Gacha's a Scam!

{Ryker... Like you're one to talk...} Bestie said, reading his thoughts with a sigh.

[They seem to have much more experience in combat than those Great Void Sect disciples you fought. And, like yourself, they are fairly strong for their cultivation, though it's of course not as exaggerated.]

'Hm, maybe I should do some borrowing from Shuchie, for this one...'

{Oh! Why don't you try another roll of gacha?}

Ryker just clicked his tongue with an audible "Che!", rolling his eyes even as he parried the burly bandit's axe.

'No way, like Sis always says, gacha's a scam!' he thought, ducking a blade of sword qi as he thrust his staff up at the burly bandit's face, forcing him to give up on his attack and back off.

There wasn't any point in drawing, anyway, and he most certainly wasn't salty that his free ten roll only gave him low-grade spirit stones.

{Aw, come on, Ryker, I'm sure you'll get something, this time!} Bestie said, trying to coax him into pulling, {I-I mean, you don't use those points for anything else, right now, so gacha's basically free...}

Hearing the magic word, Ryker paused briefly, reconsidering his stance on gacha.

'Hm, I suppose that's true...' he thought, slowly caving in to Bestie's logic.

'Okay! Let's give gacha another try!'

[You're a little too easy, Ryker...] Mini C mumbled, starting up the system's gacha functions.

A small wheel split into innumerable tiny sections appeared in the periphery of Ryker's vision, along with a box labelled 'Points' which contained the amount of gacha points he had on hand.

Points were accumulated by taking actions the system considers 'friendly', though the exact specifications on what constituted being friendly was a mystery, for now.

[Since we have enough for ten pulls, I'll go ahead and do that.]

Mini C bought a ten pull with their current points, as Ryker watched the wheel anxiously. He actually did have quite a few points accumulated, but ever since he was jilted by the first ten pull, Ryker had tossed the gacha function to the side.

{Alright, here we go!} Bestie said in excitement, as the gacha wheel spun rapidly. The sections were almost too small to make out what they were, however, so Ryker wondered what the point of showing the wheel even was.

'Can't we just skip the spinning, here?' he thought somewhat impatiently. He was still trading blows with the bandit leader, and the wheel in the corner of his eye was making it hard to keep an eye out for his partner's sword qi attacks.

[Sure,] Mini C said, hiding the gacha wheel and forcing the function to skip straight to a results screen.

[I'll read it out to you, since you're currently occupied.]

| Gacha 10-pull Results: |

| Received: Low-grade Spirit Stone x 7 |

| Received: Low-grade Spirit Stone x 18 |

| Received: Low-grade Spirit Stone x 3 |

...

| Super Rare! Received: Ferocious Dao Charm x 1 |

| Received: Low-grade Spirit Stone x 25 |

{Wow! You got a super rare item!} Bestie cheered, the sound of her excited clapping ringing in Ryker's head.

'It's still mostly spirit stones, though...' Ryker grumbled, hearing that they only received one item that wasn't.

'What are these things even used for?'

{Well, you can use them to supplement for spiritual energy when cultivating, and many cultivators also use it as a currency...}

[Please remember that we're currently in the middle of a fight,] Mini C interrupted, [Will this item we received help in the current situation, Assistant B?]

{Ah, right, the Ferocious Dao Charm, when used, will let you slowly build up power as you attack,} she explained, {You can then choose to release it all in one super powerful strike! It lasts for ten seconds or until you unleash the final attack, and there's a period of 1 hour before you can use it, again.}

'Well, good enough, I suppose!'

Concentrating on the charm within his dimensional pocket, Ryker activated it's power, feeling the energy entering his body as he struck at his opponent over and over, each blow heavier than the last.

It wasn't quite qi or mana that the charm empowered him with, however, though he didn't it pay it much mind, for the moment.

The burly bandit he was engaged with looked at him in shock, struggling to keep up with Ryker's suddenly vicious strikes. He had thought this brat was bluffing when he blew off the threat of someone in the Nascent Soul realm, but now, he wasn't so sure.

It was already a shock that some brat in the Foundation Establishment realm was able to take them both on at the same time; was this not even his full power?

"Haoran!"

Lanfen had also sensed her partner's sudden struggle, ducking into their scuffle to try and relieve some pressure off of him, but Ryker seemed to anticipate her approach and kicked out at her, unleashing the built up energy from the Ferocious Dao Charm as he did.

The speed and reach of his long legs took her by surprise as she took the kick square in her chest, and she was sent flying into the woods, landing with a crash that forced the air out of her lungs.

"Ngh!" she groaned, rolling head over heels until she hit a tree, the impact echoing through the forest. Her head swam dizzily, and it was several moments before she could take several deep breaths and get control of herself again.

She tried to stand up, but a sudden pain in her chest caused her legs to buckle beneath her, and she unceremoniously fell to her hands and knees.

"What… what happened?" she croaked, trying not to throw up from the pain shooting through her chest, caused by the force of the blow as well as the mana that was now running rampant throughout her body.

"Lanfen!"

Haoran grit his teeth as he swung his axe in a wide arc and jumped back, disengaging from Ryker and rushing over to kneel at Lanfen's side, checking her injury. Ryker just let him go, slinging his staff over his shoulders with a grin.

"Well? Feel like giving up, yet?" he said cheekily, to which Haoran grimaced, glancing back at Lanfen to assess her condition.

"... Red Vipers, retreat."

The other bandits, who until now had been hanging back so as to not get in the way of the fight, immediately broke and scattered into the forest, none of them looking back as they fled.

Haoran supported Lanfen in getting up, pulling one of her arms over his shoulders, and he looked back at Ryker with a stormy gaze as he moved to leave.

"... This isn't over."

With those final words, the two of them also retreated into the woods, leaving Ryker to look off into the forest depths where they disappeared.

"You got a mark on them?" he asked Mini C aloud, putting away the Sturdy Iron Cudgel.

[Yes. Were you planning on pursuing?]

"Not right now, but just in case."

As for the defending villagers, a moment passed before a cheer rose among them, and they all thrust their weapons up in the air, celebrating their survival.

"He did it! We're saved!"

"All hail the great warrior!"

As the villagers lost themselves in revelry, the village chief walked up to Ryker with a grateful smile, bowing to him with a martial artist's salute.

"Thank you, stranger. Our village would have been eradicated here, if not for you," he said. He had thought things were bad enough, when they were surrounded, but who knew that there were two experts in the Soul Wandering realm hiding just a short ways away?

"Hey, no problem. Just making sure Lil' Gui's dad was safe," Ryker said, resting his hands behind his head with a grin.

"Stranger! You said my family was safe?!"

At this time, Zhao Gui's father came running up, looking frantic as he asked about his family.

"That's right. I'll take you to them!"

Zhao Gui's father hurriedly nodded, and together, they ventured back into the forest where Zhao Gui and the rest of his family were waiting.

--

Meanwhile, Haoran and Lanfen were fleeing back to their base, Lanfen panting heavily as she clutched at her chest.

"How are you holding up?" Haoran asked, brows knit in worry.

"Well, I'm not dying yet, but my chest is killing me," Lanfen said through gritted teeth. The pain was starting to lessen, but the kick itself seemed to have broken a few of her ribs, and whatever strange energy was lingering in her body was making it hard for her to recover.

"Damn it, that kid really made a fool of us..." she said with a snarl, "Let's get the rest of the crew together and teach him and those damn villagers a lesson they won't forget!"

"Not so fast," Haoran responded, shaking his head, "We need to report back to the boss and let him know there's an outsider interfering in our affairs."

Lanfen grumbled under breath, but eventually nodded in agreement.

"I'll kill that brat when I see him again," she muttered, eyes locked straight ahead in a venomous stare.