Duncan woke up with a scream. He had a nightmare of the guardian skeleton surprising him by launching itself forward and striking him. His heart was beating fast but otherwise he felt great.

“Stupid nightmare!” he swore.

“Oh. I can at least say stupid without getting zapped,” he realized.

He felt refreshed in the morning. Another day, another yawn in a by now familiar setting and picking up boxers from the window sill. He quickly wore them along with his socks that started to develop holes.

He was amazed by the state of his body. All the aches from sliding down the slope, being bounced across the room into the wall and the excessive mining exercise were gone. It would have been at least a week on Earth to not feel the pain in his muscles. Here they were gone just after a night.

He put on his spare clothes he brought from Earth and decided to bring his armor along with the clothes he had to the mine to Clara’s.

They reeked of sweat and oxidized iron.

Opening up his inventory he found the 8 diamonds and willed one in his hand. It was circular about half a centimeter in size. Observing it through the morning light of the black hole sun he could understand why they were so popular. Even though diamonds are just compressed carbon which is neither rare or valuable in itself.

He put it away and took out the ruby. It was around 3 centimeters across and shining blood red in his hands.

“This one is not going to fit,” Duncan muttered. He tried anyway to put it in the small inventory slot. It stayed in his hand and gave him a slight headache. Putting it back into his inventory he took one of the diamonds out again and tried. It disappeared.

“Now just to find someone to buy it on the other side and at least some of my problems will go away,” Duncan muttered as he looked at the image of the Diamond in the small inventory.

He had absolutely no clue how much such diamonds were worth. There were pawn shops nearby him but it might not be a good idea to show up there with a diamond worth more than $1000. That meant he had to go to jewelers store uptown. Even with a car, which he didn’t have that would take time. Time, he didn’t have.

“Let’s just get it there first,” he muttered as he sat down on the bed.

He opened his eyes on his bed. Opened a drawer near his bed and tried to go back as soon as he dumped the diamond inside.

[Time Off – Cooldown 4 minutes 51 seconds]

“5 minutes cooldown. Let’s make it count,” he said before he quickly went into the bathroom. Took his toothbrush and went to his kitchenette. He took a chopping board and cut of the handle and most of the brush. He tried sticking it inside his inventory but it was a bit too long. Shortening it two times he finally managed to stick it in.

Then he took it out went to the bathroom and stuck toothpaste between the brushes before sticking it back inside his inventory.

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After that he went back to the other world. Taking out his smuggled goods he enjoyed the scent of menthol, or peppermint, or whatever. He quickly went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth by holding the toothbrush with two fingers. Duncan could only brush his front teeth like this but it was progress and he was happy.

“I never thought I would miss brushing my teeth,” Duncan said to the mirror before sighing.

“I need to make a handle for it though.”

He spat out the foam from his mouth as Jesus was looking at him from the mirror.

“From hobo to Jesus in one night,” Duncan said before shaking his head.

Duncan went back to his room and sat on the bed before putting another diamond in the transport slot. He willed himself home.

[Time Off – Cooldown 83 minutes 21 seconds]

“The cooldown on this side must be 90 minutes,” Duncan surmised.

Walking downstairs he met Wazsh eating breakfast.

“Good morning. Are you hungry I have some left?” Wazsh said.

Duncan greeted him also and confirmed his hunger. The existence of inventory function meant that your leftovers were always warm and as fresh as when you put them away. So, Wazsh offering a meal was him just trying to be nice.

“I have been thinking,” Duncan said as Wazsh brought out a plate of steaming hot vegetables with pieces of meat.

“I guess that’s something new for you,” Wazsh said with a smirk. Duncan ignored him spoiling his fun.

“I have been thinking. What would happen to me in my world if I died in the mine?” Duncan asked.

“Ohh. I think the nanobots on your side would notice the loss of connection and atomize themselves along with your body to remove any traces of tampering."

"We had a case the other way around once. An adventurer must have died on your side. He was drinking his beer when suddenly he turned to greasy grey dust that covered everything. You should have seen the looks on the other guests faces."

All that was left of him were some dirty clothes and armor. I needed a week to clean that shit up. By the way you saw his armor upstairs. Also, his inventory burst open spewing shit all over the place randomly,” Wazsh replied.

“So, you lose your inventory when you die?” Duncan asked.

“Well, you have no need for it then anyway,” Wazsh said.

Duncan remembered that when he moved into his apartment, he got a month rent free if he cleaned it up himself. There was a greasy dust residue all over the place and some clothes under the desk full of that stuff.

“Damn, I flushed the previous tenant down the toilet,” Duncan shuddered at the thought.

“Is it not good?” Wazsh asked as he saw the expression on Duncan’s face.

“Ohh. The food is excellent. I just remembered something,” Duncan explained.

“You are back. You survived. Don’t start second guessing yourself now,” Wazsh stated thinking it was about the mine trip.

Duncan nodded before finishing his breakfast in silence.

After a while he spoke again, as he remembered the half-elf that was once in the bar while thinking what he could do now.

“Where is that guy located? The half-elf, I haven’t seen him come back here since I met him,” he asked Wazsh.

“Oh. You mean Timor. He has a shop across Elland’s. You might not find him there though. I heard from Elland he was forced to work the field to make ends meet. I guess he didn’t receive any orders for bows or arrows in a while if that’s the case,” Wazsh replied and sighed.

“I might visit him later and try to learn some skills from him,” Duncan replied.

“If you do, please pay him for his time. I know he is having a hard time otherwise I would see more of him. I offered him a line of credit for the drinks and meals but he is too proud to take me up for it. He is one of the good guys,” Wazsh explained.

“I will deliver my dirty clothes and armor to Clara’s. Then check if he or Elland are around,” Duncan exclaimed receiving a nod from Wazsh in reply.

“While you are at it can you take mine there also? Clara is supposed to pick them up today but since you are already going there and you have an inventory…” Wazsh stated before Duncan held up his hand in a stop sign gesture. Wazsh looked surprised at the gesture thinking Duncan is refusing.

“Yeah, no problem,” he replied and Wazsh shook his head at his misunderstanding.

He thanked him and brought a bag with clothes to Duncan. He stuck it in his inventory before leaving up the Main Street.