Duncan was physically and mentally exhausted. The monotony of pounding, reheating, followed by more pounding made it seem the process was taking forever. He looked at the dwarf. Bolgar was still doing the pommels for his order, wiping his sweat off every now and then as he tied leather bands to a hilt.

Duncan developed a new appreciation for the dwarf’s work as unlike him he didn’t have the cheat of automated production of repetitive tasks. The mental toll it took on him was even greater than the physical.

Looking at his sore hands he sighed and went to get the minor healing potion to relieve the blisters. Applying the ointment, he really thought for the first time about everything.

“What’s the point? What am I doing this for? Skill levels?” were the questions rumbling in his head as the relief of blisters vanishing washed over him.

“Skill levels add to my stats so I don’t die and can go back again, but if I stay in this village, I am not going to die either way so what’s the point? So, I can level some more and spend more time at home,” he sighed.

“It’s not like anything is waiting for me back there and 25 minutes per day is plenty with how the time flows between these two worlds. I will be spending more time at home than here anyway,” he thought.

As he didn’t come back from the living area for a while Bolgar came to check on him.

“What are you moping about? Had enough for today?” Bolgar asked with a wicked smile.

“Yeah. I am done,” Duncan answered, intending a different meaning than Bolgar.

“Alright. Let me grab some ointment and let’s go get us some dinner,” Bolgar happily replied.

Duncan meanwhile closed a window informing him of another blacksmithing level up. He was at level 8 now. He would have been happier if he hadn’t reconsidered his circumstances a moment before.

They left the blacksmith shop and Duncan remained unusually quiet the whole trip to the bar and Bolgar picked up on it. After trying to initialize some small talk he went quiet also.

Walking inside they noticed they were the first to arrive. They sat at the usual table and Wazsh came with two pitchers of beer.

“Good day. You are earlier than usual?” Wazsh said.

They greeted him back and confirmed the order.

As Wazsh was walking away, Bolgar stood up and went after him. After a few exchanged words. Bolgar stayed at the bar pretending to look at the artwork displayed over it and Wazsh came to the table.

“Bolgar said you seem weird today?” Wazsh asked Duncan out of the blue.

Duncan quickly looked at Bolgar and then back at Wazsh.

“Yeah. I have been thinking about things,” Duncan whispered.

“You did. That’s surprising. Such as?” Wazsh replied with a smirk.

“Do you have to be a BEEPhole?” Duncan replied quietly rolling his eyes.

“What’s gotten you so down compared to yesterday’s enthusiasm?” Wazsh asked.

“I just don’t see a point in grinding my skills and levels anymore. You say the outside of these walls is dangerous and levels won’t make much of a difference on how much time I get to spend at home,” Duncan explained.

Wazsh thought about what Duncan said.

“What do you mean it won’t make a difference? Every 25 minutes you turn into a puppet for 2 hours in your world. How do you plan to live like that?” Wazsh asked.

“Yes, but I can accumulate my time here,'' Duncan refuted.

“The longer you accumulate the longer you will be a puppet in your world. To accumulate 4 hours of continuous time for your world you would be a puppet for 20 hours. Not to mention all the other benefits you would miss out on,” Wazsh replied exasperated.

“What benefits?”, Duncan replied.

“Didn’t you check your status in your world?” Wazsh asked, surprised.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“No. Should I have,” Now it was Duncan who acted surprised.

“You really are a damn idiot,” Wazsh replied, facepalming himself.

“I am not a -BLEEP- idiot!” Duncan replied with a shudder.

“See, you are one,” Wazsh replied with a smirk.

At Duncan’s glare, he elaborated.

“The stats and skills translate into your real life. The factor of translation is 1/100 for stats and 1/1 for skills. Did you at least notice you have two inventories?” Wazsh asked.

“Two?”, Duncan went to check and he found a small box by the bigger inventory.

“Yes, two. One is for stuff you can use here and the other is for stuff you want to transfer between worlds. The trouble is it’s mostly one way. So, no guns or big items probably ever,” Wazsh replied.

“Why?” Duncan asked.

“Your inventory is a function of your intelligence. At 10 points intelligence, you get 1 cubic centimeter of room to transfer. When you have 100 points that would be 100 cubic centimeters. The trouble is only 1/100 of your stats are transferred to your world. So, while you will have 100 intelligence here you will still have your base stat plus 1 there. So even then you can only put inside around one cubic centimeter. Do you get it?” Wazsh tried to explain.

Duncan thought about what Wazsh said and after a while, he nodded.

“I think I do?” he replied.

“So, what can I transfer?”, Duncan asked.

Wazsh facepalmed at the question and rolled his eyes but then explained.

“Anything really, so long as it fits. Silver and gold I think are quite valuable in your world and since you have a blacksmithing skill you could pound them into cubes the size of your inventory and transfer them. Do I have to wipe your ass for you too next?” Wazsh asked.

Duncan acted appalled at the final remark.

“I will never ask you to wipe my -BEEP-,” Duncan shuddered and Wazsh laughed out loud.

“You… -BEEP-hole!” Duncan yelled.

Wazsh motioned to Bolgar to join Duncan as he went to grab their dinners. As Bolgar sat down Duncan looked at him and said, “Thank you. I am sorry there are just some things I need to work through.”

“I understand and Wazsh is usually just the right person for it. You are not the first,” said Bolgar.

“Not the first?” Duncan asked.

“There were adventurers before you who had the same look in their eyes. Resignation to the fate we called it. Mopping around the village aimlessly while they had money to spend. Wazsh brought them all back to their senses. Some sooner, others later. You were rather a fast one,” Bolgar explained while sipping on his beer.

“I can imagine. He is a BEEPhole but he is kind of good at this?” Duncan replied.

“A what hole? Do you mean asshole? Why are you so prude?” Bolgar asked.

Duncan looked at him with his mouth agape. It happened before with Wazsh but he was too enamored with the new possibilities he forgot to ask about it. He just shook his head and sipped on his beer.

Wazsh soon delivered two roasted rat thighs and left for the bar. Duncan excused himself and followed him.

“Why am I the only one being censored and punished for swear words?” he asked when he caught up.

Wazsh laughed.

“The rules for guides, contestants, and NPCs as you call them are different. I will only be censored when you are on a broadcast. Since no one watches people in the last places of a race I am pretty sure that will take a while before and if that ever happens,” he quickly explained.

Duncan nodded exasperated at the new info and returned to his seat.

“I have been thinking of going back to the mine,” Bolgar suddenly said.

“What?” Duncan asked, distracted and still thinking about all the new tidbits of info while munching on a roasted rat thigh.

“The mine. We need more iron ore and coal is running out also,” Bolgar replied, rolling his eyes.

“Oh. Do you want me to come with you?” Duncan asked.

“I would appreciate it but you don’t have to. It is dangerous and I keep having to go deeper because I mined the upper parts as much as I could. I am not sure if anything lurks in the lower parts,” Bolgar explained.

“Also, you will need a mining skill to be effective. Do you happen to have it?” Bolgar added.

Duncan was about to say no to the offer when he heard about the skill.

“What ores are we likely to find?” Duncan inquired.

“Iron and coal mostly. Coal is mostly good quality but the iron I managed to find was mostly of low quality. I haven’t been deeper than the highest shaft but the adventurers that used to go mine sometimes brought out different things like high-quality iron, copper ore, silver, and gold nuggets,” Bolgar explained with a sigh.

“I miss those days. I was able to raise my level of blacksmithing from 23 to 43 then,” he explained.

“I would like to try mining if that is alright with you,” Duncan suddenly stated.

“Alright. Then get a good night’s sleep and we will go to the mine tomorrow morning. I will go finish those swords after dinner,” Bolgar happily announced.

“What do I need to bring?” Duncan asked.

“Torch, pickaxe, some water, and rations. I will bring the rations and I have an extra pickaxe and there are plenty of torches in the mine so we are all set. Just bring yourself,” Bolgar happily explained before getting up and finishing his beer and trotting off as if afraid that Duncan would change his mind.

Wazsh shook his head.

“Why are you shaking your head?” Duncan asked.

“He didn’t pay,” Wazsh explained.

“How much do we owe? I am buying tonight,” Duncan replied.

“30 bronze. Be careful in the mine. I heard from the adventurers that there are not just rocks in there,” Wazsh said and extended his palm.

Duncan paid said his thanks and got a shower before going to bed.