When I arrived at the crafter’s shop, I expected Bolo to be working on something important, and I would have to wait. Surprisingly, when I entered the place, he was merely eating in his workshop while his two apprentices were working in his stead.

  “Ahh, the curious Elf. What have you come to bother me with today?” Bolo said before taking another bite.

  I guess his jibe was warranted. In the village, I had a million questions at every place I went. Some people were receptive, while others loathed my endless childish questions. Bolo had been the latter.

  “Hey, buddy. How’s it going?” I greeted him with a false bright cheer, but this didn’t seem to affect him at all. He stared at me blankly while he ate. “Okay, I will cut to the chase then, as I see you are eating, and you don’t want to look at my face anymore. Do you have any items that you think can help me on a journey that I can purchase?”

  He looked at me with suspicion. “You have silver?”

  “I have gold,” I said, shaking my bag. The bag did not clink, and since there was no other bag like it in this world that I knew about, I wasn’t sure he understood. “Sorry, this is a dimensional bag. You can’t hear the items inside because they are somewhere else.”

  “Really?” he inquired, drawing out the word as if interested. “Can I see it? Where did you get it? Do you know how it is made? Of course not, that is ridiculous,” Bolo commented, making it clear his impression of me.

  I took the pouch off my waist and held it up. It was considerably lighter now than it was before, after the heavier contents had been taken out. “Actually, I know the answer to all of those questions. In return, you are going to have to be helpful to me.”

  Last time I came here after he found out I had no skills, he spent his time looking down at me as if I were nothing better than a pauper wasting his time. Now that I had some leverage, I was hoping that he would be more amenable and maybe sell me something that would help. Also, I hoped he wouldn’t rip me off.

  He still looked suspicious, yet nonetheless, agreed. “Deal. If you can answer all those questions, I will be quite pleased.”

  “I was given a transmutation crystal and…”

  That was enough explanation for Bolo to cut into what I was saying. “Very rare, but what type of magic was fed to it? I thought you didn’t have any magic?”

  “I do have two types that were both leveled out at level 1. I have Time and Spatial Magic. They…”

  Bolo interrupted me once again and said, “Never heard of them, but for good reason. No wonder they both leveled out at level 1. The fact that you couldn’t learn any other types of magic worked in your favor this time. Another question, are your spells of the Alteration type?”

  His question alerted me because they both were Alteration Magic. Magic was any branch that existed, but after that branch, it split into only five different categories. Conjuration, Evocation, Body, Illusion, and Alteration. I had two Alteration types of magic that didn’t require any spell casting to happen, but rather a manipulation of the natural order.

  “Yes, why do you ask?” I answered, interested in what he had to say since there were a lot of things I didn’t know yet.

  “I have a working theory that if a person has only Alteration Spells, then they can retrieve an item, rather than a weapon, from a transmutation crystal. Unfortunately, they are rare enough that it’s an impossible theory to test. What are its properties?” he added, taking another bite of his food.

  “Well, there are size limits to what can be put into the bag, but it doesn’t seem to have a limit on the number of items that can be placed in it. There is also a weight-reducing capacity on the bag that lowers the weight to only 6 percent of the original amount.”

  Bolo was fascinated and no longer looked disdainful. “Have you tested the time aspect of it yet?”

  I looked at him curiously and asked, “How would I do that?”

  He then walked over to a plant that was out of direct sunlight and gestured to it. “This is a One Touch Flower. The reason it got its name was that at the touch of any person, the leaves immediately start to fall apart. For this reason, it is quite rare and also extremely useful. I traded for this plant some time ago.”

  In my mind, while he was talking, I asked Rabbit, “Why would that be useful?”

  Often, when I had little questions like this, which I figured Rabbit knew the answer to, I would automatically ask in the middle of people’s conversations. This was better than interrupting them unless I had to. Often, Rabbit had the answer, which limited the annoying questions I asked out loud. Rabbit was even more curious than I was about how everything worked, so my questions benefited both of us.

  “A quick-reacting agent is extremely useful,” Rabbit answered inside my mind while Bolo continued chatting on. “If it only reacts to the touch or the oils in our bodies, then there could be places where other objects can touch it and have it not react. Imagine a poison that retains its efficacy but initiates its reaction upon contact. You could place something like that anywhere, and it could be powerful. So, depending on how the leaves break down, the plant could be of use. However, I would need more research to be sure. I think he wants you to take a petal and put it in your bag. Remember to take the leaf fast, or else it will destroy the whole plant.”

  Bolo had stopped talking and was staring at me. I wasn’t sure how long ago he finished telling his story, but I did what Rabbit instructed as fast as I could to prevent the silence from becoming awkward. I grabbed a petal, pulled it from the stem, and put it in my bag as soon as I could.

  Right after that, Bolo took another petal and laid it down on the table for us to watch. The One Touch Flower had a bright blue color, but it quickly changed into a muddy brown, and the edges darkened to black. After two minutes, it had lost all its color to become totally black.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “Let’s take the other one out to compare,” Bolo spoke, gesturing to my bag.

  I pulled out the leaf I had recently put in my Bag of Holding, and it was still the bright blue that it was when I put it in there.

  His eyes widened. “That bag is simply amazing. Can you imagine what a crafter could do with that bag? One of the biggest problems crafters have is getting items before they spoil. With this, crafting could be taken to its next level. Instead of the true masterworks having to be done outside on the battlefield, they could be done with precision instruments right here in our workshops,” Bolo said with a manic smile.

  “What do you mean by ‘on the battlefield’?” I questioned.

  Bolo looked up as if he had just noticed me. “You see, if you are going to kill a great beast for its core components, then some of the rarest would quickly lose their magical properties. To create a potent item, some crafters have moved out to the killing grounds to get those components before they rot. That’s why crafters are extremely mobile and sometimes part of raiding groups. This is not ideal because, out on the road, you lack the necessary materials and equipment to create something great, resulting in a compromised product. The majority of crafters stay within their labs and try to make do with what they have. With that bag, though, I could craft some amazing items.”

  “Well, this bag is mine, but I might be able to grab you some rare components if I knew what to look for and bring them back to you,” I added while delicately touching the bag.

  The excitement on his face faded. “Well, if you won’t sell it, that is the best I could hope for. But…” he sighed, “the problem with you finding the proper components is that you need the Crafting Skill. It isn’t just about making something but also about finding the right components. It’s about having the right eye for these things. This isn’t like Herbology, where you bring back leaves from every tree. Most animals or beasts are useless, but it’s about finding the part that can be useful. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can find anything without damaging it,” Bolo said, and he actually looked sorry. Mostly for himself, but sorry nonetheless.

  A thought went through my head, and I asked, “Do you have any books that describe what to look for?”

  “Yeah, I do. I have been working on a journal for my whole life about crafting and everything I know.” He raised his head in pride. “However, I wouldn’t give it up for anything, not even for that bag of yours,” he said, crossing his arms.

  “Can I take a look at it for a little bit? It must contain useful information for this task,” I asked gently.

  “You want me to let you take a look at my life’s work?” Bolo remarked, horrified at the thought of someone else getting a hold of it. “I doubt you would understand it, but I still won’t let someone look at it.”

  “How about this? Let me take a quick look at it while you are right here. In the time it takes me to skim the book, you can examine my bag. Obviously, since I don’t have the skill, what do you have to be worried about? Do you know anyone who can read a whole book and memorize it in an instant?” As I said these words, I tried my hardest to hold in a smile that wanted to break through my face.

  There was only one person in this world that I knew of who could process a whole book in a moment, and he was permanently attached to me. Bolo didn’t need to know that. If he somehow found out that I could download his whole book just by looking at the pages, he would never show it to me. As he said, it was his life’s work, and it seemed like knowledge and tradecraft were jealously guarded here.

  Bolo looked around for another moment, mulling it over, and said, “Fine, but if you damage a single page, I’m going to make you pay for it in flesh.”

  “Deal,” I said, untied the bag from my belt, and handed it to him. While the bag was soul-bound, it automatically understood my intent and allowed itself to be used by Bolo without trouble.

  You have temporarily granted control over your bag to Bolo. As a deal has been made, you will allow full access to your bag. For the duration of the time, you are allowed to review Bolo’s book. No permission is necessary as you have already agreed to these terms.

  He, in return, went over to a desk that had what I would say was the worst lock I had ever seen in my life. An untrained, coked-up monkey could probably pick the drawer he used his key in.

  “So what you’re saying is, if we find you some coke, we might find out if you have the Lockpicking Skill. Nice! You do have the Herbology Skill. Time to find some herbs,” Rabbit commented. Apparently, he had heard that idea of mine. Sometimes that happened, but I didn’t realize I was thinking loudly. He was usually only privy to my surface-level thoughts and not everything. Sometimes, I talked to myself in my head without realizing it.

  “I think you meant herb, as in the singular,” I replied in my head.

  “I doubt what you referred to as ‘herb’ would be enough to get a coke high, but sure, that works too,” he added.

  “Hey, do you know why he is using a lock that sucks?” I asked Rabbit because I was curious why something so precious would be locked in such an easily accessible place.

  “Remember, it’s a small village where everyone knows everyone. I don’t think anyone is looking to steal it. Only a couple of people would likely want to take it, so it might be obvious if it went missing. I guess the goal is to keep people here from reading it. This isn’t like our world, where all the knowledge can be searched on the internet or in books. This is more of a case of people with competitive research. The people under Bolo likely dislike his attitude, but they tolerate him because he gradually shares his knowledge with them. Remember, he is not from here, so he may not have a vested interest in making sure his wisdom is passed down through the generations.”

  As Rabbit was finishing his explanation, Bolo handed me the journal and said, “Remember to be careful with this. I am watching you.”

  He wasn’t lying. He went over to a table and spent half of his time looking at me and the other half playing with my bag. I spent my time as carefully as I could, going page by page, making sure not to fold or even breathe too heavily on the pages. It only took me a couple of minutes to make it through the journal. When I was done, I asked Rabbit, “Do you have it all?”

  “Well, sort of,” he answered.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I have memorized the whole journal, but there are a couple of issues you didn’t foresee. First, it is in a different language. As we haven’t heard this language before, it makes it harder to understand. With my genius, there was no problem figuring out the structure, even though his journal was a mess. I mean, it’s not a book. He makes random notes to himself so often that there's rarely any context to glean. That leads us to the second problem. This is a book on crafting items, and I have no idea what some of these terms in other languages mean. For example, you need a ‘gludel’ for increasing magical retention in rings. That could be anything from cow urine to a spell. I really have no clue.” Rabbit relayed his issues, and I listened intently but didn’t think it was a problem.

  I immediately asked Bolo, “What does ‘gludel’ mean?”

  “Ahh, yes,” Bolo said hotly, “I figured you didn’t speak Ze-anan. I noticed you were flipping through the journal confused, but I held up my end of the deal.”

  Of course, Bolo didn’t know I was having Rabbit memorize the book, and I didn’t want to tell him, especially since he wouldn’t translate anything for me. “You caught me. You got the best out of this borrowing trade. However, I am curious, what does ‘gludel’ mean?”

  After I put down Bolo’s book on the table he was working on, he stopped looking up at me every couple of seconds. “It’s actually pronounced ‘glud’ unless you have the type attached to it. A ‘glud’ is a stone or gem that is magically potent. They are often used in crafting everything.”

  “You do know that isn’t going to help, right?” Rabbit pointed out in my mind.

  For the first time, my face went into a frown. “What do you mean? I got the definition.”

  “It’s a book full of these words. He isn’t going to translate the whole book for you. We need to learn more Ze-anan to take full advantage of the journal's content. However, I did learn a good amount, so it wasn’t a full loss.”