Duncan left Fenris’ office after they agreed he will come and take a new crew tomorrow to the mine. He was, unfortunately, crucial to the exploration so he had to always be present to either fight off Shades and Wraiths or to help them pass the barrier to the outside of the village wall.

As he walked out of the barracks he squashed the right side of his face.

“There is so much to do all of a sudden, Bolgar, Elland, the mine, the hospital…” he lamented in his head as he walked towards his next destination.

Elland’s door was surprisingly still unlocked as he got there. The chimes chimed as he came in and Elland rushed from his workshop.

“Ohh. It’s you,” Elland said with disappointment written on his face.

“Good day to you too,” Duncan said a bit annoyed at the same reception as he got from Bolgar.

“Sorry. I was expecting Marykah. I thought I could finally leave for Wazsh’s. What do you need?” Elland explained his lack of enthusiasm.

“Ahh, Marykah. Well, I won’t keep you long. I need your curse detection potion sprinkled on some stuff,” Duncan replied, watching for a reaction from Elland as he mentioned Marykah.

“Yes. We made plans for dinner. Put the stuff on the counter,” Elland replied.

Duncan clicked his tongue and placed the jewelry on the counter first. Elland sprinkled them with the potion and they watched as nothing happened.

“They are good to wear. No curses,” Elland stated.

Duncan packed them back into his inventory before he brought out the weapons and armor.

A Sword, Plated Armor, Plated Greaves, and a Tower Shield were unceremoniously dumped on the counter. Elland was annoyed but he soon took out the potion again and tested for curses.

This time there was a reaction with the Plated Greaves. There was black smoke wafting out of them as soon as the potion hit it.

“This one is cursed. Don’t touch it,” Elland said.

“Do you have something that could un-curse it?” Duncan asked.

“This potion is too weak and I don’t have materials for anything better. Maybe you can use lightning to exorcize or kill the curse,” Elland said, emphasizing the word exorcize.

Duncan stored the greaves back into his inventory before dumping them on the floor. The floor was made of stone tiles so he thought it would probably not get burned when he zapped it, unlike the wooden counter.

“You -BLEEP-ing mother-BLEEP-in curse!, -BLEEP-, -BLEEP- !” Duncan said and gritted his teeth. He used a sword to touch the greaves when he thought he accumulated enough current. A lightning arc flew from his sword a few moments before he could touch it and hit the metal greaves which let out a dark plume and an eerie noise of someone wailing before everything became still again.

Elland looked at Duncan like he was looking at a madman before asking warily, “What kind of incantation was this? Where did you learn this?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Duncan replied, shaking his head.

“The power is tremendous for such a short incantation but the toll it takes on you must be heavy,” Elland continued as he sprinkled the potion again on the smoking greaves.

Duncan nodded and replied, “I got used to it.”

“They are clear. This is just vapor,” Elland said and shook his head before he continued, “How can you get used to Lightning coursing through your body.”

Duncan shrugged and took the Plated greaves in his inventory.

After that, he took out the gaudy clothes, a ring made out of unidentifiable metal, three books, and four unidentified potions.

“Can you sprinkle these too?” Duncan asked.

“How can you be so nonchalant about what you just did? Doesn’t it hurt you?” Elland asked.

“As I said. I got used to it. How about that sprinkle?” Duncan replied and pointed at the items.

Elland shook his head and used the potion again on the items. They all came back negative.

After that Elland picked up a book and asked, “Did you get this in the mine?”

“Yeah. A Wraith had them in his inventory,” Duncan replied.

“These are ancient Alchemy books. The symbol for Alchemy never changed. Can I possibly, maybe take a look at them?” Elland practically begged for the opportunity to study them.

“Sure. I was going to ask you to translate them anyway. Also, see if you can identify the potions. I get no information from them with [Identify],” Duncan replied.

Elland smiled at the trust he had gotten from Duncan. He did not know if Duncan knew how valuable these books were but he was flattered at the amount of trust given to him.

“I will do my best to translate them as fast as possible and identify the potions,” Elland said and bowed his head.

“Why did you bow?” Duncan asked perplexed.

“Nevermind,” Elland replied and sighed just as the chimes sounded again.

“Good evening. I am sorry I am late,” Marykah said as she rushed in. As she saw Duncan she got a bit distracted and remained quiet before asking, “Am I interrupting something?”

“No, you’re not. I was just leaving. Good evening,” Duncan said and packed up the ring and the clothes from the counter.

“Evening Marykah. Duncan, wait! Are you going to Wazsh’s?” Elland asked.

“Yeah, why?” Duncan asked.

“Well, we can all go together then. We are going to have dinner there,” Elland said.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Marykah was nervously looking toward Duncan and Elland, before Duncan responded, “I am going but will rush there as fast as I can. I can’t wait to get out of these stinky clothes. I have been to the mine and the smithy and I must reek.”

“Alright. I won’t keep you if you don’t need anything else,” Elland replied.

Duncan thought about it, “If you could lend me a couple of your books until tomorrow maybe.”

Duncan knew by the translated black book that this was equivalent to asking Elland for his firstborn but he knew he had him where he wanted him.

Elland was having a hard time deciding but he closed his eyes in the end and nodded, “You can have these three until tomorrow.”

“Thank you. I will bring them back before going into the mine again,” Duncan replied and took three books from Elland’s hands.

[Potioneering for beginners vol.1 ][Potioneering for beginners vol.2 ][Potioneering for beginners vol.3 ]

“Ugh, and here I thought I might get something cool. This probably won’t give me any new levels in Alchemy,” Duncan thought as he saw the titles but stored them without complaining anyway.

“I am off. Maybe I will see you at dinner if I get cleaned up fast enough. Otherwise, I hope you two have a pleasant evening,” Duncan said and rushed off.

“He is acting weird,” Elland said as the chimes became quiet again.

Marykah just stood where she was and nodded before asking, “Shall we go?”

“Yeah. Let me just lock up,” Elland replied and ushered her out.

Duncan soon reached Wazsh’s place and entered. Bolgar was missing and he knew where Elland was. Wazsh was polishing the unattended bar as he greeted him.

“What did you do with my customers?” Wazsh asked.

“Bolgar is doing a large order for the Mayor and Elland will come shortly with Marykah,” Duncan replied before going toward the kitchen.

“Where are you off to?” Wazsh asked.

“I was in the mine and helped Bolgar. I need a shower and a change of clothes,” Duncan replied and was gone.

His first stop was the shower, then rushed into his bedroom naked where he changed his clothes. He hid under the blanket and took out the books and activated reading on volume one.

After twenty minutes he was done. Duncan immediately picked up the second book and repeated the process. They were pretty thick books so he needed another twenty minutes to get that one done. His [ LOG ] flashed a couple of times in the background but he ignored it and started on number three.

After he was done with it he checked his [ LOG ].

[ You have Learned Reading Level 12. ]

Perception +1.2

Intelligence +1.2

Wisdom +1.2

[ You have Learned Learn Level 10. ]

Intelligence +1.0

Wisdom +1.0

[ You have Learned Alchemy Level 11. ]

Perception +1.1

Intelligence +1.1

Wisdom +1.1

[ You have Learned Identify Level 12. ]

Intelligence +1.2

Wisdom +1.2

That was more than ten stat points in an hour and Duncan was happy about it. Sadly they were all stats in the mental department but they would be helpful in the long run for sure.

Duncan put the books back into the inventory and went downstairs to have dinner. The day was long and he was hungry even before he showered. To his surprise, Elland and Marykah were still there sitting at a table, as was Bolgar holding onto his mug by the bar.

“Evening,” Duncan greeted

“Evening, are ya coming tomorrow?” Bolgar asked before the rest could reply so they just nodded.

“I will come early in the morning and maybe when I come back from the mine,” Duncan said after a bit of thought.

“Give him a beer and dinner, on me,” Bolgar smiled and ordered Wazsh.

Duncan ate some venison stew and remembered the books as he saw the two elves leaving.

“Elland. You can have your books back,” Duncan said as Elland came to pay for dinner.

Elland frowned, “I know they are beginner potioneering books but you need to have a firm foundation on which you can build. You should read them.”

“I did. I am done with them. Do you have more?“ Duncan said as he sipped his beer.

Elland looked at him in shock before stating, “IT has been less than 2 hours since I gave them to you. How can you be done reading them already?”

“What can I say? I am a fast reader,” Duncan said and offered the books.

“Did you even learn anything from them?” Elland asked.

“Yeah. They explained a lot of techniques. The first one was a bit boring though,” Duncan replied.

“The first one is meant for total novices. It’s for teaching helpers how to prepare and store alchemy materials,” Elland replied.

“Yeah. Who knew there were so many storing techniques? Drying, storing in water, storing in oil … I could go on and on. I much preferred the second and third volumes which actually came with some recipes,” Duncan replied.

“Which recipes are you talking about?” Elland said as his breathing got faster.

Duncan smiled at the question, “Are you questioning me like a teacher? The vomit potion in volume two and the antidote in volume three.”

“IT’S called an emetic, not vomit potion!” Elland said.

“I guess it’s much easier to have people drink it that way,” Duncan said and smiled.

Elland stored his books and shook his head before he asked, “Do you want volumes four, five, and six?”

“Sure. I will return them tomorrow,” Duncan replied.

Elland just stood there like a statue for several seconds after that statement before he shook his head again and gave him the books. He briskly turned around and left without saying goodbye. Marykah looked at Bolgar, Wazsh, and Duncan before saying good night and ran after him.

“That was the funniest thing I saw in a while,” Bolgar said while laughing.

Wazsh nodded before adding, “Are you sure Elland’s fragile scholarly heart can take it?”

“I don’t know. He even forgot about his date,” Bolgar continued.

“Yeah. Poor Marykah being relegated to second place after Potioneering,” Wazsh said as he wiped the counter.

“You are brutal,” Bolgar said laughing as he looked at Duncan.

“What? He asked me if I learned anything with such doubt and a snobbish attitude he deserved to get his doubts squashed. Should I have lied to him?” Duncan asked, confused at the accusation.

“No. But I kind of understand how the poor fellow feels. Ya started churning out excellent quality iron sword blades today like it was the simplest thing in the world to do. I doubt even my old masta can make them so consistently. You’re frustrating to work with,” Bolgar said this time without laughter.

“I am sorry?” Duncan said quietly. He was getting afraid he would alienate everyone with his skills.

Bolgar swiped his hand, “Don’t be. As much as you’re frustrating to watch, ya also bring me joy. One day I can claim the greatest blacksmith ever started in my humble smithy.”

“Thank you Bolgar,” Duncan said and drank the last of his beer.

“Ya can thank me, by coming tomorrow to make some more of those shitty swords,” Bolgar replied.

“Yeah. Yeah see you tomorrow,” Duncan said and left for bed. He read all three books before sleeping and got another level in Alchemy and Reading skills.

[ You have Learned Alchemy Level 12. ]

Perception +1.2

Intelligence +1.2

Wisdom +1.2

[ You have Learned Reading Level 13. ]

Perception +1.3

Intelligence +1.3

Wisdom +1.3

Tomorrow he had to deliver the books to Elland, help Bolgar and join the guards for another expedition. It will be a busy day again.