FWOOSH!
The transition back into The Ethereal Plane was seamless. The suffocating grey walls of his apartment dissolved. They were instantly replaced by the oppressive rusted metal sky of Ironhold.
The air was thick with the scent of sulfur, cheap ale, and unwashed bodies.
Watch it, runt!" a massive Orc player growled, shoving him.
"My bad," Sebastian mumbled, adjusting his ragged cloak and stepping off the dais. He didn't have time for a brawl.
He had the Rusty Iron Shard. He had the capital. Now, he needed the map to the Crypt of Silence. It was the hidden dungeon where he intended to plant the core and establish his Sanctuary away from prying eyes.
For that, he needed to find Old Man Clay, who frequently migrated his begging spot to the Ironhold slums after the tutorial phase.
He stepped off the dais and headed toward the commercial district. It was a sprawling area of player run stalls and NPC merchants operating under the flickering glow of neon arcane signs.
As he navigated the crowded and muddy thoroughfare, a commotion up ahead caught his attention. It wasn't the usual haggling or drunken brawls that populated Ironhold. This was targeted and deliberate griefing.
Sebastian didn't usually care about player drama, but the path to the slums required passing through the bottleneck of the market square. He slowed his pace. His dark eyes analyzed the situation with clinical detachment.
A group of five players wearing the polished gold and crimson armor of the Golden Lion guild had formed a tight circle near a potion vendor's stall. They were laughing, jeering, and casually tossing low tier firecrackers at a player trapped in the center.
The trapped player was a female Mage.
She stood out like a diamond in a landfill. She wore a pristine and flowing robe of deep azure silk lined with silver runes. It was a high tier cosmetic item that screamed old money.
Her long raven black hair was perfectly styled, and she clutched a beautifully carved oak staff tightly to her chest.
She looked terrified and completely out of her depth. She was entirely out of place in the grimy underworld of Ironhold.
But Sebastian didn't see a helpless rich beginner.
His breath caught for a microscopic fraction of a second.
Valerie.
In his past life, Valerie hadn't stayed a confused rich girl for long. When the servers collapsed and the real world drowned in blood, her family's wealth had vaporized. She had lost everything.
The trauma had forged her into something terrifying. She had become the Arcane Valkyrie, the ruthless and unyielding leader of the human Resistance. She had fought back to back with Sebastian against the Void Titans, her hard light magic holding the line while he severed reality.
Now, looking at her cowering from a few frat boys with digital swords, it was almost jarring. She hadn't been forged yet. She was still raw iron.
"Aw, look at the little princess," one of the Golden Lions sneered. He stepped forward and shoved her shoulder. "Did you get lost looking for the luxury boutiques? This is a high level zone, sweetheart."
"Leave me alone," Valerie said. Her voice was shaking but carried a stubborn edge of defiance. "I'm just trying to buy mana potions."
"Potions are expensive," another lackey laughed while twirling a dagger. "But we'll escort you safely back to the teleport pad. For a small fee. Say, that fancy staff you're holding?"
It was classic extortion. The game's PvP flagging system prevented them from outright killing her in the city without summoning the guards. But they could body block her, harass her, and chip away at her patience until she paid them to leave.
Sebastian walked forward. He didn't draw his Rusty Iron Dagger. He didn't activate his Void Walk. He didn't intervene like a shining white knight rushing to defend a maiden's honor.
The apocalypse didn't need white knights. It needed survivors. He needed to see if the Empress of the Resistance was hiding somewhere under that expensive silk.
He pushed right through the ring of Golden Lions. He didn't say excuse me. He just walked with that heavy and unstoppable momentum, physically bumping a heavily armored warrior out of the way.
"Hey! Watch it, trash!" the warrior barked, turning to grab Sebastian's shoulder.
Sebastian didn't even look at him. He just stopped directly in front of Valerie, completely ignoring the five angry guild members surrounding them.
Valerie blinked and looked up at the man in the ragged cloth tunic. His eyes were dead, flat, and completely devoid of empathy. He looked more dangerous than the men harassing her.
"Looks like you're in deep shit," Sebastian stated bluntly.
"Who the hell are you?" the lead Golden Lion demanded, drawing his sword. "Back off, Drifter. This is Lion business."
Sebastian ignored him. He reached into his inventory and pulled out a single glowing crystalline vial. Hummmmnn. It pulsed with a heartbeat like rhythm and radiated a soothing emerald light. It instantly made the surrounding air smell like fresh rain and blooming flowers.
[Item: Potion of Knitting (Divine)]
[Effect: Instant Full Heal. Maxes Stamina. Numbing Buff.]
The Golden Lions collectively gasped. Their greedy eyes locked onto the legendary item.
Sebastian held the vial out to Valerie.
"I'm a businessman," Sebastian said calmly. "And I see a customer in need of a solution. This potion will instantly restore your health, max your stamina, and give you a temporary buff that makes you ignore pain."
Valerie stared at the glowing vial, then up at his cold face. "You want to sell this to me? Now?"
"Supply and demand," Sebastian replied. "You have a severe pest problem. I have the extermination fuel. I'll sell it to you for one hundred gold."
"One hundred gold?!" Valerie choked, her eyes widening. "That's extortion!"
"It's capitalism," Sebastian corrected. His face was expressionless. "You can pay me, drink this, and deal with your problem. Or, you can hand your staff over to these clowns and walk home crying. Choose."
The lead Golden Lion laughed. "Are you kidding me? Give me that potion, you raggedy idiot!"
He lunged forward and reached for the vial.
Valerie didn't hesitate. Survival instinct, buried deep beneath her privileged upbringing, suddenly and violently flared to life.
She slammed a pouch of gold onto Sebastian's chest. Clink! She snatched the vial from his hand, popped the cork with her thumb, and downed the glowing liquid in a single desperate gulp.
GULP!
FWOOSH!
The reaction was instantaneous.
A shockwave of emerald energy exploded from Valerie's body, physically knocking the Golden Lions back a step. The system forcibly injected absolute divine vitality into her avatar.
Her eyes flared with brilliant green light. The stamina surge was so massive it looked like she was vibrating.
The lead lackey recovered, his face twisting in rage. "You stupid bitch! I'll kill you!"
Valerie didn't cast a spell. She didn't use her Mage abilities.
She gripped her beautifully carved oak staff with both hands like a baseball bat. She pivoted on her heel and swung it with every ounce of her newly maxed buffed stamina.
CRACK!
The heavy oak connected squarely with the side of the lead lackey's iron helmet. The sickening sound of digital bone and metal crunching echoed through the market.
The lackey didn't even have time to scream. The sheer kinetic force lifted his feet off the ground, spinning him in the air before he crashed face first into a fruit stall. His HP bar instantly dropped into the red.
The other four Lions froze in absolute shock. Mages didn't do melee. Mages certainly didn't hit like freight trains!
Valerie stood there breathing heavily. Her pristine silk robe was now splattered with the juices of crushed fruit and a few pixels of the lackey's blood.
She looked at her staff, then at the groaning man in the debris. A dark and terrifyingly beautiful smile slowly spread across her face.
She turned her glowing eyes toward the remaining four guild members and cracked her neck.
"Who's next?" she asked. Her voice dropped an octave.
Sebastian stood a few feet away. He casually tossed the pouch of one hundred gold coins into the air and caught it. He watched as the supposedly delicate Mage waded into the four heavily armored warriors.
She was swinging her staff with the brutal and unrefined fury of a back alley brawler. She was breaking noses, shattering kneecaps, and laughing while she did it!
The Arcane Valkyrie was in there, all right. She just needed a little push.
"Sebastian chuckled, shaking his head. "Worth every damn coin."
He turned his back on the carnage and continued his walk toward the slums. He had a map to buy.