The first sign of trouble that I encounter is the chittering. It’s way too loud. I spot it next, a black shadow the size of a Doberman moving along the ground on six legs with antennae. Ants should not be that big. I freeze, then begin to back up slowly. Thank the gods it hasn’t seen me.
“Oy, you big black beauty. Over here! Tasty morsel for your Queen. Yoo hooo!” a manically grinning Ali shouts above me, waving his arms to get attention.
“What the fuck!” There’s no time to do anything beyond begin berating him since the ant, drawn to the little bugger’s antics, turns to me and after a brief moment’s hesitation charges directly at me. I bring my walking stick up and lunge forwards, hoping to spear it.
Yeah, not a fencer. Also, not a sword. The point skitters off harmlessly and the ant is on me, bowling me over and attempting to behead me with its mandibles.
I heave, bucking around before managing to throw it off me. Luckily, my backpack helps a little with that, the entire angle all kinds of wrong for lying flat. I even manage to get the ant to flip over underneath me when I throw it off. On top of the ant, I splay my body outwards before laying the walking pole across its neck, holding it in place with one arm while I desperately hunt for my survival knife. It takes a moment to find it on my belt and then it’s just a few minutes of desperate stabbing before the creature stills.
I’m dirty, smelly and covered in ant guts. I don’t give a shit about all of that as I stand up, absolutely furious. “What in the hundred hells was that?”
“Training.” Ali shrugs unconcerned, “You needed to level up. That was a Level 1 Ant. No way you’d be able to find easier prey. Now you grabbing your loot?”
“You, you, you…” I splutter to a stop, turning to the ant instead and kicking it a few times to take out the accumulated frustration and fear. Adrenaline spent, I slump down beside the ant’s body before I finally register what he said. “Loot?”
“Place your hand on the body and either think or say Loot.”
I comply and blink at the pop-up that appears. I reach out, grabbing the loot that is displayed before grimacing. A hunk of ant meat.
“Put it in your inventory, stupid.”
I’ve given up even questioning the insane things that are happening by now, forcing myself to just accept it all. When I think inventory, a grid of five by five appears. Putting my hand into the grid has the meat appear in it, filling a space. I wonder if it’s stackable?
“Nice,” I start reaching to undo my bag when I get called up short.
“Don’t bother, only System generated items can go into the inventory,” Ali comments as he continues to spin around me.
“Ugh. What a damn scam,” I grumble, keeping my bag on as I stare at the rest of the ant body. I guess this new world doesn’t have a dissolving corpse gimmick.
Level Up!
You have reached Level 2 as an Erethran Honor Guard. Stat Points automatically distributed. You have 3 Free Attributes to distribute. Class Skills locked.
