Arcane Chef - Slice of Life x Adventure LitRPG

As we entered the giant archway leading into Boltron, escorted by the guards, we were led off to the side. Much like our experience in Forest’s Edge, it seemed we were repeating the same scenario. I could see Hari, Kevin, and Milo speaking to an official-looking person wearing a well-fitted suit of sorts.

It didn’t take long before that person was replaced by an older gentleman clad in armour that looked more battle-worn and heavier than Hari’s.

I couldn’t hear any of their conversation from the rear of the caravan, but with Liane and Jen not moving forward, I certainly wouldn’t either. That said, curiosity still got the better of me.

“What’s going on? Are they worried about beasts following us as well?” I asked.

“No, they’re not worried about that. Well, they might be when they find out what’s following you…” Liane said, her voice trailing off. One of the guards who had come out to escort us turned to stare at Liane with wide eyes, but didn’t say anything.

Liane continued, either not noticing or not caring about the guard’s reaction. “They’ll likely be asking questions about travel, reasons for travel, and probably wondering why we have so many guards. Then they won’t believe the reason we have so many, and trouble on the road, and so on,” she concluded with a chuckle.

I noticed Crisplet had returned to its orb form and was now being held by Jen.

After several long minutes, we were waved through, and it was such a strange sight. Hari, Milo, and Kevin’s group had pulled off to the side just past the gates. Meanwhile, Troy sat at the front of the wagon, waving at them before heading further into the city with Saddie in tow. I saw Jordan stick his head out the back of Saddie’s wagon.

“Best of luck finding work!” I called out as Jordan slowly started to pull away. He smiled and waved back.

“Best of luck as an adventurer! I hope I see you again!” he called before slipping inside the wagon.

As we pulled up alongside the other adventurers, it seemed that Hari and Kevin were just finishing their farewells. Kevin stopped in front of Sable and me.

“Farewell, Trev. I hope our paths cross again soon. And when they do, just remember—I love desserts.” With that, he and his party took a right turn and left, waving as they departed, leaving only the five of us behind.

It was a surreal moment. I’d been with the caravan for a couple of weeks, and now it was over. If I hadn’t joined the adventuring group, today I’d have been dropped off in this massive city, left to find my own way. Looking at the sheer size of Boltron, I could only imagine how overwhelmed I would’ve felt.

“Well, let’s not hang around here like a bad smell. Let’s find a stable for our horses, then head to an inn for a good rest,” Hari said, his tone light and jovial.

“I could really use a good drink after the trip we’ve had,” he added, with Milo chiming in with a cheer. Jen nodded in agreement.

Leaning over to Liane, I asked, “Are there many inns in the cities?”

“Dozens!” she replied happily. “It depends on what you’re looking for. Near the water, you’ll find the rougher, seedy ones. In the residential areas, there are inns more suited for long stays than just meals and drinks. Then, in the leadership sector, it’ll cost you a small fortune,” she explained as we moved forward, following Hari and Milo.

“Us, though? We’ll be going to an inn closer to the adventurers’ guild. It’s a nice mix of food, drink, and accommodation at a fairly reasonable price,” Jen said. I just nodded along, trying to remember the directions she had pointed out.

It took us surprisingly long to reach the stables for our horses. We passed so many, and I didn’t really understand why Hari chose this one, but he seemed set on it.

What really blew my mind, though, was the sheer number and size of the buildings. There wasn’t a free space to be seen along the roads we were travelling down. If I had to find my way back to the gate at this point, I didn’t think I’d be able to. We’d turned down so many different roads, and with the buildings surrounding us, I couldn’t even see the walls.

Another thing that shocked me was the noise. Everywhere we went, there was so much activity—people working, yelling, and even a mage cleaning the road outside a building with a wind spell. I’d never seen that before, and something told me this wouldn’t be the only first I’d experience here.

We all dismounted our horses as Hari spoke with the man who had exited the stables.

“You’ll want to take anything of value with you, Trev. Only leave basic camping supplies and horse supplies. Everything else, carry along and don’t trust it at the stables,” Jen instructed.

I didn’t have much in my saddlebags—just a spare set of clothes, my tattered uniform, a tent that was just a sheet with crude wooden pegs, and my bedroll. Everything else was on my person: my dagger on my belt and my gold in the inner pocket of my travel cloak. So, all I took out of the saddlebags was my spare set of clothes. Jen saw what I pulled out.

“Here, give that to me. I’ll store it for now,” she said, taking my spare shirt and trousers. “Anything else you need to take?” she asked, looking over.

“No, the rest is camping supplies and my old uniform, which I’ll hopefully not need again,” I replied.

“You know you can throw it away, right?” Liane interjected, smirking.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I know. I don’t know... it just doesn’t feel right. Not yet,” I said, struggling to find the words. I couldn’t really explain why I wouldn’t throw it away. Liane was right—I would never wear it again. But it represented the only thing I had left to show for ten years spent there.

I hadn’t kept in contact with my friends. I didn’t even have a combat class. All I had to show for those ten years of my life was a torn-up piece of cloth that I was still holding onto. But why keep it? That wasn’t my life anymore.

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My thoughts raced as I stared down at the bag holding the uniform. I couldn’t help but wonder if I could really let go of it.

Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Liane standing there, her expression soft.

“You don’t have to hold on to that life anymore, you know,” she whispered.

She had read me like a book. But was it really so easy?

With a long sigh, I pulled the uniform from the bag. Should I just throw it away? Could I?

Seeing Crisplet reform now that we were off the horses, it felt like the right time. Things were different now. I had things to show for my time—things far greater than what I left behind at the academy. I had Geo’s pot, real friends both with the party and back in Dunhearth with Micca and Geo... I had Crisplet.

With newfound resolve, I knelt down and placed the uniform on the ground.

“Crisplet, can you burn this for me?” I said, and before anyone could stop me—especially with the fire hazard so close to the horses and the stable doors—Crisplet rushed over, diving into the cloth. It immediately burst into flames, very hot flames.

“What is happening?” I heard the man yell as Milo and Hari turned around to see a small pillar of fire, about waist height, burning the clothes to ash.

I caught a smirk on Milo’s face, but Hari only put his head in his hands.

“Sorry about that, just a little mischief from the kids,” Hari said, trying to draw attention back to him. But the man didn’t look away until the pillar of fire finally subsided, leaving only Crisplet and a tiny pile of ash that was already scattering in the breeze.

It was a sobering thought—my last connection to my past, gone. But it was for the best.

Crisplet burst into bright sparks, clearly pleased with its efforts. The sudden movement startled the horses, causing them to shift nervously. Jen and Liane laughed, and Hari made another attempt to regain the man’s attention.

“Sorry about that, didn’t mean to startle you,” I said to the man, who was still staring at Crisplet and me. I quietly whispered to Crisplet, “Thanks for that,” earning another burst of sparks, though this time smaller.

“Don’t wander off here; stay close to us, okay?” I said to Crisplet, getting back on my feet.

Liane gave me a silent nod, but didn’t say anything more.

It took Hari a little longer to secure the stables. From the sounds of it, he had to pay a little extra due to the potential for "random combustibles," which I suspected was entirely my fault. But before long, a group of younger men came out, leading the horses into a large barn, and the older man left, walking away.

Hari turned to face us. “What was all that about?” he asked.

I was about to explain myself when, surprisingly, Liane jumped in first.

“It doesn’t matter; it was necessary. Let’s just get to the inn,” she said, giving Hari a look that seemed to communicate everything. Without another word, Hari completely dropped the topic, acting as if it had never happened.

It was strange. I think I would have explained it if given the chance, but I wasn’t sure how to word it. It would probably sound really stupid, but it wasn’t stupid to me. Not at all.

We reached the inn quickly after leaving the stables. As we entered, the atmosphere was lively, filled with adventurers. There were three people serving food and drinks, and the meals looked great. Some tables had roast meats, others were eating stew, and a few had cheese and bread.

An older lady approached us as we entered.

“Party of five? What’ll it be, just drinks or dinner as well?” she asked.

“We were hoping to get a couple of rooms, along with drinks and dinner,” Hari replied, taking the lead.

“Oh, and access to the baths,” he added quickly. “We’ve been on the road for a couple of weeks.”

“I can tell,” she smirked. “Let me check the books. How long are you looking to stay?”

“At least a week, possibly two. We’ll pay upfront.”

“We can do two rooms for a week with the option to extend,” she said, looking us over. “Normally, we don’t allow more than two in a room, though. So either you’ll need a third room, or I can charge you a little extra to turn a blind eye to the kid.” She gave us a knowing look.

Before long, Hari had talked down the extra charge by agreeing to pay for two weeks upfront. The innkeeper had tried to get him to commit to paying for food each night, but Hari insisted that they'd have other plans on some nights. In the end, she agreed to have a third bed moved into the room tomorrow morning, so for tonight, I would have to rough it on the floor. Honestly, that wasn’t so bad. I’ve slept in worse places.

The other sticking point was Crisplet. The innkeeper was very unsure about allowing a fire elemental inside. After Hari and Milo both explained that Crisplet was a companion—and not a combat one at that—she seemed to accept it. Still, the glances she kept sending Crisplet made me feel like she was waiting for him to set the building on fire.

Luckily, she didn’t see the pillar of flame earlier, or we’d be looking for a new inn.

Once everything was settled, we were led to a table, where two room keys were dropped off, followed by jugs of ale, water, and what I thought was juice. It was sweet, but also made my head spin.

For dinner, we got roast meat and a roll. I wasn’t sure what kind of meat it was—it tasted like boar, but it was too small to be a boar? Either way, the seasonings were amazing, and I knew I’d have to try and talk to the cooks here at some point to figure out how they did it!

Once we finished dinner, Jen banned me from drinking more of the sweet drink. Apparently, if I kept going, I’d pass out, and we still needed to bathe before sleep.

I was a little shocked when I entered the bath area with Hari and Milo. Jen and Liane had their own bath just down the hall. In the floor of the bath area sat a large, oval-shaped tub that could have easily fit five or six people.

Instead of using the water that was already there, Milo seemingly made it vanish in a cloud of smoke. No, it wasn’t smoke. It wasn’t hot, and it left my skin feeling wet. Then, he replaced it with fresh water. After a quick request to Crisplet, the little elemental got to work heating the water up, as though it were just a giant pot that could fit multiple people.

“What... was all that?” I asked, completely confused.

“It’s late in the evening,” Milo explained with a smirk, “Many people have likely used this before us, so it’s better to have fresh water if we can, right?”

He got into the water, which was already steaming.

Getting in, the water was incredibly pleasant. Crisplet stayed out for fairly obvious reasons, but it didn’t stop the little elemental from exploring the room and turning every puddle of water it found into puffs of steam.

After a short while, we met up with Liane and Jen, who had taken considerably longer. We all gathered in the main dining area for a while before deciding it was time for bed. We made our way upstairs to the third floor.

The third floor!

Just the thought of that was amazing. The only building I knew with multiple floors like this in Dunhearth was the Lord's manor.

After saying goodnight to the girls, we entered our room. I was surprised at how large it was. The rooms at Larry’s were little more than a bed, a closet, and a few small drawers. But here, there were two beds, with plenty of space between them. A desk sat on one side, and there was a door that seemed to lead outside. That was odd—wouldn't you fall out?

There was also a large closet and two big chests.

“We’ll need to find a place for Crisplet tomorrow,” I said aloud, still looking around the room in awe.

But it seemed Milo had already thought of that. He pulled out a glass lantern, lighting an oil well in the base and leaving the door open. It looked like it was just large enough for Crisplet to fit, and I was worried it might be a tight squeeze. But my concerns were quickly put to rest when Crisplet effortlessly floated into the lantern, settling inside with no trouble at all.

Milo shut three sides of the lantern, moving it to the desk but leaving the open side facing us.

“No burning the desk,” Hari chuckled, collapsing onto the bed. “They’ll rob us blind if you do.”

After a small pause, Milo pulled out a bedroll from his storage ring, surprising me. I knew he had the ring, but I hadn’t expected him to let me use his bedroll.

“You take the bed, Trev. I’ll sleep on the roll once I’ve finished my study. Having this desk here, with a handy light, is the perfect setup for it,” he said, gesturing to the lantern.

I tried to protest, but Milo waved me off, and before I could say another word, my head hit the pillow, and I was fast asleep.