Anni approached and interacted with the dead animal. Knowing full well they wouldn’t drop anything, his plan was to at least skin them and sell that.
DING! You require a skinning knife to perform skinning.
"Damn it!"
The palm of his right hand struck his face. Of course, he needed a skinning knife, and he didn’t even have that. He'd been away from the game for quite a while, and it was showing. Maybe it was best if he headed to Lagash, the nearest city, and tried to find a quest there. Getting some money was a priority.
"Excuse me!"
Anni was too caught up in his thinking to even notice the shrill voice at first.
"Excuse me, but that was my kill."
"Sorry, what?"
"That Sand Lizard to the side there, you pulled it off me."
It was a dark she-elf, wearing simple leather armor with a bow and arrow in her hands, most likely a Ranger. She approached Anni and looked up into his face, since she was a few inches lower in height, demanding an explanation with her purple-blueish eyes.
"Oh, yes, I see. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice it."
It struck him then that his high-level magic was stealing aggro from everything in the vicinity.
"It takes me a while to kill them, you know. I’m brand new in this adventuring tier."
The system didn’t allow you to inspect other characters’ levels, but Anni surmised that the elf was just under [Level 50], given her fairly basic gear. In addition, it made sense for here to come here, since killing higher-level mobs gave significantly better XP than those of your own tier.
"Is there any chance you want to team up and grind a few of these?" The she-elf asked the question while she was crouching and skinning the dead lizards.
An opportunity presented itself to Anni. This is how he could get a few skins.
"Sure, why not. Sounds like a good idea."
"Alright, perfect. Itani’s the name."
"And I’m… Anzu."
It took a bit of effort to do that and not present himself as Anni. Perhaps it was time to start going by Anzu, his in-game name. It would make blending in easier. Or, at least, he thought he was called that, since he hadn't checked his stat-sheet yet. Traveling briefly to the back part of his head, he pulled up his system's interface, which resulted in a partly translucent window with a turquoise tinge popping up in front of his eyes.
Name: Anzu
Titles: Archsage, Hero of Larsa, Discreet Lecturer
Class: Sage of Blood and Death
Level: 120
Base attributes:
STRENGTH: 22
CONSTITUTION: 64
INTELLECT: 75
DEXTERITY: 35
WISDOM: 44
He was correct. And the stat distribution looked right, as well.
The reason he hesitated with the introduction was that revealing his identity to anyone right now would be too risky. He had established a significant reputation in this world in the past, but he also remembered that very few knew his name. He was mostly known as just the Archsage, or Hero of Larsa, after his hometown in this world.
Anzu would do just fine.
It had been years since he played, but he remembered every little bit about the game with precision. Even the parts of the game that annoyed him, or rather, especially those parts.
Stolen story; please report.
Focusing back on Itani, he noticed her healthbar. Since it was below 50%, Anzu made a simple gesture with his staff and cast [Minor Heal], causing a white beam of light to swerve around the elf’s body.
"Thanks! Hey… are you a Sage maybe?"
She was scanning Anzu and his staff with wide eyes.
"I’ve never teamed up with one before. Your kind are so rare nowadays, especially at this level." She rested her hand on the bow. "But a fellow Ranger told me that teaming up with one of you can be a god-send."
Sage had always been a prestige class that had to be unlocked, but they weren’t that rare when he played the game.
"Are we rare? I’m not sure I’ve noticed, to be honest."
"Ha, sure! I know you lot keep your secrets. And that’s fine by me. How about we try finding more lizards over that hill there?"
They approached the sandy hill, and sure enough, there were two more lizards there tanning their skin in the sun. Anzu and Itani positioned themselves for a fight. Itani nocked an arrow and pulled the right-side lizard that immediately turned around. But before it had a chance of approaching them, Anzu had already performed a motion with his staff and cast [Telekinetic squish]. The spell killed both lizards instantly in an implosion of skin, blood, and bones. The first one through target damage and second one through adjacent splash damage.
'Whoo! By all the Sumerian gods!'
Itani's laugh burst from her chest with her head tipping back.
'Your damage output is so much better than my friend told me. Grinding with you will be a treat.'
He hadn't considered his damage output. It was his weakest spell, but there was no choice, really. Of course, a fully maxed out [Level 120] Archsage would down a [Level 50] lizard effortlessly. It was likely less of an issue than Anzu thought, as the dark elf hadn't even grouped with a Sage before.
Itani was so impressed with the speedy kills that she never noticed Anzu's shifting expression as he contemplated the issue. She immediately approached the lizards with a small bronze knife in her hands and knelt above them.
As the elf handled the skinning, Anzu had a moment to consider their surroundings. It was quite the sight.
He had seen the rolling hills of the semi-desert, sprinkled with bushes and small trees, a thousand times or more. This was when he played the Sumerian-theme MMORPG, Age of Menhirs. But being there in person was a much more thrilling experience. He was picking up dusty and herbal scents, something earthy with an added Mediterranean flare, perhaps rosemary but much drier.
The headache induced by his previous outer-worldly transformation was abating as the desert air invigorated him.
He still couldn't grasp the fact that he'd been on vacation in France just a few hours ago and was then somehow transported to this weird world that copied his in-game experience down to a tee.
Just thinking about it was an odd sensation, one he couldn't make any sense of. And yet, he slipped into his Archsage character so easily: the way his wooden staff felt in his hand, the way his robes clung to his body, and even the feeling of channeling mana when casting a spell all felt natural. As if his body was used to it.
The real-life Anni segued into the in-game Anzu, the Blood Mage Necromancer, who'd been the first to unlock level progression past [100].
Was that a touch of pride there? Perhaps a little. But it was mainly nostalgia for the grind through which he discovered, and later leveled, Blood Magic and Necromancy.
Most players had complained about the grinding process on the various online forums at the time. Anni had never quite understood that. Working hard towards a tangible goal with almost guaranteed results? Those were much better chances than what real life offered. A deal he'd sign any day of the week.
'Here we go. Skins!'
Just as Itani turned around and starting approaching Anzu with a handful of lizard skins, a raspy voice interrupted them.
"Well, hello, petals. Come to grind a bit, have we?"
The voice was that of a man, sporting bronze armor and a helmet, who was approaching them at a quick pace. He was wearing a wide grin, decorated by a long mustache that hadn’t been trimmed or, in fact, washed for a while.
"Now, my fine petals, why don’t you hand over your loot and I’ll consider not sticking you with my spear, eh?"
He must have been a type of warrior since he wore a round shield, but its emblem was covered with patches of dirt. These were still fresh. The man was apparently hiding his identity.
Anzu judged him to be at about [Level 70], given the bronze-equipment he sported. And it was no secret what was happening here: together with the elf, they must have appeared as easy pickings for a bandit like that. The term PK-ercame to mind, but he wasn’t sure if it still applied, since the boundary between NPCs and player-characters was unclear, if it even existed, in this odd reality. Everyone was bound to be a person.
And perhaps he could've done something to prevent bandits from approaching.
Right after Anzu got transported to this apparent game world hours ago, he cast the [Illude] spell on himself. That transformed his legendary gear to a [Level 50]-ish grey robe, a thin weathered staff and a simple bronze dagger. It was a safety precaution that made him blend in better. Now, he was starting to think that maybe the spell did too good a job before. Maybe he was looking a little too feeble.
"Let’s reverse the odds, actually." Anzu retorted. "How about you leave us alone, and we don’t give you a run for your money?"
The man just laughed loudly and twiddled his mustache.
"Oh, you’ve just made my day now, petal."