Chef in the Apocalypse

As soon as Jayce got back home, he didn’t bother washing his face and just crawled straight into bed. By now, Colin should have collapsed after he activated his attack and Lianna should be healing him.

He stared up at the ceiling with a forlorn expression, well if one could call it that. His face was so torn up and disfigured that he was having trouble breathing from his nose which had been beaten to a pulp.

Despite the pain wracking his senses, he had no regrets. Colin was his greatest ally and number 1 friend in this life, so he had to show his sincerity when dealing with such an issue.

From his viewpoint, there was no way that they would survive through the upcoming invasion without the help of the big man. His accolades during the Beast Tide battle were enough to confirm this view.

Were it not for Colin, they would have lost many more people in the battle which in turn could have possibly jeopardized his event quest rewards. If that had happened, he may not have even come across Qi in the first place.

Jayce shook his head to remove these thoughts, however he soon regretted such an action as began to feel queasy.

After some time, the sound of not-so-gentle snores rang out within his room, a result of a broken nose.

***

Jayce woke up to a warm and itchy feeling spreading out over his face. His eyes snapped open, only to see Lianna smiling back at him with her hands cradled on his wounds.

"How is Colin?" His voice was soft and a little weary.

Lianna let out a little chuckle. She had expected that the first thing out of his mouth would be to check on his boyfriend.

"He’s fine. You should have seen the big goofy smile on his face after your Qi attack took effect." She replied laughingly.

"Hehe. Who knew that Colin was a glutton for punishment?"

"Says you!" Lianna scoffed, pinching his throbbing cheeks.

"Ow!" Jayce cried out in complaint.

"Oh so now you feel pain?" She laughed jovially, eventually bringing a smile to his face.

Soon enough, Jayce’s face was all patched up, allowing him to breathe a lot easier. The two breathed out a sigh of relief with Lianna feeling a little tired after everything that had happened today.

Jayce leaned forward and gave her a kiss. Now that he had dealt with the immediate concern with Colin, his mind moved to the spatial ring which he had yet to open.

"I’m going to check out what’s inside this ring." He said, steeling his nerves.

It wouldn’t be wrong to state that the contents of this ring had the capability of reviving their whole operation, therefore Jayce was a little nervous. Although, considering where it had come from, there must be some decent things inside.

He closed his eyes and willed some Qi to enter the ring just as he was told. The moment his Qi touched the ring his consciousness was transported to a room that was around 10m2.

Jayce’s eyes widened as he saw a bookshelf which was filled to the brim with books and manuals. His gaze moved across the room only to find herbs, high-tier mana stones, formation flags, pills and even weapons.

A deep-black sword with a purple hue caught his eye at the back of one of the weapons racks. Despite looking a little worn out and lackluster, Jayce could feel a deep strength hidden underneath the surface.

In the next moment, his consciousness reappeared back in his room, leaving him dumbstruck for a moment. In his right hand which had been empty before, now held the sword that he had been eyeing earlier.

"Whoa, what the hell is that sword?" Lianna exclaimed after seeing it appear from nowhere.

However, Jayce did not answer. He was staring at the sword deeply with questions running through his head. The first thing that he tried to do was check the stats with the system interface.

Yet as he expected, nothing showed up. But he was not discouraged, if anything, the fact that the system couldn’t detect the strength of this sword made him trust it all the more.

In reality, Jayce had missed using a sword in battle. Even though he was a new class, those 10 years of slashing his sword every day would not just leave his memory.

In fact, once he had officially decided to abandon the system, he had been contemplating taking the sword back up. Finding such a weapon had brought these feelings to the forefront.

Although this body did not have the muscle memory, he was sure that within a few months he would be able to get close to his previous skill and dexterity. Not to mention that his body’s power was on a much higher level than his previous life.

He stared in awe at the new weapon which seemed to glow mysteriously in the light. Out of instinct, he sent a sliver of Qi into the sword.

The moment the strand of Qi touched the weapon, he suddenly felt a pulling sensation as it greedily absorbed more and more of his Qi. An expression of panic crept onto Jayce’s face as he tried to reign in his Qi that was being taken.

Yet no matter what he did, he could not stop it. It was if the flood gates had opened, forcing him to watch bitterly as his Qi was being sucked dry. It reminded him of the time that he first opened his Dantian and all his mana was unceremoniously absorbed by it.

Lianna saw Jayce’s face begin to pale while the mysterious sword in his hands shimmered with life and she was dumbstruck.

"W-What’s happening?"

The sword began to glow a resplendent purple, illuminating the room. The light became blinding before the sound of screeching metal rang out, almost deafening their ears.

Jayce suddenly felt the pull of his Qi stop only after at least 90% of it was absorbed. He fell onto the bed in exhaustion with the sword still gripped tightly in his right hand.

"Heavenly Treasure..." He muttered, before losing consciousness.