Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

It wasn’t long before we were joined by Hari and Kevin, who made their way into the walled-off section Milo had created.

“Okay, I don’t know which part of all that was keeping a low profile...” Hari began, but was immediately interrupted by a little flame elemental who burst into the closed-off section, angrily throwing sparks into the air.

“Sorry, Crisplet, we’re still here,” I muttered. Hari let out a deep sigh, while Kevin had a smirk on his face, watching it all play out.

“Like I was saying, I’m unsure how any of that keeps a low profile,” Hari said, looking around at everyone. The only person who looked a little offended was Jen. “Look, I’ve explained the basics to Kevin here. After the buffs with the food and your little display outside, Milo,” he added, pointedly looking at the man, “Then, when I think we’ve got everyone calmed down and not believing we’re under attack, you go ahead and make more food that glows in all the colours of the rainbow, before running off to hide in a stone cocoon.” He looked directly at Liane and myself as he finished.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know they’d turn out that way,” I said, feeling genuinely sorry. I was just excited, especially after seeing Milo use his magic.

Hari let out another large sigh. “It’s fine. Kevin will talk to his people, but please, we need to be more discreet, especially once we reach Boltron. Trev, we’ll protect you, but there are people we can’t protect you from. So please, lay low.”

I nodded, feeling thoroughly scolded. I had been reckless. Both Liane and Milo apologised as well, though Liane’s apology was a bit questionable as she took bites of her scorpion while saying it.

“Alright, let’s get this wall down and get some rest. We’ll need to be asleep early—we only have two days left till Boltron, and tomorrow we’ll be starting early,” Hari said, then left the stone area Milo had set up.

“For what it’s worth, I think your buffs are awesome,” Kevin said, giving me a thumbs-up before slipping out of the area himself.

I sat in silence for a moment, but Jen broke me out of it by nudging me.

“Don’t take it to heart. He has to do that; he’s the group leader. You’re young, and you’re going to make mistakes—it’s how we learn. Now, I’m going to head to watch. Milo, remember you’re on second watch, so try to get at least some sleep before then,” she said, receiving only a grunt of acknowledgement from Milo, who had already returned to his notes as if nothing had happened.

I grabbed my bedroll and picked the closest alcove, setting up for sleep. Despite the lecture, it had been a fun night, and seeing Milo let loose a little with his abilities was really something. I fell asleep that night, dreaming of magic and how awesome it was.

The next morning, I took what Hari said to heart, even though he came up to me and apologised, claiming he should have been more responsible in the first place. I waved it off—he was right. So that morning, I produced a very average breakfast for everyone. It mostly consisted of leftover boar and fruit. I did sneak a Smoked Death Spider to Liane, though... but we did it out of sight.

That day’s journey was uneventful. Even after the buff wore off, Milo was still engrossed in his notes. I didn’t really see how much information he could have gained from the few hours the buff lasted, but apparently, a lot.

For lunch, the last of the boar was eaten. I left the carcass behind—could’ve probably made a soup out of it, but honestly, I was planning to make a rabbit and vegetable stew tonight with some rice to thicken it up, so I wasn’t overly bothered. There was always the chance I would get some experience by leaving it behind, I also made sure to sneakily use Infuse on it to ensure I would be eligible for that experience.

We were on the road until late afternoon when we stopped again. By this stage, the size of Mount Divinus was truly staggering. You couldn’t even see the peak—it was always covered by clouds—but even if you could, it was so high that I couldn’t imagine anyone trying to climb up there, even under the best of circumstances.

Jen was giving me a crash course on the surroundings of Boltron. Despite it living in the shadow of the mountain, it wasn’t the closest to it. Apparently, there were many villages and towns that risked the dangers of the mountain itself and lived on its slopes, especially in the naturally formed valleys and ridges. It was apparently lucrative business for miners who mined within the mountain, but there was always the danger of a miner being too greedy and angering the beast of the mountain.

I found it all fascinating and wondered how anyone could live underground all day doing that kind of job. I also discovered that due to Boltron’s closer proximity to the lakes surrounding the mountain, fish was a large food source for the city. Maybe I could finally raise my butchering skill.

It was late afternoon when we stopped again, and we could pull off the road. The structure that Milo built was very basic, but it was enough for the night. I actually remembered to brush down Sable before I ran off this time, much to the amusement of Cee and Simon.

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True to my word, I made a basic stew for dinner. However, instead of rabbit, like I had planned, I still had some Buvul rump left over, so I diced that up, seared it with Crisplet’s help, and then made it into a stew with onions, carrots, tubers, and some garlic grass.

I also pulled out plenty of rolls for everyone to go with it. I didn’t infuse it, though, as I had already drawn enough attention to myself.

For dessert, I pulled out several pastries, much to Jen’s and Liane’s delight—and surprisingly, Kevin’s as well, who apparently had a real sweet tooth and was making sounds similar to the ones Liane made when she got her spiders.

Troy sat down with me that night, since it would be the final night we were on the road.

“Trev, as it’s our last night, I just wanted to say that this has been a very abnormal trip, and I don’t want you to judge me for this journey. I also want to thank you for the truffles and for saving my food stores. Having you here has made me consider hiring a cook for future journeys,” he said with a chuckle. Then he stuck out his hand to shake mine.

“It’s been a very strange journey, and no matter where you end up, it was a pleasure to meet you at the start of your trip,” he said. I really didn’t know what to say.

“Thanks. Thanks for everything, for getting me out of Dunhearth and getting me this far. Still a day to go, though,” I laughed.

“You’re right, but tomorrow’s trip will be over before you know it. And once we hit Boltron, we’ll part ways, and I don’t know if we’ll have much of a conversation before that point. So, all the best, Trevor. May you be safe on your journey.” With that, Troy got up and went to an alcove to set up his bedroll.

I considered going over to see Jordan before I went to sleep, but there was a part of me that just didn’t want to open that can of worms again. He was right, of course, and I would need to face that fact and hopefully try to see George again one day, but... no part of me liked that idea.

So, I did what any self-respecting grown-up would do in this situation: I went outside the structure to sit and watch the night sky while I kicked rocks for a bit and tried to get my mind on other things. Even when Crisplet came bursting outside and burnt me with a spark, I didn’t mind.

“Something on your mind?” Liane said, appearing beside me and looking out over the valley.

“Yes and no... I don’t know. Tomorrow this journey ends, then what?” I said, falling back to the ground, lying down and looking up at the sky above. A swirling vortex of clouds surrounded the peak of the mountain, and it felt like it perfectly summed up the chaos I was feeling at that moment.

“Then we go on another adventure,” she said, lying down as well. “It’s what us adventurers do. We’ll take a job and travel to get it done. It could be anything. We might save a village, or guard a caravan, save someone’s cat—it really could be anything, Trev.”

“And when someone tries to kidnap me?” I said mournfully, voicing one of my main worries.

“Then I’ll put a dagger into their throat,” Liane said with a deadly finality. I could feel she meant it.

“Thanks, Liane,” was all I could get out before silence took us.

We stayed lying in the dirt in silence for a long while, watching the clouds above. Then, as if to top off an already eventful trip, the clouds at the peak of the mountain erupted into a massive lightning storm, lighting up the night sky with bright bolts of lightning, the majority of which crashed back into the mountain itself.

It was a sight to see, and the noise of the thunder drew others outside. At least this time it wasn’t our fault. I did notice that Hari was one of the first to rush out, looking around before spotting the show happening in the sky.

Even Crisplet panicked a little as it ran over to where we were lying down, floating between us, I guess trying to figure out what was happening.

“It’s okay, Crisplet. It’s up at the peak of the mountain, not us,” I said, pointing upwards.

This earned me a shower of bright sparks before it wandered off again, returning to its exploration.

We were joined by Jen before long, who also lay down with us, watching the bolts of lightning fork across the sky.

“Seems the ancient beast wants everyone to know it’s still alive and kicking up there,” Jen said.

Liane just let out a chuckle. “Or something foolish went and poked it.”

The show went on for what felt like several hours, and everyone, besides myself, Liane, and Jen, eventually went back inside—well, except Hari, who was technically on watch with Jen. When the storm finally died down, I decided it was probably time to get some sleep. I called to Crisplet, who had been exploring around us the whole time.

Heading back in, I watched the little elemental rush into the fire, while I found an empty alcove, took out my sleeping roll, and settled in for the night.

Then came the final morning, and since it was the last one, I decided to go all out.

I started by pulling out a large amount of fruit that I still had, especially the apples, blueberries, oranges, and kumquats, which looked like mini little oranges. I was told they were a bit sour, but there was no need to peel them. I also had a small amount of strawberries left, and finally, I pulled out the big spiky melon called durian in my storage. It was described to me as custard-like, but when I cut into it, the smell made me gag. I quickly stored it again, running outside before taking it out of my storage and throwing it far away.

Did the vendor lie to me? Did he sell me an off fruit?

When I returned, I saw the smell had woken a few people, and they were looking around. I tried to pretend nothing had happened. After preparing and chopping up the fruit, I pulled out the remaining pastries. It wasn’t much—eight berry cakes, six honey-glazed pastries, and twelve mixed fruit tarts. I also kept one of each in my storage for Liane, as there was a good chance she’d miss most of them during breakfast.

Overall, breakfast was a big hit, especially with Kevin, who, it turned out, really did have a sweet tooth. I’m sure he had more than his fair share of cakes.

I was absolutely right about Liane rising late. If I hadn’t put some aside for her, Kevin would have absolutely polished off the last of them. So, I happily handed her breakfast personally when she roused. I also subtly poured tea for Liane, Jen, and myself.

The smell caught some people’s attention, but by the time it did, the pot was already stored again, and we just sat sipping our cups.

When we finally left that day—admittedly later than expected due to my breakfast—everyone was full and ready for the day ahead. I was told that it would be a much smoother ride than normal, as we’d start hitting paved roads after a couple of hours. It also had a regular guard patrol, so the chances of danger were minimal.

And so, we started our journey toward Boltron, and the final day of this particular journey. Part of me was nervous about what was to come, the other part excited to finally see a city—what was deemed a real city.