First Day: Survived!

Gunter brought his own chair, slamming it down before sitting with a wide smile, "How about a drinking contest, friends?!"

"Yer on–!" A dwarven man with a braided beard accepted, already possessing flushed cheeks.

"Five copper, then!" Gunter proposed.

"Aye! Make it ten!" The drunken dwarf accepted.

"Ha-ha! Sure thing!" Gunter laughed.

–It was a massacre of a competition. After a few minutes, the crowd that had gathered around the table of drinkers were astonished to witness the burly dwarf passing out against the table whilst Gunter was still happily drinking.

"Drumen lost…?! I've never seen him lose in a drinking contest to anybody!" One of the companions of the dwarf remarked in astonishment.

"I'll take that ten copper now!" Gunter claimed victory with a triumphant smile, taking the coins from the table.

"Incredible!" Lucas remarked.

Gunter handed the coins to the confused man watching over his shoulder, placing them in his hand, "Here ya go!"

"Ten copper…Nice, this'll get us each a room tonight," Lucas counted.

"There's more where that came from–don't worry!" Gunter assured him.

"Huh?! You can keep going?! Didn't you just drink like twelve–" Lucas tried to reason.

The booze-loving warrior interrupted him, "Who's next?! Gunter The Drinker falls to nobody!"

Of course, those who already had mead in their bellies weren't exactly much to reason as it was clear as day that somebody like Gunter would not be an easy one to triumph.

"...Just how much can he drink…?!" Lucas let out in surprise.

Thirty minutes had passed and so had a dozen tavern patrons, who were now slumped over and defeated in the unwinnable contest of drinking.

"He's a monster!" A middle-aged, red-haired patron remarked from the gathering audience.

"Ga-ha-ha!" Gunter boisterously laughed, letting out a belch that resembled the mighty roar of a dragon, "More! More!"

Lucas was elated by this, holding a filled-up sack of copper in his hand now as he smirked to himself.

'With this much, I can definitely do a lot more rolls…! I wonder which banners I should prioritize, though?' He wondered.

By the end of the night, total victory was claimed by Gunter, who had now filled the tavern with mostly passed-out patrons, some of which had spewed out bile onto the wooden floorboards for the poor waitresses to clean.

"Is that all you've got?! I thought the adventurers of Merdlum were men who could hold their mead! Ga-ha-ha!" Gunter taunted, still sitting while happily drinking from a mug of mead.

The table had been absolutely littered with empty cups and stained with many drops of the amber liquid, along with being occupied by the last challenger to Gunter, who was a burly elven man who was now fast asleep against the table.

"Alright…I think it's time to check out for the night," Lucas said, patting the booze-loving warrior's shoulder.

Though he was mainly motivated by getting into a room so that he could perform more summons, he was genuinely worried about the trouble the booze-smelling warrior was causing for the tavern.

"Hah? Alright, alright–I guess I've had my fill," Gunter chuckled happily with flushed cheeks, wiping his mouth.

As they checked out from the tavern, it was Lucas who leant an army to Gunter, who was surprisingly not as drunk as somebody should be who outdrank an entire tavern, though his steps were certainly unstable.

Edith didn't seem to be a fan of alcohol, often covering her nose around Gunter and holding a disturbed look whenever the tall, leather-armored man let out a belch.

"Three rooms please," Lucas said at the inn's reception desk.

Standing behind the desk was a smiling, freckled receptionist who had curly, dark-blue hair and wore something akin to a maid's uniform, only primarily green.

"Just two is fine," Edith added in, stepping closer.

"Huh–?" He looked at the silver-haired girl.

Standing so close to her now, he found that she was surprisingly an entire head shorter than him. It wasn't as though he was anything remarkably tall, though he was above average for a twenty-year-old American male. Still, it was shocking considering just how much strength was packed into that small frame of hers.

Edith looked up at him, "It's fine if Gunter sleeps in his own room, but I must insist that you let me stay in your room."

"Err, why…? I mean…" He nervously asked, rubbing the back of the neck.

As a youthful man who didn't have all too much experience with girls, the insistence of staying in his very own room, especially from one with as breathtaking looks as Edith, made his mind race.

"It is my duty to protect you, Master," Edith told him.

"Oh…right, sure then," he sighed out in relief, letting his thumping heart cool down.

After paying the toll of six copper for both rooms, which neighbored one another on the second floor of the cozy, wood-built inn, he helped get the drowsy warrior to his own room, dropping him into the bed before checking into his own.

"...Alright, first day in Fantasia: survived," he breathed out, sitting on the bed, "I still don't have a clue what this world is all about."

Edith was leaning against the wall, staying close to the door like a dutiful guard as she tucked her silver hair behind her ear, "I am not from this era, so I can't truthfully answer your questions. However, if we visit this town's guild tomorrow, you should find your answers there."

"Good thinking. The Guild it is, then," he decided with a nod.

Still, before he checked into bed for the night, there were some actions he wished to perform, taking his sack of coins from his pocket. Counting all of the copper up, Gunter had managed to win over seventy pieces for him in his drinking contests–a whopping amount for the man who had just transported into the fantastical world.

'Seriously, good job, Gunter!' He thought.

"Are you about to summon again, Master?" Edith asked.

He nodded, "Yeah. Is something up?"

There were already a few copper held in his hand as he bounced them in his palm, anxious to try out another usage of his unique system.

"If I may suggest…" Edith looked at him, "I would hold off on summoning more familiars for the time being."

"I don't mind doing that, but what's the issue with that?" He curiously asked.

Edith had her arms folded over her chest, though looked to not be uncomfortable in her standing position, "Having a large number of familiars will make you stick out. It might draw the wrong attention to you, Master. I assure you my aid will be sufficient for the time being as you establish yourself in this town. As much of an oaf as he can be, I believe Gunter is reliable as well."

"Good point. I suppose it would get crowded, anyway. With that in mind…I'd like to make myself useful," he said, putting his hand to his chin.

As his mind was leaning towards performing another summon, the vibrant screen of his system appeared with the banners he could use:

[Current Selectable Summon(s): "Rookie Weapon Summon" | "Rookie Creature Summon" | "Rookie Ability Summon: Magic" | "Rookie Ability Summon: Skills"]

Seeing the selection of banners reminded him of the skill he had acquired from his first level-up, bringing him to swipe his finger across the personal screen seen only by him before finding it:

["Temporary Summon: Perform a summon with double-rates, however, the summon result will only be available for a short time."]

'Ah…Well, that's not something that helps me right now. I need something reliable to help me get my feet on the ground. I don't want to be a burden that needs to be protected–hell no, I want in on the action!' He thought.

Standing up, he took his jacket off, leaving himself in his plain, black tee while holding his hand in front of him with exactly three copper in his palm.

"Alright. C'mon and give me a summon on the 'Rookie Ability Summon: Magic'!" He announced.