Chapter 49 – Proficiency

“What do you think?” Divinity extended the bow in her hand to Sal.

He didn’t even need to check it to know that it was Uncommon at best. Her smile told Sal that she likely already had the conversation with him in her head. Rather than going through all the motions with her, Sal conceded.

“What would you like me to craft, and would you rather it be before or after the crown of thorns?”

Maybe it was because of the exhausted tone in his voice, but Divinity’s smile disappeared, and she frowned.

“Are you okay? I was joking about the bow. I expected you to Appraise it and get an ego boost from how much better your stuff is.”

Divinity’s voice was filled with concern, and Sal felt like an asshole for presuming the worst.

Since their conversation in his room, they had been on different wavelengths, and he didn’t know how to find the right words with her anymore.

Sal shook his head and forced a smile. “Barry was asking me to make him something on the way down, and I had my head in crafting mode. Sorry.”

The concern didn’t leave Divinity’s face, but rather grew in intensity.

Sal plucked the bow from her hands, happy to have something to distract him from the awkward conversation. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with, then.”

Name	Trainee Yew Bow
Origin	Crafted
Age	12 years
Grade	Uncommon (Low)
Dimensions	60”
Materials	Hardened Yew | Composite Fibers | Black Gloss Stain
Attributes	Boost - Adds momentum to fired arrows, increasing impact and range.
Abilities	Boost
Power Source	External Essence
Evolution	No
Quality	Average
Condition	63%
Value	Est. $250.00 – $400.00

Sal turned the bow in his hands and looked at its details. The string wasn’t attached, but he didn’t need it to complete the appraisal.

“Looks like a good starter weapon. Decent durability and has a Boost ability that increases the range and impact of your shots. It’s a little old and the valuation isn’t great, but it looks pretty dependable.”

Most of the things that caught his eye were evidence of wear and tear, but there was a shallow engraving near the grip of the bow that gave it the Boost ability. The workmanship wasn’t anything spectacular, but there was an elegance to it that Sal appreciated the more he looked at it. It made him realize that he had become increasingly elitist when it came to equipment, focusing so heavily on abilities and grades that he didn’t appreciate the functionality of the item itself.

Sal wondered how many of these trainee bows he’d be able to make in the time it took him to craft a single Epic-grade piece of equipment. He wondered how the Mythcrafter ability would fare if he used the exact same blueprint for this very bow. As if summoned by the thought, a blueprint for the bow appeared in front of his eyes, which didn’t escape Divinity’s notice.

“Whoa there, Purple Eyes! You’re not crafting me another bow. This one suits my needs. I don’t need you to put yourself into an early grave because everything around you can be improved, okay?” Her expression was gentle, but her tone was fierce.

Sal canceled the blueprint and looked at her sheepishly. “Sorry about that. I got curious about how it was made and my ability flared up.”

He scratched at the back of his head as he handed the bow back to her. She didn’t look completely convinced. “I’ve been thinking about what Chatfield said about the Crafters, who are constantly chasing after their magnum opus rather than attainable targets.”

Divinity raised an eyebrow, and Sal took that as encouragement to continue.

“How many of those bows would I be able to make if I used the same blueprint as the original design? Would I be able to mass-produce them because of my ability, or create a set of higher-grade bows with the same resources? I’ve been constantly thinking of the ability for making the highest-grade items, when maybe I should be looking at making low-grade items really well? Wouldn’t that help more people?”

Divinity’s expression softened, and she gave Sal a gentle smile. “Could you do me a giant favor, Sal?”

Sal nodded, unsure where she was going with this.

Divinity sighed as she placed her index finger on the center of his chest. “Take care of yourself before you start worrying about everyone else. The solutions you’re suggesting are altruistic and commendable, but they’re going to lead you further into burnout. You can tell me that you have everything under control, and that you’re enjoying your time with Upgrade and Chatfield, but I can tell that you’re not sleeping. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours, but you need to get rid of it and take care of yourself.”

Sal sighed as he started to tell her not to worry, when he suddenly stopped. Her concern wasn’t something he could brush off, and he felt bad for how she was seeing him lately.

He glanced around to see that all the other students were milling around the armory display cases, with some of them trying weapons out in the training area. Biting his lip, Sal glanced back at Divinity, who hadn’t moved an inch. Her stare was still boring into the back of his skull.

“I’m sorry, Divinity. I’ve been telling myself that I’m cut out to be a Hero and that my place is here at the academy. I got help from Vanessa to break through half of my essence gates, which absolutely broke my body and showcased just how weak I’ve been all my life. I started training in the mornings with a workout routine and it’s been… slow progress, to say the least.”

Divinity’s eyebrow twitched and Sal could tell that she was forcibly controlling her expression to mask her incredulity at his words. Sal smiled as he tapped the side of his head.

“No matter how much work I put into my body to get myself in better shape, I can’t lie to my brain. Upgrade and Chatfield brought me to that dungeon to face my fears, but now I’m replaying it every single night. Nightmares where I wake up screaming, feeling the leecher vines around my neck. I’ve probably sank about a hundred Q-Cred into the coffee vendors over the last week, and it’s not helping in the slightest. The situation with Hannah… I can’t bring myself to have a conversation with her after the argument we had. I feel like I’m just running away from my problems, and I don’t know what to do.”

Sal took a deep breath as he looked toward the ceiling. It was difficult to describe how he was feeling without sounding melodramatic. When he couldn’t find a neutral way of putting it, Sal laughed and indulged in the dramatic.

“I feel like I’m a ticking time bomb that will go off at any point, and I don’t know if that’s going to be a mental breakdown or something worse. The only thing I know I’m good at, that is in my control…is crafting, and I’ve been throwing myself into it at the expense of everything else. That monocle I gave you managed to keep the dread at bay, but it was prolonging things rather than solving them. I don’t have the mental fortitude to operate it properly, so it’s in much better hands with you.”

Divinity pondered for a moment before her face brightened.

“What about taking something for it? You could get a prescription from the infirmary. It’s way more common than you think. I’m pretty sure that half of the students here are on some kind of pill to keep themselves right. You’re not going to be on your game if you’re constantly tired. And now that we’re going into an excursion that will have us camping outside… you really want to get the nightmares under control before that.”

Divinity’s eyes widened when she realized what she said, but Sal laughed it off with a wave.

“It’ll be fine. I just need to work on increasing my Spirit, which means doing fun things and not stressing over every little thing.”

Sal tried to make light of it, but Divinity wasn’t convinced. She looked at him expectantly, and he knew what she was getting at.

“Ah, Spirit. There was a guy at the dungeon who did an Analysis ability on me. He said that he saw some of my stats change after the run, and they were Dexterity, Spirit, and Resilience. Apparently, Spirit is replenished by relaxing and having fun, spending time with friends. Mine apparently dropped, and from what he said, it was at a point that I shouldn’t let it fall lower.”

Divinity’s expression softened, and she gave Sal a gentle nudge with her hand. “Then we’ll hang out until you’re topped up. We can put together a great team so that you won’t be under pressure during the excursion training.”

She paused before continuing, as though debating on saying her next words. After a moment, she let out an exasperated sigh and just blurted it out. “Meditation is good for dealing with nightmares. You can work on your essence gates and process your thoughts in a healthy way. I do it all the time when I see shit in visions that haunt me.”

Sal wasn’t convinced, but Divinity was serious. He didn’t have anything to lose, so he nodded. “I’ll give it a try, but don’t get your hopes up. I overthink everything. Always have. I doubt I’ll be able to get into a meditative state if the Skill class is anything to go by.”

Just as Divinity was about to respond, Barry approached them with a knife in his hand.

“Okay, what do you think of this one? It looks pretty decent.”

As he lifted up the blade, Sal took no chances and slapped Barry on the arm.

He glanced down at Sal’s hand in surprise. “What was that for?”

Sal shook his head. “Just needed to see if you were real or an illusion.” Sal took the blade from him and turned it over in his hands.

Divinity made eye contact with Barry and added a little more context. “Sal has been having nightmares. Can’t sleep.”

Barry grinned and was about to make a joke when he registered Divinity’s expression. He looked at Sal before snatching the knife from his hands. “Ignore that one. You’re going to make me a proper knife, and I’ll solve the nightmare problem. Deal?”

His smile wasn’t the usual mocking one, and instead looked genuine.

Sal chuckled and reached for the knife again. “I’m going to take a break from crafting until I can get my head in order. But don’t worry, Barry. It’s not that big of a deal, just a few sleepless nights. I’ll be fine.”

Sal caught Divinity giving a minor shake of her head, and Barry caught the meaning immediately.

“Okay, no buts. We’ll sort this out. Divinity has her bow, you’re making me a knife, and you already have a gun crafted for yourself. We’ve got the next two days for weapon selection before it turns into team selection. We’ll get you rejuvenated in no time.”

Sal laughed and tried to protest, but Divinity raised a hand to silence him.

“You said yourself that you need to spend time with friends. Humor us, and see if we can help. Worst-case scenario, we’ll have just wasted a few hours. Not the end of the world.”

Barry nodded in agreement as he gestured toward the loading bay elevator they arrived in. Hundreds of students were still clamoring to get into the armory, and the early arrivals were trying to make their way back out. A few attendants in white uniforms attempted to answer questions, but it was pandemonium.

Sal wanted to get their focus away from him. It was nice that they wanted to help him and he was happy to hang out with them, but he didn’t want them fixated on something so trivial as his sleeping pattern. In the greater scheme of things, it was inconsequential and undeserving of their time and effort.

“Look, I really do appreciate what you’re trying to do. But honestly, I just need to take things easier and work through this stuff in my head. There’s no quick fix for getting a good night sleep.”

Barry grinned as he waited for Sal to summon the loading bay elevator. “That’s what you think.”