Please No XP Grinding

The light from the midday sun shined down on Ansley as she slowly walked around the ruins with a spellbook held in her hand against her waist. She looked around at her surroundings carefully as she walked, taking in the sights around here both because of the scenery itself and because, hey, maybe she'd get lucky and spot something valuable or anything that could prove helpful in general. She also couldn't help but wonder if she'd bump into anything to fight out here. Hopefully, she would. It'd be a better opportunity to practice using her magic than casting spells at a rock wall was.

So he was trapped in a virtual reality.

No biggie. Really. The transition from real life to virtual life had gone smoother than you'd expect. At least here he had a bed to sleep on, and it wasn't like he was missing anybody on the other side. He'd started to accept it. That was all he could do, for now. Who knew how long it'd be before he got out.

Seamus picked over the debris, marveling at the ancient pillars, the shredded banners and bits of old armor, remnants of some age old disaster. Nothing big worth lugging back to his place in the city, or even anything small enough to pocket. He wasn't a stranger to scavenging. That's how he'd made it back in what he guessed he could consider his 'old life,' but this was all junk. He spun his spear casually around in his palm, the other thumbed around his belt, kicking an old tin helmet and watching it tumble away to join the other junk.

As the loud clanks died away, echoing across the empty wasteland, he stopped. Seamus turned on his heel, glancing over his shoulder, holding the spear still in his hand.

Another person.

That kind of presence was a bit too rare for his liking here.

A girl, too.

That kind of presence was definitely missing much too often. She was close enough to call over, pretty looking, some big old tome in her arms. Hey, a bookworm. Not his usual type, but he wasn't picky.

"Yo!" He'd met enough bright, chipper faces at the cathedral his first night here, but not her, that he could remember... Hopefully this one wasn't as much of a smartass. "You look lonely out here."

Ansley paused suddenly at hearing the boy's voice, looking over in the direction of it and spotting him. So she wasn't the only one walking around here. Not that that was a problem, of course. Especially considering the fact that monsters could probably show up now that they weren't in Roslare. Although, if they were gonna show up, they weren't here right now. Ansley walked over to the boy, a friendly smile on her face. "Yo! Yeah, I kinda am. No one else is around here right now and nothing I can fight has popped up. Kinda boring, but at least this place looks cool, right?"

Hugo, even if he liked this new world, full of fantasy and freedom, was purely unsettled by the ruins. They scared the hell out of him, even if they had a sort of mystical beauty attached to them. He couldn't help but feel small and helpless between the looming, half-destroyed, structures, and the idea of one of them falling and crushing him was terrifying. The lancer had no idea how he had landed himself in this place, but between the danger of being attacked and the danger of being squished to death, he wanted to get out of there.

The boy started to blindly guess his way out until he heard voices and soon found himself in a wide clearing, sun-bathed ground and azure sky. This place, compared to other segments of the ruins, seemed welcoming. Hugo sighted the owners of the two voices talking nearby, so he decided to join them. Maybe they'd make friends or something.

At home he had never been good with befriending peole and not many tried to befriend him either. He was a loner at his school and the target of bullying when there was no nerd around to give wedgies to. But now there he was, smiling awkwardly and waving as he approached. He looked at the two, studying them. There was a boy, who by the looks of it was himself a lancer. It was nice to meet someone of his own class, to exchange strategies with. The girl...

Oh, boy, well, she was cute, to begin with, and she must've been a mage, judging by her attire and the spellbook she held. Hugo wasn't the one to fall in love, but he gave the other boy a quick smirk. If those two were hooking up here where any creature could come and murder them brutally, he had nothing against it. The lancer gave the two a smile. "Hey, you two. Mind if I join? My name is Hugo." he asked courteously and then proceeded to introduce himself.

What, was she looking for a fight? "You think?" he asked, glancing around at the ruins. "A whole lotta nothing if you ask me." He leaned on the spear, ready to shoot off some lame pick-up line about a pretty face in a dreary place like this or something along those lines when another voice cut in. Seamus raised his eyes to the new kid, another guy he was pretty sure he'd never seen before, and returned the smirk. "Hey, the more the merrier, right?"

It wasn't a lie, especially when this place was so damn empty, but his smirk had the trace of a cut to it. What a cockblock... But he guessed it didn't matter. No problem. "Seamus." He glanced to the girl. "And you are...?"