Chapter 7: Rot and Decay Can Be Kind of Nice

Boy oh boy, did Frank have an idea and it was all made possible by his new skills. All it had taken was for him to unlock the [Mycology] skill. Frank thought back on how he had gotten it, it was quite simple really. The following day after he had rented a room at an inn and filled his very empty belly, Frank headed towards the smith.

Before he even got there though, he found something interesting. There was a man camped out in an alleyway selling books. It looked like an opportunity waiting for the [Hero] to take advantage of. With that thought in mind, Frank beelined straight for it.

He wasn't going to let the [Hero] have any of his fortuitous encounters if he could help it! As he approached the man in the alley, Frank took note of his appearance and the 'goods' he was selling.

The man was wearing a long and dirty black cloak that covered his body. His face was painted with mud and his hair was standing on end almost as if he had just woken up. The items in front of him looked to be nothing special.

Frank knew better and employed [Appraisal] to help him discern if he was correct. His eyes bounced from item to item, a smile growing larger and larger as he did.

[Dagger of the Stars (Sealed)] [JPhone 16 Max Pro Wireless (dead)] [Mystery Egg ???] [The Wonders of Penicillin Vol. 1] [H?ly Sw?rd Fr@gment ??]

Although they were probably all useful, Frank eyed one in particular. The book reminded him of one of his earliest science classes. They had talked about how penicillin started off as mold and with that in mind, Frank formulated a plan that could earn him a king's ransom.

"Hello, good sir!" Frank approached the man with a smile on his face. "Could you please tell me about your wares?"

At the mention of his merchandise, the cloaked figure perked up and smiled back. "Of course, young man!" He pointed to the dagger. "This here is a mystical dagger wielded by the greatest thief to ever exist! Sadly, it's broken. Still worth its weight in gold so I'll only ask for 100 gold coins!"

Frank frowned a bit at the price and the man noticed it moving on to his next item. "This here is a photographic device wielded by the [Hero], Maximus, 400 years ago! It doesn't work but I'm sure the secrets it would unlock once it was fixed will bring upon a new age!" He waved his hands excitedly.

"A [Hero] from 400 years ago? With a phone model that hasn't even come out yet? What in the world?" Frank stopped himself from thinking about it further as he wanted to concentrate on his poker face. Thinking about the matter any more would give away his interests.

"That being said, this will cost you 100 gold." The man gauged Frank's reaction and seeing another frown moved on to the next item. "This egg here was stolen from a dragon! We know not what is inside but one can assume it's a baby dragon. All you have to do is hatch it." He tilted his hand expectantly and threw his arms out.

Frank pursed his lips and the man dropped his arms. With a sigh, he moved on to the next, the item Frank wanted the most. "The egg is normally 75 gold, but for you, I could sell it for 45. No? Okay. How about this book?"

He opened it up and showed the text inside. "Now, no one can read this mysterious script. But! I'm sure you could develop the skill to read it and unlock its secrets. I'll be honest, it's not my best item and I'm willing to trade it for five gold."

Controlling his emotions to show he was displeased, Frank convinced the man to continue explaining his last item. "For posterity's sake, I'll explain this to you though I doubt you could afford it from your expressions so far. This here is a fragment of the [Hero]'s holy sword. Wielded by the same hero who owned this photographic device. It's worth whole kingdoms even as a fragment but I could be convinced to sell it for 1,000 platinum. So, can you afford anything?"

The man furrowed his brows and looked as if he was losing his patience. "Are you even still interested, young man?"

Frank crouched down and took a look at the book. He let out a very real sigh as he couldn't afford it. He would try and change that though. "I'm a little interested in this book, but I don't even have enough. I was going to try and make money with something the current [Hero] told me about but it'll take a while."

He frowned and stood back up, placing the book on the floor in front of the man. He turned to leave and walked a few steps out of the alley. "Wait! Young man, come back. What was that you just said?"

Facing away from the man, Frank smiled. He cooled his expression then turned around coming back towards the book he wanted. "Ah, it was nothing." He waved his hand dismissively. "Just some powder that burned hot like the sun. It could melt through castle walls…or so the [Hero] said."

The man tried to grin before he forced it down. "How about you tell me about this powder, huh? I'll give you the book in exchange. How about it?"

"Hook line and sinker," Frank thought. He nodded and began to explain the absolute bare bones about thermite, and many of its applications all under the guise of some [Hero] telling him. He watched as the man's eyes continued to grow wider and wider as he told him of everything that could be done with the brown powder. Once he was finished, as agreed upon, he was given the book.

With it in hand, he walked back to the Iron Fist tavern and inn. There he sat down at his new favorite table and waved Samantha over. "I just want what I had yesterday please." The waitress nodded and entered the back.

Book in front of him, Frank cracked it open and began to diligently read. It didn't take long for him to finish. Trying to take a sip of his wine, Frank found it empty and frowned. He looked over towards Samantha and waved his goblet into the air telling her he wanted another.

From the reading and his memories, Frank realized it was relatively easy to make penicillin. The only real hurdle would be identifying the species that would work as an antibiotic. He would have to search the library and see if there were any records of skills that could do something like that since he doubted [Appraisal] could.

Once Samantha brought his wine and he paid his dues, Frank opened his status and took a look at the offered skills.

[Chemistry: Work with the building blocks of life to produce effects.]

[Runic Smithing: Combine the might of smithing with the ancient runes of the giants to produce wondrous items.]

[Tinkering: Imbues knowledge on the creation of small-scale mechanical devices.]

[Settling Down: This allows the user to designate a workstation as their favored spot, granting a 15% increase in efficiency while using it. This workstation can be changed once a month.]

[Flash of Genius: Once a month you can force an instance of genius allowing you to find new insights into a current project.]

Instantly, the last two skills stood out as something he needed. They also appeared like skills he wouldn't be able to obtain on his own. On one hand, he could set up a workshop or he could gain insights on projects that he would otherwise be stuck on.

Frank took a large gulp of his wine and debated the choices. "I don't have a place I could even set up a workshop right now and I need funds urgently. [Flash of Genius] could help me solve my problems if any crop up."

He rationalized the thought and made up his mind. He selected [Flash of Genius] and let out a breath of air. Frank downed the rest of his wine and stood up. He headed to his room and deposited his new book beside his old one.

The book about [Artificers] was practically useless now as it had only mentioned the initial skills and spells he could acquire at level one. With the books stored, Frank made his way to the guild for a new quest.

Frank was specifically looking to see if they sold any identification skills that related to fungi as mold was a part of the fungi kingdom. At least Frank believed that to be the case from the faint memory of his biology class.

Once Frank arrived and waited in his line, he greeted Aslef immediately as he arrived at the counter. "How's it going?"

The clerk smiled at Frank, "It's going quite well; thanks for asking. How are you doing?"

Frank then proceeded to tell him about his goblin quest, leaving a few details vague like how he exactly killed everything. Aslef listened attentively and nodded his head along to the story. "Anyways," Frank placed both hands on the counter. "Do you have any books on fungi?"

Aslef raised a brow but didn't ask any questions. "I can check in the back. One moment please." The man turned around and entered the back, returning shortly with two books. He placed both of them down and explained each.

"This one on the left is about mycology and covers a wide array of mushrooms and how to identify them. And this one on the right is the skill book [Mycology]. The skill book costs 20 gold and the other just 11 silver."

Instantly Frank reached for the first book. He would earn the skill without having to spend a ton of money. He placed 11 silver coins on the counter and thanked Aslef. With his newest book in hand, he turned and left.

With purpose, Frank entered the forest and cracked open the book taking a look at all the different descriptions and illustrations of mushrooms.

"Would being able to identify all of these make me a fun guy?" Frank chuckled at his stupid joke and got to work.