As Orion read the system's announcement, a new message was transferred directly to his mind, paired together with a text in front of his eyes.
[The System is designed to help the Player develop. It offers near-limitless potential for growth.]
[The Player will unlock the available powers by complying with the system's requests and fulfilling various objectives.]
[By integrating with summoned Heroic Spirits, the Player will gain their strength and abilities, and his Saint Graph will continue evolving until all statistics reach 'SSS+' rank and the user acquires all abilities and Noble Phantasms that the system copied from the Throne of Heroes, inheriting the system's full power.]
[Following that, the Player can go even further beyond.]
After this shocking information appeared in front of Orion's vision, Subaru looked back at him. "What's wrong?"
"..." Orion faintly glanced at him while the majority of his attention was on the system.
'Limitless potential? Absorbing strength of Heroic Spirits from Fate, huh?' Orion thought to himself, feeling bewildered.
He normally despised systems in works of fiction, but since he was now in a fantasy world and was the one to get a system that could allow him to grow stronger, he instantly became curious about it.
Subaru smiled at him and continued, "You're shocked, too, huh? Well, I'm not surprised. It's the same here. But no worries, this world was set up for us to succeed! We'll do just fine!"
Although Subaru was the one cheering up Orion, in truth, he himself, for the love of God, was so happy that he was not alone in the new world! He had only said all this to sound cool.
"Hn," Orion let out a thoughtless grunt in acknowledgement, then resumed walking.
As the previous notification faded from Orion's vision, another blue box took its place.
[You have three unread messages:]
[- Introduction to the System (unread).]
[- Summon your first Heroic Spirit (unread).]
[- Introduction to the world (unread).]
He looked at the message box for a moment, then concentrated on the first of the three messages.
Fortunately, wishing for the message to be displayed was enough for just that to happen.
He then curiously read.
[Introduction to the System.]
[
[The process of integration allows the Player to fully absorb the power and abilities of summoned Heroic Spirits as your own.]
[At first, the Player is only able to bring out a portion of a Heroic Spirit's strength, but as you raise your Integration Percentage by fulfilling the system's requirements, you will eventually be able to acquire a complete strength of a Heroic Spirit.]
[Following that, you will be able to absorb abilities and strength of multiple Heroic Spirits at once, combining their strength.]
[Good luck!]
After reaching the end of the message, Orion let out a breath. 'A system that allows me to integrate with Servants from Fate… Very interesting.'
To his knowledge, a full-powered Servant from Nasuverse would be quite high-level in the Re:Zero world, apart from several exceptions like Reinhard. Depending on which Servant, it should be somewhere in the top 10 of the strongest characters at least.
'I just wonder how it works…'
Around him, the market continued its bustling activities. There were loud and chaotic sounds as people were freely chatting and merchants were hawking their wares.
From time to time wooden carriages passed through the streets to add to the cacophony of noises while rising dust.
As all this was happening, Orion noticed Subaru looking around, seeming just as excited as he himself was.
On the other hand, there were quite a few gazes directed at them as people looked at their pair with wonder and incomprehension, as though they were looking at something strange.
The passerby's hair varied extensively, blonde, white, brown, green, blue and so on. Furthermore their outfits were armor, dancers' clothes, monotone robes and more which possessed a certain vibe.
Obviously, there wasn't anyone else here sporting a tracksuit apart from the two of them. Subaru's black hair was also quite out of place, in contrast to Orion's bright blonde hair which would usually stand out back on Earth instead.
Ignoring the gazes thrown at them, Subaru faintly glanced at Orion and commented, "Demi-humans are commonplace, huh… Both lizards and humanoids."
Orion was silent.
Subaru continued speaking, "Basically, the genre is 'parallel world fantasy'. The culture is that of your typical medieval civilization. Demihumans are common, so battle and adventure might be common as well. The animals show some minor changes, but they basically serve their functions. Is that how it is?"
"I guess," Orion replied without paying much attention.
"Hum..." Subaru hummed then resumed looking around as the two of them continued walking with no real purpose.
He then secretly stole a glance at Orion, 'He's quiet. But thank God, I'm not alone! Being summoned to a fantasy world might sound all cool, but I think I'd freak out being in a new place by myself. And he's pretty buff. Maybe he'd get a tank class to attract enemy attacks, huh?'
Subaru was the type that in games liked to bully his enemies from a distance, so being a ranged DPS with powerful magic in reality while someone else acts as a meatshield was totally his preference.
Meanwhile Orion ignored Subaru and focused on his system.
He opened the message box again and excitedly opened the second mail.
[Summon your first Heroic Spirit.]
[You possess one Summoning Card. It allows you to summon your first Heroic Spirit with one of the main seven Classes of: Saber, Lancer, Archer, Assassin, Rider, Berserker and Caster.]
[The Heroic Spirit and Class will be chosen randomly, prioritizing Heroic Spirits that the Player is most compatible with.]
[Do you wish to summon your first Heroic Spirit now?]
[Note: the system's workings will not be visible from an outsider's perspective. The choices and results are final, and cannot be influenced by any kind of time manipulation.]
[Yes] [No]
Orion stared at the notification for a while, then hesitatingly called out 'yes' in his mind.
The question box was then replaced by a golden-colored window with intricate decorations.
[<
[Class Cards available: 1x Main-Class Summoning Card (random)]
As Orion thoughtfully selected his only available Class Card, a prompt appeared.
[Summon a random Main-Class Heroic Spirit.]
[
Orion took in a large breath. After hesitating for a moment, he called out: 'Summon!'
At his choice, the system window disappeared.
With a flash of light, a swirling whirlwind of dark blue light appeared in front of Orion's vision, akin to the eye of a storm or a swirling galaxy.
At first glance, things seemed to be happening in front of his vision alone, and not in the real world.
Orion stared as the whirlwind continued rotating and gradually picking up speed, seeming like a kind of summoning animation you would see in a gacha game. The flashy animation filled him with both extreme anxiety and hope as he thought back to the time when he played some gacha games in his first life.
He only had one chance.
What if he gets a garbage Servant?!
After a few seconds, there was a blinding flash of white light and a golden card appeared at the center of the whirlwind.
'Hm, a gold card?! And a Saber?'
Orion wasn't sure if a card being gold meant he was lucky, but it was certainly better than it being bronze or silver! At least, he still had a chance to be lucky.
In addition, to his limited knowledge of Fate/Grand Order, the card that appeared was a Saber Class card.
Moments later, the message sent out a new notification.
[Congratulations! You summoned a Saber Class Heroic Spirit (Saber Class has been unlocked).]
[The Heroic Spirit's identity is: Mordred Pendragon.]
'Hm, Mordred?' Orion raised his eyebrows.
Comparing weaker and stronger Servants, Mordred should be rather high up there!
Since she was a knight of the round table and a Saber, the arguably stronger class.
'Maybe not the strongest, but I could be more unlucky. Getting Mordred is pretty good.'
[Do you want to display the Heroic Spirit's Status Window?]
After a moment's delay, Orion selected 'Yes.'
<<
Class: Saber
Name: Mordred Pendragon
Special Traits: Royal Bloodline, Dragon Blood
Gate Attributes: Fire
Unique Magic: Crimson Lightning
* * *
<<
Strength: 8+/80+
Endurance: 10/100
Agility: 8/80
Mana: 8/80
Luck: 4/40
* * *
<<
[Magic Resistance (rank: B) (Sealed to 10%)] - a passive ability that increases resistance against magic. At B-rank, it completely cancels the effect of basic and El-level spells; for higher level spells, their effect is weakened - Ul-level spells can barely affect you, while the effect of Al-level spells is considerably reduced.
[Riding (rank: B) (Sealed to 10%)] - innate talent to control and skilfully ride all kinds of creatures and vehicles.
[Instinct (rank: B) (Sealed to 10%)] - a strong innate instinct, mainly toward combat. At B-rank, , you are able to always feel the optimal course of action, unexpected dangers and to predict the enemy's movements; visual and auditory obstacles are halved.
[Charisma (rank: C-) (Sealed to 10%)] - ability to influence people with your words and actions; also increases rhetoric and eloquence. Represents the natural talent of a king to command an army.
[Battle Continuation (unavailable)] - Originally a B-rank skill; you're able to keep fighting even when wounded. This skill represents your will to not give up. ||| Note: inapplicable due to your lack of battle and life and death experiences. Should the user's experience and tenacity grow, there is a possibility of the ability being gradually unlocked.
* * *
<<
[Mana Burst (rank: A) (sealed to 10%)] - instant release of a significant amount of magical energy to greatly increase explosive power and speed for a short period of time.
* * *
<<
[Clarent Blood Arthur (rank: A+) (Ultimate) (sealed to 10%)] - channel your burning hatred into Clarent and consume a huge amount of Mana to send out a destructive blast from your sword in front of him. Side-effect: causes crippling pain to the user upon activation at full power.
[Clarent (rank: C) (Artifact) (Replica) (sealed)] - an ornate ceremonial longsword; a symbol of kingship. When wielded, the sword amplifies the authority of a king, raising the owner's physical parameters by one rank and raising the rank of the [Charisma] skill - (not effective). ||| Note: You are not a king, therefore maximum rank is decreased from B to C, and your physical parameters are not increased while wielding it.
[Secret of Pedigree: Helm of Hidden Infidelity (rank: C) (Artifact) (Replica)] - protects your head while worn; also conceals your lineage and true name.
* * *
<<
[Mordred's Full Plate Armor (Replica)] - a magical set of Mordred's heavy full-plate armor.
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
Statistic ranks from FATE has been translated by the System into numbers:
E-rank = 20, D-rank = 40, C-rank = 60, B-rank = 80, A-rank = 100. Following that, it's S-rank = 150 (+50% rank-up), SS-rank = 225, SSS-rank = 337,5.
1 is usually the statistic number of an ordinary active human.
The "+" modifier represents the capacity of a temporary boost in power, allowing a lower rank to surpass a higher rank for a moment. While someone with 80+ Strength is normally weaker than someone with 100 Strength, 80+ can momentarily exceed 100 by exploding with 50% of additional power at the cost of Mana (80 x 1,5 = 120 Strength); this potential for explosive power stacks on top of a body reinforcement-type skill.
The "-" modifier indicates a rank which has a number that is not reliably stable, technically qualifying for that rank, but not quite reaching the rank in terms of power or ability, or possibly being even closer to the rank below.
The "*" modifier attached Endurance indicates that the user is able to recover stamina and bodily energy at the cost of Mana, which is an innate ability of Semi-Heroic Spirit; by continuously sacrificing enough Mana, the user could potentially have endless stamina.
* * *
<@Why do some stats seem too underpowered?>
(About statistics - it's important to note that what statistics are all about just the base stats of the physical body alone. On top of that, speed and strength can be further boosted several times by using Mana.)
(Just imagine this - in the Re:Zero world, swordsmen display most of their strength through the use of mana. There are people who are stronger than normal, but Mana is the main reason they can achieve superhuman feats (like Wilhelm). It's similar for Servants - each time they exercise their strength, they consume mana, using more mana with more demanding moves.)
(So even if the effect of some stats seem underwhelming compared to Servants' full strength, stats are just about the raw capibiities of the physical body without the use of any mana. To have all of this power without using any mana at all is already amazing. It's for balance.)
Strength - physical body's strength without the use of Mana (1 Strength is equal to the strength of an ordinary man = ~100 kg of lifting strength; while 100 Strength offers ~10.000 kg strength).
Endurance - durability and resilience; also stamina and muscular endurance in relation to Strength (1 Endurance offers high stamina in relation to 1 Strength, most humans would have Endurance below 1).
Agility - speed and reaction speed; also agility and dexterity (1 Agility gives 5% boost to speed; 10 Agility gives a 50% increase to speed (or a 1.5 times increase)).
Mana - Mana reserves, regeneration speed and output (1 Mana translates to 50 MP in the System, allowing to cast around 50 level-1 spells like Goa and Jiwald).
Luck - the quality of one's luck.