After another beer Duncan and the rest parted. Elland left after a glass of wine and Bolgar left soon after he had dinner. He had to promise Bolgar to deliver the armor and weapons to his smithy as soon as they were ready. Duncan kept quiet about his new knowledge of proto-Elvish language from Elland since that would open up a can of worms he didn’t want to be opened.

As he came upstairs he went to brush his teeth and took a long hot shower. After that, he tiptoed naked into his room and put on a fresh pair of underwear. Duncan then crawled into his bed and checked his Time off. It was still at the same value as when he last came back since it still was not the whole day and it has not reset.

“I guess tomorrow morning I will see the difference,” Duncan mumbled as he took out the book he got from Elland’s prep room.

The title translated to ‘Nature’s gifts volume 4’ and Duncan eagerly activated his Reading skill. It was about plants. Most of the knowledge he already knew but some of it was new. He had to cross-reference his knowledge of the different names of plants with the descriptions and illustrations to get the essence of the book out into the open.

“I bet Elland would kill for this book,” Duncan thought as he watched the blinking [ LOG ].

He checked it and noticed two things. The first one was that his Learn skill had leveled from the language pack. The second was a new level in the Herbology skill.

[ You have Learned Learn Level 11. ]

Intelligence +1.1

Wisdom +1.1

[ You have Learned Herbology Level 6. ]

Endurance +0.6

Wisdom +0.6

The fact that it was weird to Learn how to Learn did not elude Duncan and he chuckled at the description.

Duncan checked his stats.

STATS:

Strength: 43.2

Dexterity: 47.7

Agility: 31.8

Vitality: 34.6

Endurance: 27.7 (32.7)

Perception: 55.1

Intelligence: 47.6

Wisdom: 54.9

Charisma: 10.6

There were no surprises. Endurance was being buffed by the necklace and his Charisma was lagging behind as always.

“What else is new?” he muttered as he closed his stat sheet.

He finally closed his eyes and drifted away into a dreamless sleep.

When he awoke in the morning the first thing he did was check his Time off status and as expected it gained two hours instead of one.

“I wonder if the maximum time off doubled also and if there is another connection upgrade at level 100,” he thought as he closed the menu.

“Should I return home?” he asked himself out loud.

“Arrgh. There is too much to do here,” he cursed his busy schedule as he dismissed the idea. He put on some fresh clothes and packed the dirty ones for Clara to wash. He stuck them into his inventory since his first stop today was Elland and he would be passing by her place of business.

As he went downstairs he didn’t meet Wazsh in the kitchen like usual. Duncan didn’t want to get delayed so he went straight out of the bar.

Clara accepted the work without too many words and Duncan paid her in advance. He left her place and rang the chimes of Elland’s shop. The elf came from the workshop. He was disheveled and was yawning as he saw Duncan.

“It’s you. Come with me,” were the first words Elland said to him.

“Good morning,” Duncan said and followed.

“Maybe for you. I haven’t slept yet,” Elland replied as he led the way.

“You spent all night uncursing the items? Is that even the right word?” Duncan asked.

“It’s not. It’s called exorcism and I did. Well, most of it. I spent some time reading a book you brought back,” Elland explained.

“Ohh. Right. Exorcism. Somehow I connect that with the catholic church and didn’t think to use it here,” Duncan replied and made Elland frown.

“Catholic church. Never heard of them,” Elland said as he walked into the prep room.

“You are too old for them anyway,” Duncan quipped.

Elland shrugged and pointed at a pile of books, “These have all been checked. Also these potions and jewelry. I ran out of the curse-detecting potion after that,” Elland said while trying to stifle a yawn.

“You didn’t check one weapon?” Duncan asked as he knew Bolgar would nag him about them.

“As I said, I ran out of curse-detecting potions. Until I can make more, that’s it,” Elland repeated.

Duncan moved through the piles of undetected stuff trying not to touch them.

“What are you doing?” Elland asked.

“I will perform an exorcism on a few items the hard way,” Duncan replied.

He started bleeping right after that and Elland could only watch him in shock as he pulled out his copper-coated sword while gritting his teeth and touching the pile of swords with it. The electricity gathered ran through the swords and soon dark fumes ran out of some. They quickly lost the darkness and became white vapor instead.

“Round two,” Duncan said as he repeated the process on a pile of metal armor.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Duncan touched some swords while watching his stats and seeing no change stuffed them into his inventory. He did the same with the armors he performed the exorcism on already.

Duncan was more worried he would infect Bolgar or someone else than for his well-being. Neither Wraiths nor Ghouls could infect him while he was bleeping so he was reasonably safe from things like curses.

He returned through the pile to where Elland was standing and checked the pile of books and picked up ‘Nature’s gifts’ volumes 1-3 and 5-8 from the pile.

Elland suddenly glared at him. “You! Can you read proto-Elvish?” he yelled.

Duncan realized his mistake. He should have taken random books instead of a completed whole series.

“Yes. Since yesterday and no I can not tell you how that is possible,” Duncan reluctantly admitted.

Elland was breathing hard, “What does the title say?”

“Nature’s gifts volume 8,” Duncan replied as he read the title of the book he was holding.

“Can you translate them for me into Zynnian?” Elland asked while staring at Duncan.

“I will if I have time,” Duncan promised.

“Good. Now leave and visit your dwarf friend. I need to rest,” Elland said and started leaving the prep room.

“Alright. Have a good rest. See you at Wazsh’s tonight?” Duncan replied, trying to ease the tension.

Elland suddenly turned around and said, “You would not have told me you know how to read it if I had not caught you? Would you?”

Duncan shook his head, “No. Not right now. I have too much on my plate already.”

“I see. So you would have eventually told me,” Elland muttered as he left.

Duncan stood there for a while, shook his head, and then left Elland’s shop.

“Damn. Now I need a fast writing skill or this will take forever to translate and transcribe,” Duncan thought to himself as he went towards Bolgar’s place.

The dwarf’s smithy was unlocked but the dwarf was not in it. He was sleeping at the back of his quarters and Duncan roused him from his sleep by yelling his name.

“What do ya want? Can’t ya let a man sleep?” was the first thing the angry dwarf uttered as he came inside his workshop.

Duncan shook his head and looked Bolgar deep into his tiny eyes before he said, “So, you don’t want to look at the weapons we got from the crypt?”

“I do. Do you have them here?” Bolgar immediately changed his tune as the weapons were mentioned.

“I see, so you do want them?” Duncan teased the dwarf.

“Stop messing with me,” Bolgar bellowed.

Duncan smiled, before asking, “Where can I put them?”

“Wherever ya see fit,” Bolgar replied, spreading his arms as if to make the whole workshop available to Duncan.

Duncan found an empty spot and dumped all the weapons and armor he brought back from Elland.

“There is more at Elland’s but this should satisfy your immediate curiosity,” Duncan said but before he could finish Bolgar was already inspecting the armor.

“Oh. Such craftsmanship. Ya don’t see this these days anymore. I wonder how they made these tiny chains,” Bolgar muttered, already totally oblivious to what Duncan was saying.

“Did you hear me? This is just a sample,” Duncan yelled.

“Yeah. Yeah. There is more at Elland’s. I got ya. Now leave me alone as I inspect these,” Bolgar replied, waving his hands in dismissal.

Duncan shook his head, “Maniac.”

Duncan waited for a while as Bolgar picked another piece but then turned around and left, seeing there was no point.

He breathed in the fresh air outside the smithy and continued his walk toward the barracks. On the way there he met the last person he wanted to meet. She just exited the barracks as he was going to go in. Getting face-to-face with Demira was not in his plans for today.

“Hello, what brings you here?” she asked.

“Hi. I need to see Captain Fenris,” Duncan replied, trying to act casual.

“Captain Fenris is at the other side of the village. Can Shaya help you with something? She is second in command,” Demira replied, much better mannered than usual.

Duncan frowned. “Is Petris here?” Duncan asked.

“He is with the Captain,” Demira replied.

“Tenris?” Duncan tried again.

She shook her head.

“Rosen and Gabris are here,” Demira suddenly said as she figured out he would not talk to Shaya.

Duncan had no interest in talking to either of them.

“Where is Shaya?” he finally asked.

Demira smiled at him before answering, “She is at the training facility.”

Duncan nodded and started leaving towards the training facility as Demira kept up with him. He looked at her.

“I am not following you. I was about to go there,” she said just as Duncan opened his mouth. He turned around and started walking again.

As they got there they could see Shaya drinking something from a canteen and Demira ran ahead.

“Shaya. Duncan has been looking for you,” Demirah yelled as they came closer.

As Duncan was in talking distance, he greeted her, “Hello Shaya. I was looking for Captain Fenris actually.”

She nodded, “Hello Duncan. I heard you had quite a haul yesterday.”

“Yes. About that. Tell your Captain the items are still being processed. The curse detection potions have run out. Some have been cleared for use and I will deliver them here when Bolgar has had a look at them,” Duncan explained the situation.

Shaya nodded before she asked, “How long before you take me and Demira to the wilderness?”

“What do you mean?” Duncan said and pretended there was no tension.

Shaya made a disappointed face, “You have still not forgiven her for giving you a bad reputation. She didn’t… We didn’t know you were below level twenty.”

Duncan scratched his stubbly beard. He looked at Shaya and then at Demirah who nervously observed them out of hearing distance.

“Will you teach me how to track? I heard from Fenris you have that skill,” Duncan asked after thinking things over.

She frowned. “It’s not an easy skill to learn. I can’t promise you anything. You need high enough perception and track marks on the ground which you must follow,” Shaya replied.

“Don’t worry about it. I will take you two out if Fenris allows it and you track something. That will be enough. When do you think Fenris will be back?” Duncan asked.

“He will be back in the evening, Trouble is that when he is back I have to go to work,” Shaya replied.

“Can you leave for the outside without his permission?” Duncan asked.

Shaya nodded, “What I do on my own time is my business.”

“Alright then. You and Demira can come with me to the wilderness outside in let’s say three hours. I will pick you up here at the barracks entrance. If anyone else wants to go he can come too,” Duncan suggested.

Shaya nodded. “I will let Rosen and Gabris know. I am sure Demira wants to go. Is there anything else we can do for you?” Shaya asked.

“Did Rosen talk about what happened yesterday?” Duncan suddenly asked,

Shaya nodded. “He did. He said you killed all the Wraiths and then had a great plan to defeat the Guardian Skeletons by dumping a giant rock on them.”

Duncan nodded. “Don’t read too much into it. The animals outside and the monsters in the crypt are completely different. I will be far less help on the outside. Get ready for the expedition. I have to go and get ready too,” Duncan stated and started leaving when he saw Shaya nodding.

Demira came closer to Shaya and asked, “Has he forgiven me?”

Shaya shook her head before saying, “No. But he does not hate you. He just thinks you are a spoiled brat and he is right.”

“Shayaaaaaaa,” Demira said while stomping her feet.

Shaya looked at her and sighed, before saying, “A very old spoiled brat.”

Duncan was just far enough to hear that interaction with his improved perception and smiled while leaving.