Chef in the Apocalypse

Chapter 143: Huge Tree

Jayce and Lianna quickly moved through the forest, using the trail of blood as a guide to find the Draconic Panther which had fled the scene. Jayce wasn’t too worried about other random monsters blocking them, at least while they were in the boss monster’s territory.

In saying that, there was an old adage that you shouldn’t back a wild animal into a corner. Granted, this was a monster, one with Dragon blood in its veins. Thus Jayce made sure that they were lagging behind enough that they wouldn’t face a last ditch attack from their prey.

He was sure that the blow was a fatal one, which meant that unless the Draconic Panther had a healing skill or ability it would die eventually. If he had the option between safely allowing the monster to die, or risking his life to put an end to it earlier, he would choose the former every time.

Therefore Jayce continued his pursuit of the dying monster at a leisurely pace, but was still vigilant. The blood trail began to grow denser, indicating that the boss had begun to slow down. He placed a hand in front of Lianna and motioned for her to be careful.

He switched to a walk, moving through the thicket with calm determination. After a few more minutes the dense bush entered a clearing with a humongous tree in its center. The roots of the tree were large enough to require at least 3 adult men to link arms around.

If the size of the roots were so big, it could only be imagined how large the tree itself was. Jayce felt as if he were looking at yggdrasil, the world tree, not just because of the sheer size, but he also felt the aura of life emanating from it.

Lianna’s eyes widened, feeling a distinct pull from the tree which seemed to tug at the depths of her soul. She grabbed Jayce’s arm, to get his attention, “Jayce, I feel like there’s something calling me from in there.”

Jayce frowned, not having a good feeling about the situation. The trail of blood lead directly into an opening in the massive tree, which meant that the injured Draconic Panther would likely have gone inside. He wasn’t sure if this place was its lair, or if it had come here for another reason.

However, his instincts were telling him that it would be bad if he allowed the Draconic Panther any more time. Which was weird considering Jayce still believed that he had delivered a mortal wound. Perhaps it was the thick aura of life that was emanating from the sacred tree that made him think this way.

“Damn it.” he cursed under his breath.

He wasn’t confident in being able to sneak attack the Draconic Panther once again, it had nearly avoided the first attack out of instinct. If the monster were to be healed, it would be a long and drawn out battle which would put them in a fair bit of danger.

Sure he could use his ultimate skill “Dinner Party” to finish it off quickly, but they were currently in an unknown forest in a random part of the world. He thought for a few moments, tossing up between leaving now and heading into the large tree.

While leaving now would guarantee their safety in the short term, he could not be certain that the Draconic Panther would not decide to hunt him to the ends of the Earth for what he had done. After all, it was said that beasts with Dragon bloodlines were proud and arrogant, and also held grudges.

Thus, against his better judgment he decided to finish what he had started. He turned to Lianna who seemed to be mesmerized by the calling she was receiving and sighed deeply. The situation would turn out terrible if the pull she felt was a trap.

“Stay vigilant, I don’t want you spacing out and getting yourself killed.” Jayce said after a while.

Lianna looked as if she was only half-listening as she replied, “Yes Leader.”

Holding in another sigh, he grabbed her arm like a gentleman escorting their lady into a function and headed towards the tree. It turned out that this action had snapped Lianna out of her haze, bringing her some much needed clarity, in addition to a blushed face.

They made their way vigilantly through the roots which were winding through the surroundings elegantly, as if they were placed intentionally. As the duo got closer, an opening appeared at the bottom of the giant tree, like a natural cave that invited them in.

The opening was at least 5 meters tall and just as wide. The natural architecture gave the area a serene and almost holy presence, as if it were carved out by the gods themselves. Despite the inviting nature of the entrance, Jayce continued to stay vigilant, summoning his Bloodfang Dagger in case they were ambushed.

Yet even as they crossed the threshold of the entrance, there was nothing that attacked them. Instead they were greeted with a series of tunnels in front of them, illuminated by the soft white glow that was coming from above.

Jayce looked up, seeing a bunch of verdant green vines which coiled their way inside of the tree. Every now and then there was a bud on the vine which produced a beautiful white flower that glowed warmly, showering them with light.

“So pretty.” Lianna exclaimed, finding great delight in the beautiful flowers in their surroundings.

However, Jayce’s focus was on the series of tunnels that were laid out in front of him. There were 10 tunnels spread out, each about 3 meters tall which seemed to spread out in different directions. He looked to the floor and saw the trail of blood heading towards the leftmost tunnel.

He inwardly fist pumped, ’Thank you Hansel’.

Jayce went to move forward, however Lianna did not follow. He turned around with a questioning look, “What are you doing? We need to hurry and chase down the Draconic Panther.”

Lianna looked pained, as if she didn’t know how to explain herself. “J-Jayce. I can feel this pull coming from the right-most tunnel. I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels like if I don’t go now, I will regret it for the rest of my life.”

“What?” Jayce said instinctively. His protective instincts kicked up, causing his face to flush red, “There’s no way I’m letting you go in alone. We’re going in the left tunnel and if all goes well we can return and go check out the right tunnel okay?”

Lianna stammered for a moment before lowering her head and responding. “Okay Leader.”

Jayce let out a sigh of relief and began to walk to the left-most tunnel. He wasn’t too proud of himself for downplaying Lianna’s feelings, however it was for the best. How many times had he seen people take unnecessary risks only to pay the ultimate price?

He got to the mouth of the tunnel and waited, turning around and gesturing for Lianna to follow. She hesitated for a moment before complying, her head still lowered in disappointment. Once again Jayce felt a pang of regret as he saw the downcast expression on her face.

Yet as he was thinking of ways to make it up to her, she pushed out her arms shoving him into the tunnel. Jayce was so shocked that he had no time to react, merely falling on his behind and staring up at her questioningly.

She bowed deeply, tears forming in her eyes, “I-I’m sorry Jayce. I know it’s hard, but please forgive me!” With those words, she ran away, heading to the right-most tunnel.

“F*ck!” Jayce quickly scrambled to his feet, pushing off the ground with tremendous force in order to chase her down. However, in the next moment he ran into an invisible force which collided with his face, sending him back onto the ground.

“What the f*ck is this?”

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