System Progression

"Give me two summons on the Rookie Magic Banner, pronto!"

[Summon x2 Initiated!]

Both Edith and Gunter momentarily stopped butchering the goblins to witness the summoning enacted by Lucas, which manifested itself through flashing lights.

"Darn, he went and did it!" Gunter laughed before resuming his battle against the cavern of goblins.

The booze-drinking warrior was able to easily block incoming arrows from those that wielded bows, using his shield before rushing over and cleaving through them, "Raaaaah-!"

[EXP: +3]

Edith's sheer mastery of the blade made it impossible for a goblin to come close to hitting her as she danced around their attacks before unleashing fiery slashes upon their flesh.

Just before Lucas was charged at by three goblins, one of which was slightly taller and wearing ragged, leather armor, the summoning finished—

The knowledge of the spells flooded his mind, rushing through him as he felt it activate in the core of his brain.

[New Spell Obtained: (B) Rock Manifest | Special Traits: Solid!]

[New Spell Obtained: (N) Lesser Bolt | Special Traits: Shocking!]

[Pity: +2 | 2/100]

He acquired his new spells just as one of the hissing goblins wildly swung its sword towards him, prompting him to swiftly flip back before pointing his index finger towards the assailant.

'Come on…Lesser Bolt!' He urged.

The spark of electricity could be felt, causing the small hairs on his arms to stand before bright-blue energy coiled around his fingertip before–ZAP.

A small-scale lightning bolt shot from his digit, instantly slamming against the thin, pointy-eared creature as it yelped out. It was obliterated by the spell; a solid hit caused its verdant complexion to burn to a crisp.

To his surprise, the unstable lightning didn't stop there; it connected to the neighboring goblins, shocking them as well, though to a lesser degree.

[EXP: +5 | 30/40]

From his various kills along with those of his familiars, he was already closing in on another level up, though it seemed the experience was lessening from those killed by his companions.

A rush went through him as he pointed both index fingers at the already electrified goblins as they got back up groggily, feeling as though he was dual-wielding elemental pistols.

"Lesser Bolt–!" He cast.

Twin lightning bolts lunged forth, landing on the bodies of the two goblins with lethal direct-hits, bringing two more down.

Using the spell in quick succession led to him swiftly finding out he wasn't limitless in stamina; the drain of mana and casting of spells seemed to tax him somewhat, feeling a dull ache in his arms that subsided moments after.

[EXP: +10]

[Level Up!]

[Level 3]

[ATK: 5 | DEF: 5 | MAG: 9]

It was becoming clearer than ever to him whilst putting down goblins with mystical spells that the Gacha System was something of unfathomable potential.

'I'm actually strong as hell! I'll kick your ass sooner than expected, Reverse King!' He realized.

This was only proven further by the fact that his two familiars had cleared out the rest of the goblins that occupied the musty lair within minutes, leaving a graveyard of goblin corpses.

After those few minutes of battle, his experience was left at: [EXP: 15/60]

"I got eight of 'em!" Gunter proudly announced, lifting his bloody axe.

"Eleven here," Edith claimed.

"I got seven," Lucas admitted.

Though it was the least amount, the two looked pleasantly surprised by the number he had eliminated.

"That's my master! A true warrior–nobody else could've summoned me!" Gunter said.

"Truly impressive, Master. Goblins are heavily underestimated by many; the truth is, they're the main cause of deaths for rookie adventurers," Edith complimented.

A small tint to his cheeks came as he bashfully scratched his head, looking around, "...Back on topic: was that all of them?"

Part of the reason he was curious if they handled all of them, and slightly hoping they didn't, is that he was dead last place in their contest.

"Hmm, good question," Gunter scratched his beard.

Though the silver-haired spellblade was quick to find what looked to serve as a "main tunnel" to the back of the putrid cave, "I'm not certain, but by the looks of it…This will lead to whoever their leader is. That is, a group this large should have one."

"True, I didn't think about that," Gunter agreed.

"Alright, then! Let's check it out," he began moving forward.

After getting his own sense of revenge on goblins for his shaky first encounter, confidence filled Lucas's veins as he led the way, knowing the power of lesser lightning was at his fingertips.

'If I can get first dibs on whatever is left, I might be able to pull off a win. Or at least, I don't want to come in last!' He planned.

It was then that he heard a signal; one that met his ears out of surprise that flooded him with relief:

"Emilio! I got it!--I'm gonna start runnin', so you better not be far behind me!"

–It was the voice of the eccentric tinkerer, echoing from the other room. The feeling of dread cooking in the pits of his stomach were washed away as he now knew for a fact that the key was acquired and his companion was running a safe distance away.

"...Alright," a smile crept up on his bloodied lips.

All I need to do is lose this giant freak! He realized.

At that moment, he recalled what was told to him on the note before entering the abysmal labyrinth: the battle against War was not one he was expected to win. The truth of it was, the goal was not to vanquish the seemingly unbeatable foe, but only to get the final key and survive.

While moving through the scarily silent passage in the cave, with the deathly stench growing stronger, a scraping sound brought his guard up–

"Kraaaa–!"

From the shadows, a goblin wielding a spear lunged at him, though Lucas was already prepared, defending himself before either of his two familiars could step in for him.

"...I've got it!" He yelled out.

Ducking beneath the thrust of the unrefined spear, he used his right hand to thrust his frost-enchanted dagger into the stomach of the green-skinned fiend.

'Freeze!' He thought.

While it wasn't an instantaneous point to kill, the effect of the dagger made it so; frost manifested from the blade, spreading throughout the insides of the goblin as it shuddered and convulsed. Within moments, it was left frozen from the inside-out.

[EXP: +5 | 20/60]

Gunter whistled, "That was ice-cold, Lucas! Nice kill!"

"Hm, not bad," Edith minimally complemented, seeming invested in the competition with baked goods in mind.

Lucas chuckled, rubbed above his lip bashfully at his own efficiency, feeling proud of his quick improvements and adaptation to the world. Though the jumps in stats between levels didn't seem huge when seeing them in his status, if going sheerly by the numbers, going from [1] in attack power to [5] meant he had become five times stronger.

By this point, he could feel the superhuman strength embedded in his muscles, though that seemed to be the minimum needed to thrive as an adventurer in the world of Fantasia.

'Let's not get too big in the head…If I let my guard down, even one goblin could take me out with a well-placed strike,' he thought.