"These are Quickseal potions," the woman explained, picking up one of the F-grade vials.
"They’ll close a cut and help with minor tissue damage. A deeper wound might take more than one, and if you’ve lost too much blood, they won’t replace it."
Max listened closely as she showed him the other grades. Her name was Mina, according to the badge pinned to her apron, and she’d clearly dealt with plenty of Hunters who believed a bottle of green liquid could repair anything.
The E-grade potions were different. They carried much denser restorative mana and could mend torn muscle or serious punctures in seconds, provided the injury was treated before the damage became irreversible.
They were also expensive enough that Max felt his enthusiasm falter when Mina opened the cabinet.
"Six hundred and forty credits each," she told him.
Max remembered dragging himself through the Razorhound Gate with a ruined calf.
He’d had no way to repair it, and every time he tried to use Burst Step, the pain threatened to drop him to the floor.
If he’d been carrying one of these, the second run would have been a very different experience.
"How much for the basic ones?"
"One hundred and ten. The E-grade potions are six forty. All certified and sealed."
Max examined the label on a basic vial. He knew enough about mana-sensitive materials to recognize the tamper seal, and the manufacturing information matched the registration printed on the box.
It wasn’t a fancy brand, but there was nothing suspicious about it either.
"I’ll take ten basics and two E-grade."
Mina reached for a tray, then stopped. "Twelve bottles?"
"Yes."
"Going somewhere particularly dangerous?"
"Not if I can help it." Max thought of the Alpha and added, "I just don’t want to be caught without healing again."
She studied him for a moment before taking out the bottles. Max asked her to check the seals one by one.
She didn’t seem offended. In fact, by the fifth vial, she’d begun explaining how to spot the fine discoloration that appeared when a potion was improperly stored.
He made a mental note of it. A Hunter who couldn’t tell good medicine from spoiled stock would have a very short career.
"That comes to two thousand three hundred and eighty credits," Mina said once the bottles were arranged on the counter.
The price made Max hesitate. More than half the money he’d brought to the market, gone in one purchase.
He looked at the two E-grade vials, then remembered the sound of the Alpha’s teeth snapping shut beside his face.
"I’ll take them."
He confirmed the payment and a new balance appeared on his phone.
[Available Balance: 2,009 Credits]
Max stared at it with a mixture of satisfaction and regret. There were still plenty of things he wanted, and he’d just spent enough to buy a decent secondhand weapon.
But he already had a weapon. What he’d needed inside the Gate was a way to survive the injuries it couldn’t prevent.
Mina packed the reserve potions in a padded box. When Max started to put them into his backpack, she asked him to stop.
"Don’t carry all of them there. You won’t always be able to get that bag off in a fight."
She brought out a narrow potion belt with four protected slots. Each had a clasp that could be released using one hand, and the lining was thick enough to stop the bottles knocking together.
Max tried it around his waist. His gauntlet didn’t catch the fastenings, and the belt stayed in place when he bent or twisted.
"How much?"
"Forty-five credits."
He bought it. Two basic potions and both E-grade vials went into the belt, with the other eight basics stored safely in his bag.
"Use the ones on your belt first," Mina advised. "And don’t wait until you can barely stand to drink them."
Max thanked her. He was about to leave when he noticed a small notice beside the register advertising potion-refilling services for reusable mana flasks.
The process was more expensive than buying basic bottles, but the flasks themselves were much harder to break.
He asked a few questions and saved the information for another time. Something like that could be useful when he began earning more consistently.
Outside, the market had grown busier. A delivery vehicle was unloading a crate of monster-hide armor at the shop opposite, and several customers immediately gathered around it.
Max stepped closer out of curiosity and found a dark brown vest labeled E-rank, priced at 3,900 credits.
He looked down at the potion belt he’d just purchased.
’Even if I hadn’t bought all those potions, this would eat almost everything.’
The vest was thick across the chest and shoulders, with overlapping scales sewn beneath the fabric.
Max tried imagining himself using Burst Step while wearing it. The extra protection might save him from a claw strike, but if it caught his arm or slowed a turn, he could end up taking a hit he’d otherwise have avoided.
He moved on. Proper enchanted armor could wait.
What he couldn’t put off was replacing his ruined clothes.
The next shop specialized in ordinary Hunter fieldwear. The outfits were made from tough flexible fabrics rather than enchanted materials, and the prices were considerably easier to accept.
Max had nearly finished inspecting a jacket when he heard someone arguing at the counter.
"I only had the strap replaced last week," a young woman was saying. "It shouldn’t already be pulling loose."
"I replaced the strap. I didn’t rebuild your shield," the shopkeeper replied.
Max glanced over. A girl with braided hair stood beside the counter, holding a round shield with a worn metal rim.
The woman behind the counter was examining the leather backing, where one of the fastenings had pulled sideways from its stitching.
"It’s the same spot," the girl continued. "Can you reinforce it?"
"I can, but if you keep putting pressure on the edge like that, it’ll happen again."
Max looked at the damage. The leather hadn’t worn evenly. It was stretched most severely toward the upper outside corner, while the lower fastenings were still intact.
"Does someone keep striking the top of your shield?" he decided to ask after thinking.