Chef in the Apocalypse

Chapter 64: Next Steps

The next day unfolded with the gentle caress of dawn, its golden fingers painting the sky in hues of pink and orange. The campsite buzzed with anticipation, the party members gathering in the center as the sun broke over the horizon. Lianna’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and even Zane, the quiet archer, couldn’t hide the look of anticipation.

With a mocking exasperated sigh Jayce retrieved the Bloodfang Dagger from his inventory. The eyes of his companions were fixated on the ominous yet mesmerizing weapon, their curiosity piqued. A faint smile tugged at Jayce’s lips as he showed off the fruits of their labor.

He handed the dagger around for everyone to have a look, watching their expressions change after reading the description and effects of the weapon. “Legendary?” Colin almost dropped the dagger in surprise after reading these words, feeling shook.

Lianna’s eyes widened, “I didn’t think bosses could drop Legendary items?” Having played Cataclysm before, she was probably the most knowledgeable about these things after Jayce himself.

Jayce nodded, “Yeah it was originally an epic item however, I received a new skill called Reroll which allows me to reshuffle an items skills and abilities.”

“Holy shit that’s crazy! Can you make mine legendary?” Colin stepped forward, almost throwing his Immovable Wall shield at Jayce with excitement.

Seeing the large shield being thrust towards him, Jayce had to dive out of the way ungracefully in order to not be hit. “N-No, you don’t understand. It’s not 100% guaranteed to succeed, and the stats and abilities could possibly be worse than it currently is.”

That did not seem to deter the big man, who still looked at Jayce as if he were eyeing the coveted golden goose. “That’s fine, you can just keep rerolling until we’re satisfied.”

Jayce shook his head, “If it fails the item will be destroyed.”

Colin’s eyes dulled at those words, his face turning up in disgust. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved the shield back into his inventory protectively, “Don’t touch my shield!”

The whole situation was comical, eliciting a few chuckles of laughter amongst the group. Zane, who rarely spoke unless spoken to, asked a biting question, “If you knew that failure would destroy the dagger, why did you reroll it?”

Now it was Jayce’s turn to feel embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head and responded, “Uhh, well I received the Reroll skill by chance, and it didn’t have a description until after I used it.”

He continued, “And the only reason I decided to use it was because one of the skills was too detrimental, making the dagger useless in my eyes. So even if it was destroyed, I wouldn’t have been too sad.”

“What was the skill if you don’t mind us asking?” Jackie asked with a hint of curiosity.

“Blood Sacrifice…” Jayce felt that he did not even need to explain how the skill worked for the others to understand his meaning. Murmurs of agreement and understanding rang out amongst the group, backing up his decision to take the risk.

“So I will only be using my Reroll on items that either aren’t suitable for us, have detrimental effects, or that we can afford to destroy. Any objections?”

His response was silence, everyone tacitly agreeing that this was the best course of action. “Very good, I’m glad we all agree.” he said with a smile.

Paul chimed in with a grin, “Well, now you have a fancy replacement for your Sashimi Knife, Leader.”

Ben added, “Yeah, and I don’t have to worry about you using the same knife you slay disgusting monsters with to prepare food.” Uproarious laughter erupted from the group, genuine smiles blossoming on their faces as they shared in Jayce’s success.

“Hey, a chef’s knives are like their children. Of course I clean and look after them” Jayce responded with mock offense, only to be met with more laughter.

Once the laughter died down, Amber’s voice rang out, “So, what’s the plan now, Leader? Are we going to continue exploring the forest, or head back to the shelter?”

Jayce’s gaze fixed on the horizon as he spoke. “The shelter is not somewhere we can remain forever. We need to find a base of operations, with other people around.” In his previous life, there were whole encampments of people, towns and villages where the survivors would return to a sense of normalcy.

While it had only been a few weeks since the game descended, he was sure that Bastion, the largest town in his previous life, was probably in the nascent stages of being built. This was his next goal, to move his people into the town and take up residence.

“We will return to the shelter first and gather everyone. With our levels and experience, we should have no issues returning here with everyone in around a week.” He stated with confidence.

The groups mood shifted, happy with the decision. Lianna looked the happiest, clearly looking forward to seeing her friends once again. He glanced at each member of the party, “But before we set out, has everyone reached level 30?”

Apart from Lianna, everyone nodded. Colin checked his status window and then furrowed his brows slightly. “Wait, why does it say max level? Surely there must be a way to level up beyond that.”

Jayce smiled knowingly, “You’re right, there is a way. Each class has a class upgrade quest that will allow us to level up beyond 30. However, there are prerequisites we need to fulfill before those quests become available to us.”

With that, he began to detail the prerequisites for each class. Mages were required to level their mana manipulation to level 10 and create their own skill. Archers needed to hit monsters with 1000 arrows total, Swordsmen had to successfully parry 500 times and execute 500 sword slashes.

Had Jayce known about the prerequisites in his past life, he could have saved himself months of hardships. While he had achieved the 500 sword slashes rather quickly, he did not use parry often, which was why he was stuck for so long.

He quickly shook his head, removing the bad memories that were resurfacing, only to see Colin’s giant frame blotting out the sun in front of him. “What about me?” He asked with sparkling eyes.

“You need to taunt and shield bash successfully 500 times each.” He replied, craning his neck to look upwards.

After pondering for a moment, he asked, “Does it need to be against monsters?”

Jayce felt a shiver run down his spine, “Y-Yes it does. In fact, Swordsmen are the only ones who can complete the prerequisites during sparring. So Ben, Paul, you will need to spar every day from now on. I expect you both to get your class upgrade quest by the time we return here with the rest of the group.”

“Yes Leader!” The two stood at attention, like two army privates who had received orders from their direct commander.

And so, with a renewed sense of purpose, the party dismantled their camp and began their journey once more, trekking in the direction of the shelter. The atmosphere among them was remarkably light, filled with laughter and camaraderie that would have belied the intense battles and struggles they had endured in the past weeks.

Their footsteps echoed with a rhythm of determination, each member carrying their own burdens and dreams as they ventured forward. The forest around them seemed to echo their mood, as if the very trees danced to their joyous spirits. The trials they had faced, the monsters they had conquered brought them closer together.

The sun, now fully ascended, painted the landscape with hues of gold and amber. Despite the uncertainty of the path ahead, the party marched on, their hearts resolute, and their bonds unbreakable.

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