**Edited on 8/27/18**

Darren sat in a small room in the Pride's Rest Inn. He had rented it for the night for the cost of 10 aethys. The boy hated giving up his aethys, but he needed the space to work, and the Inn was the perfect place. In his room, he would not be disturbed. Plus, he could unpack his bounty and make his potions.

Plus, he could make his aethys back easily when he started selling potions.

Aethys

14

Before starting, Darren had spent over an hour walking around the outside of Veneah, stripping the bushes that grew up the stone walls of their Royal Rose until he had no more space in his satchel. The roses were about as big as a fist and thornless, and they shined a blood red glow when they were ready to be picked. Now the flowers were stripped of their petals, perfectly prepped and ready to be turned into potions.

In front of Darren, he had laid everything out on the table. His alchemy kit was unpacked, his empty vials were piled in a corner of the table, herbs had been cut and milled, and his alchemy book was open to the very first recipe. The kit had contained a cauldron, mortar and pestle, some knives, spoons, and ladles, and a cloth to strain with.

Darren flipped to the most basic recipe in the book.

"Alright..." Darren's voice trailed off as he read the page out loud. "For a blood red healing potion, I need roddin berries and royal rose..."

The teen took a handful of royal rose petals and he plucked the berries from the pile, throwing them into the steaming cauldron from his alchemy kit. He stirred gently and watched as the clear, bubbling water turned a brilliant blood red color. It cooled almost immediately and he ladled the thick potion into a vial.

He turned back to the book. "Red healing potion will replace 10 lost health."

Darren glanced up at his own health and saw that Alakir was still sitting at 72/100.

"Well," he said with a sigh, "Let's give it a go."

Alakir tipped the potion back, drinking it in one gulp, and Darren watched his health rise up to 82/100.

"Huh! Cool," Darren exclaimed, pleased with the results.

The vial that had once held the potion disappeared quickly. But Darren was on a roll. He went to work fast making healing potions until he had 10 of them ready to sell.

He flipped through the rest of the book, lamenting that he did not have some of the better herbs from the contested zones in the game. Golden Sage, harvested from the Taldik Plains, could be mixed with his silver pine needles to make a great gold healing potion that could bring back 50 points to health. Sea cucumber from the Zashtol Basin, home of the Syndicate, mixed with candied mint from the Dragonmire could be combined to make a green healing potion to bring back 30 points of health.

"What else is there?" Darren said, flipping the heavy parchment of his alchemy book.

Darren finally landed on a second potion that he could make with what he had gathered. By combining his lycan bark with the roddin berries, he could make a strength potion that would increase the stat for 30 minutes.

Quickly, Darren cleaned the cauldron and filled it again. The crushed berries went in first, their magenta juices dribbling into the water. The lycan bark was next. Darren used the blunt end of a knife from his kit to scrape away the gray fur from the bark. He then sprinkled it on top of the water and watched it sink and melt in with the berries. A few turns later, the mixture turned a brilliant royal purple color. Darren held the vial up to the light and marveled at it.

"I guess I should try it," Darren said.

And this second potion was tipped back quickly. Alakir drank deeply, and once the potion was consumed, the edges of Darren's vision were colored with that same royal purple color.

Darren reached for his sword. He pulled it from its sheath and swung at the wall, and gasped when the metal embedded itself in the thick, hardened wood. Alakir would have never been able to do that before.

The teen grabbed his empty satchel and bag of aethys, and with the sword in hand, he ran out of his room. He practically flew down the stairs of the Inn and out the front door, whooping with a renewed energy that he had never felt before. He ran through the city, his eyes on the north edge of town.

At the northern gate, Darren stopped and looked out. The way to the north looked so different compared to the road from Tandanbok Valley that he had taken on his way in. The northern road was not cobblestone but worn down dirt. The land here was not lush, thick, and full with rolling hills and rich vegetation. The trees here were shells of what they once were, barkless stumps of dead timber that reached for a sky that would grant them no blessings. Flowering plants were few and far in between here, seemingly growing in shadows.

This was the road that led to the Dragonmire, a zone that was higher level than Alakir. Darren had no business here.

Darren had read a lot about the Dragonmire before entering the game. The lore of Rimnir told the tale of death and destruction coming from the north, all thanks to the Dragonkin that lived there. The Dragonkin were a dragon and snake-like hybrid creatures that lived in the dead lands and high mountains. If not held back by players, they would invade Veneah and the surrounding lands, determined to destroy everything in their wake.

Going into the Dragonmire was a dangerous thing for Alakir to do. It was stupid and reckless.

But then again, Darren was feeling stupid and reckless.

Darren took a deep breath as Alakir stepped from the protection of Veneah and into the Dragonmire. The air around him seemed to change as he moved deeper down the road. The buzzing life of Veneah was behind him now, and something in him felt incredibly vulnerable.

To the side of the road, Darren saw a brilliant pink plant growing next to the stump of an old, fallen tree. The leaves were as large as a sheet of paper and glowed brightly, almost sparkling in the hot sun. When Darren came closer to them, he realized that the leaves looked like they were sugar coated.

"Candied mint!" Darren exclaimed excitedly.

The teen began gathering the large, sugar-covered leave quickly. His eyes were on the ground, not wanting to miss any of the herbs, but a noise behind him stopped him. He rose and turned, only to face a juvenile Dragonkin.

The creature was hideous, and Darren gasped when he got a full, good look at the beast. It stood about 6 foot tall and was covered in dark blue scales as big as saucers. Its eyes were in the shape of slits, just like a pair of snake's eyes, and its mouth parted in a twisted grin, showcasing rows of jagged, broken teeth. It stood on two great hind legs and its short arms were capped with small hands with three fingers, each topped with sharp talons.

The creature was deadly.

Alakir stood at the ready as Darren swallowed hard and fast. The human pulled his great sword out and held it aloft, ready to strike.

Alakir 82/100 Juvenile Dragonkin 80/80

The mob did not wait for Darren to strike first. It lunged for Darren with teeth bared and hands ready to claw at the human's skin. Darren jumped to the side, narrowly missing the sharp talons that were poised to scratch at his face.

With a great yell, Darren brought his sword down on the back of the creature. It sliced past the scales and embedded deep into the beast's flesh, causing it to cry out in pain. Darren looked on with glee as his enhanced strength damaged deeper than he would have ever done on his own. The creature suffered 18 damage, bringing its health down to 62/80.

The juvenile slashed at Darren, embedding a talon deep in Alakir's thigh. Darren cried out as his eyes flew to his health bar. Fear overtook him when he saw it drop by 16 points, bringing him to 64/100.

He slashed through the air wildly, his sword clipping the beast in the arm, the leg, the side. But none of the blows were deep enough to do great damage. All three ticked off 5 damage each.

Alakir's health sat at 64/100, while the Juvenile Dragonkin's health bar read 47/80.

The dragonkin snapped its strong jaws at Darren before swiping at him again. But this time, Darren held his sword up to parry the blow. His sword cut deep, slicing the fingers and talons from the creature's right hand. It screamed and hissed as its hand fell, lifeless and it lost 30 health from the blow. The juve

Darren looked down at the creature as it fell to its knees. Triumph overtook him as he glared down. The creature was angry, hissing and spitting and lunging at Darren, but it was all in vain.

With his imbued strength from the potion, Darren drew his sword back and sliced deep into the creature's gut. The sword drove in deep with the extra power coursing through him.

But the blow was not strong enough. The creature still lived with only 2 hp remaining.

With the last bit of its life, the dragonkin lunged with teeth bared and ready. He was within inches of biting down on Alakir, and fear sized Darren. Surely if the creature got a hold of him with those massive jaws, he would bite the last bits of life from him.

Darren brought his sword down on the beast.

And at the same time, an arrow flew through the air from somewhere behind Alakir. It struck the dragonkin square in the chest and the creature fell over, lifeless and dead.

Darren stood over the body in shock, his chest heaving with deep, ragged breaths. He did not know if it was the blow from his sword or the arrow that flew from the shadows that killed the deadly beast. He looked over his shoulder and saw nothing. There was no other player, no whisper, no movement. He listened hard and all he could hear was the wind blowing through the dead limbs of the trees above.

Everything else was silent.

The dragonkin at his feet vanished into a light, leaving behind loot like Darren had never imagined. Two green healing potions, 55 aethys crystals, 10 empty vials, and a handful of candied mint were all there for the taking. Darren grabbed it all quickly, washing down the two potions with glee. His health rose up like a shot, bringing him back to 100/100.

He turned back in the direction of the arrow.

"Thank you," he said to the wilderness.

Of course, there was no response. He didn’t exactly expect one.