I decided to take a walk after finishing the potions. The starting robes I was wearing had various pockets on the inside, presumably to hold potions, so I stored the ones I made there. They weighed down the cloth slightly, but it was reassuring to know my creations were close. The thought that I had created something with the ability to save a life (even if it was virtual) made me feel powerful.
It felt almost cold outside after the heat of the Workhouse, despite the perfect weather. The sun was in its final stage of setting, and almost everyone had either already left the Workhouse, or was leaving at the same time as me. I just went along with the group of roughly eleven people. It bothered me slightly when some of them moved away from me, but I tried not to let it get to me.
The craftsmen walked around the large hill, through the valley. Most people walked in groups of two or three, dressed in similar clothing and talking about their respective professions. I noticed another person who stuck out from the crowd, walking by themself.
He was taller than most of his peers, standing at about three foot six. The clothing he wore looked nothing like anything I had ever seen. A pair of steampunk goggles sat on his head, just in front of his ears. Grease stained bronze arm bracers with tools attached covered a worn leather jacket. His left shoulder and right leg also had leather braces, although they seemed much more cosmetic than the arm bracers. He walked with his head down and hands tucked in the pockets of his pants.
The guy was basically projecting his discontent. His posture coupled with his facial expression (moody with a hint of anger) seemed to say 'leave me alone!' I moved closer and walked beside him. He glanced in my direction, but didn't say anything as we walked next to each other. I wanted to strike up a conversation, but I didn't know what to say.
"So, umm, what's… where's everyone going?" I mentally facepalmed at my awkward attempt to start a conversation. I'd never been the best at meeting new people, but my current circumstance added an extra layer to the difficulty. The stranger glanced at me again, getting a better look and sizing me up. He answered without looking away from the ground.
"Everyone's heading to the market to sell their stuff." His voice was indifferent, and I got the impression that he wanted me to leave him alone. When I didn't immediately leave, he elaborated.
"Since it's getting dark, most people in the fields will be returning to sell their drops or get better gear. Most of us craftsmen used up all our starting mats, so we're gonna sell our wares and buy better mats from the shops or players."
We continued through the valley streets around the main hill in silence. It was tempting to just bail on this conversation and start a new one, but everyone else was already talking with someone, so I just powered through the awkward silence.
"What class did you pick? I-" The guy cut me off, spinning to face me and shouting angrily at me.
"Look, if you want to buy something, at least let me get to the market first! Jeez! I don't even have anything for mages, so you're wasting your time!" I was just trying to be friendly, and then this guy started yelling at me in front of a crowd of people. I wasn't about to take it lying down.
"I'm an alchemist, not a mage, and I can't imagine anyone would want to buy from you with an attitude like that! What's your problem anyway? I was just trying to talk to you!" He scoffed at me and turned away.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were a noob. I thought you were a mage, harassing me for cheap equipment, but I guess you're just a newbie begging for mats. Let me guess, you wasted all your starting mats, and weren't able to make a single potion. Should've picked a different class. Tell you what, if you come back begging when I'm level ten, I might throw some Col your way."
I stared in disbelief as the leather-clad Harengon walked away. My good mood had completely evaporated, and I was tempted to chase after the idiot and beat him up for his condescension. The group of craftsmen, which had stopped to watch our argument, continued toward the market with me trailing behind.
I seethed while thinking about the presumptuous tone of the leather-head while he insulted me. I could imagine the smirk on his face when he basically called me stupid and poor. When the group reached the marketplace, I leaned against the side of a melon stand with my arms crossed.
The market was easily thrice as busy as earlier, and the arriving craftsmen rushed to find a good spot to sell their wares. Most sat in front of empty shops, unfurling a large cloth to set their creations on. The various players in robes or armor flocked to get the best piece of equipment.
Two robed figures approached me from the crowd, and it took me a few seconds to realize it was Jasper and his lackey. With the similar colour scheme everyone seemed to have with their armor, robes or fur it was difficult to differentiate between the sea of grays, blacks and browns. The hem of his robes weren't ripped like before, and I noticed two rough wooden rings around his fingers.
"Hey, Suzume, how've things been?" I shrugged my shoulders at his enthusiastic, overly friendly tone. We had only met a few hours ago, and he was acting like we'd know each other for years. To be honest, I didn't dislike Jasper, despite him being a little rude earlier. Considering recent events, I knew what it was like to put your foot in your mouth.
"Well anyway, me and my team just got back from the southern plains. We did a big loop around Spiritwallow to find the best grinding spots, and decided to come back before nightfall to upgrade our loot. Didn't wanna get swarmed with the increased mob spawns, y'know? What've you been up to?"
"This guy really likes having one-sided conversations, huh?" It didn't really bother me, as long as he kept from assuming things about me, like earlier.
"I checked out the Workhouse and made some healing potions." I kept my voice nonchalant, though the sentence felt weird in my mouth. Jasper perked up and looked (even more) excited. Even his bodyguard, who had yet to introduce himself, looked more interested.
"Really? I read on that Leaked blog that potion making was supposed to be super tough. I don't know if you read it, but apparently the Alchemist is supposed to be the hardest playable class, with little reward. But hey, if you wanna play it, go right ahead."
This was news to me. I HAD heard of an article about someone hacking into the Argus database, but I didn't know that class info was posted online. I wasn't super invested in the game before it came out (considering I wasn't even planning on playing it), but the thought that everyone was ahead of me already was disheartening, especially considering that my class was supposed to be bad.
"If you're willing to part with one, I'd like to buy a potion. There's no shops in town with healables left, and we don't have enough healers at the moment to cover everyone." I don't know why it surprised me that Jasper wanted to buy a potion, considering he'd offered me a job earlier. He did say that he was planning on getting to level three today, so his health might be double or even triple the starting amount, meaning my potions would be pretty much useless. But then again, I didn't really have much reason to keep them, considering I wasn't planning on fighting right now.
"Sure, but they're not very good. You can just have one, it didn't cost me anything to make it." I reached into the inner pocket of my robes and pulled one out, handing it to him. He grabbed it and tapped the middle with two fingers. I got concerned when his large eyes bugged out.
"No way! A hundred and twenty HP?! I can't accept this for nothing!" Jasper tried to force the bottle back into my hands, but I stayed cross armed, trying not to let his expression visibly faze me.
"Why not? I told you, it cost me nothing to make. Besides, I have no use for it, and I have four more anyway." Jasper and his bodyguard just stood staring at me, until the leader turned toward his companion.
"Hikaru, give me all your Col." 'Hikaru' went into his inventory and materialized a small jingling bag. Jasper pulled another bag from his pocket, which was a little more full. He held both pouches out in one hand, cradling the potion in his other arm.
"Can I get one more forrrrrr-," He inspected the bags by opening a window. "-rr about three hundred Col? I won't give you anything less 'cause both together would be at least five hundred."
It weirded me out that this guy was basically forcing me to take his money. I could understand not wanting to receive hand-outs, but giving me all his and his buddy's money seemed a little excessive. But then again, maybe the potions weren't as bad as I thought. And maybe three hundred Col wasn't a lot of money.
"Ugh, whatever. Here." Just as we exchanged flask for gold coins, a teenager (by height estimation) walked out of an alley to my right. Noticing the transaction, he all but yelled in my face.
"Wait, are you selling potions?!"
"Huh? No, I-" I didn't get very far before the newcomer turned toward the crowd, yelling and gesturing to someone on the other side of the plaza.
"Hey DragonRider, this chick's selling potions!"
Before I knew it, a crowd was surrounding me, all yelling and asking what I had. Everyone was jostling around, trying to get as close to me as possible. One player in a trench coat tried to reach into the pocket inside my robe, but I swatted his hand away and held my robes closed. Another player looped his arm around my waist and attempted to flirt with me. I quickly rebuffed him by shoving him to the ground.
The cacophony was interrupted by a yell so loud I thought I might be temporarily deafened.
"EVERYBODY STOP! THERE WILL BE NO TRANSACTION WITHOUT ORDER!" Most people closest to the source of noise dropped to the ground, covering their ears. The crowd backed off a little, and I saw that Jasper was the one who'd yelled. There was another mage standing right behind him, holding a glowing orange hand over his throat.
There was a pause where everyone either stared at me or Jasper. He held the attention of most of the crowd easily, and I could see why he was the leader of his guild. The magic user removed his hand, and when Jasper spoke again, his voice was at normal volume.
"Suzume is not selling potions, we were having a private transaction. If Suzume wishes to sell her potions, I can't imagine she'd want to give them to people who'd accosted her." A few people rubbed the back of their necks sheepishly, and others looked down in shame. A scatter of 'sorry's' got murmured out.
It bothered me slightly how careless Jasper was being. Giving out my (fake) name and hinting that I wanted to sell my potions had me annoyed, but I guess it was forgivable considering he basically pulled 30 guys off of me.
"We shouldn't have to buy anything from her!" The people on the left parted to reveal that same guy from before, the one who insulted me. He was fuming, pointing an accusing finger at me.
"I mean, c'mon. She clearly bought all the potions in town, just so she could sell them at a higher price! That's super cheap! She should have to give us those potions!"
I could not believe this guy. He already knew I was an alchemist, and the fact that we had both entered the market less than ten minutes ago meant he knew what he was saying was false. And now he was trying to turn a mob of people against me. By the look on a few people's faces, it was working. People started yelling things like 'That's not fair!' and 'Seriously? We need those, how could you?!'
My body wasn't responding. I didn't know how to deal with such a large group of angry people. The only thing I could do was stand and watch as the group crowded around me for a second time.
I'd never really liked being the center of attention, especially with people yelling at me. It was disconcerting how quickly the mob kept changing their opinion. One second they were apologizing to me, and the next they were trying to steal all my potions, just on the word of one person. I thought about turning into the alley to my right, but I was already surrounded on all sides.
Standing with my back against the wall, I felt something in my mind flare, a warning. My head snapped to a point in the crowd slightly to the left. A needle-like object flew at my head at a high speed. I instinctually leaned to the right, but the thing still grazed my cheek. The sting from the needle was unexpected, and I put a hand to the point of pain. There was no blood, but that didn't lessen my shock at all.
This was supposed to be a fun, harmless game, yet here was a group of fellow players willing to hurt me just for some fake potions. I panicked, my mind going into overdrive as my fight or flight instincts kicked in. Considering the amount of people around me, my only option was to flee.
I crouched slightly and looked for a gap in the crowd, getting ready to sprint away at the first opportunity. No path revealed itself, so I just resolved to ram through the path of least resistance. The left side led to the outskirts of the market, so I made that my target. But when I released the pent up tension in my legs, instead of going through the crowd, I sailed OVER it.
The sudden launch through the air had me spiraling out of control, and I closed my eyes, bracing for impact against the stone courtyard.
The landing was softer than I expected. Instead of the hard concrete, I had landed on one of the cloth overhangs for a produce stand. A second after landing, one of the corners ripped and I tumbled into the cart of cabbages.
When I was the right way up, I locked eyes with Jasper, who up until this point had been arguing with the leather-lord. He, along with everyone else, was staring at me in shock. The NPC who owned the cabbage stand yelled at me, which seemed to break everyone out of the trance. The steampunker shouted, and two dozen people rushed at me with determined faces.
I scrambled to get out of the produce stand and stumble-ran the first few paces in my haste to flee from the crowd of people. My mind went into overdrive as my body dashed into one of the many side alleys, just in time to avoid the next barrage of needle-like projectiles.
A number of lazily stacked crates almost tripped me up, but I managed to avoid falling on my face. I ran as quickly as I could, the sound of crashing and yelling alerting me that the other players were still on my tail (heh).
The alleys were confusing and random, with seemingly no pattern or reason. This both worked for me and against me. The various directions forced the group to split up, but it would be more difficult to avoid people later as I inevitably ran into one of the groups. At least I wouldn't be so outnumbered.
Turning into another hall, I crouched and put my hands on my knees, hacking as I fought to catch my breath. My lungs were burning, and my legs felt weka. While I hadn't gone very far, I had ran faster than than anything I could've achieved in real life.
Barely ten seconds passed before one of the robe wearing hares skidded into the intersection a few meters from me. We locked eyes for a few seconds before he turned and gestured -presumably- to his comrades.
"She's over here!" I made a noise of disgust and turned away, ready to resume the mad chase through the labyrinth.
"Walloo steiproar iwantie-" I glanced over my shoulder and saw the hare had his arms outstretched toward me as white bands formed and started circling around him. A wind blew and billowed his robes behind him like a cape. I sped up and rushed toward the closest exit, wary of what he was doing. The guy finally finished his chant, thrusting his arms further forward.
"Skylu, Buffering winds!" While nothing blocked my path, a force comparable to a brick wall collided against me and sent me flying backwards. The sound of approaching footsteps had me scrambling to get away, only for a gust to push me backwards.
No matter what direction I tried to go, a strong blast of wind would resist my path.