Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

I felt that overall, everyone was more relaxed today. I was the only one nervous about reaching Boltron, though. The scenery was changing quickly. We were still heavily under the shadow of Mount Divinus, but we were already entering a vastly different landscape compared to the past few days. The rocky outcrops were turning into vast valleys. I would have expected to see some farmland, but so far, not yet.

Before we got too far into the day, I checked my notifications to see if any creatures had ended up taking the boar, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

Notifications:

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

You have earned 25 experience for making an enjoyable meal

…

You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat

You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat

You have earned 100 bonus experience for a buff used in combat

…

You have reached Level 19 in Arcane Chef

You have +2 unspent stat points

...

Wow, so in total, I had earned thirty enjoyable meals from serving breakfast and dinner to everyone, but more importantly, I had seventy-four combat notifications!

I couldn’t help but feel that was awfully high, especially since we hadn’t seen any creatures on the road since the Galvonson attack. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think for a moment that maybe the cat took the remains, but no—I was sure it was just scavengers.

After several hours of travel, as the road curved ever so slightly and the sun shone over the hills, I saw the first signs of settlement. In the distance, I could see grain crops stretching as far as I could see.

“Wow, so much land for farming,” I said in awe.

Jen let out a soft chuckle. “Wait till you see Elarith Vale one day. Now that’s some vast farming land. Unfortunately, here, they still have to deal with attacks from the creatures of the mountain, and the soil is considerably rockier compared to Elarith,” she explained. “Also, the shadow of the mountain half the day really hurts growth. It’s why we haven’t seen anything until now.”

“How long until Boltron from here?” I asked, excitement in my voice. I couldn’t help it—despite my nerves, it was still going to be the first city I saw.

“Ha, a long while, Trev. We won’t enter the city until close to dusk, but we should see it just after lunch,” Jen said.

I also noticed that Crisplet had moved to Jen’s shoulder. Despite my concerns about her hair, she assured me it would be alright. It was barely warm, but while Crisplet was there, I could see the little elemental turning constantly, taking in all its surroundings. Seems I wasn’t the only one in awe of it all.

“Wait, you said we’ll see it by lunch, but not reach it until dusk? How does that work?” I asked, growing more confused the more I thought about it.

“You’ll see. It’s not the largest city by any means, but Boltron is certainly not small. I won’t ruin the surprise for you,” she said, with a knowing smile on her face.

But unless we had to go up the mountain for a while and head back down, I couldn’t see how it would take that long to reach it if we could already see it.

“What are we going to do once we reach Boltron?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“Well, given that it’ll be dusk when we arrive, we’ll likely get an inn for the night, which shouldn’t be too difficult. Tomorrow, our first task as a group will be going to the adventurer’s guild to debrief and collect our payment for the job,” Jen seemed to ponder for a moment.

“We’ll likely get stuck there for a while once we give our report,” she said.

Liane let out a snort of laughter. “Ugh, we’re going to be stuck there most of the day once they find out a Shadow Cat is likely stalking our support member here,” she said, laughing and shooting a wink my way.

“Yes, I do believe that’s going to stir up a bit of drama,” Jen sighed.

“Will they actually believe us? Or could we just pretend it didn’t happen?” I asked hopefully. I really didn’t want the extra questions, and it seemed the guild officer in Forest’s Edge was sceptical, so surely they’d be sceptical here too, I thought to myself.

“It will likely start out that they won’t believe the report, but we can’t hide it—too many witnesses. Then, once they see the corpse of the Galvonson, they’ll probably change their minds,” Jen said.

“And if that doesn’t work, when it shows up in the middle of Boltron for a snack, that’s surely gonna do the trick,” Liane said, laughing.

I couldn’t even imagine how that would play out, so hopefully it wouldn’t happen.

“How long are we in Boltron for?” I asked curiously.

Liane shrugged. Jen, however, looked to be in thought for a while. “Honestly, I don’t know. We usually stay in the city for at least a week or two before getting our next job. We enjoy a little downtime, but also, we have things to catch up on. You especially,” she said.

“I do?” I responded, confused. What did I have to do? I honestly couldn’t remember anything I needed to do. I remember the original plan was to find work there until I had enough money and enough time had passed to get a caravan back, but I couldn’t remember anything else I needed to do.

“Did you really already forget you have a skill that’s going to require you to learn the basics of Runescribe? Or that half the ingredients you use for buffs are Alchemy ingredients? Or the gear upgrades, equipment upgrades...” Jen trailed off, listing everything.

“Ah, sorry, I forgot,” I said, embarrassed. How could I have just forgotten everything?

“I suppose I can get that done while you guys relax. It won’t take that long, right?”

Again, Jen let out a laugh. “Trev, I forget how young you are sometimes. It will take you a while, and someone will be with you at all times. No wandering off alone,” she said, looking me dead in the eyes.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“But...” I started.

“No buts,” she interrupted. “I would bet all my gold that despite everyone agreeing to keep quiet, within that week word about you and your class would have spread. We’ll be taking no silly risks. And besides, you can reward us with yummy food!”

“And more pastries! They’re sooooo good!” Liane added helpfully.

I just nodded. It was an argument I would not win, but also, it was an argument I really didn’t want to make. The last thing I wanted was to get involved in another attempt to have me working at some noble’s house—or worse.

“How would I learn Runescribe? I know Milo said we could get a book in Boltron to learn the basics. Would that be enough?” I asked, curious.

“No, not at all. Ideally, we’re going to need you to get some basic lessons. The issue is that what you’re learning isn’t the first step in Runescribe, so it’ll be an interesting conversation,” Jen mused.

The conversation fell quiet again after that, and I noticed the roads had turned from packed dirt to cobblestone. I also saw several paths leading off the main road — some dirt, some paved, heading in all directions. In the distance, I spotted the edge of an enormous lake. It was truly massive since I couldn’t even see the other side, and if it weren’t for Liane telling me it was actually a lake, I would have believed it to be the ocean.

“How can so much water be here?” I asked in awe.

“In winter, the mountain here is all under snow—well, everywhere around here is under heavy snow, and it all collects in the basin down there. That’s why we have such a large lake, and many rivers and creeks all around here,” Jen explained.

“Ah, winter. I’ll need more clothes,” I mumbled.

“Exactly. Just another one of the many things you’ve forgotten, Trev!” Jen said with a chuckle.

I noticed that the caravan wasn’t stopping for lunch today and continued down the road, which was becoming more and more filled with life. We had already passed multiple people and seemed to draw many looks due to the number of adventurers in our group.

“Is it really so strange to have this many adventurers with a caravan?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me as we passed a family on an open wagon who weren’t even trying to hide the fact they were staring at us.

“Very,” Liane began. “Usually by this stage of the journey, we’d have five or six wagons along for the ride, and even then, Troy runs a very experienced guard compared to most. But to have ten adventurers for two wagons, the only assumption people will have is that we’re transporting someone or something incredibly important,” she explained.

“Troy’s going to love it,” Jen added.

“Why?” I asked, not seeing how Troy would love all the attention.

“He’s a merchant, and everyone is going to assume he’s got his hands on something incredibly valuable, so he’s going to get a lot of attention from very wealthy people who will buy things just to gain favour, and he’ll eat that up,” Jen added, again with a chuckle.

It wasn’t much longer before I started to see a walled town sitting on the edge of the lake. It looked to be larger than Forest’s Edge, so I assumed it was Boltron. I saw it had an incredibly large dock that seemed to be abuzz with activity as boats floated on the lake. It was too hard to see all the people from here, but I could easily spot wagons coming and going from the gates.

“Is that Boltron?” I asked excitedly.

“That? Oh, no, not at all. That’s just, err, what was the name again?” Jen said.

“Divinmere,” Liane said.

“Ah yes, that’s it, Divinmere, and the lake is called Lake Veyran. It’s where almost all the fish for Boltron comes from,” Jen added.

“Wait, that’s just a town that provides fish for Boltron?” I asked, shocked.

“Well, not just fish. A lot of the farmers in the area use it as a hub to sell their goods too, but yeah, you’ll see. It pales in comparison,” Jen added with a smile.

I really couldn’t see how this town, which looked to be larger than even Forest’s Edge and certainly put Dunhearth to shame in size, could possibly be considered just a local town that provides food. Just how large was Boltron?

The roads at this point had become incredibly smooth. They were still cobblestone, but there were hardly any bumps. As we took the main road, I saw the path leading off to Divinmere pass us by as we continued our journey to Boltron. I also noticed, with the smoother road and likely the eagerness to reach our destination, that we as a caravan had increased our pace.

We seemed to be following the road that ran between Mount Divinus and Lake Veyran, as the lake itself never left our sights. After about an hour, I saw it. Well, I should clarify, I saw some of it...

On the horizon, I saw towers, but I also saw that a city seemed to be built into the side of a particularly large and rocky hill, a mountain? I don’t know; it was embedded in the earth itself. I couldn’t see the base of it yet, but at the peak, there appeared to be a large building that stood tall above all the rest.

“The building at the top is the Temple of Storm. Many believe the ancient dragon at the peak of Mount Divinus is the god of storm, but those devout in the faith say their god is not the same creature and that the creature is just favoured by their deity,” Jen explained when she saw my jaw drop at the sight.

“That’s a temple?!” I basically cried out.

“Yeah, and you don’t want to know how many stairs it is to reach it,” Liane grumbled.

“Well, you should at least visit it once despite the stairs,” Jen said, looking at Liane, warning her to try and say otherwise.

“Sure, sure, one visit, then never again,” Liane said with a laugh.

“I think you can join Trev when he goes up there. I’m sure Hari would agree,” Jen said with a giant smirk on her face.

“You wouldn’t!” Liane added, looking like she had just been slapped. “Don’t make me do it, Trev, please! It’s so many stairs!” She had a look of absolute despair as she said it.

“It’s fine, I won’t make you take all the stairs. So, if that’s the temple, what are all the towers?” I asked curiously, still not able to take my eyes off the part of Boltron I could see. Slowly, more and more of the city came into view, and I could barely believe my eyes as it grew larger and larger as we started climbing a steady incline.

“Ah, well, a variety of different things actually. A couple are mage towers—basically towers of study so they don’t disrupt the day-to-day life below. Others are towers of defence. Guards who are trained in scouting and watching man those posts and look out for threats,” Jen explained.

“Who or what could possibly attack a city this large?” I said, in disbelief.

“Well, rarely from the mountain, there can be attacks from large beasts such as Drakes and Wyrms, but truthfully, their main focus is on the lake itself,” she explained.

“The lake? How do large beasts come from the lake? I thought it’s not connected to the ocean,” I said, confused about how that could possibly work.

“It’s not, but it’s the runoff of some of the most mana-dense areas of the continent. As such, the depths of that lake are an incredibly mana-dense environment, which leads to very powerful beasts. It’s not uncommon for an attack to come from the shores,” Jen explained.

“Wait, then why doesn’t Divinmere have the same defences?” I asked.

“See, now that’s using your head! Why indeed? The answer is that the beasts are drawn to points of power. The collection of that many people, and more importantly, powerful people, acts as a giant beacon for those creatures. So, while it’s not impossible for Divinmere to be hit, it’s far more likely that any creature of genuine power would feel it’s not worth it and will go for Boltron instead,” she explained to me.

It didn’t take long before we crested the hill the caravan was heading up, and the whole of Boltron lay in the valley below. I was absolutely blown away. It looked massive, far larger than I could have possibly imagined. It sprawled out in an almost oval shape, with one side overlapping the edge of the lake itself. The walls were huge, and they didn’t stop at the water’s edge like they did in Divinmere. No, they carried on out into the lake, with a giant archway leading to the lake itself. Two towers sat above either side of the archway. The hill holding the temple looked to take up the right-hand side of the city, but it was so large that the entire hill was encompassed by the city.

“Wow...” was all I could get out as I looked down at the city.

“Just wait until you see the capital. That’s really going to blow your mind. It makes Boltron look like a village,” Liane said with a snicker.

As we approached, I couldn’t help but gawk in awe at the sheer size of this city. The closer we got, the larger it became. I now understood why it was said that even after seeing it, we’d still be travelling for several hours.

What amazed me the most, however, were the walls and the temple. From the hill where I first saw them, they appeared almost normal compared to what I knew elsewhere. Sure, the temple was impressive because it sat on a massive hill, but that hill now resembled a mountain of its own. The walls—those walls—looked so large that they alone could house Dunhearth.

Both Liane and Jen let me take it all in, even Milo dropped back from the front.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” he said. All I could do was nod.

“How’s anyone supposed to find anything there?” I asked, half to myself but loud enough for the others to hear.

“That’s a good question,” Milo began, but Liane interrupted him before he could launch into an explanation.

“Shoo you! Don’t steal our job of seeing his shocked face when we explain stuff to him!” she said, making shooing motions with her hands.

Milo looked a little put out. “Come on. Surely you’re not going to send me back up front already! They don’t even need me, and you know what Hari is like—he’s all business, especially now that the end is in sight!”

I saw Jen covering her mouth, clearly chuckling.

“Nope, shoo, back to the front! Proper positions!” Liane said.

“Fine!” Milo huffed, but he still had a smile. “I’ll blow your mind with fun facts later tonight at the inn over a drink,” he winked. “Like, did you know that Boltron has twenty-three Brot—”

“He’s fifteen! Now get! Don’t go corrupting the boy!” Jen said, joining Liane in shooing him away.

I didn’t know what he was trying to tell me, but both Jen and Liane joined forces to drive him away. Even Crisplet got involved, shooting sparks at Milo, though I suspect the little elemental didn’t know why and just found it amusing.

Once it calmed down again and Milo was officially banished back to the front of the caravan, Liane continued, “In answer to your question, it will make a bit more sense once we enter the city. But basically, it’s broken into districts: business and merchants, residential, crafters, docks, the temple, scholars, and lastly, the leadership—your lords and nobles of the city and so on. It’ll make more sense once we get inside.”

The rest of the journey was mostly spent in quiet awe as we got closer to the city. The walls started to tower above, making me feel tiny. The sun was setting when we approached a line of people entering the city. Likely due to the escort we were getting, the caravan was joined by a group of around ten guards on horseback who came out to escort us past the line.

I just looked up in amazement as we entered under an archway that was so large it could have fit five of the Galvonsons in flight and still had room to spare.

“Amazing,” I said in awe.