Chapter 18 - Jackpot

Leonard crouched down, examining it closely. The box was about the size of a shoebox, made of a material that didn't reflect any light but ominously and surprisingly shone. It was featureless—no seams, no openings. There were no markings, no buttons or switches, nothing to indicate what it was or what it might contain.

Leonard's mind raced. His initial thought that it could be an Experience Box slowly dissipated. Was it some sort of ancient artifact? A forgotten relic from a time long past? Or perhaps something more sinister?

His instincts told him to leave it alone, to walk away and never look back. But there was something about the box that made him too curious. Why would the group of bandit-looking men steal this from the White League? It had to be valuable.

He reached out and touched it again, trying to get a sense of its material but failed. Minutes passed, and he grew slightly impatient with his indecisiveness. Leonard still didn't know what to do with the item.

With a huff of frustration, he put the box inside his and read the name registered to it:

[Black Box (A – Rank)]

[Description: A black, ominous box containing experience points that could boost a certain class. If the class didn't match what the box was used for, the experience points would just disappear.]

Eyebrows furrowed, he noticed the light of the sky was fading, and he was running out of time to decide what to do with this. However, just as he comprehended the description, a reckless idea popped into his mind.

"I'm a Summoner class. Why didn't they use this Black Box?" Leonard muttered, nodding to himself as he took out the item and dropped it on the ground. "It's jackpot or nothing."

With closed eyes, Leonard stepped on the box and repeatedly stomped on it until it cracked. As the experience points were released, a faint light emerged, followed by a click… a click?!

Leonard's eyes widened in bewilderment as he felt something familiar. The result of breaking the box was another stroke of luck, and as he opened his status board, he was overjoyed.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! I hit the jackpot! It was a good call! So this is why they stole this from the White League!"

[Class: Summoner. Approved Class.]

[Experience Points +30000]

Leonard watched in awe as his experience points skyrocketed. It was such a huge amount that he never imagined he could gain in such a short time. If he had tried to earn this much with his tactics alongside Zeus, it would have taken them at least twenty days.

"I just saved twenty days of boredom. Finally!" Leonard grinned, his smile stretching from ear to ear.

[Leonard Volt]

[Class: Summoner]

[Rank: Superior Grandmaster]

[Title: Sly Man (New)]

[Level: 10]

[Experience: 2290/6000]

[Basic Stats]

[Health: 140/140]

[Magic: 60/60]

[Strength: 14 (+3)]

[Defense: 7 (+2)]

[Agility: 7 (+2)]

[Wisdom: 16 (+7)]

[Unique Skills: Mythological Summons – SSS Rank, Greek Gods Summoning – S Rank, Basic Summoning Circle – C Rank]

[Skills: None]

[Mission]

[Inventory]

"Oh boy!" Leonard leaped in excitement, his heart racing with anticipation. He knew that such a lucky break often led to even more rewards. Not only that, but he also expected something big—like what might happen when someone reached level 10.

[You reached Level 10!]

[Subclass Acquisition!]

"Subclass acquisition!"

His eyes gleamed as a new window appeared before him, the previous one shifting to the side. He eagerly read the text, knowing it signaled a significant development.

[Please choose from the list: Godly Summoner (Nomad Grandmaster) and Evil Summoner (Ominous Grandmaster)]

But Leonard's excitement quickly faded as he stared at the options. The list on the screen left him confused, unable to speak for a moment. His excitement screeched to a halt, and his chest tightened as he realized that, despite hoping to escape the Summoner class, both subclass options were still tied to it.

Leonard continued to stare, disbelief evident in his eyes. "No, there has to be more," he muttered, unwilling to accept the limited choices.

But the screen remained unchanged.

His head and shoulders slumped in frustration and disappointment. What had he gotten himself into?

[Random pick in 5… 4… 3…]

"Shit. I pick Godly Summoner!"

With no better option, he chose the less suspicious one. The "Evil" and "Ominous" choices didn't seem promising, as they would likely lead him down a dark, perilous path.

Leonard released a heavy sigh. "Just when I thought I hit the jackpot… It didn't even give me time to properly think about what to choose. Just how unlucky am I as a Summoner?"

He tilted his head, recalling someone who might contradict his thoughts. He straightened, bit his lower lip, and forced himself to accept the reality.

"There's nothing good to get from this."

With no other choice presented to him, he proceeded to read the subclass description.

[Godly Summoner (Nomad Grandmaster)]

[Description: You are a Summoner with a variety of types to summon. You became a nomad to find more sacred summoning scrolls, to summon the gods and goddesses of other worlds. However, you will face a huge drawback (x100 Experience Points Requirements).]

"Fucking hell." Leonard almost dropped his jaw in disbelief. "Is this a nerf because I summoned Zeus? I can't even be happy about the huge number of experience points I received. This is just... awful."

He was overwhelmed by a mix of frustration and disappointment, along with other negative emotions. Optimism seemed out of reach, and there wasn't anything to look forward to in what he had just received.

Leonard glanced back at the previous screen, noticing how the experience points threshold had changed.

"Be optimistic! At least you can still summon Zeus."

[Experience Points: 2290/600000]

"Yeah. Let's forget about leveling up. I can just focus on the and forget about changing my class. There's no hope in this. I'll just earn money, search for knowledge to become a better summoner, and maybe then, I can be happy. Right?" Leonard grumbled, almost throwing a tantrum at his fate.

He then summoned Zeus, whose face showed anticipation from the earlier discovery. "So, what was it?"

"I'll tell you later."

However, there was more to the description that Leonard had overlooked.

[At least the advantage is x100 to your current Magic Points.]

PassingNote: Let's have a trade.

For every 50 power stones, I will provide a bonus chapter. After chapter 15, the novel will be updated twice a day.