Bolgar was holding an empty mug of beer and eyeing it sadly before stating, ”I hope he doesn’t take all night.”

Duncan nodded as he smiled, “I could use a drink too.”

Elland quickly interjected, “When can you deliver those materials?”

“Hmm, tomorrow morning?” Duncan replied.

“Oh, great!” Elland responded with a smile which made Duncan frown.

“The man, I mean Elf definitely looks too good,” he thought with envy.

“That reminds me. Do any of you two know how to test for curses? I got some gear we found, I want to get checked out,” Duncan asked.

Bolgar shook his head and Elland responded with, “I think I can help you out. Not with which curse it is though.”

“What do you mean?” Duncan asked.

“I have a potion for curse removal. It should react if I put a drop on the gear. So basically, it turns into a yes and no, but from that, we won’t know how bad the curse is,” Elland explained.

“That should be enough for now,” Duncan happily exclaimed.

“I think I have it here. Do you have that gear with you?” Elland asked and he started to stare into the distance right after.

Duncan first grabbed the armor, sword, and helmet from his inventory and put them on a table.

Elland quickly joined him at the table holding a small bottle from which he dropped a droplet on each of the items. There were no reactions which meant the items were clear.

“Thank you,” Duncan said and wanted to stash them away just as Bolgar came running towards the table on his short legs.

“Wait! Can I look at those first before you store them?” Bolgar asked.

Duncan gestured with his hands and nodded.

“Ahhh. Would ya look at that? A mithril chain cuirass and helmet. I don’t know what metal the sword is made from but it certainly ain’t normal steel,” Bolgar exclaimed as he went over each of the items.

“So, this is mithril?” Duncan asked as he was surprised by the familiar name for the metal.

“Yes. It’s light and highly durable. Bad for mana though. Which makes it perfect for armor but not for weapons. At least not for those who want to use mana,” Bolgar explained.

Elland wanted to take his place back at the bar when Duncan stopped him.

“I have four more,” he exclaimed.

Duncan used another table and left Bolgar to look at every nook and cranny of the items on the last one.

Elland came and repeated the action from before by dropping small droplets on the items.

“These are clear too,” Elland said after a while.

Duncan smiled before asking, “Are there any enchantments on them?”

Elland thought for a moment and looked at them again before he replied, “It’s not really my field, my Identify skill in that field is too low for them to show up at least.”

“How about you Bolgar?” Duncan asked, hoping Bolgar could shed some light.

“I am the same as Elland. I can tell you the tiara is silver and the others are made of gold. That’s all it shows me,” Bolgar replied.

Duncan thought that much was pretty obvious from the color and nodded at them.

Wazsh finally showed up from the kitchen and as he looked at the tables full of stuff he asked, “What’s all this?”

“Duncan showed us his spoils from his newest adventure in the mine,” Bolgar replied.

“Ahh, alright make some room for the main course,” Wazsh replied and Duncan straightaway started clearing the table into his inventory.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“They are not all my spoils,” he added as he did so.

“Whose then?” Bolgar asked.

“The cuirass will belong to Captain Fenris and the helmet goes back to Petris the scout. We needed to check for any curses before that though. I thought you guys might be helpful in that regard and I was right,” Duncan explained.

“So, you went to the mine with Fenris and Petris?” Wazsh asked with a surprised expression.

“Yeah. Why are you asking it that way?” Duncan replied.

“Nothing. Just thought it would be another excursion with your girlfriend,” Wazsh replied.

“Shaya is not my girlfriend. Not even sure she is a friend anymore either,” Duncan replied with resentment in his voice.

“Oh. What happened?” Wazsh asked drooling for the newest gossip. The other two moved closer too and stretched their ears.

“Nothing. A big misunderstanding. The whole guard crew thinks I am an ungrateful person because her guard partner misunderstood why I didn’t form a party,” Duncan replied.

“Why didn’t you form a party?” Bolgar asked, unable to stay quiet.

“I was too low-level then. You can only form parties after level 20. At least that is what Fenris told me. I was level 13 then. Didn’t even know that was an option at the time,” Duncan replied, shaking his head as he did so.

The crew nodded.

“Well, I am sure she knows and everything will be alright. Let’s eat!” Wazsh said before he dumped a massive tray of roasted poultry on a table.

“What’s that? Is this that Eagle?” Duncan asked and Wazsh nodded.

“Red-beak Eagle roasted to perfection. Enjoy!” Wazsh said and put some giant plates and cutlery next to the golden-brown roasted bird.

Elland considered for a while, as Bolgar and Duncan each took a drumstick. Finally, the delicious smell got the better of him and he took some white meat and Wazsh took a wing.

“I will put it away now so it doesn’t get cold. Tell me if you want more!” Wazsh replied before making the tray disappear.

“It’s delicious!” Bolgar said with a full mouth.

“It really is,” Duncan joined the praise.

“I wish I had a bigger oven. Then I could have roasted the whole thing all at once,” Wazsh said and sighed before biting into the wing.

Elland was the slowest eater. Meticulously carving up the white meat before he gently placed a small piece of it into his mouth and smiled.

“Would you look at that?” Wazsh said.

“What?” Duncan asked with grease running down his chin.

“Elland ate something I cooked after 40-something years and didn’t frown,” Wazsh replied.

Elland rolled his eyes before replying, “All you had was rat almost exclusively for 150 years. What did you expect?”

“Well, I have to tell you our culinary choices in the future will be a lot better now that Duncan is here,” Wazsh said smiling.

Bolgar nodded before saying, “Now if only we could get someone to give us more beer, the meal would be perfect.”

Wazsh nodded before asking, “Anyone else want something?”

Duncan chose beer also, while Elland wanted his usual wine.

“There you go. Now shut up and eat!” Wazsh said and laughed.

Bolgar downed half of the beer right away and started tearing the drumstick apart. It looked more like a weapon for an Ogre than a meal. The size of the thing was immense. Almost a meter-long bone with golden-brown meat attached.

Duncan quickly ate his fill and dropped the rest in his inventory. Bolgar and Elland gave up soon after.

“That is a big bird,” Duncan said as he finished his beer.

“That was not all of it. I made both drumsticks and some white meat and both wings for now. Otherwise, these two would have eaten me if I took too long,” Wazsh joked.

Elland grimaced, “I would rather starve!”

That made Bolgar chuckle before he asked, “How much do I owe you for this?”

“The bird is free today, for the beers the usual,” Wazsh replied.

As they all settled their bills Elland and Bolgar left. Duncan stayed with Wazsh as he cleaned the tables and bar.

“How was adventuring with Fenris and Petris?” Wazsh asked to break the silence.

“It was alright. We were extra careful and it took a long time, with Petris scouting with his Stealth skill activated,” Duncan replied.

“Did you learn Stealth from him?” Wazsh asked.

“I did. Why? Should I not have?” Duncan asked.

Wazsh shook his head, “It’s a good skill but be careful. It might work here but don’t count on it to work in your world.”

“What do you mean? Why would it not work?” Duncan asked with surprise written on his face.

“There was a guy here long ago, who had leveled quite high and he explained he got caught trying to go into some women’s locker rooms at a gym while using it,” Wazsh explained.

“Serves him right. Did he run into someone with high perception?” Duncan said and laughed at the bizarre information.

“According to him, all the women there saw him. The skill didn’t work at all. He had a theory that what we see here was all a simulation that nanobots make in our heads. If you have no nanobots those skills won’t work and almost all of you humans from Earth didn’t accept Terms of Service to have them implanted,” Wazsh explained.

Duncan frowned at the new info, “So, you are saying Petris going invisible in front of my eyes was only possible because nanobots in my head detected his skill usage and deleted him from my eyes?”

“Yes,” Wazsh said as he swept the floor into the open shaft.

“So, all the magic and everything here could just be nanobots messing with our senses?” Duncan asked with worry in his voice.

“It’s just a theory. It doesn’t really change anything on this side though. I just thought you should be aware,” Wazsh replied.

“That’s a lot to think about…” Duncan replied as he frowned.

“Well, at least you won’t be arrested for indecent exposure in a gym now,” Wazsh replied as he closed the hatch.

“What about other skills and stats?” Duncan asked.

“Oh. They are real. I have no doubt about that. Your body is basically turning into a highly efficient machine the more nanobots you absorb,” Wazsh said and nodded.

“A machine?” Duncan asked.

“Would you prefer I said a robot made from nanobots?” Wazsh replied.

“No. I would prefer to stay human,” Duncan said and shook his head.

“Well, it does not hurt and if you didn’t know you are turning into a robot you would not even notice. I don’t see a problem,” Wazsh said.

“Now I understand why they all live so long,” Duncan replied quietly.

Wazsh looked surprised, “Isn’t that a great benefit though?”

“Maybe. Good night Wazsh,” Duncan replied as he frowned and left for the kitchen.