to control the Law of Fire so easily."

"Mmm." Lianna nodded, her thoughts still churning. "But if I lose my mana, I won’t be able to heal anymore." She looked a little downcast, mostly because she felt as if that was her only redeeming feature.

Jayce could read her like a book, feeling the insecurities flowing from her body. "And what do you think the Law of Nature is capable of?" a smug smile floated on his features.

Lianna’s eyes widened, "Nature is life..."

"Bingo. As long as we can confirm that meridians form in the 3rd tier class upgrade, we can plan ways to swap your mana with Qi."