The guards were in high spirits when they left the scene of the killing while Duncan felt out of place. He was not used to wandering the forests looking over his shoulder for potential predators hiding in ambush. The whole ordeal was very unnerving for him.

After a while, they reached a small creek where they had lunch. The sound of the boar’s squealing must have scared away everything since not even the birds were chirping while they walked. Shaya drew the creek into her map and they followed it to the left.

Walking for a while down the creek, they turned back to the crypt entrance. Duncan was very interested in how Shaya determined where they should be going and she explained she used the position of the black hole and time.

As they came to the crypt entrance Shaya explained her thoughts, “We won’t be finding anything more to hunt today, after the ruckus that pig made. At least not in the vicinity I agreed upon with Fenris.”

“What do you suggest?” Duncan asked.

“I suggest we return home and try it another day,” Shaya replied.

Duncan considered it and nodded. He was not physically tired but was mentally fatigued from the ordeal. Rosen was unhappy at the idea, while Tyrok had his usual stoic face on.

They quickly returned through the maze of corridors after the initial back and forth to pass the barrier.

The black hole sun was still pretty high in the sky. Duncan was glad the expedition finished earlier than he expected. He had time now to attend to some other pressing matters. He followed the guards to the barracks and instructed them to let him know if the coast was clear. He didn’t want to meet the Mayor’s goons just yet.

He waited for a while at the training facility when Petris came.

“How was the expedition? Any trouble?” Petris asked.

“No more than usual. How were things here?” Duncan replied.

Petris smiled and answered, “Boring as usual. I can’t wait to do another dungeon run with you.”

Duncan nodded, “Is Fenris here? That reminds me, could you check something out for me?”

“Yeah, he is in his office, waiting for you and debriefing the others. What do you need me to check?” Petris asked with a surprised expression on his face.

Duncan nodded. “Try this ring on and tell me what it does,” Duncan replied and offered the black ring.

Petris looked at the ring with curiosity before asking, “Has it been checked for curses?”

“I just had it on my finger. It’s still warm. What do you think?” Duncan replied while rolling his eyes.

Petris smiled with an embarrassed expression, “Yeah. Sorry for doubting you. It’s just better to be safe than sorry.”

He put on the ring and checked his stats. “It doesn’t do anything. It’s not enchanted,” Petris said.

“Check your Stealth skill,” Duncan advised.

Petris looked at him with suspicion but then did as he was told. His eyes revealed his surprise before he exclaimed, “It actually raised my Stealth skill to 40.”

“It’s 22 normally?” Duncan asked.

Petris nodded at that.

“So it has a level cap. Still good though. You can return it to me now,” Duncan said.

As Petris was returning Duncan’s ring Duncan could almost hear the words ‘My precious’ in the air.

“I will loan it to you in the dungeon when you need to scout. It will be much safer for you that way. Let’s go to the others now,” Duncan stated to ease his mind.

Petris nodded with a smile at that and started walking.

The office was crowded with the three guards, Fenris, Duncan, and Petris so they moved the discussion to the common room after greetings.

“I heard things got a bit iffy?” Fenris asked.

Duncan nodded, “Yeah. We underestimated the levels of the animals outside.”

“Yes. Shaya explained it was her fault,” Fenris asked and waited for a reaction from Duncan.

Duncan nodded before adding, “Yeah. I was really mad at the time since Rosen almost got squashed but Tyrok explained that they had never seen a boar so high-leveled. I can’t really fault her for that.”

“Good. We all need to level to face the internal and external threats prepared,” Fenris said while he nodded and patted Duncan on the shoulder.

Duncan smiled and looked at Shaya who nodded at him.

“I will try and help as much as I can. I gave some of your guys the gear from the last dungeon. Please redistribute it as you see fit to maximize the effects of the next expeditions. I don’t think it should be owned by anyone until we get enough for everyone. I will keep this ring though and loan it out to Petris when he goes scouting,” Duncan expressed his thoughts.

Fenris nodded, “It’s a good idea. We will put them into the armory and equip them when needed. I am sure we will find plenty more on the lower levels. You said you were leaving after this expedition?”

Duncan nodded. “Yes. I will be gone for a few days. A week at most.”

“Can you tell me where?” Fenris asked before he got a look from Duncan which made him understand that the answer was no. He shook his head, “No need. I am sure you have important things to attend to.”

Duncan nodded at that. “I will bring a few meals from the boar around when Wazsh cooks it. Stay safe until I am back,” Duncan said as he turned around and left.

“Good luck with whatever you got going on,” Fenris replied as Duncan was halfway out.

Duncan decided to visit Bolgar on the way back so he rushed toward the smithy. There was no noise from outside but the door was unlocked and as he came in he could see the dwarf still working on the sword handles.

“How’s it going?” Duncan asked as the dwarf turned around.

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The dwarf jumped from his stool and dropped his tools, “Ah. It’s ya. Sorry, I’m a bit jumpy after the last visit. I’m almost done with these shitty swords. How was your expedition?”

“It was alright,” Duncan replied and didn’t go into the details.

Bolgar nodded, “Do you need anything from me?”

“I do. Could you show me how to make copper ingots?” Duncan asked.

Bolgar looked at him with surprise on his face before answering, “Is that all? It’s the same process as with iron ingots. Just heat it up enough. Then just pour it out into the mold. It’s actually easier than with iron since the melting point is lower.”

“Start the forge and put the copper ore in the crucible. Wait for it to melt then pour it out,” Bolgar explained.

“Crucible?” Duncan asked.

“Those special clay pots over by the forge. Don’t forget to use tongs when they are hot…” Bolgar said and shook his head.

“Could you do one for me?” Duncan said as his laziness kicked in.

“Sure. I owe you at least that much for your help with the sword blades,” Bolgar walked to the forge with a smile.

Duncan activated his Observe skill as Bolgar heated up the forge and made the copper ingots. It took around half an hour mostly because the forge was off at the start.

“There, done. Do you think you can do it now?” Bolgar asked as he let the copper ingot cool in the mold.

Duncan nodded and used [Make] on another one. It took a few seconds in the fast-forward mode and about five minutes in real-time. Copper is a great heat transmitter so it gets hot really fast. Duncan repeated the process another six times before he got another flashing of the [ LOG ].

He opened it and saw a familiar notification.

[ You have Learned Blacksmithing Level 11. ]

Strength +1.1

Dexterity +1.1

Perception +1.1

Duncan checked the time and he still had around 7 hours before he got another hour of Time off and he could leave for Earth.

There was no hammering. Consequently, no blisters were forming on his hands nor was there a need for earplugs. He used make liberally until the [ LOG ] flashed again. The first molds have cooled down long ago and he used Identify on the familiar orange metal.

[ Copper ingot - Good quality - 10.8 kg ]

It was around 5 centimeters thick, 25 centimeters in length, and 10 centimeters wide brick he got from the mold. It was shiny orange from the flames of the forge and looked quite pretty.

Duncan opened the [ LOG ] and smiled.

[ You have Learned Blacksmithing Level 12. ]

Strength +1.2

Dexterity +1.2

Perception +1.2

Checking the time he still had 5.5 hours to go and he continued smelting the copper ore. After another 2 hours passed he checked an ingot.

[ Copper ingot - Excellent quality - 11.2 kg ]

His level in Blacksmithing didn’t increase once during that time. He noticed the quality and weight had gone up.

“Must be because the purity is better,” he mumbled as he closed the blue window.

He looked at the stacks of copper ingots and the ones still in molds and smiled. It was satisfying work. Especially if you could fast-forward it.

Duncan walked to Bolgar’s station and waited for him to give the finishing touches to a sword.

“I have to go now. Can you upgrade this sword for me with copper?” Duncan asked as he gave Bolgar the sword with the speed enchantment.

“Sure. When do you need it back?” Bolgar replied.

Duncan thought about it before answering, “In 4 days at the earliest. Seven if things get complicated.”

Bolgar frowned at that and asked, “Going somewhere?”

“Nowhere where this sword could be of use. Take care,” Duncan replied and left the smithy.

He breathed in the cool evening air as he got out and started walking toward the bar.

Duncan wanted to get rid of another unpleasant task while he was at it and hopefully earn some additional stats from it. Butchering was not on his list of pleasant tasks. It was bloody, smelly, and time-consuming.

Coming inside the bar he only saw Wazsh dusting off the paintings.

“Good evening. Elland is not here?” Duncan asked.

Wazsh looked at him and rolled his eyes, “Good evening. Obviously, Elland is not here and neither is Bolgar. How was the expedition?”

“Good. I just came from Bolgar. He will probably be late today when he finishes his order,” Duncan replied.

“Mayor’s order?” Wazsh asked with obvious dissatisfaction in his voice.

Duncan nodded. “I have something for us to do in the meantime. We hunted a huge boar. Can I butcher it?”

“Sure. Let’s go to the cool room,” Wazsh said with a sigh.

Inside the cool room, Duncan dropped the huge carcass on the ground and they tied up its back hooves. Then they used a manual winch to raise it off the ground.

“Damn, this thing is the biggest I ever saw,” Wazsh exclaimed.

Duncan nodded, “It was a pain to kill. It’s a level 39 boar.”

“39? What level are you?” Wazsh exclaimed, surprised.

“31 after we killed the boar. Was 28 at the time,” Duncan explained.

Wazsh rubbed his forehead and sighed, “And here I am still stuck at level 12.”

“Maybe I can take you with us next time? You can join the party and we can carry you,” Duncan suggested.

“You should ask Fenris and his guards if they are alright with it,” Wazsh said after a while.

“Sure. I will do that. Not for the Dungeon runs but for the outside it should be alright. Even though the outside had proven more dangerous this time than any crypt before,” Duncan said and shook his head.

“What happened?” Wazsh asked.

“The level of the boar surprised the guards. From the distance, it didn’t look so huge against a huge tree and they probably thought it was a normal leveled one. We had quite an ordeal to kill it but we managed to do it without injury in the end, ” Duncan explained.

Wazsh nodded before he raised the boar higher and planted some buckets underneath to catch the blood.

“Now just do the same things as you did with the Midnight Stag,” Wazsh suggested.

“Let me get rid of the armor first,” Duncan said as he stored the unnecessary gear.

Then he concentrated on the carcass until [Butcher] appeared. After activating the skill nothing happened.

“Something is wrong,” Duncan exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” Wazsh asked Duncan as he just stood there doing nothing.

“The Butchering skill won’t activate,” Duncan exclaimed.

Wazsh shook his head, “Where is your sword or knife or anything to cut it with dumbass?”

“Ohh,” Duncan replied embarrassed before he took the highest quality sword he still had. Trying it again the butchering skill worked and the world moved at high speed. He noticed Wazsh leaving at one time when the skin and entrails were gone. The high-speed gore went on without him and Wazsh came back and brought some more boxes to store the meat in.

It took Duncan 3 hours to get through the whole oversized pig. He reeked of sweat and blood but the job was finally done. The sense of satisfaction was subdued by the tiredness of running around all day.

“You can keep the meat for free. I will take some of your dishes to the guards to try and I want some for myself also. I need a shower. Did Clara come by?” Duncan hurriedly spewed everything out, while already imagining the warm water getting rid of the grime.

“Yes. Sure. I put the clean clothes in your room,” Wazsh said satisfied with the agreement.

Duncan hurried off after that and Wazsh used his inventory space to move the meat into the freezer.