CH 67: Gacha The People
After taking a deep breath, Lex moved his attention to the Template Cards. After all, these were the cards that could give him some of the best stuff. So far, the best Template he had gotten had been Darth Vader, and that one had helped him tremendously, from the Force itself to the experience with Telekinesis that came with it, so he was quite excited for the Template Rolls.
[Agent 47
Rank: ★★★
Type: Template
World: Hitman
Description: Agent 47, the genetically engineered assassin known for his extraordinary physical abilities, flawless marksmanship, and unmatched mastery of assassination. Possessing exceptional strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, intelligence, and pain tolerance, 47 can disguise himself with remarkable effectiveness and adapt to almost any environment or target. He is highly proficient with virtually every conventional weapon and excels at turning everyday objects, environmental hazards, and seemingly harmless situations into lethal tools. Where most assassins need the perfect opportunity, Agent 47 is perfectly capable of creating one.]
[Shizue Izawa
Rank: ★★★
Type: Template
World: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Description: Shizue Izawa, better known as Shizu, the Conqueror of Flames. A Japanese woman summoned to the world of monsters as a child, she became a powerful adventurer and eventually formed a contract with the Primordial Flame Spirit, Ifrit. Her Unique Skill, Degenerate, possesses the abilities of Separation and Synthesis, allowing her to break things apart into their components and combine them into new forms. She is also highly proficient with fire magic and possesses abilities such as Flame Manipulation, Explosive Flames, Heat Wave, Mana Perception, Ranged Barrier, and Flame Transformation.]
[Baki Hanma
Rank: ★★★
Type: Template
World: Baki
Description: Baki Hanma, the son of Yujiro Hanma and one of the world's greatest martial artists. A prodigy who has spent his life pushing his body and fighting ability beyond human limits, Baki possesses extraordinary physical strength, speed, durability, reflexes, pain tolerance, and combat instincts. His mastery of martial arts allows him to adapt to virtually any opponent, while techniques such as Demon Back, Cockroach Dash, and his various visualization-based fighting methods let him perform feats far beyond what his physique alone would suggest. Despite his monstrous potential, Baki's greatest strength remains his ability to continuously evolve through combat.]
[Goddess of Life
Rank: ★★★★
Type: Template
World: Lord of the Mysteries
Description: A mysterious Goddess who was a blend of the Sequence 2 Desolate Matriarch of the Mother Pathway and the Sequence 2 Life-Giver of the Moon Pathway, serving as a subsidiary god under Sanguine Ancestor Lilith. Her powers encompass life creation, healing, biological enhancement, fertility, spirituality, moon-related abilities, and other authorities associated with both pathways. Both the Mother and Moon Pathways are strongly oriented toward feminine forces, with the Mother Pathway forcibly transforming a Beyonder into a woman upon reaching Sequence 2, while the Moon Pathway does the same at Sequence 1—meaning that, regardless of what gender someone started as, reaching the relevant high sequence comes with a rather unavoidable change of wardrobe model.]
[H'El
Rank: ★★★★
Type: Template
World: DC
Description: H'El, a Kryptonian from an alternate timeline who possesses the immense physical abilities of Superman's race while being further empowered by his mastery of Kryptonian technology and ancient knowledge. He possesses extraordinary strength, speed, durability, flight, heat vision, enhanced senses, and other standard Kryptonian abilities, while his telekinesis and advanced Kryptonian knowledge make him considerably more versatile than an ordinary Kryptonian. H'El is also an exceptionally skilled fighter and scientist, capable of manipulating Kryptonian technology and utilizing his powers with a level of precision that makes him a particularly dangerous opponent.]
Looking at them, Templates were as rare as usual, with only five appearing in a hundred pulls. Thankfully, two of those were four stars, which was more than enough for Lex to be satisfied with the results.
The first was Agent 47. Looking at the description, Lex quickly realised that this was probably something that could help him improve his tactical decision-making, which he knew he was lacking in. Sure, Raphael was always there to support him, but having that kind of experience and instinct for himself certainly wouldn't hurt either. It wasn't like he needed Agent 47's physical abilities, but the man's ability to plan, adapt, and create opportunities out of seemingly ordinary situations could definitely prove useful.
Shizue, on the other hand, seemed to be from the same world as Raphael and Milim's Eye. Both of those things had already proven to be extremely useful to him, so there was a good chance that this Template could be useful too. The abilities themselves were certainly interesting, especially Degenerate, though Lex wasn't quite sure what he would do with it yet. For now, he decided to keep the card and think about it later.
Baki seemed decent too, but thinking about it, Lex felt it might be better to choose one between Agent 47 and Baki for himself while giving the other to someone else. Donna immediately came to mind for Baki, considering her own fighting style and how much she enjoyed getting stronger through combat, while Sharon seemed like a much more natural choice for Agent 47's skills. He'd have to decide later, though. There was no reason to rush into using either card.
Then came the actual good stuff.
Goddess of Life... now that sounded like something powerful. After thinking about it for a moment, Lex realised that he had literally just obtained a Reality Marble related to plants, meaning this Template fit almost perfectly with it. Life, biological abilities, and the ability to create and manipulate life could potentially complement the World’s End Flower Garden extremely well.
Except then he read the rest of the description.
Lex had a lot of confidence in his Essences, and he was pretty sure that he could change his gender back if the Template actually caused the transformation. However, authorities and concepts were things he had learned not to underestimate. He was sure the Essences were incredibly powerful, but how powerful exactly? That was something he simply didn't know, and when it came to something touching upon actual authorities and concepts, he wasn't willing to gamble on the assumption that Transcend Self could just override everything.
Was he sure that the gender change wouldn't affect him permanently? Yes.
Was he equally sure that some part of the authority or concept behind it couldn't influence him in a way he wasn't expecting?
Not nearly as much as he would have liked.
Lex looked at the card for a moment longer before sighing. It wasn't like this was his only good option either. He still had another four-star Template sitting right there, and that wasn't even the end of his Gacha pulls. He was going to do another hundred pulls after this one, so there was still a chance that something even better would show up.
Originally, he had planned to do three hundred pulls, but after seeing a particular card that could be useful in an emergency and required a decent amount of Gacha Points, he had decided to reduce it to only two hundred pulls instead. That would leave him with 312 Gacha Points afterward, which he wanted to keep in reserve.
So, regretfully, Lex placed the Goddess of Life card aside for now. Sure, he could potentially give it to one of the girls, but everyone already had their own strengths and focuses, and he wasn't sure who would benefit from it the most. If Hela had been a little more loyal and actually worked with him instead of feeling more like a sellsword who happened to be on his side, then he definitely would have considered giving it to her. A combination of Life and Death authorities would certainly be impressive.
But Hela wasn't there yet.
Next came the good old Kryptonian.
As Lex read through H'El's description, his first thought was that he already had the Kryptonian powers he had gotten from sleeping with Kara, so there wasn't much point in taking another Template that would mostly give him something he already possessed. He was already capable of flying, had heat vision, enhanced senses, and the ridiculous physical abilities that came with his acquired Kryptonian physiology, so most of H'El's powers weren't exactly going to revolutionise his life.
Then he reached the part about telekinesis.
Lex's eyes lingered on the card.
Wait.
That changed things.
He already had telekinesis from his X-Gene, and the Force had given him another completely different way of using it. If H'El's Template really gave him another form of telekinesis, then that was suddenly very interesting.
Wasn't he already the go-to telekinesis guy at this point?
Lex couldn't help but grin.
What would adding even more do?
He had absolutely no idea.
But he sure as hell wanted to find out.
Next, Lex took out the Character Cards, or rather, revealed them.
Looking at the results, Lex smiled brightly. Even before reading through all of them, he already knew there was something great here, considering he had specifically told Raphael to sort the cards into categories and leave the category containing the 5★ card for last. That meant he was finally about to see the character who had just become his first-ever five-star Character.
“Damn, the women-to-men ratio is crazy here. Is it always like that?” Kara asked.
“See for yourself. Out of eight of us here, six are girls and only two are guys,” Derek replied.
“Oh, he’s also summoned three more people, out of which two are girls and one is a guy, so it’s eight girls to three guys,” Sharon added.
Lex, however, was already looking toward the cards.
[Fubuki
Rank: ★★★
Type: Character
World: One-Punch Man
Description: The leader of the Blizzard Group and a powerful esper possessing exceptional psychic abilities, telekinesis, barriers, and energy manipulation. Fubuki is a skilled and intelligent combatant capable of overwhelming powerful opponents through her psychic techniques, while her mastery of defensive and supportive abilities allows her to protect and empower others.]
[Azula
Rank: ★★★
Type: Character
World: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Description: A prodigiously talented firebender and princess of the Fire Nation possessing exceptional firebending power, precision, agility, and combat intelligence. Azula is capable of generating and redirecting lightning, producing powerful blue flames, and combining her bending abilities with extraordinary martial skill and tactical cunning, making her one of the most formidable firebenders of her generation.]
[Midnight
Rank: ★★★
Type: Character
World: My Hero Academia
Description: A professional Pro Hero and U.A. High School teacher possessing the Quirk Somnambulist, which produces a sleep-inducing aroma capable of incapacitating targets who inhale it. Midnight is an experienced combatant and educator who combines her Quirk with agility, tactical awareness, and unconventional fighting techniques to subdue opponents efficiently.]
[Zhalia Moon
Rank: ★★★
Type: Character
World: Huntik: Secrets & Seekers
Description: A highly skilled Seeker and former member of the Huntik Foundation possessing exceptional combat ability, intelligence, agility, and mastery of Titan powers. Zhalia is an accomplished investigator and strategist capable of wielding powerful Titans in battle, combining supernatural abilities with her extensive experience and formidable skill as a field operative.]
[Yennefer of Vengerberg
Rank: ★★★
Type: Character
World: The Witcher
Description: A powerful and highly accomplished sorceress possessing immense magical ability, extensive knowledge of arcane arts, and considerable skill in combat and magical manipulation. Yennefer is capable of wielding destructive spells, creating barriers, teleporting, manipulating matter, and employing a wide variety of advanced magic, making her one of the most formidable mages in the Northern Realms.]
[Albedo
Rank: ★★★
Type: NPC
World: Overlord
Description: The Overseer of the Floor Guardians of Nazarick and one of its most powerful defenders. Albedo possesses immense physical strength, speed, durability, and exceptional defensive abilities, wielding powerful armor and weapons while serving as a formidable warrior capable of standing against the strongest opponents in the New World.]
[Raven
Rank: ★★★★
Type: Character
World: DC
Description: A powerful empath and half-demon daughter of the interdimensional demon Trigon. Raven possesses immense mystical power, allowing her to manipulate emotions, project her soul-self, use telekinesis, teleportation, create barriers, and manipulate supernatural energy. Her demonic heritage grants her extraordinary potential, and when fully embracing her powers, Raven can access vastly greater levels of mystical power.]
[Hephaestus
Rank: ★★★★
Type: Character
World: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
Description: The Goddess of the Forge and head of the Hephaestus Familia, possessing immense divine power and unparalleled mastery of smithing and craftsmanship. Hephaestus is renowned for creating extraordinary weapons and equipment capable of supporting the strongest adventurers, while her true divine nature grants her power vastly beyond that of her restricted incarnation in the Lower World.]
[Absolute Wonder Woman
Rank: ★★★★
Type: Character
World: DC
Description: A powerful Amazon warrior raised in the depths of Hell and forged into a formidable champion, possessing immense strength, speed, durability, agility, and extraordinary combat skill. Armed with divine weapons and trained by the forces of the underworld, Wonder Woman combines overwhelming physical power with exceptional martial prowess, making her one of the most formidable warriors of the Absolute Universe.]
[Benjamin Tennyson
Rank: ★★★★★
Type: Character
World: Ben 10
Description: The Savior of Worlds, wielder of the Omnitrix, Hero of the Highbreed Wars, and Conqueror of Vilgax. Ben possesses the Omnitrix, allowing him to transform into a vast array of powerful alien species with unique abilities ranging from immense physical power and energy manipulation to reality warping and cosmic-scale abilities. Among his greatest transformations is Alien X, a Celestialsapien capable of manipulating reality on a universal scale.]
A single 5★, three 4★, and six 3★ cards, among which only a single guy. Once again, Lex was reminded that his Gacha was either a misogynist or a misandrist. He didn't know which one, though. Maybe it hated men and therefore kept giving him barely any male characters, or perhaps it hated women and decided the best way to deal with them was to keep throwing them across the multiverse and into his Gacha.
Still, there were some great pulls here.
Starting with Fubuki, who was from the same world as Bang. Looking at the telekinesis in her description, Lex almost considered converting her into a Template, but ultimately decided against it. After all, he had thoroughly researched the people he had summoned by talking to every one of them, and all of them were in need of help and were happy that they had been summoned, even if it meant being away from their homes. Kara had even told him that no matter what happened, she would always be grateful to him simply for summoning her. There was no reason for him to turn a perfectly good Character into a Template just for a three-star version of an ability he already possessed at four-star quality.
As for summoning her, Lex was fairly sure he could do that soon. From his short conversation with Bang, he had found out that his world also had Heroes, so there was a chance that Bang knew Fubuki. If he did, then getting more information about her would be possible as well.
Azula was next, and she came from a world for which Lex had already obtained a travel ticket in the hundred pulls he had done almost half a year ago. That alone made summoning her potentially useful, since she could provide information about her world before he actually travelled there. The more he knew about a world before going there, the better.
Midnight came from the universe where he had gotten the Quirks from, one of which had helped him quite a lot while the other had been a great help to Sharon. Just from reading her name and the description of her world, Lex could tell that this world had Heroes too. The question was whether those Heroes were more like the ones from Marvel and DC, or more like the ones from the Boys world.
If she was a high school teacher, then there was also a chance that she knew how to teach people about being Heroes. Of course, that mostly depended on whether being a teacher was simply her civilian identity or whether she genuinely liked teaching. Either way, the Boys world currently needed good teachers who could teach people how to use their powers and, more importantly, how to use them for good.
Yennefer reminded him of Triss, a card he had almost forgotten about. Both Character Cards came from the same world, so maybe he should summon them together sometime. Then again, from their descriptions, they didn't seem like modern witches but rather mages from some fantasy world or something along those lines. Maybe he could summon them when he eventually went to That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, since he already knew that was a fantasy world.
Albedo had NPC written under her type instead of Character, which was odd, but Lex could tell that there might be something different about her because of that. Other than that, she sounded like some kind of knight or guardian, just like the description said. As for the world she came from, Lex had actually gotten a Spell Scroll from there once, so Albedo might be from a fantasy world too, just like Yennefer and Triss. Summoning her could wait for now.
“Do any of you know Raven?” Lex asked Kara and Donna, since Raven was from their world.
“Yeah, she's a great friend of mine. We worked on the same team. I call dibs on summoning her first,” Donna immediately said with excitement.
“I know Raven too. I've met her a few times, actually. She's a bit gloomy, but definitely has a good heart,” Kara added.
“Okay, sounds great. Maybe we'll be seeing her soon,” Lex replied.
Hephaestus was an odd one.
“Hey, Raphael, isn't Hephaestus a guy, or am I tripping?” Lex asked.
<Affirmative. Hephaestus is indeed a male god from the Greek pantheon.>
Lex started wondering if Hephaestus was simply a different gender in different worlds. Still, a Goddess was a Goddess, and on top of that, she was the goddess of blacksmithing. Who knew what kind of wonders she could accomplish with modern technology and perhaps some help from Regina?
Though whoever named that world was certainly... a character.
Lex was about sixty percent sure that the dungeon it referred to was the one filled with monsters, but who knew? It could even refer to a sex dungeon. It was certainly... an odd title. Maybe Hephaestus herself could shed some light on it once he summoned her.
Then came Absolute Wonder Woman.
Why was she Absolute? Were there other Wonder Women who weren't absolute but were, what, dynamic? Lex had no idea. Since she was also from DC, though, he decided to ask the DC girls first.
“Yup, Diana is an Amazonian like me, one of the greatest, actually, but even I don't know what that Absolute means,” Donna replied.
“Definitely summon her and ask about it. I know her too, actually. I've worked with her quite a few times. She's a good Hero, and I definitely want to be there when she's summoned, though,” Kara replied.
“But it just doesn't look like Diana, right?” Donna asked Kara.
“Of course. Just like Raven, it's probably just a timeline or something,” Kara replied.
“Nah, Raven looked fine to me, at least as far as I can tell. Diana just doesn't look like Diana,” Donna said thoughtfully.
“Ahh, well, we'll find out when I summon her anyway. As long as she's also a Hero, it's gonna be alright,” Lex said.
Then came the final card.
The most powerful card of the entire category.
“Gwen, this is your cousin, right?” Lex asked, even though he already knew about Ben Tennyson, Gwen's cousin and the person who had fought to save the multiverse while Gwen had been trapped in the Time Vortex.
“Yup... He does look quite a bit younger, though, so maybe he's not the Ben from my timeline. But I've met enough Bens, and dare I say, that description sounds like something he'd say about himself. Hopefully, it's one of the good Bens,” she said the last part a little more softly.
Lex wouldn't have minded turning Ben into a Template. A five-star Template was obviously an incredibly valuable thing to have. But he wasn't heartless enough to deny Gwen even the chance to reunite with a member of her family just because that family member happened to be a five-star Character.