Gacha Harem System

His name was called for the third time before he was close enough for the staff member to see him coming.

Lukas climbed the two steps onto the arena floor and walked forward, retrieving his slip from his spatial ring as he approached.

The staff member checked it, verified his identity, and directed him to his side of the partitioned space with a nod.

He took his position and waited.

His opponent arrived from the other side a minute later.

The moment he saw the man, Lukas blinked in surprise.

The man was armored completely with plate from the neck down.

He even had every joint covered up, and a helmet fitted with a horizontal slit that reduced his face to a pair of cautious eyes tracking Lukas from across the small arena.

The armor was well maintained, but it had a few scratches that showed it had received damage, which told Lukas something about the person wearing it.

His aura showed he was C-rank.

In his right hand was a spear, the tip glinting under the light of the sun.

Lukas wasn’t surprised by that. After all, it was the standard weapon for a heavily armored fighter in Havenhart.

But it was the shield that drew the eye.

It was a large rectangular piece, strapped to his left forearm, its lower edge reaching almost to the man’s knees.

It wasn’t the size that made it stand out, but the quality. The surface had a faint, almost imperceptible sheen that ordinary metal didn’t produce.

The man held it in front of him in a way that showed he’d built an entire fighting style around it, his eyes visible just above the upper edge, watching Lukas with appropriate wariness.

The shield was an [Item]. There was no question about that.

Lukas stood opposite him in a plain metal breastplate and a sword on his back. He hadn’t brought his normal sword, as he didn’t want anyone to see the effect of [Cursed Blade] on it.

He was supposed to be advertising that he had two classes, not three.

Besides, this was not the kind of fight his sword would be useful at. He needed something to bash, not to cut, but he did have the perfect tool for that.

Something that not only bashed, but exploded.

Lukas reached into his spatial ring, and retrieved his [Deathstalker Gauntlet].

This was what he’d chosen as the only [Item] he would be using in the tournament.

He slid the gauntlet onto his forearm and flexed his fingers once, feeling it click into place.

The metal immediately grew warm against his skin, and he could feel the heat inside, waiting for him to call on it.

The staff raised a hand, and after making sure both were ready, called the start of the fight.

The armored man immediately raised his shield and took one careful step forward, then stopped.

His eyes, which shone above the shield’s edge, were patient, staring at Lukas as he waited.

Lukas smiled as he saw that. The man wanted him to commit first, to see what he was working with before engaging him.

Lukas obliged.

He extended his arm and fired.

The beam crossed the arena in a straight line, tearing towards the armored man. The man planted his feet and angled the shield to receive it.

The moment the beam made contact, it reversed.

It came back at Lukas at the same speed it had left, retracing its path with no loss of intensity.

He dropped immediately, the beam passing close enough overhead that he could feel the heat across the back of his neck.

The next second, it hit the barrier behind him and detonated in a small explosion.

He straightened, brushing the back of his neck.

The [Item] was a reflective shield. Good to know.

This meant he wasn’t going to win this from range. Close quarters it was.

He dashed forward in an instant, and the sudden acceleration caught the man off guard.

The gap between them closed faster than the armored fighter had expected, but the man had enough experience to thrust his spear in front of him out of instinct.

Lukas deflected the attack with a slap of his hand, before stepping inside the weapon’s effective range, rendering the spear useless.

The man adapted quickly, dropping his left shoulder and driving the shield forward in a heavy lateral bash.

Lukas caught the upper edge of the shield with both hands, used the man’s own momentum to force it down into the ground, and launched himself up into the air from it.

He cleared the man’s head in a single flip, and before his opponent could begin to turn, he stretched his palm at the man’s back and fired.

The beam slammed into the man, but the heat wasn’t what Lukas had been going for.

The concussive force of the explosion transferred directly into the armor, and the man went down hard, the impact driving him flat against the arena floor.

Lukas landed, took two steps forward, and placed his boot on the shield before the man could bring it back up.

Then he pointed his palm directly at the man’s face, the gauntlet still smoking slightly from the last beam.

The man knelt there for a moment, staring through the slit of the armor at the palm hovering in front of his face.

He’d felt the strength of the blast on his back, and knew what it meant if it was fired in his face.

Then he looked up at Lukas’s face, and what he found in Lukas’s eyes apparently told him everything he needed to know about what would happen if he tried anything other than giving up.

He exhaled slowly through his nose, then he turned to the staff member at the edge of the arena.

"I concede."

The staff called it immediately.

Lukas lowered his arm, stepped off the shield, before walking back to his side of the arena without looking back.

The armored man watched him go, knowing he’d made the right choice.