Chapter 75 (2/2)

Although it was a passive skill, it seemed to be incredibly useful, even in fighting. Shal’s spear methods emphasized assault and overwhelming, direct speed, without much use of feints, so Randidly supposed he just hadn’t reached the proper criteria previously to earn the skill . But twisting in spot and sliding between other chef’s had certainly been a work in physical control.

Randidly idly wondered how people had managed to perform this job while they had normal stats. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he walked out of the back door to the building, and gratefully accepted a drink from Karlito.

Randidly drank it in one gulp, and then grimaced. “Was that… tequila?”

“Of course,” Karlito said with a smile. “Unfortunately, your resistance to alcohol rises with your Vitality… but still. There is nothing so wonderful as the burn of a good tequila.”

Then he gestured to the unmarked glass bottle, winking at Randidly. “But when there is no good tequila, we make do with what we have. Do not drink too much more friend, overexposure to this swill is known to cause blindness.”

Randidly shook his head, amused. He liked Karlito, and his wild stories and exaggerated jokes. He was loud and abrasive in the kitchen, but Randidly could tell that he was a good person with an honest heart.

It was, Randidly reflected, tragic that Karlito was born in this time, where good people like him died like flies.

They joked and laughed for a while longer, Randidly feeling strangely at ease, even as a part of him nagged to get back to the potion recipes. But before he could leave, their manager came hurrying back out the back door, sweating. “Oh, thank god you two are still here. I’ll pay double, no triple, if you stay and make one more meal.”

“But the kitchen has already been cleaned. Do you want us to go through everything again?” Karlito rumbled, his eyes narrowing.

The manager raised his hands in a placating gesture. “No! No! I’ll handle all of that. But a very important client came, and- well, for her, there are no such thing as ‘hours’. Please.”

As soon as the manager agreed to let them off without cleaning, Karlito’s cheer returned.

Tying his apron back on, he called over his shoulder. “So, who’s the big wig?”

The manager’s face became starry eyed. “It’s Raina.”

****

Derek Quinn had been a truck driver before the system had come to the world. But when everything changed, he had crashed his truck into a column of giant, mutant ants and received the Exterminator I path, he had no idea what to believe.

Perhaps even more difficult to handle was the ants subsequent counter attack, swarming him and biting at him, ripping off his left arm before other drivers on the highway saw his plight and came forward to beat them off of him.

He still remembered that extended hand, and opening his eyes to find a portly man smiling down at him, his glasses splattered with blood from that ants. “Hey there buddy, I’m Anthony. You’re gonna be okay.”

Luckily enough, Anthony was a nurse, and had managed to bandage his wounds enough to keep Derek alive. Unlike most people who were mutilated in the aftermath of the system’s arrival, Derek didn’t fall into a stupor, giving up.

He got angry.

And that anger had served him well. He had gotten up to the Exterminator VI path, cutting his way through the ants. But there were still so damn many of them.

Derek spared a glance for the group of 12 people that trailed after them, wearing a mismatch of bone armor and fur, most of them holding swords, but their leader holding a spear. The other woman seemed to possess no weapon at all, but just walked forward in the middle of the group, yawning.

He was slightly depressed when Anthony had called him away from the front line to escort this group, and was now even more disappointed. Even with a class, how could this group change the tide of the fight…?

After all, the problem wasn’t talent. It was simply…

They rounded a bend in the road, and the battle stretched before them, almost endless. Thousands upon thousands of ants marched forward, rushing to attack the intruders. These hills had been empty 8 hours ago, but now the bodies were piled higher than a person in some places.

“So you see,”  Derek said sarcastically. “A small squad like you would be perfect for this operation.”

Alana, the leader, nodded seriously and turned to the weaponless woman and what seemed like the vice commander. “So?”

“Doable.” The vice leader commented.

“Child’s play,” The weaponless one said, cracking her neck.

Alana turned back to Derek. “Alright, take us to the front. We will handle the rest.”