**Edited on 8/27/18**

"That'll be 75 aethys."

Darren sighed as he handed over the crystals to the NPC alchemy vendor at Blackstone, the main hub of Black's Forest. Forking over that many crystals was a pretty big loss, especially in the beginning, but it would pay off eventually. The teen's eyes could not help but look up as he watched his total aethys drop.

Aethys

36

"Here you go, sir Alakir," The NPC vendor from Blackstone said with a smile.

Darren took his wares and he looked over them carefully. He had just purchased his alchemy kit and 25 vials for making potions. The kit contained a cauldron for mixing potions, as well as supplies like measuring devices, ladles, and corks.

He felt prepared. The dark haired teen had spent a week's worth of evenings logging in after everyone else had gone to bed just to farm herbs. He had collected everything that he could find in the southern zone of Black's Forest. His bag was overflowing with roddin berries, silver pine needles, and herb of midnight, a rare flower that he had found that only grew in the middle of the night.

He had been talking with Ursao at night when he came back to Blackstone, stopping by to trade herbs for bread as he slowly built Alakir's health back to full. The dwarf needed herb of midnight to make his best selling loaves, and Darren was easily persuaded to trade to keep his health up.

The dwarf finally laid some advice on him one evening when no one else was around.

"You do not want to stay here," Ursao had told him one night while sorting herb of midnight with Darren, "I mean, you could sell here and it would be fine. But most folks do not need the kinds of potions that you are wanting to make. You need to go to Veneah."

"You think?" Darren had asked, side-eyeing the little dwarf.

"Oh yeah," Ursao had said with his accent looping around every word, "Every player makes it there eventually. And you can sell to all of the factions there. Not many folks who pick a faction work their way back to Blackstone, you know?. Everyone who is interested in combat will want those potions that you have been going on about, and they will be in Veneah. Speed? Invisibility? Strength? Oh yeah."

"Makes sense," Darren had replied, thinking, "So why don’t you go there?"

"Too much competition,” Ursao said, "All players can cook, and the ones who pick a faction usually just cook for themselves. So they don't need me, really. Plus, I rather like the folks in the Consortium. Good folks, ya know?"

Ursao had taken a long look at Darren. "You're good people, Alakir. Do not forget that. But you need to go to Veneah."

"Veneah..." Darren had rolled the name around on his tongue before logging off.

So, on the seventh day of logging into the game, Darren drew his sword, took a breath, and headed off on the road that snaked up north from Blackstone.

Darren drew closer to the edge of the zone, his hand still on his sword, and he watched with wide eyes as the forest seemed to melt away into lush, rolling hills. Black's Forest was gone, and now all Darren saw was Tandanbok Valley.

The breath caught in his throat as his eyes passed over the massive, beautiful zone. It was wide open and gorgeous and green. From his viewpoint at the break in the forest, Darren could see the road passing through the middle of the zone break away to at least three little questing hubs. He opened his map to see their names: Creekside Vineyard on the right, Mountain Vineyard on the left, and Sunset Vineyard, the largest of the three, straight ahead.

With a slow but sure step, Darren moved out of the forest and into the valley. The air around him seemed to change with that step. The soft quiet of the forest was gone. Tandanbok Valley was different. It was alive and players were everywhere.

Darren watched with awe when he passed other players as he walked down the path. They were off the sides of the road, working on quests and killing mobs for loot. The ones with the most experience in battle and the most aethys to spend were decked out in gear that was beyond his wildest dreams.

One female character, a tall, regal looking elf, was wearing a robe of gold and royal purple, with a cape that draped the ground behind her. She carried a staff that looked as though it was carved from a tree branch topped with a bright, shining amethyst that levitated above it. Her hair was black as night and shined with streaks of silver.

Another character, a dwarf with golden hair and dark skin, looked like he was a holy man, with silver plate armor covering his whole body. the joints of the armor all shimmered as though a gold light was jutting out from beneath them. Instead of a sword and shield, the player carried a holy book, and Darren watched in awe as the player killed a wild wolf with incantations from his lips.

Rogues of all sorts darted in and out of the shadows along the forest's edge. Darren only saw those players from the corner of his eye, and usually, they were gone too fast for him to notice. He could imagine what they looked like: shifty characters with hoods drawn over their faces and shining daggers tipped in poison, ready to strike.

And every character that he saw wore the colors of gold or silver. Consortium characters, those in white tabards, were few and far in between as Darren traveled farther away from the Black's Forest. It seemed that once they left the starting area, neutral players no longer wished to neutral.

While walking along the road through the Valley, passing by bustling vineyards, darkness fell over Rimnir slowly as the evening passed into night. Many players had logged off for the evening and Darren found himself alone on the road. The only sounds that he heard were the soft songs of crickets in the soft hills around him and his footsteps as he traveled.

In the corner of his eye, Darren saw a shining silver light appear in the darkness.

"Herb of midnight," Darren muttered to himself.

He turned quickly, wanting to grab the herb before another alchemist came along. Herb of midnight was a little different from the rest of the plants that grew in Rimnir. It only bloomed when the sun had gone down and darkness enveloped the world. The long, thin stalks of the plant crept upward and small, black flowers bloomed, giving off a silvery hue that reminded Darren of moonlight.

But because of the timing in the herb's spawn, it made the plant a rare commodity in Rimnir. And Darren wanted it all.

He knelt to pick the long, thin stems of the soft flower when suddenly, he heard a sound behind him. Like lightning, his hand reached for his sword and he drew it just as his other fist closed around the herb. He turned, ripping the delicate midnight herb from the ground as his sword unsheathed itself.

Staring at the teen in the darkness was a great wolf twice the size of a regular dog. Its fur was dark and matted with patches of balding in some places. Its eyes were wide, red, and narrowed and its teeth were bared.

Alakir 100/100 Wolf 50/50

"Okay.... okay..." Darren murmured to himself as he squared up against the wolf.

Darren struck first. The gifted sword from Ursao swung through the air, heavy and hard, and it landed a mighty blow against the back of the wolf, dealing 8 damage to the creature. The creature whimpered for a moment, then pounced toward Darren.

"Augh!" Darren grunted as the great creature landed on him, knocking him to his back and doing 8 damage as well. A quick glance at the health bars told Darren that Alakir was sitting at 92/100 while the wolf was at 42/50.

Darren brought his sword up and used the shining steel to push the canine off of him. He struggled back to his feet before bringing it down again, hard and fast against the wolf's neck.

But he missed his target. The sword slid, missing the neck completely before banging against the leg of the beast, dealing 5 damage.

Another whimper was made and Darren glanced up at the health bars. The wolf was now at 37/50, slowly dying at his hand.

A great growl shook him as the wolf lunged again. It's large and sharp teeth shined white in the moonlight and its eyes were crazed. It seemed to grow before Darren, as though its rage gave it strength.

Darren stepped back, but it was no use. The wolf latched its strong jaws on Alakir's free arm and bit down. Darren cried out, looking up to see the damage tick away at his health, this time by 20m bringing Alakir to 72/100.

Desperation took hold of the teen. He shook his arm, but it was no use, The great beast would not let go. The longer he was latched on, the more of Alakir's health was drained.

With a mighty yell, Alakir brought his great sword down, cutting the creature clean across the neck, hitting him with a critical hit of 40. The wolf's tangled body fell as the head let go of Alakir's arm.

Alakir 72/100 Wolf 0/50

Darren stared down at the body as his chest heaved with heavy breaths as his free hand stashed away the handful of herb that he had been clutching the whole fight. For just a moment, the body of the great creature laid still, twitching slightly, then it disintegrated into millions of particles of tiny lights, leaving behind loot.

The boy knelt and he gathered his bounty. 3 aethys crystals, a hunk of wolf meat, and a light hide were his. His first reward for death in the game. He marveled at each item before stowing them away and looked on with pride as his aethys count went up ever so slowly.

Aethys

39

And suddenly, a white light flashed on his screen and a musical note sang gaily in his ear.

Alakir has leveled up! Level 2 achieved!

Darren grinned as Alakir sat to eat a corn muffin from Ursao, his health rising back to full as he ate. The combination of taking down the wolf and exploration must have pushed him over the edge to level 2.

Alakir stood and Darren moved quickly over the plains, not veering too far from the main road. Under the scattered trees were more roddin berries. And planted near the vineyards were Lycan trees, standing tall and proud in the moonlight. With every step in the soft grass, Darren saw more herb of midnight and soon, his pack was full to the point of busting.

"No more stops," he said to himself as he made his way back to the road.

Alakir made his way down the cobblestone to Sunset Vineyard, the largest city in Tandanbok Valley. The large town was full of bustling NPCs, with a few players milling about, running back and forth between the winery and the rows and rows of vineyards that dotted the landscape outside of town. Darren watched with intrigue as two gold-clad players sat outside of the winery, sharing a bottle of dark red wine and talking loudly about their adventure to a zone called The Marshlands. A group of silver Syndicates stood nearby, watching their golden counterparts closely.

But he wasn’t staying here. Not right now. Darren would come back, of course. But right now, he wanted to charter a coach.

The quickest way to get around the world in Rimnir was to charter a coach to drive a player from place to place. It was an incredibly fast ground mount that could be chartered for just a handful of aethys. It also shielded a player from combat while they traveled.

The coach driver at Sunset Vineyard was easy enough to find. The NPC was dressed in simple farmer's attire, overhauls and a woven straw hat, and he stood next to two brown mares pulling a hay wagon.

As Alakir drew closer, The NPC greeted him.

"Hello, traveler! Would you like to charter a coach for 15 aethys?"

Options popped up on Darren's screen.

[Veneah, The Ashford Wilds]

[Blackstone, Black's Forest]

[Corbin, Taltik Plains]

[Adryen's Port, Zashtol Basin]

"I would like to charter a coach to Veneah," Darren said in a clear voice.

And with that, Alakir disappeared from the screen and appeared again, sitting in the back of the hay wagon. he looked over and watched as Tandanbok Valley flew by him. Sparkling dots of herbs glittered in the distance, then faded as the coach rolled past at lightning speed.

Within minutes, the Valley began to change. The hills flattened and the road began going up. Darren turned and looked, and high on a hill stood the fortified city of Veneah. The great capital of Rimnir stood high with stone walls all around it with gates opening up to the North, South, East, and West. The stone walls were adorned with climbing bushes of Royal Rose, an herb that Darren would wait until tomorrow to harvest. Large turrets guarded the city, all manned by NPCs with massive bows and deadly arrows. The city had a warm glow about it that Darren could see through the gate that opened up to the South.

Veneah. The main city of Rimnir. The city that had withstood it all.

Darren's heart leaped as the coach came to a stop and disappeared from under him. The NPC that drove him had disappeared and a new one popped up one wearing coattails and a top hat. Darren looked past him to the open stone gate, and with a deep breath, he stepped through it and into the courtyard of Veneah.

Veneah was... it was alive. The air was electric with a buzz that he had been dreaming about. Players roamed the streets in crowds that were heavy and Darren was surprised to see so many folks out and about in the middle of the night. He could not imagine what the city looked like in the middle of the day, filled with players.

Darren pushed into the city, looking around at everything. Tall buildings with colorful banners stood on either side of the road. Tailors, munitions makers, florists, and cooks all made up the first row of shops, with inns and taverns coming up toward the center square.

The coolest thing about Veneah was that it was a pvp free zone. All people, no matter which faction they played, could interact freely and without violence inside of the walls. Darren grinned as members of all three factions interacted freely, chatting in the streets and going into taverns together.

"Wow..." Darren murmured to himself as he looked around, watching a group of seven players as they piled into the closest tavern.

Darren followed the players in and he stood in the doorway, watching the dimly lit scene. He saw people wearing all colors sitting at tables together or lined up at the bar, the tabards not meaning a thing, enjoying ales and wines and singing along to a bar song.

Suddenly, a crash from the side caught his attention and one of the players clad in gold stood and screamed, "Filthy Syndicate scum!"

A war cry echoed from the Coalition member's throat. He raced across the room, his blades drawn and aiming for a player in silver who had apparently spurned him. The Syndicate member stood and drew his own staff, ready to fight back.

Just as the two reared back to strike one another, they both froze in mid-air. A loud, booming voice broke through the tavern and Darren ducked, putting his hands over his ears.

"There is no player versus player battle in Veneah."

The two players who had been fighting suddenly unfroze and were pushed away from each other. They glared at each other for a moment before going back to their drinks.

And for the first time, Darren felt safe in Rimnir.