Night fell over the world in a soft haze. Darkness and shifting weather dulled a player's vision, but only to a limited extent. In combat, line of sight was reduced by roughly thirty percent, yet beyond that, little truly changed. After all, this was a game. Many players were night owls who only logged in after work, and if nighttime made leveling impossible, the complaints from the working crowd would have drowned out everything else.
Towns and villages, however, took on an entirely different atmosphere after sunset. Against the blurred backdrop of the mountains, warm yellow light spilled from cottage windows, painting the settlement in a quiet, comforting glow. Along the village square and main roads stood tall, lamppost-like structures crowned with softly shining Luminous Stones, their light gentle rather than harsh, just enough to chase away the gloom.
Players lined both sides of the road, squatting or standing with weary patience, holding up one or two pieces of outdated green equipment as they tried to make a sale. Bronze-grade gear was rare, but with tens of thousands of players in each Starter Zone, luck always favored someone. Most people managed to pick up a piece or two before reaching level ten.
Flynn walked past them without slowing, ignoring the half-hearted shouts and raised items. Then, abruptly, he stopped.
Leaning against a wall was a thin, frail-looking boy dressed in off-white robes. His posture was slack with exhaustion, and dark circles shadowed his eyes. In front of him stood a crude wooden board with uneven lettering scrawled across it: Various potions for sale.
'Potions.'
Flynn paused with interest flickering in his eyes. Amy had told him before that alchemists could brew potions that temporarily boosted stats, significantly increasing leveling efficiency. The problem was the price. Crafting alone usually cost around five silver coins, and most players in the Starter Zone barely scraped by. Very few were willing to pay that much for a temporary boost of one or two stat points.
Flynn, however, was different. He had once asked Amy to make potions for him, only to be told she hadn't unlocked the recipes yet. Seeing someone actually selling them now was enough to make him stop. He crouched down in front of the boy. "Hey. You've got potions? Let me take a look."
Technically, selling like this wasn't allowed. The Starter Zone had no auction house and no designated stall areas. Normally, players either listed items through the auction system in major cities, paying a fee, or rented stalls where customers could browse and haggle. The last option, and the most miserable one, was street selling. To avoid system fees, players had to stand around and shout, hoping someone would take interest.
The boy had chosen a smarter approach. Instead of yelling himself hoarse, he had written what he was selling on a sign. Anyone interested would stop on their own. The downside was obvious. Many people never even noticed.
But Flynn noticed.
At his words, the boy's tired expression lit up like a lamp. "What kind of potion do you want? Strength, Agility, Intellect? Or attack speed or crit? I have all of them! You look like a Rogue, so you probably want Agility."
Strength increased physical attack power and the damage of physical skills. Agility boosted attack speed, casting speed, movement speed, and critical hit rate. Intellect enhanced magic attack power and mana regeneration. These were the three fundamental stats, and each class had a primary one that scaled more efficiently. Warriors gained more attack power per point of Strength, while Mages benefited far more from Intellect. That was the underlying difference.
Flynn was a Rogue, and Agility was his primary stat. An Agility Potion would give him the greatest overall benefit, especially to skill damage, mobility, and crit rate. Under normal circumstances, the choice would have been obvious.
But Flynn rarely thought in normal terms.
"Show me everything," he said calmly. "I want to see all of it."
By now, Flynn was no longer comparable to players who hadn't even left the Starter Zone. Over the past three days, he had handed every small Engineering component he crafted to Edward, the trainer. Edward, in return, gave him a small subsidy each time. Individually, it was insignificant, far less than what selling ore would have earned. But over three days, it added up to seven or eight gold coins.
In the Starter Zone, that amount was nothing short of obscene.
The boy didn't hesitate. A customer was a customer, and Flynn was his first sale of the day. His excitement bubbled over as he laid out potion after potion, explaining as he went. "They're all basic potions, but the effects are better than usual. Strength, Agility, and Intellect potions give six points instead of five. The Basic Potion of Swiftness increases attack speed by six percent. The Basic Potion of Striking increases crit by 2.4 percent. And this one, the Basic Potion of Speed, boosts movement speed by thirty percent for twelve seconds. I also have health potions that restore twelve health every five seconds. Don't underestimate that. It really improves sustain…"
"Alright, stop," Flynn cut in, raising a hand. The kid clearly loved to talk. Flynn had already read the item descriptions. "How much per bottle?"
"The stat potions are eight silver each," the boy said quickly, correcting himself mid-sentence. "The others are ten silver. Different materials."
He had almost said ten for the stat potions as well, but reality stopped him. Nobody bought at that price. Even though his potions were about twenty percent stronger than standard ones, Starter Zone players were notoriously stingy.
"Eight silver is a bit high," Flynn said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I think I saw someone over there selling similar ones for under seven."
The boy immediately protested. "Big bro, mine are better! Their potions only give five points. Mine give six!"
"It's just one point."
"One silver for one extra stat isn't unreasonable, right?" the boy pleaded.
"Did you use more materials?"
"No."
"Then the materials are the same," Flynn replied calmly. "A small improvement doesn't justify that much more. How about seven silver?"
The boy's face twisted in agony. If he had stuck to ten silver at the start, maybe haggling would have landed him at eight. But now he had already backed down. Insisting would likely drive the buyer away.
After a long pause, he nodded hard. "Fine. Seven silver. What do you want?"
"Five Strength potions and five Agility potions." Each lasted an hour, which was plenty for now. After a moment's thought, Flynn added, "Five Swiftness potions, five Striking potions, three Speed potions, and five each of health and mana."
The boy froze, then hurriedly spoke up. "Wait, wait! The Swiftness and Striking potions are ten silver each. The health potions are fifteen. Those materials are rarer."
Flynn hesitated. He wasn't familiar with the pricing on those. Amy hadn't mentioned them. He sent her a quick message asking for market prices.
Her reply came back almost instantly. Swiftness potions hovered around nine silver. Recovery potions were usually thirteen or fourteen.
'Close enough.'
Flynn didn't bother haggling further and paid without complaint. Once everything was transferred, he asked casually, "Your potions are stronger than normal. Why?"
The boy scratched his head and grinned. "Talent skill. Potion Mastery. It boosts all potion effects by twenty percent."
"A talent skill? Aren't those usually for combat classes?"
"Mostly," the boy admitted. "But there are exceptions. I'm one of them."
With a single transaction, he had earned thirty to forty silver in profit. His grin said everything.
Flynn stood and walked away, his inventory far heavier than before, unaware that this quiet night in the Starter Zone had just nudged him one step closer to becoming something far more dangerous in Age of Conquest.
—
Author: Melee classes like Rogues and Duelists also use mana for their skills, but their mana pools are small and consumption is low. The damage their abilities deal is primarily physical; mana simply acts as a catalyst to activate the skill.