**Edited on 8/27/18**

"Fresh cheese!"

"Need a slice of cake, love?"

"Heavy leather! Dyed to your taste!"

Darren walked down the cobblestone path in Veneah that lead toward Havminval, the large, open-air square in the center of the capital city. The trade square here was like the one in Blackstone but on a grand scale. Darren's eyes wandered all over the square. He saw banners of all colors and sizes, booths decorated to draw in customers, and players filling the area so full that they seemed to walk over the top of each other. On the left of the square were rows of trading booths, adorned with bright gold flags where Coalition players sold. On the right were flags marking Syndicate players. Of course, they could not buy from each other. But that did not stop anyone from shouting up and down the square about their wares for sale.

But in the middle of the square was a few white flags marking neutral sellers. Darren grinned when he saw them. There were not many from the Consortium here. The few that were there sold mostly food items. And many, from the looks of things, were listening to propositions from both factions. But they could also sell to both sides as well.

An NPC greeted Darren when he walked into the trade square.

"Hello, Alakir of the Consortium! What would you wish to do today?" The NPC asked with a grin.

[Buy]

[Sell]

[Leave]

"Sell." 

"Very well." And with a wave of a hand, Alakir disappeared and was transported to a booth with white flags and banners overhead.

"Whoa..." Darren looked around for a moment to catch his bearings. Alakir materialized behind a booth with his inventory spread out in front of him. Bottles of healing potions, strength potions, and newly made stamina potions from his candied mint were all available to sell. He quickly made his selections, setting out all of his potions to sell, as well as piles of herbs and the skin that he had looted from the wolf. 

He glanced up at his aethys counter.

Aethys

69

"Not bad for starting out," he said to himself, thinking of the dragonkin that looted the day before when he ventured into the Dragonmire.

Darren looked up and down the walkway. Hundreds of players milled about, looking over wares and quickly trading. 

A magic user sauntered up. He was a tall, lean elf with pale green skin, long green hair that spilled over his shoulders, and an egotistical look on his face. He had been wearing long green and gold robes and he walked up to Darren as though he was ready for a fight. Darren looked up at his name and read it to himself. Rhys.

"How much for the pelt?" Rhys the elf asked without greeting the alchemist, looking down his nose at Darren.

"Uh..." Darren's mind raced. He had not considered prices. "50 aethys?"

The elf snorted and looked away with airs about him. "For a light leather pelt? You must be dreaming, kid. I'll give you 5 for it."

Darren's forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows knit together. "20."

"10."

"15."

"Deal." Rhys the elf pulled out 15 aethys and laid them on the table in front of Darren. A small smile crossed his face at the agreement that they had come to.. "I'll take a few of those stamina potions, too."

"30 each." Darren reached out to take the aethys quickly.

60 more crystals were traded and the elf took his bounty while Darren grinned widely. "Come back any time, sir."

Rhys nodded his pinched face and walked off with pelt and potions in hand.

The elf was quickly followed by a group of three dwarfs. The players, two females and a male, were decked out in gold-laden cloth gear and all of them wore shining crowns on their heads.

"Good evening, sir merchant," one of them said with a flourish. Darren grinned at the role-playing. "What wares have you for sale this fine evening?"

"Potions, good sir," Darren said, playing alone, much to the player's delight, "Care to have a glance at my wares?"

Darren bowed low to the dwarf, who responded in kind. The dwarf looked over the potions with shining eyes.  Darren glanced up at his name… Rilhorn.

"Oh, my," Rilhorn said with wonderment in his voice, "What is this?"

The short player reached for the royal purple strength potion. "And what, pray to tell, is this?"

Darren grinned. "Good sir, why that is a potion of strength! For half of an hour, your strength will be enhanced, causing you to cut down foes at the speed of lightning!"

"Really..." The dwarf's voice faded as he pondered over the potion. "And how many of my hard-earned crystals would you be willing to give this magic up for?"

"Umm... 50 aethys?"

"50 aethys??!?" Rilhorn’s shouts drew the eyes of nearby players. The short-statured player's shocked face stared at Darren.

"Good sir," Darren said, leaning forward, "That very potion right there made me grow in strength until I was able to single-handedly take down a juvenile dragonkin. My armor is basic and my sword is barely an upgrade and I am an alchemist and enchanter by design."

All three dwarves, Rilhorn and his companions Maari and Liz, looked on with wide eyes as Darren spoke. Darren leaned forward, but his voice rose. He glanced around and saw other players watching him, raptured.

"It was a great beast," Darren said, playing things up, "Massive in height. Taller than any elf I have ever seen. And it had jagged talons that dug into my flesh and teeth as long as my fingers and sharper than any blade I ever saw." 

Rilhorn the dwarf leaned forward. "An' then what happened?"

Darren stood up straight and let out a laugh. "The strength potion happened, my dear chap! I was able to cut the beast down where he stood! And you know what?"

No one responded. They were too enraptured.

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"The damn thing dropped 55 aethys."

A loud, crashing laugh came from the male dwarf. "My dear sir," he said, slapping the table with his great palm, "You've got yourself a customer, sir Alakir."

Rilhorn and his friends ended up buying 6 strength potions, two for himself and two for each of his companions. Before they left, one of the female dwarves stopped and smiled at Darren.

"Thanks for playing along," Maari said in a soft voice, "He really gets into the role-playing."

"I enjoyed it," Darren replied with a smile, "Bring him back any time."

Soon, others came by looking to buy and trade. Darren quickly sold out of his stamina and strength potions, both of which brought in high amounts of aethys. Darren watched with glee as his counter rose with every sale. Soon after the stat potions were gone, folks began buying up the minor red healing potions.  Some people even came by asking to buy up his herbs, but Darren relented. No way was he going to sell his herbs. Not yet.

When everything was sold, Darren looked around until he found a button on his screen that said

[Close shop]

Darren hit the button and suddenly, Alakir disappeared from his screen only to reappear moments later at the entrance to Haminval square. He looked down at his aethys again and he gasped when he saw the total.

Aethys

578

It was happening. It was really happening! He was doing it! 

Darren sprinted away from the square at full force, pulling out his map as his feet pounded on the cobblestone. He knew what he was looking for. The Aethys Exchange. 

He found it quickly. It was near the southern entrance of Veneah. He had walked right past it when he came from Black's Forest, nestled between a florist and a cake maker.

With a laugh, Darren murmured to himself, "God I am so dumb."

When he walked up on the Aethys Exchange, Darren felt really stupid for not seeing the gaudy building any sooner. The building was huge, tall with stone walls and decorated in shining blue aethys crystals embedded into the stonework, making the building glow with a blue hue. There was a buzz of excitement around the building that Darren found contagious. Folks milled in and out of the front door, each with wide grins. Darren's heart raced like a rabbit in his chest as he walked up the steps and through the front door. This was it, the moment that he had been working toward for weeks. He was finally going to reap the rewards. 

The inside of the Aethys Exchange looked shockingly close to what a bank looked like in real life, but even more grand and spectacular. The inside was decorated with shining gold and silver, with aethys in clusters around every corner. At booths were NPC tellers, all dressed in beautiful blue robes that glowed as though they were inlaid with aethys. But there was no line to speak to a teller. Darren stood to the side and watched as another player walked in and stood on a circle in the middle of the floor. 

"Currency exchange," the player said out loud after a moment of silence, then the player disappeared. 

Darren gasped as his eyes lingered where the other player had stood just moments before. He looked around the room and did not see him at all. 

But about a minute later, the player reappeared on the far side of the room, his feet hitting another circle. He materialized out of thin air with a grin on his face as he tucked his aethys bag away. The player walked out of the Exchange as though nothing had happened.

Darren, curious but nervous, stepped up to the circle in the middle of the room. When Alakir's feet hit the circle, he heard a soft voice in his ear that was speaking only to him. 

"Welcome player. What would you like to do today?"

And on the screen in front of him, Darren was given three options:

[Currency Exchange]

[Currency Withdraw]

[Help]

Darren knew these options from his research. Currency withdraws would be the option he would use if he wanted to transfer real money into aethys. And Darren could not have done that even if he wanted to. He wanted to use the other option.

"Currency Exchange," Darren said, his voice cool, clear, and confident.

He looked down as Alakir disappeared. The alchemist quickly reappeared, standing in front of a blue-clad teller.

"Hi!" The chipper NPC said with a wide smile, "How can I help you today, player?"

[Transfer partial aethys]

[Transfer all aethys]

"Transfer partial aethys," Darren said, his mind whirling as he tried to remember his conversion charts by memory.

"Please enter the number of aethys that you would like to transfer."

Darren glanced down at his aethys counter.

Aethys

578

"Transfer 400 aethys, please."

"Please wait while your transfer goes through." The NPC froze, her smile still plastered on her face in a way that made Darren wince. 

The few seconds that it took to make the transfer made Darren's stomach churn with nervousness. What if he had gotten it all wrong? What if this would never work? What if he had been doing all of this work every single night for nothing? 

"Thanks!" The NPC said in her chipper voice, "Your transfer went through."

Darren could not stop the grin from forming across his face at the idea. Sitting in his bank account was money that he could use, money that he had earned on his own. He felt himself swell with pride at the idea.

"Your transfer of $20.00 was successful and your new aethys count is 178. Do you need any more help today?"

[Yes]

[No]

"No," Darren said with a smile.

The NPC stared back blankly. "Thank you for choosing the Aethys Exchange. Goodbye."

And with that, Alakir disappeared, then reappeared on the far side of the room. Darren looked at his aethys counter and he sighed as he looked at the low number. But for right now, that did not matter. Darren took off toward the Inn and logged off as soon as Alakir was settled.

Darren pulled his headset off of his head and looked around the dark room. Johnny was sitting in his bed with a small light on, reading a book. The seven-year-old looked over at his big brother.

"Whats wrong?" he asked, startled.

"Nothing," Darren said, feeling breathless, "I'm just done for the night."

Johnny raised an eyebrow at his big brother. "You're never done this early."

"You keeping tabs on me, John?"

Johnny just grunted in reply and went back to his book.

Darren set his RMR system on the charger and rolled over, turning his back to his brother. But sleep would not come to him. He was $20 richer from just playing a game. He couldn't believe it. 

And he knew exactly what he was going to spend his money on.

* * *

Darren paced around the house. He was so excited that he could not sit still. 

"Is that damn bus ever going to get here?" Darren asked out loud, glancing at the clock on the stove.

The quite of the house was ringing in his ears. His parents were already gone by the time he got home from running out, and it seemed like his siblings were never going to get there.

The squealing of heavy brakes outside announced the school bus's arrival, and Darren looked out to see all four younger kids piling out. Billy was holding Steph's hand while Greg led the way, tall and proud, and Johnny brought up the rear. 

Darren flung the door opened and grinned down at the kids. "Guys! I've got something to tell you!"

The kids all jumped back and looked wary, except for Billy, who just wiggled with excitement. Johnny's face morphed into one of curiosity at Darren's words. Darren had wondered if Johnny knew what was coming, but if he did, the kid did not say a word.

"Come and sit down," Darren said.

The 5 siblings all filed into the living room and the four younger squeezed onto the family's ancient, floral couch. 

"Whats going on?" Steph asked suspiciously.

"Well," Darren said as he paced in front of the kids, "You know how I've been in the game a lot lately?"

They all nodded, their eyes following Darren as he walked back and forth.

"So, in game, I can make money that I can trade for real money. And last night, I traded it in and made $20."

The kids' eyes widened. 

"Are you serious?" Steph asked, her mouth gaping open.

"Dude!" Greg said with a grin.

"Wow," Johnny said, sitting back. Darren's eyes met his and they shared a small smile of knowing.

"Yeah, and I was able to get you guys something special for being so awesome..." Darren disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two pizzas and a rented DVD in hand. "Dinner and a movie."

The kids jumped to their feet and shouted for joy. Greg hopped up first and grabbed the movie.

"Attack of the killer jelly? Oh my god, awesome!" He shouted. 

Steph took the top pizza box and she squealed, "Cheese and green peppers? Yes!"

As the other three grabbed slices and got ready to watch the movie, Johnny walked up to his oldest brother.

"Thanks," he said in his soft voice.

Darren smiled in return and his heart swelled. At that moment, every bit of tireless work that he had put into the game was worth it all. 

He could not wait to get back in and do it all over again.