Chapter 11 Potions Please

Axel started running back to base. His eyes were gold coins. An event meant two things for players; experience and loot. However, to Axel, it meant a fluctuating market. A fluctuating market meant some things could sell for triple their amount, and the others would decrease the same. Axel didn’t know what a Uhyre monster was, but it appeared a lot of them were coming to the city.

He needed to find out what they were first, and then check the market. On the way, he got a call from Jack. Axel told him to come back as soon as possible once he had acquired all the items.

Axel skidded around a corner, into the main area of Bandit’s Hideaway. It was bustling; the glum mood of the slums didn’t appear anymore. There was the smell of food in the air and players shouting to each other. Even more NPCs had set up stalls around the area. Each of them had a bright smile on their face. The new market seemed far more hectic than usual, since everyone got the same message that he did.

He arrived to Barb’s stall where he was selling a gullible player an overpriced item.

“Hoarder,” Barb said, meeting his eyes. He noticed the haste in Axel’s body, and said, “Come round back.”

Axel ran around into the stall. He immediately noticed it was far larger on the inside. Putting that aside, he leaned on a crate and caught his breath.

“Hoarder, I cannot believe you’ve done all this,” Barb said, looking out at the market. “It’s remarkable.”

“Yeah, I know, Barb,” Axel said, trying to compose himself. “There’s a horde of Uhyre Monsters coming to the city in less than 12 hours.”

“There’s a what?!” Barb questioned.

“A Uhyre horde or whatever, what are they?”

Barb swallowed as he looked around with agitation. “A Uhyre horde. Ghastly creates. Have you heard about the Seed of Chaos, Hoarder?”

Axel nodded as he swept his brow.

“Uhyre are a special type of monsters. They are completely overtaken by the corruption from the Seed of Chaos.”

“What do they look like?” Axel asked. “Weaknesses, abilities, strengths- everything.”

“They look like ordinary monsters, but they’re coated by a thick excrement of obsidian their bodies produce. An ordinary sword cannot penetrate their skin, unless it has been magically enhanced . . . That must be why everyone is buying my expensive weapons.” Upon the revelation, with a movement of his hand, every price in his stall was tripled in value.

Axel could only watch in amazement. He wanted to know more about Barb, but that could wait for now. “Their weaknesses?” Axel asked.

“Magic that creates piercing objects. Nature, ice- anything that can create a physical entity from magic. And of course, the swords.”

Axel nodded as his brain raced.

“Are you plotting again, Hoarder. I have to say, you are always thinking of the coin.”

“Yeah,” Axel said, rubbing his chin.

He knew that all prices of mana potions were going to sky rocket. Weapons were a fickle thing; each having their unique stats. Their size would also be a problem. Now that he new that mana potions were going to sky rocket, he needed to get access to loads of them. After he had gotten a bunch, he would then list them for a ridiculously high amount. Of course, there was going to be other people putting them for a high price, but if he could buy every single mana potion, then hike the prices up, it was going to be a sweet sixteenth.

He needed help, and he knew that Jack was coming back soon. He also needed money to buy them from the trade terminal, so he needed to call Jasmine back. She might be able to help too.

“Hoarder,” Barb said, pushing him out of thought.

“Sorry, Barb. Nice place by the way,” Axel commented looking around.

“It’s my sanctuary. Oh, there’s some customers coming.”

Axel nodded. “Thanks Barb . . . That’s not a favour right?”

“For what you’ve done to this place, I’d give you three in return.”

{Your relationship with Barb is now Neighbourly}

{You now have three favours with Barb. You may upset Barb, but he’ll always be your friend}

“Nice,” he chimed. “See you later, Barb, thanks a lot.”

“No, Hoarder, thank you,” Barb said, giving him a subtle smile. In fact, it was the first heartfelt smile he had given. Usually, it was only a grin to show his satisfaction. But Axel could tell it wasn’t just an ordinary smile.

Without a moments notice, he headed over to Jason’s stall and joined the ever-growing line. Axel couldn’t see much, but Jason’s eccentric personality could be heard from right at the back. Thankfully, no one noticed him from the performance an hour ago. Eventually, he got to the front of the line.

Jason was on autopilot; he said, “Welcome traveller, to Jason’s- oh, it’s you.”

“Hi, Jason,” Axel said with a tourist-type grin. “Do you have those potions in the back for me?”

“Sure, come right in.”

Axel headed around to the back of the stall. He thought it looked more like a shop. Barb had gone the extra mile. There were tonnes of workbenches and storage. It also seemed that Barb had given him more equipment. Axel sat on a crate so he could talk to Jason while remaining behind cover.

“How are you doing?” Axel asked. “Great performance by the way.”

“Thanks. Great, actually; longest time since I haven’t had a bottle between my lips. I do want to be naked, do you think they’ll mind?”

“That’s a big, fat no from me,” Axel dismissed. “Have you been selling lots of mana potions?”

“Loads actually. It’s like there’s a Uhyre Horde coming.”

“There is.”

Jason gulped, but keep the smiling face for the customers.

“I don’t want to disturb you, but you’ll need to triple the price of all mana potions.”

“Yeah, they go up anyway during this time. Consider it done.”

“Also, we need to make a lot of mana potions. How do you make them?”

“I can help-”

“Keep the stall open, Jason. I know you’re pulling in a few gold every ten minutes. That’s what we need for now. I have a plan in mind, but I need to know how to make mana potions.”

“You’ll need the alchemy skill first,” Jason explained.. “Thanks for shopping at Jason’s Alchemy Shop!”

“Of course,” muttered Axel, rubbing his forehead. It was so stupid of him.

“Hello Jason,” Jack said at the front of the stall. “Can I come round back?”

“Sure, random grey orc, come round back.”

Jack entered the shop a few seconds later; he a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

“Jack, we need to make-”

Jack put a finger up, silencing Axel. “Put all these on first. I already have.” He dumped his entire inventory onto a table; it bent under the weight of the items.

“Holy shit,” muttered Axel, gazing at the armour sets he had acquired. “How many are here?”

“Seven sets in total . . . The cheapest ones. That orc armour set you talked about is the cheapest one on the market by a long shot. The boss is just outside one of the starter zones.”

Axel picked one up to examine it.

Minor Druid’s Chestpiece

Description: A chest piece forged from the wood of a minor druid. Offers boosted protection against dark magic.

Tier: Rare

Armour: 29

Condition: New

Enchantments: Nature’s Fortitude I

-5% damage taken from Dark Magic.

+3 Constitution

I See Coins: 9 Gold 3 Silver

“Jesus,” Axel said in amazement. “How much did you buy this for?”

“That one? I think just over 10 gold.”

“Not bad, not bad. What level are you then?”

“Twenty-four,” Jack replied with a grin on his face. “I won’t be surprised if this is gonna crash the game.”

“No shit. They’ll have to do a hot fix,” Axel figured. “Surely not a hot fix right with Onwards?”

“They’ll want to patch this up immediately. We’ll still have enough time though. The word hasn’t spread too much, so we’ll need to keep it on the down-low.”

Axel grunted in response. “Yeah. Alright, I’m gonna apply them. Wait, you haven’t spent all your skill points yet, have you?”

“I have 5 saved up still.”

Axel breathed in relief. “We need the alchemy skill. We should try and make as much mana potions in the next 6 hours as humanly possible.”

“Oh cool, I wanted to try my hand at alchemy actually.”

“Go speak to Jason. He’ll set us all up.”

Jack headed to the front of the shop, while Axel looked at all the items in front of him. The exploit was really something. At best, it was a mistake; the collection bonus should only be received if the player got them the correct way, which was by killing the boss or making it themselves. Axel loved exploits when he was young, and now they were benefitting his pocket, they were like a real gold mine. Even if it cost him a ban later on, it was well worth it.

He grew giddy as he put the first set on.

Minor Druid Set [Completion: 100%]

Rewards

46,000 Experience

31 Gold

{You have collected the Minor Druid Set}

{Rewards}

46,000 Experience

31 Gold (31Gx1.21=37.1G)

He did it for the next one, and the next one. It was addicting. He could feel the coins dropping into his inventory. It kept going and going, until finally, he was wearing the last set of armour.

{Congratulations! You have levelled up. You are now level 12}

+1 Attribute Point

+1 Skill Point

…

{Congratulations! You have levelled up. You are now level 23}

+1 Attribute Point

+1 Skill Point

Total Experience Gained: 246,120

Total Coin Gained: 265 Gold 3 Silver 7 Copper

“Holy shit! Fuck yes!” Axel screamed in the back of the shop.

Jack came running back. “It’s awesome, isn’t it?”

Axle turned to Jack with a devilish smile. “This is so fucking broken, Jack.”

“Oh, here’s the gold I got from mine.” Jack handed him 213 gold. From all of the items, he gained 484 gold from him and Jack. That was ludicrous. Axel wanted to start his own lending business, but that would bring far too much trouble. Not only from players, but the game moderators.

“I should call Jasmine down here,” Axel said, already bringing her profile up.

While Axel was doing that, Jack was checking up on the markets. He noticed something which was devastating. “Shit, Axel, the price of the coin has gone down.”

“What?” Axel questioned. “By how much?”

“Nine thousands gold coins is worth £60,000.” Jack span around the blue screen and willed Axel to see it. “It must be because of the the exploit.”

Jack was right. Already, the game was suffering due to inflation. Axel kicked an empty crate; he kicked it again, and again, and again. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fucking why!”

“Easy, Axel. We can still do this,” Jack comforted.

Axel slapped his forehead a few times. “I know, I know. What, so it’s going to cost us 4,000 golds worth of these items then?”

Jack nodded his head while looking down.

“Fuck!” Axel shouted, giving the destroyed crate a final kick.

“We got this, man. How much do you have right now, with the coin I gave you?”

Axel brought up his wallet, finding 974 gold coins. It was a large amount, roughly £6,500. “I have close to a thousand,” he said. “If Jasmine too does the exploit, then we’ll get 1200 gold coins. It’s good for right now. But we need another 3.8 in the next two days.”

“Alright,” Jack murmured, rubbing his chin in thought. “And how much has Jason made?”

“Good question,” Axel said. “You’re going to have to check. People might recognise my face from the show we put on. Oh, and ask him if he has all the ingredients to make mana potions.

Jack nodded, and headed into the shop front. Much to Jason’s dismay, he took all of the coins that were located in a small box underneath him. Jason didn’t argue much though, as he knew that Axel needed it far more.

“Fifty gold here,” Jack remarked, tipping it out onto the table. “He said there’s a box full of blue flowers on the bottom shelf. He also said that he needs to teach us how to make the best mana potions.”

“Ok, getting there. We should try and skimp it as much as possible. I don’t want the best, just a lot.”

“I understand,” Jack said.

“First, we need the alchemy skill-”

“Hi!” Jasmine said, walking into the shop.

“Hey, good day?”

“Good actually. Problem though: There’s around 30 kids outside of the stall.”

Axel rubbed his eyes. “Why would you bring them here?”

Jasmine shrugged. “I couldn’t just abandon them in the middle of my operation. Don’t worry, they’re blending in.”

“Did you not tell them to pick pockets round here?”

Jasmine nodded. “Yeah . . . I think.”

Axle calmed himself. “Ok, Jasmine. Thank you. How much have you made?”

“I just sold 80 golds worth of items to Barb. That was only in half a day.”

Axel clicked his teeth. “Nice job. First, put on all those items on that desk.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, and give me the coin after.”

“Fine.”

A few minutes later, Jasmine was cackling like a witch. “This is so cool! Is this an exploit?”

Axel nodded with a smirk. “Uh huh.” He opened his palm out, and Jasmine dumped the coins in his hand with hesitation. “That’s 1,323 gold we have right now. It’s good, could be better though.”

“What’s going on?” Jasmine asked.

“You can go now, thank you.”

“I can help if you wan-”

“No Jasmine, it’s far better if you get back to stealing. That’s a constant supply of income we can’t afford to lose.”

“Oh, right. Well, see you later then.” Jasmine looked defeated as she took her leave. However, she pressed her back to the door and listened in.

“Dude?” Jack said in angst. “Why are you so mean to her?”

“What do you mean?” Axel asked, oblivious.

“You just spoke to her like a piece of shit!” Jack shouted.

“No I didn’t?!” Axel spat.

“Yes, you fucking did. Go and apologise to her right now.”

“No, fuck you.”

“Are we really gonna have a fight in the back of a stall?” Jack questioned, cracking his knuckles.

Axel screwed up his face. “I always win,” he declared.

“Yeah, you used to, but you forgot you’re just a scrawny little goblin.”

Axel looked at his own skinny arms and tiny frame. Jack was right, but there was no way he was going to give him the satisfaction. Back on Omegus, Axel was unstoppable in a duel. But here, he had nothing.

“You’re gonna re-”

A figure appeared between the two. A spinning kick sent the fighting pair to other ends of the shop, and they crashed against the back.

“Stop fighting,” Jasmine ordered, landing on a table.

“Jasmine?” Axel questioned, looking up.

“Yes. It’s me. Jack’s right, stop speaking to me like I’m nothing.”

Axel coughed, and reeled over in pain from the kick. “Fine. Fine, sorry, Jasmine.”

“It’s ok,” Jasmine said, accepting his apology. She then returned to her usual self.

“It’s nice to know that you can kick both of our asses,” Jack said, slowly getting up.

“I’ve been playing for far longer than you two. I am sorry for kicking both of you. We shouldn’t fight you know. That only leads us into chaos.”

Axel felt that he was wrong about Jasmine. Sure, she was annoying sometimes, but was smarter than she let on. “You’re right,” Axel admitted. “I’ve just been sour for a very long time in my life. If I can speak to people like a piece of shit, then I will, and I’m sorry for that.” It just came out of Axel; the truth.

“Aww,” Jasmine squealed, giving him a hug. “That was really good.”

Axel just accepted the hug. It felt nice. For a second, it even warmed his cold heart.

“Axel, you got a boner,” Jack teased, pointing at his crotch.

Axel didn’t, but now he wanted to hit Jack again. Axel pulled away from the hug and cursed at him, “Fuck you, Jack.”

“Jealous?” Jasmine asked Jack.

“No,” Jack declared, squinting his eyes.

“Right. Shake hands and be down with it all. I need to go and rob some rich people.”

Axel extended his hand out, and Jack clamped it. They burned fire into each others eyes. They then grinned at each other.

“Too bad I couldn’t put you to sleep,” Axel said.

Jack showed his sharpened teeth. “That’s pretty cute.”

“No more fighting,” Jasmine threatened. “If you need me just call or message me, alright?”

“Yeah,” Axel said, “thank you.”

“Ok . . . Bye!”

Once Jasmine left, the two sat down on a bench and rubbed their bruises.

“Fuck,” Axel said, coughing. “She kicked both our arses.”

“We got served by a girl, dude. We can never let that happen again.”

Axel sighed as he sank his back into a wall. They both looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“We got our arses kicked by a girl. A fucking girl, Jack. We can never tell anyone about this.”

“I didn’t even see it coming,” Jack spluttered, curling over. “Ah, shit . . . We should probably get back to work.”

It was a nice moment for the two. Axel couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so much. He had really missed spending time with Jack. He forgot how much they clicked.

“Yeah, yeah. Wait, I need to spend my points first.”