It was still early in the afternoon as the duo made their way to Wazsh’s bar. Duncan observed the sign for the first time even though he passed by it several times.

“Adventure bar, how quaint”, Duncan said before he followed Elland inside.

“Wazsh, are you here,” Elland uncharacteristically yelled at the empty bar, even though he knew the answer. Wazsh was always there. That was his main problem. He was a prisoner in a fancy prison.

They heard some pans rustle before Wazsh came out from the backdoor.

“Hello, to you too. You guys are early. I thought you were going to the mine,” Wazsh exclaimed.

“Bolgar would not give him the key and locked himself inside his shop. So, Duncan decided to visit me to learn potioneering or ALCHEMY in his case. Give me a bottle of your wine,” Elland quickly explained.

“What’s up with you Elland? What happened?” Wazsh asked, as he pulled out a bottle underneath the bar and poured him a glass.

“Nothing,” Elland said, after he gulped down the whole glass of wine in one go.

After a bit of silence, he started again after Wazsh poured him another glass.

“You know how I have been very proud of my potioneering talent?” Elland asked and Wazsh nodded, suspecting where this might lead to.

“This guy got up to level 7 in 10 hours. Level 7. I needed two weeks. With the guidance of a grandmaster potioneer and he said I was extremely talented,” he gulped down another glass.

Wazsh smirked.

“Can I tell him about your class?” Wazsh asked Duncan in English. Duncan just shrugged and let him continue.

“Don’t worry. I can easily explain that. He has a skill for learning skills. Actually, his whole class is a cheat. It’s not talent, it’s a skill,” Wazsh explained.

“What language was that?” Elland asked first looking at Wazsh then Duncan pale faced.

“It’s not important. What’s important is that you don’t lose the confidence in your talent, because of his cheat-like existence. I hope you won’t mention this to anybody,” Wazsh replied.

Elland drank another sip from his wine glass as he stared at Duncan before he nodded.

“What’s your class called?” he asked.

“Jack of all trades,” Duncan replied.

“All trades. I understand the all trades, but what is Jack?” Elland asked.

Wazsh facepalmed…

“It’s just an expression for someone who is good at everything. Do you want some beer and some food?” Wazsh asked Duncan after he explained it to Elland.

“Yeah, give me a beer and a roasted rat leg,” Duncan replied.

Wazsh left for the kitchen after giving a beer and a glass to Duncan. Elland was being quiet looking Duncan’s way every now and then.

“Did you learn Blacksmithing the same way as Alchemy?” Elland suddenly asked.

Duncan nodded.

“So, that’s what the dwarf meant,” Elland mumbled before he left the money on the bar and prepared to leave.

“I will think about your next lesson. Do come by whenever you have time. Sorry about my reaction. I have to… Anyway, have a nice afternoon,” Elland said still a bit flustered.

“You too,” Duncan replied as he watched Elland float away.

Soon he got his meal, which he quickly ate as Wazsh watched him in silence after he picked up the coins.

Duncan noticed that the fast passing of time when he worked did leave some lingering issues. His hands were cramping up and he had a slight headache. Being lethargic after doing so many bottles was also new for him.

“What are your plans?” Wazsh finally asked.

“I think I should go home for a while. It should be day by now,” Duncan replied after paying.

Wazsh nodded and removed the empty plate and glass. Duncan made his way to the bathroom washed his face and got to his room where he laid down on his bed.

First, he checked his status.

Name: Duncan Russel

Race: Human – Earth - UC3455788899332

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Age: 22 – Earth years

Class: Jack of all trades

Level: 9

Strength: 10.1

Dexterity: 13.1

Agility: 7.1

Vitality: 15.1

Endurance: 5.1

Perception: 12.4

Intelligence: 12.6

Wisdom: 12.2

Charisma: 3.1

Acid resistance Level 1

Lightning affinity Level 5

Lightning resistance Level 7

Mental resistance Level 8

Pain Tolerance Level 8

Poison resistance Level 1

Then he checked his skills.

Alchemy Level 7

Blacksmithing Level 7

Butchering Level 3

Identify Level 2

Mining Level 3

And finally, he checked how much time he can spend at home.

Time off left 1 Hour 47 Minutes 33 Seconds

“That’s is not exactly a lot of time. I better prepare here.”, Duncan thought.

“First I need to learn Unarmed combat, Swordsmanship and something to help me raise my Agility,” Duncan was thinking as he made a mental list.

“What else? Ahhh. Let’s just go already and try if it even works,” Duncan thought and willed himself home.

This time he woke up in his bed. He quickly found his smartphone and opened youtube.

“Let’s see… for unarmed Jackie Chan,” Duncan quickly typed in the app, selected top fighting scenes and played them. He also turned his Observe skill on.

[ You have Observed Acting ]

Learn

[YES] - [NO]

Duncan mentally clicked on YES unhappily. A skill is a skill.

[ You have Learned Acting Level 1. ]

Intelligence +0.1

Wisdom +0.1

Charisma +0.1

“Damn it. But at least it works. I just need to find the right videos,” were his thoughts.

He suddenly had a stupid idea and searched for Wrestling the American variant. He clicked on a video of some greatest scenes and also his observe skill.

[You have Observed Acting]

Learn

[YES] - [NO]

[ You have Learned Acting Level 2. ]

Intelligence +0.2

Wisdom +0.2

Charisma +0.2

“Yep. It’s true. It’s all fake,” Duncan yelled out.

“Most importantly I confirmed I can use Observe multiple times on the same skill,” he yelled happily.

He tried again with another wrestling video and his happy mood instantly soured when it didn’t work.

“Swords. Swords. It’s all movies. Ahhhhh right Kendo and those fencing competitions should work,” he thought as he moved to Swordsmanship.

[You have Observed Kendo]

Converted to Swordsmanship

Learn

[YES] - [NO]

[ You have Learned Swordsmanship Level 1. ]

Strength +0.1

Dexterity +0.1

Agility +0.1

He tried again immediately on the same video and it worked and he gained another level. His biggest surprise was that his Observe and Learn skill both leveled up to level 2 after that. Observe gave him only a bonus in perception while he got Intelligence and Wisdom from the Learn skill.

Following a hunch, he tried the same video again. It worked. He brought Swordsmanship to level 3 and watched another movie clip to bring his Acting to level 3 also.

Duncan checked his time off and he had only 3 minutes left so he decided to leave again.

As he opened his eyes, he summarized his experience.

“So, I can use the Observe skill and Learn skill up to one level higher than they are at. That will be a big help skipping the early levels of skills fast after they level up,” he thought before he closing his eyes for a rest finally.

As he woke up again, he tried to focus on his Swordsmanship skill. The moves from the video replayed in his head. Duncan wondered how using a regular sword with Kendo moves will go in practice. The video he watched was two people using wooden swords pommeling each other.

Suddenly he remembered what he forgot to try.

“Damn. I didn’t try bringing anything with me or checked my stats at home,” he lamented in his head.

He came downstairs into the kitchen and saw Wazsh cutting up a rat carcass on the table. Without even a greeting he used Observe on him.

Wazsh divided the carcass into smaller pieces an put everything but the legs into his inventory. He added the legs to some others he already had in a bowl and put some spices and salt on them. He tossed them in a wooden bowl after he covered them in oil. After that was done, he put them on a baking tray which he transferred into a preheated oven.

He could hear Wazsh trying to talk to him but Duncan only heard low bass sounds as his perception of time was skewed by his skill. Wazsh quickly gave up. After about what seemed forever to Duncan Wazsh came back and opened the oven and took out the golden-brown roasted rat legs from the oven.

Time returned to normal for Duncan and he learned the cooking skill which gave him Dexterity and Perception.

“Are you back with us?” Wazsh said as he saw Duncan moving.

“Yeah. Sorry, everything was in slow motion when I used my Observe skill,” Duncan replied.

“Did you get a cooking skill?” Wazsh asked and Duncan nodded.

“Try not to use that Observe skill unless you are sure you are safe,” Wazsh replied before he tossed the roasted rat legs into his inventory getting an odd look from Duncan.

“It keeps them nice, fresh and warm. Or did you think I do them every time you and the dwarf show up?” Wazsh said before he washed his hands of the grease.

“Elland came looking for you. Bolgar still has not left his shop apparently. What are your plans for today?” he stated rapidly.

“I will try visiting Bolgar to buy a sword and maybe Elland later for some more Alchemy,” Duncan replied.

“A sword. Can you use it?” Wazsh asked surprised.

“I have Swordsmanship at level 3. I want to try,” Duncan replied.

“What? Who taught you?” Wazsh asked.

“I watched a video,” Duncan replied, leaving Wazsh with a gaping mouth.