Free Web NovelChapter 12: [12]: The Economics of Power, Creating the Siphon
Levi stepped onto the cobblestone streets of the City of Thresholds. The difference between this place and the beginner village was night and day. Instead of muddy paths and wooden hovels, this city was built with grand stone keeps, massive marble fountains, and towering guild halls.
However, the streets were almost completely empty.
It was only day two of the server launch. The absolute top 1% of grinders were barely hitting Level 10 right now. The other 99% of the player base was still back in the starting zones, aggressively stealing slime spawns and hitting each other with rusty swords.
Levi didn’t care about the sightseeing. He opened his minimap and marched straight toward the financial district. He arrived at a massive, incredibly flashy building with golden banners hanging from the roof: The Grand Auction House.
Standing behind the polished mahogany counter was an NPC named Maddock. He was a short, balding man with a shrewd face and a permanent look of greed in his eyes.
Levi walked up to the counter and opened his inventory. It was an absolute disaster. It was overflowing with dozens of useless Common and Bronze items he had picked up from grinding skeletons, beetles, and birds for hours. Most players would just dump all this trash onto the NPC merchant for a few measly copper coins.
Levi closed the merchant window and walked away from the counter. He went out the front doors and ducked into a private, shadowed alleyway right next to the auction house. He made sure no other players were running around before opening his UI.
"Time to clean house," Levi muttered.
He pulled up the Boundless Fusion interface. The golden slots appeared in the air. He started dragging and dropping his junk gear at rapid speed.
Three junk Common rusted swords melted together in a flash of light, spitting out a generic Uncommon iron sword. He did it again. And again. He took the three new Uncommon iron swords, threw them into the slots, and hit fuse.
A much brighter, silver light lit up the dark alley. The system generated a solid, Silver-tier weapon. It was just a generic [Silver Knight’s Longsword], completely useless to Levi’s build, but the stats were incredibly high for a Level 10 item.
He spent the next twenty minutes aggressively combining all the garbage armor and weapons in his bags. He condensed over a hundred pieces of trash into exactly four generic Silver-tier items: a sword, a shield, a chestplate, and a pair of boots.
With his inventory finally clean, Levi walked back inside the auction house and approached Maddock.
He opened the real-money/gold exchange tab. This was the feature that allowed players to buy in-game gold using real-world cash, or trade items directly for massive sums of gold. Right now, high-tier gear was practically non-existent. Levi knew that the leaders of the massive esports guilds were currently desperate to get their hands on anything that would give them an edge in the server-first dungeon races.
Levi listed all four Silver-tier items for a completely absurd buyout price.
He didn’t even have to wait five minutes. While he was leaning against the counter, his UI started pinging wildly.
[Transaction Complete. Silver Knight’s Longsword sold for 125 Gold.]
[Transaction Complete. Silver Defender’s Shield sold for 125 Gold.]
[Transaction Complete. Silver Plate Armor sold for 125 Gold.]
[Transaction Complete. Silver Greaves sold for 125 Gold.]
Levi actually laughed out loud. "Pay-to-win whales are so predictable. Thanks for the funding, idiots."
He instantly netted a massive profit of 500 Gold Coins. To put that in perspective, the average player at this stage of the game was probably carrying around thirty copper coins and feeling rich. Levi was basically a walking bank.
With his newfound wealth jingling in his digital pockets, he left the auction house and walked down the street to the NPC skill merchants. This area was lined with magical tents and vendors selling basic class skills.
Levi browsed the generic vendor lists. He already had his damage and his mobility sorted out. What he needed was sustain. Chugging minor health potions was annoying, and relying on them in a long boss fight was a great way to end up dead when they went on cooldown.
He found a vendor selling an extremely boring, generic skill book.
[Minor Healing Aura] [Rarity: Common] [Effect: Heals 2 HP/sec while in combat. Drains 1 Mana/sec while active.]
It was a terrible skill for normal players. Two health a second wouldn’t save anyone from a boss hitting them for fifty damage, and it would completely drain a normal player’s tiny mana pool in less than a minute.
But Levi wasn’t a normal player.
He bought exactly three copies of the book. They cost 30 Gold each. He handed over 90 Gold to the vendor, watching his massive balance drop down to 410 Gold.
He walked right back to his private alleyway. He opened Boundless Fusion again, dragging the three identical Common skill books into the glowing slots.
"Let’s see what you turn into," Levi said, hitting the fuse button.
The three books dissolved into swirling green runes. They spun rapidly in the air, compressing into a single, slightly thicker book with a glowing green cover.
[Siphon Aura]
[Rarity: Uncommon]
[Effect: Toggleable passive. Drains 2 Mana/sec while active. Heals the user for 15 HP/sec during combat.]
"Now we’re talking," Levi grinned.
He selected the book and hit learn. The knowledge absorbed into his chest. This was exactly what he needed. Fifteen health a second was massive. It effectively gave him immense self-sustain without ever having to pause and drink a consumable potion. It drained 2 Mana a second, but because he had 100 Max Mana, he could keep the aura running for nearly a full minute during an intense fight. If he managed his toggle properly, turning it on only when he took damage and turning it off when he was dodging, he was basically unkillable.
Levi decided to test it out. He opened his skill menu and toggled Siphon Aura on.
Instantly, a deep, thrumming feeling of vitality rushed through his veins. A faint, swirling green light wrapped around his boots. He watched his mana bar drop to 98, then 96. He quickly toggled it back off, not wanting to waste his resources while standing in a safe zone.
He was fully kitted out now. He had extreme damage, teleportation mobility, and massive health regeneration. His Level 10 stats were easily rivaling what a normal Level 15 player should have.
Levi opened his world map interface. Silas had told him to find the Shrine of the Hollow when he hit Level 15. He still had five levels to grind before he could take his class trial.
He scanned the map, looking for the most efficient place to farm. Just outside the city limits, past the plains, was a zone marked in a swampy green color.
’The Drowned Hollows.’ Level 12 to 14 zone.
"Perfect," Levi said, closing the map. "Time to go kill some swamp trash."
He adjusted the strap of his scythe, checked to make sure his pockets were loaded with the remaining 410 gold coins, and started walking toward the city’s southern gates. The economy was thoroughly exploited, and his build was ready. He couldn’t wait to see how hard he was going to hit the next tier of monsters.
