Duncan stood up from his bed and checked his phone. There were no messages or missed calls except his phone carrier informing him his credit is zero. The local time was 9:13 am. His phone battery was full but his credit was totally empty.

His neighbors Wi-Fi’s were all protected so he was offline. Scraping his teeth with his tongue made him frown and he rushed to the bathroom to wash them.

“Who does he think I am. Do I look like a homicidal maniac?”

Then again as he saw himself in the mirror he had to admit, with his unruly morning hair and a scruffy unkempt beard he did look like a murdering hobo.

“It was a rhetorical question. God damn it.”

He grabbed a comb and moistened it under the tap to make the mess of his hair easier to manage. After a few minutes he searched all his pockets and scrounged up 24 dollars and 54 cents. He also dumped the diamond into the drawer and filled his inventory space with a blob of toothpaste.

As he moved around the room, he noticed he didn’t really need the ankle boot anymore. He tried to pry it open with his hands but his strength was lacking. The fibrous material and the plaster were doing a good job of holding everything together.

Searching for tools in the kitchen he found a serrated bread knife and started cutting the plaster. It was a slow and dusty process so he moved it into the bathroom under the shower.

Being extra careful not to cut himself proved difficult as he had to adjust the angle and he had limited reach. After around half an hour later he finally managed to yank out his foot from it. It stank like moldy cheese so he washed it with soap and while he was at it, he took a whole-body shower too.

Duncan quickly dressed himself, locked the door and walked down the five flights of steps. Once on the street he got to the nearby bodega and bought himself a $10 value prepaid credit for his carrier. He entered the code he got from it into his phone as he made his way back up.

“Now let’s see,” he said as he started Youtube. He set his default setting to 2x speed and lowest possible resolution.

“Archery first,” Duncan said and typed Beginner Archery into the search bar.

He opened the shortest video on the first page of results and willed Observe. It gave him Strength, Dexterity, Perception. Duncan watched the same video three more times and got his Archery to level 4.

“What now? Hmmm. Aikido?” Duncan said before he quickly searched for it.

He watched the same short 10-minute video introduction to aikido 4 times and got Unarmed combat to level 4 too. It got him bonuses in strength, dexterity, agility.

Duncan cursed in his mind, “Damn. Where can I get endurance from? I am not watching a bloody marathon.”

He thought about what he needed most for a minute and decided on something that may become very useful.

“Speed reading,” he said and typed it in. He got a Reading skill from a World record speed reader video. He watched it 3 more times. The bonuses this time were Perception, Intelligence and Wisdom. Also, the knowledge how to scan pages fast appeared in his mind.

“I need to go back. Need to save some time for the jewelers.” Duncan said before he climbed into his bed and willed himself away.

He checked his time off and he had only 38 minutes remaining.

“Damn I need to spend 3-4 days here before I can visit the jeweler. I better stay longer.”

He stayed for more than one hour at his home this time. Getting rid of his ankle boot and visiting the bodega took time. Also watching all those videos on top of it.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Checking his gains, he noticed he was level 15 now after the latest incident in the mine. He checked the level of the Shades in his log and they were level 16.

Duncan dumped the two stat points into Endurance which was hard to get through skills. The only one he got it from was Gardening.

He debated with himself to make himself easier on the eyes but he figured a good barber could help with that too.

Duncan felt tired mentally and he came back in the middle of the night, so he went to take a shower, brushed his teeth and went to bed. He woke up refreshed in the morning and went downstairs after another teeth brushing action.

“Morning,” Wazsh said from the kitchen isle.

“I wanted to apologize yesterday for going off on you but you were out.”

Duncan looked at him and replied, “Morning. Yeah, I needed to clear my head. I haven’t changed my mind.”

“I am sure we will figure something out?” Wazsh said nervously. He knew Duncan was basically his only chance, as things now stood to change things and he didn’t want to alienate him by applying pressure.

“Hopefully the next plan doesn’t include homicide,” Duncan replied as he left for the bar.

As he walked outside, he looked at the now again pristine bar shelves. It was like the incident yesterday never happened. Duncan decided to treat it as such.

“Never happened.”

He went to visit Elland with whom he had a debt in the form of unused potions and to settle the debt for the used ones. Walking towards Elland’s door he saw Timor coming out from his shop.

Duncan quickly yelled, “Hello, wait up.”

Timor turned around and Duncan ran towards him.

“Oh hello. It’s you… Duncan if I remember correctly,” Timor said as he saw him.

“Yeah. I have been looking for you,” Duncan replied.

Timor looked surprised, “I don’t recall I owe you any money.”

“I want to buy a bow. Also, maybe learn how to make bows and arrows,” Duncan said.

Timor frowned before saying, “Well, I can certainly sell you a bow and arrows… But the learning part I am not so sure of.”

Now Duncan frowned before he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Look, I am already down on my luck as a bowyer and fletcher and have basically no income. Now you come along and want to learn the trade and you expect me to be happy to teach my future competition,” Timor said being clearly angry and frustrated.

Duncan watched him and felt pity not anger.

“Just a bow and arrows then,” He said with a resigned voice.

Timor gestured and said, “Follow me.”

As they came inside his shop, he could see a couple of rows of mostly empty racks. There was one which was quite full of bows.

“Do you have a compound bow?” Duncan asked.

Timor asked surprised, “A what?”

“A compound bow, you know with pulleys?” Duncan reiterated.

“I have no idea what you are talking about. These are all I have. Longbows and short bows,” Timor now said acting extremely frustrated.

Duncan went to the racks quietly and chose a short bow and asked for 20 arrows. He set them on a table that he figured was this shops equivalent of a cashier’s desk.

Timor quickly brought the arrows and said, “That would be 10 silvers for the bow and 40 bronze coins for the arrows.”

Duncan paid and turned to leave.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Timor yelled after him.

“I wish I could say the same,” Duncan replied as he went across the street.

“I am sure there are bow making and fletching instructions on youtube asshole.”

“I will make my own bow with blackjack and …”

“Even better I will make myself a compound bow. IT will make your bows look like children’s toys.”

Duncan mused in his head all the way until he saw Elland rushing from his workshop backroom after he heard the chimes.

Elland saw the look on his face and could not help but inquire, “What has gotten you so worked up? Another round with Wazsh?”

“Good day to you too,” Duncan replied.

“Good day,” Elland replied with a sour face expecting an answer for his previous question.

“I will have you know, myself and Wazsh are OK. Your neighbor over there not so much,” Duncan said and gestured outside.

“You had trouble with Featherleaf? I mean Timor,” Elland asked.

“Ahhh forget it. It doesn’t concern you. I came to settle the debt of the guards. Here are the leftover potions,” Duncan said and took 6 out on the table.

Elland took four and said, “Keep two in reserve, in case it happens again.”

Duncan returned the two in his inventory before he asked, “How much do I owe you for the 6 potions?”

“If you are asking on behalf of the guards it’s one silver per potion. If you are asking for yourself, they are free. You supplied the main ingredient and also did the work,” Elland replied raising his hands.

“That reminds me,” Duncan said before he dumped the two purified Shade essences on the counter.

“You can use one and I will use the other one,” He told Elland.

Elland nodded before he said, “I think the guards have something against us elves. They always send someone to do their business.”

Duncan facepalmed and replied, “I think you are wrong about the reason. But they do have one and it has nothing to do with you.”

“So, you know about the real reason? Can you tell me?” Elland asked.

Duncan shook his head, “Don’t get me wrong. I trust you as much as anyone here but I think it’s better for you to not know it. You will know it when it’s time.”

With that Duncan turned around and left Elland’s shop.

“He did it again,” Elland said and sighed as Duncan left him hanging with open questions.