Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

There was silence between us after he said that.

In the end, I said, “I know, but you’re still alive; most can’t say the same.”

“It’s changing though; I’m going to make sure of it,” I added.

Lukas got almost a sour look. “Little good that does me though; I’m a cripple now.”

This seemed to have been enough for Liane. “You’re alive, you have your class, and you need to improve your attitude if you ever want to actually enjoy life again.”

Lukas looked shocked, spluttering out, “What?”

“You heard me. One of your orphanage friends, George, was dumped in a wagon with a dozen other people left for dead. Brandon was in a wagon full of bodies, killed for absolutely no reason, just because. You are still alive, you have your class; think about that for a while,” Liane said.

I thought she was being a little harsh, but at the same time, he probably needed to hear it.

“I... I need time to think,” Lukas said.

“Before we go, while you’re thinking, consider you have your whole life ahead of you. No one is going to carry you through life. You had a bad run of it, I’ll admit, but so did I. Through the care you’ll get here, if you embrace it, you’ll get another shot. I warn you though, if you continue with the same attitude, next time it might not just be a leg you lose,” Liane said.

There was anger behind her tone that I didn’t really understand, but I’m sure she’d explain soon.

Once she was done though, she left the room, leaving just the four of us in there.

“I’m in town. I’ll visit you again tomorrow, but if you need anything, just ask, okay?” I said.

I hesitated before I went to leave. I was just about to reach the door when I heard,

“Tha... Thanks, Trevor.”

“You’re welcome,” I said as I left the room.

Liane and Jen were both outside the door as I let Crisplet come out.

It seemed like Joseph was staying in the room, as I saw him take a seat next to the bed.

I couldn’t help but notice Liane looked furious. I really wasn’t sure why, but I knew I’d probably find out soon.

Lital bowed his head. “Ready to leave?”

“Yes, please,” I said.

“Just to the main hall; we’ll find our own way after that. You’ve got your hands full today,” Jen said.

Lital smiled. “I appreciate it. If you’d like to follow me.”

We were leaving the temple main hall where somehow the line had got longer, but so had the number of priests and acolytes who were managing the crowd.

Crisplet kept looking at the line of people and sending across confusion.

He’d heard the reason why they were there, so I wasn’t sure what he was confused about. It was Jen, however, that seemed to work it out.

“There are dozens of small farming villages that surround the city itself, Crisplet; they all come from there. They can be anything from an hour away to a day away; they still consider themselves to be under the tree,” she said.

Crisplet let off a burst of sparks.

There wasn’t another word spoken after that as we walked, which made things feel tense, but I could tell Liane was upset.

I didn’t have to wait long as we left the tree and got some distance from the line of people.

“He’s being an incredibly selfish brat,” she spat.

Jen frowned, “He’s gone through a traumatic experience; I imagine there will be some self-centred comments.”

Liane shook her head, “He didn’t even care that others from his orphanage group died or were on death’s door; he was just angry at Trev for not saving him, for not magically knowing he was in trouble.”

She genuinely sounded angry.

“Jen, he didn’t even say thank you when the Elder told him he’s only awake and healed because of Trevor!” Liane added, her voice raising now.

I jumped in here, “He did say thank you at the end.”

“Well, that’s something at least. I still don’t like him, Trev,” Liane said.

I didn’t really know what to say; I couldn’t abandon someone I had spent so much time with.

“He probably is just down due to the accident,” I tried to justify.

Liane let out a snort, “He hadn’t had an accident when he ignored you at the inn, did he?”

Jen spoke up again, “We don’t know the circumstances of that yet.”

This passage came from without permission; the author publishes the story there, where reading supports their work.

“I don’t like him, and I don’t trust him. I think he’s selfish,” Liane said finally, folding her arms.

“We’ll give him a chance, like Trev said; he’s going to see his healing out either way,” Jen added.

Liane seemed to get an idea, “I know what we should do: let Sylverith meet him.”

“I don’t think that would be ideal in his current condition,” Jen appealed.

On the other hand, thinking it over, I said, “I actually agree with Liane. I don’t know what to think; I’m confused if anything, but Sylvy is really good at reading people. If anyone will know his intentions, it will be her. Perhaps she’ll meet him when he’s feeling a little better?”

Jen didn’t look as convinced, “It’s not that I don’t think it’s a good idea, but we’re all used to those auras now. Sylverith in particular, I remember being terrifying. What level is he even?” she asked.

I shrugged; I had no idea. I didn’t even think to ask.

The conversation died off as we walked to the inn. I really wasn’t sure what to do. Initially, I was more than happy to get Lukas back on his feet, then send him to the capital where he could work with George and Darren for Micca.

The only problem with that, however, was I knew Micca didn’t really like him due to his actions at the inn. It’s very possible, even likely, she’d be over that now and just appreciate the help, but something about it felt wrong.

Also, did she need more guards?

Entering the inn, I froze as a fluffy ball zoomed at my chest the moment I entered, lifting my hands just in time to see,

“Clacks?” I said.

Looking down. I got a bunch of chirps as she flapped her wings in my hands.

Crisplet, who came in behind me, immediately was pushing across pride and joy.

“You can fly?” I asked, confused.

More chirps.

Huling, who had been sitting at a nearby table, had a giant grin on her face.

“She can’t fly properly yet, more like a quick glide,” she said.

Taking in the scene before me, Gilain was sitting with Jamal, now with six different mugs in front of him, as Jamal appeared to be taking notes on something.

To the side sat Milo and Sylverith, where Milo was working on a new rune of some kind, paying no mind to our entry at all.

And what nearly made me laugh, was in the corner I saw Hari passed out on one of the long benches, half falling off.

“What happened to Hari?” I asked, entering the room.

Liane and Jen both came up behind me.

“That, Trevor, is what happens when you try to match Gilain drink for drink while you’re several hundred levels lower than him,” Jen said, laughing.

“Absolute lightweight! But still the best damn drinker I’ve found in this kingdom!” Gilain bellowed.

“Jamal has managed to get Gilain drunk too,” Huling said in a near whisper.

“Hey! I’m not drunk! We could duel right now!” he said, looking offended.

Lily, who had taken this opportunity to show back up, simply walked over and placed her paw on his shoulder, where he promptly fell backwards and off the bench he was seated on.

“See, completely drunk,” Huling said, louder this time.

Jen was now laughing, “They are going to feel that tomorrow.”

While this was going on, Crisplet must have been communicating with Clacks, as there were the occasional sparks going off as Clacks sat in my hands facing Crisplet, chirping constantly.

“Let me take you back to the nest so you can talk to him properly,” I said.

I didn’t even get to take a step before I got some loud chirps.

Huling chuckled, “She wants to show you what she can do, lift her up higher.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes! Do it or she’ll peck you, she’s saying,” Huling said.

The chirps that came next sounded almost mad and directed straight at Huling.

“I don’t think she said that,” I said with a laugh.

I did as instructed and lifted her up high.

Clacks walked to the very tip of my fingers before leaping off with a loud chirp, and after a short burst of flaps, she appeared to fly directly down to her nest, tumbling inside instead of landing cleanly.

I rushed forward, worried about her.

“Clacks, are you okay?” I asked, reaching the nest.

I heard a flurry of chirps as she came back out to the edge, flapping her wings and puffing up.

Again, I felt happiness and pride from Crisplet as he let off a big burst of sparks.

“That was really well done!” I said.

Internally, I was terrified for her; I didn’t want her to hurt herself, but she was clearly very happy with her progress.

I made a note, though: don’t trust Clacks alone with Huling.

As if reading my mind, Huling said, “I think I can have her flying before I leave. Oh also, she’s burning a lot of energy, so you’ll need to give her a bunch more food,”

I instinctively pulled out several small fish I had pre-cooked and stored, placing them in her nest, where Clacks immediately tore into them.

I didn’t notice Lily had been talking to Sylverith this whole time, who now turned to me.

“Lily says the conversation with your friend has you troubled, dear,” Sylverith said.

I nodded, not really knowing what to say.

Liane, however, had no such trouble. “The whole conversation, he was incredibly selfish. I know he’s going through trauma, but I don’t trust him.”

“You need to have some sympathy for him; he’s just a kid,” Jen said.

“None,” Liane said bluntly.

Sylverith raised a hand, which immediately silenced the two.

“If you’d like, I can join you when you visit next. Don’t worry about my aura; I can contain it while I’m there,” she said.

I didn’t know if I wanted to agree with it. What if he was just being selfish this entire time? What if he didn’t want anything to do with me?

Is it better to not know?

Sylverith must have been reading me like a book again. “I’ll let you think about it. Discuss that with the others; they are very important questions, but I’m happy to assist you,” she said directly to my head.

‘Thank you,’ I thought.

I needed something to distract me, and I had skipped breakfast.

“I’m going to go cook something. I don’t know what yet. I need to distract myself,” I said.

Turning to Lily, “Is there any chance you could get me a bunch of little fish for Clacks?” I asked.

Lily didn’t even respond before Jen spoke up. “There’s a large food market here that has lots of river fish like that. I’ll go get you some. I’ll take Liane so you can just spend some time with Lily, Crisplet, and Clacks; give you some time,” she said, looping Liane by the arm.

“Hey, wait!” Liane tried to protest.

But it was no good; she was marched straight out the inn.

“She can read you quite well, you know,” Sylverith said to me.

“I know,” I smiled.

I collected Clacks and made my way to the kitchen, Crisplet and Lily right behind me.

It was time to cook something, lots of stuff. Maybe I could make a large batch of healing soup for the temple on the side as well; surely they could use it.