Grim Reboar(Quasi-Superior) has been slain. +8 Soul Essences, +1 Common Card, +2 Uncommon Card Shards

[Proficiency of Blink reached 100%. Level Up!]

Despite defeating a Quasi-Superior Monster, only Blink leveled up. The proficiency of his other Cards increased drastically, but it was not enough for another level up. However, Zayn expected that. His Cards were already at a high level. It was only a matter of time before Rapid Plant Growth and his other Common Cards reached their level cap as well.

Zayn breathed heavily as he retrieved the last potion vials he’d plundered from the Player Hunters’ corpses. He removed the cap and swallowed the content in one go. After that, he felt much better. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as his Energy and Stamina regenerated.

His eyes landed on Grim Reboar, the large Demonified Boar, and he flashed a grin. He was still far from powerful, but he was slowly getting somewhere. A white Common Card and two bronze Card Shards glimmered lightly next to the massive monster corpse. They attracted Zayn’s attention and he moved over to pick them up.

Minor Tracking

Common - Level 1(0%)

Minor Tracking was a pretty good Card, but it was too similar to Scent of Treasure to be of any use. Scent of Treasure was more valuable while he hunted monsters in the Arylin Forest. But it was a good thing nonetheless. Minor Tracking was quite valuable. He could sell it for some quick bucks.

A notification popped up in front of Zayn, his grin widening.

Uncommon Card Shard 10/10. Combine?

Zayn agreed to combine the Uncommon Card Shards with a simple mental command and he waited patiently as the Card Shards transformed, slowly combining into a bronze-colored Uncommon Card.

Coalesce

Uncommon - Level 1(00%)

Spell

Active

Requires Energy to be used.

Effect – Can merge almost anything.

Success rate depends on compatibility, quality, and rank of targeted items.

-–

Fusion difficulty decreases with Card Level.

Types of Fusions increase with Card Level

—-

Zayn eyed the Uncommon Card for a moment, but he was not even given enough time to think about possible uses for his new Card when Alchemist’s Instinct stirred inside his Heart Deck. It vibrated violently as if trying to say something.

[Proficiency of Alchemist’s Instinct reached 100%. Level Up!]

“What?”

His eyes narrowed. Alchemist’s Instinct leveled up…just like that. But that was not all. A thought flashed through his mind as Alchemist’s Instinct leveled up. Zayn’s eyes went wide, his focus on Coalesce.

‘If I can merge anything I should be able to mass produce potions easily. As long as I extract the properties within the herbs and other ingredients it shouldn’t be an issue to use Coalesce to merge the herbal essences into a potion. I won’t have to wait until the herbal essences react with each other. Coalesce can recreate the reaction easily. All I need is energy-infused water. Interesting. That’s great!’

Zayn could instinctively tell that Alchemist’s Instinct planted the idea in his mind. Something like that happened only once or twice in his entire career as a Card Holder, but it happened again today, not even a week after Forgotten Lands’ launch.

That triggered Zayn’s nosy nature. He wanted to know why.

‘Are the two Cards part of an Uncommon Set? A specific occupational Card Set maybe? Coalesce and Alchemist’s Instinct are quite suitable to accelerate potionmaking. Old Farthma will hate me…’

Zayn smiled as he recalled Old Farthma and he shook his head. Old Farthma acted like she hated him, but she was just a little bit flustered at how talented Zayn was. Putting that aside, Old Farthma was a softie with a hard shell.

“I should head back now,” Zayn mumbled, recalling the potions he’d auctioned in the Forsaken Auctionhouse and Old Farthma. Four hours had already passed and It was almost evening. He could return to Old Farthma to produce hundreds of potions now that he had Coalesce. All he needed was a bit of experience before the mass production could begin.

Zayn grasped the Uncommon Card tightly and pressed it against his chest, linking Coalesce to his Heart Deck.

Spell Card has been linked to your Deck. Please prepare for the Influx of Information!

The influx of information began not long after. Zayn turned around, enduring the influx, and he headed back to Emberfall.

It took an entire hour to reach Emberfall, the tiny beginner village that was as crowded as always.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Zayn headed to Old Farthma’s stone house, but his focus was on a few screens.

[Uncommon Potion – Minor Fire Resistance – 13-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 1 Gold 56 Silver]

[Uncommon Potion – Minor Fire Resistance – 10-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 1 Gold 51 Silver]

[Common(+) Potion – Energy Recovery– 7-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 46 Silver]

[Uncommon Potion – Minor Fire Resistance – 11-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 1 Gold 55 Silver]

[Uncommon Potion – Minor Fire Resistance – 11-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 1 Gold 54 Silver]

[Common(+) Potion – Energy Recovery– 5-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 40 Silver]

[Common(+) Potion – Energy Recovery– 4-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 39 Silver]

[Uncommon Potion – Minor Fire Resistance – 11-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 1 Gold 61 Silver]

[Common(+) Potion – Energy Recovery– 6-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 43 Silver]

…

[Uncommon Potion – Minor Fire Resistance – 12-Hour-Duration] – [Sold for 1 Gold 81 Silver]

…

…

[After deducting the transfer fee, 5412 Credits have been added to your account!]

Zayn noticed an upward trend in the price of the Minor Fire Resistance Potions. It looked like more Players noticed the benefit of holding onto a Minor Fire Resistance Potion with a long-lasting effect. The duration of his potions was longer than anyone could offer. That was enough of a publicity stunt to gain most Players’ curiosity.

[You received 99+ messages.]

The number of direct messages exceeded 200, whereas the friend requests from well-known players and organizations exceeded 30. Everyone asked him to produce Minor Fire Resistance and Energy Recovery Potions for them in bulk. As long as he prioritized them they would give him a better price.

Most well-known players offered 2 gold coins for the Minor Fire Resistance Potions whereas the Energy Recovery Potion received offers surpassing 50 silver coins per bottle.

‘If they can offer that much, they should have bid more,’ Zayn complained silently, but the smile on his face never ceased.

He was the first to sell Minor Fire Resistance Potions online and that was quite obvious. Some minor resistance potions could be purchased in specific Alchemy Shops in bigger towns or cities. Their pricing was not low, but it was far from two gold coins. It might be impossible to keep the monopoly of Fire Resistance Potions but it would take a while before the first Players reached the first cities and larger towns.

Energy Recovery Potions were not as rare. Most Alchemists owned an Energy Recovery potion recipe and they could teach others. That was what must have happened since three Players sold Energy Recovery Potions in the Forsaken Auctionhouse.

It was a good thing that their potions’ quality was inferior. They didn’t have the means to produce as many potions as Zayn either. Their resources and proficiency at concocting potions restrained them.

The lack of resources and the high failure rate at concocting potions forced the Players to ask for a higher price for their potions. Their starting price was higher than Zayn’s even though their quality and quantity were not even close to his level. That resulted in bad publicity for the three unfortunate Players and the exact opposite in his direction. After all, Zayn didn’t ‘extort’ his customers like the other Players.

That was what most Players thought. They didn’t even care that Zayn’s production cost was several times lower and that he could decrease the price of his potions even further if he wanted to. Meanwhile, the others could barely make up their production cost with their prices.

Thanks to the good publicity he received, Zayn received a few more messages. However, he was only focused on the direct message he’d received from Millenia. Millenia accepted his friend request a few hours ago and his interest in Zayn’s potions had been apparent since then.

[Millenia: I know that you will receive many offers of a similar nature, but I hope that you will check out my proposal, Sir Zayn. You wanted to add me to your friend list, so I presume that you know me from other games. You should know about my financial means to support you and that I’m a trustworthy merchant. It would be great to establish a long-lasting business relationship with you, Sir Zayn!]

Following the direct message was a file with a detailed proposal and a temporary contract that had already been signed by Millenia. The proposal was a formality whereas the temporary contract made clear that Millenia was confident in his terms.

‘150 Credits for every Minor Fire Resistance Potion and 40 Credits for every Energy Recovery Potion,’ Zayn tilted his head, thinking hard. The Credits offered were worth less than the two gold and 50 silver promised by the other corporations, but there was a particular difference in their offers.

Millenia offered to procure the ingredients, free of charge. He paid for the ingredients out of as long as the potions would be given to him. That was his condition.

[Zayn: What happens if I concoct other potions with the ingredients?]

Zayn noticed the particular wording in a few sentences. It attracted his attention and he wondered how Millenia would solve the ‘issue’ at hand.

[Millenia: You can sell the potions to me, or you pay me for the ingredients if you’re displeased with my price. But you have to go through me first.]

Zayn didn’t plan to create different potions for the time being, but it was always good to be prepared for special circumstances. He discussed a few more points with Millenia over the next half an hour before he signed the short-term contract. There was no need to read through the other offers. Receiving massive bulks of ingredients on command was everything Zayn could have hoped for. Even 250 Credits for a Minor Fire Resistance Potion would be worse now that he could mass-produce potions with Coalesce.

All he lacked was ingredients. Well. Not anymore!

At first, Zayn had been a little bit concerned about mass-producing potions because he never did it, and because he lacked the resources to fail mass-producing dozens of potions with every batch. Fortunately, his worries were no more since he had Coalesce and could request as many resources as he needed.

Mass-producing the Minor Fire Resistance Potions and Energy Recovery Potions was going to be easy. He could go crazy with Coalesce and Alchemist’s Instincts.

Old Farthma saw him enter the workshop, but she wasn’t going to greet him. The crazy smile on his lips made her sick. The old Alchemist recalled some of the old monsters of the alchemy world smiling just like Zayn. Old Farthma didn’t even have to think twice before she rushed out of the workshop, leaving Zayn to himself.

Zayn didn’t even notice Old Farthma. He was fully focused on creating an item list for Millenia.

Once he forwarded the list of items, Zayn went to the Farming Hall to spend half an hour upgrading the quality of dozens of plants before the first bulk of ingredients arrived in his mailbox.

Millenia worked fast, but so did Zayn.

It was time to go crazy.