Level 10.
For most in the Uplift Initiative, level 10 was where an Uplifter was given a chance for their first mission, and it was no different for Matt. After proving he was finally able to level up, an extensive check up and analyzation of his Class, he was turned loose on Gates to get himself up to snuff.
As it turned out, Initiative groups were being established every year, and with an increasing number of orphans, the project was shining, the most recent group being the exception because of the Tutorials.
For whatever reason, the System didn't consider anyone within the Bureau to be eligible for the training, which probably spoke to how efficient and effective the project had been thus far.
With all that said, Matt found himself in a group that was being overseen by a former graduate from his own group, who had all come into their own and found paths that fit them.
Elric was a decent guy, patient and strong enough to protect the new crops of Uplifters, and surprisingly encouraging to Matt, not that he expected anything less from his former classmate.
Anybody who had worked with him knew that when it came to hard work and training, there weren't many people who could keep up with him, so at the very least he didn't need much help beyond the complication of his constant practice of fighting upward.
After so much time being stuck in the valley of no progress, Matt was ready to take his first steps into Gate Walking and was willing to take any risk to make that progress.
Out of everything the System provided, the ranking system was by far the most opaque since it seemingly took things into account that nobody could quantifiably measure like intent and determination. It also seemed to check for potential, giving even exceedingly weak Walkers moderately high ranks despite their low power levels and…well, levels.
It wasn't a surprise to anyone involved in the process of getting him in the field, but Matt sat at C Rank while he was at level one despite his initial inability to gain experience regardless of all efforts to amend the problem. Years of training, with others and alone, had given him the technical skills to fight alongside much stronger Walkers with only a minor disadvantage, and one that was rapidly diminishing at that.
There was the slight confusion of his stats raising equally as he leveled and not getting any free stat points to allocate himself, but even with that strange caveat he was happy to make progress. Now that he could level up, he could theoretically use potions, abilities, rewards, and the myriad other methods of improvement that all other Walkers regularly used to fine tune their skill sets and abilities.
Speaking of skill sets, there was one other irregularity.
For whatever reason, Eversoul didn't give him any skills as he leveled up, which did leave him with a weakness that could be exploited since he had neither combat skills to carry a fight nor utility skills to shore up any additional weaknesses.
Everyone he'd asked had said not to pay it any mind, particularly since he could use skills if he bought them or created his own, which was a difficult process for almost anyone even under the best circumstances. Apparently Unique classes had a variety of strange complications that essentially balanced out whatever incredibly powerful upsides they provided.
All of this swirled in his mind as he pulled his sword out of the chest of the goblin he was fighting, swinging his sword diagonally to nearly bisect the stupid thing. He'd trained with all manner of weapons and even spent some time with magical theory, but he was currently favoring the narrow blade of his longsword. While it hadn't been custom forged for him by any means, it felt like it had been made for him nonetheless, and so used it as much as possible.
Three more goblins dropped from the trees around him and he leapt into the air, spinning as he lashed out with his sword and decapitating two of them before they even hit the ground. He'd missed the third, but used his momentum to change the angle of his attack as he began descending and lodged the sword in the creature's head.
The two actions had taken less than thirty seconds and he soon felt the experience points spilling into him and a burst of power as he leveled up and his stats took a universal three points upward.
That was, so far, the ultimate benefit of his class.
He had a frankly absurd amount of stats, even if he couldn't specialize them.
Most people got three stats based on their class and four free points to use as they pleased.
Matt got eighteen.
Since he didn't get any free points, he rarely bothered to check his stat screen, but he knew that at level 11 he should have roughly two hundred points, spread out evenly.
He trekked half a mile before he came across a goblin mage analyzing a document and directing a team of ten, at a glance, goblins to work on some kind of project.
The strange proliferation of goblins in the Gates lately had struck him as odd, and a lot of others thought the same thing. Goblin Gates were hardly rare, but even as a relatively common Gate, they were essentially the only thing anyone was finding lately whether they entered a normal Gate or a True Gate.
It was concerning to say the least.
The System, by its own admission, was working to strengthen humanity so it stood to reason that it had some direct purpose in its hyperfixation on goblins.
Whether that would make or break the Walkers assaulting the Gates remained to be seen.
The mage in front of him didn't seem like a boss, but maybe a mini-boss with minions?
Choosing not to think about it too much, he stepped forward and forced mana into his legs to reach it as fast as he could, sword already mid swing as he reached the miniscule thing.
Chopping through its neck, he turned and used his motion to fluidly bisect three of the minions with the end of his initial swing.
One of them screamed something that sounded like words and started running while the other six charged with their hammers and pickaxes raised to make their shot at killing him.
Stomping on the ground hard enough to send dirt and stone up into the air, he took control of several of the larger ones with a spell he'd created from scratch and launched them directly into the foreheads of the four closest to him.
He hadn't paid it much mind initially, but up until this point the goblins had been shouting between each other and as each of them died, they descended into screams and incoherent vocalizations.
As he blocked and dodged the incoming attacks from the two monsters in front of him, he realized that as the goblins gathered in groups, they seemed to act with more coordination.
It was a strange thing to be sure, but there were far stranger things to be found in the worlds the Gates sent them to, since the opening of the True Gates had all but confirmed that they led to entirely different worlds.
He made a note to ask someone about it when he got out of the Gate, but had to refocus as he watched a shockingly large goblin lumber in, bringing cohesion in the goblin attackers back up to a reasonable minimum.
As the third and fourth goblins approached, the berserk attacks slowed to a stop and all four began circling around him, gauging his power and skills with narrow and focused attacks.
In between stabs at his legs and arms, a quick focused glance at the largest goblin let the System analyze it and give him some information.
Jezzikex, Goblin Foreman
Level 45
A name was odd for an identifying skill, and similar looks revealed names over its brethren, though none of them had titles.
Ignoring their caution, Matt stepped forward again and spun his blade in an upward spiral, hobbling two of them in one motion and decapitating them in the follow up. As he spun, he threw a dagger under the cover of his longsword attack and killed the next normal goblin.
Jezzikex clutched his head as his companions died and Matt moved in to finish the job when the massive creature simply punched out, nearly shattering bones under his armor.
Finally exercising caution, Matt leapt back as the foreman pushed his advantage and began punching the ground with all the force of a falling tree, hurling dirt and debris up into the air with every strike.
After several minutes of near fatal dodges, it finally over extended itself and gave Matt a chance to end the fight, driving his sword into the creature's spine.
Taking the opportunity to test an idea he had, Matt checked with his identify again.
Goblin Foreman
Level 40
Downgraded in every way.
What caused that to happen?
Checking over the bodies while he chewed on the possible solutions to that question, he found that only the mage's staff was worth anything, and it had been so focused on what it was working on it hadn't even had the thing available for use.
What was this project in the first place?
After looking around for a little while, he found a sheet of…printed paper? Like, modern human society printed paper with seamlessly cut edges and even a company watermark.
What the hell?
None of the goblins he'd seen in any Gate should have the capacity to create something like this, and even if they stole some from a dead Walker, why keep it?
That bare bones hand waving didn't account for the flawless blueprints and printed text, explaining how to construct something called a Soul Beacon.
It didn't have any explanations on it, but then why would it?
Placing it in his inventory, Matt looked around to try and see if he could find any other signs of advanced civilization, but nothing jumped out at him. Even the construction tools and materials in the immediate vicinity seemed to be more aimed at very basic and low level building tiers.
Dispelling his concerns for the moment, he moved toward the path the foreman had come from, intent on following this lead however far it took him.
Almost immediately after setting off, it became clear that something much more complex was going on.
Signs of a campsite big enough for dozens of goblins were visible every few miles, alongside clear indications they'd taken off in a hurry.
Had they been trying to escape him?
Did goblins run when they were threatened?
On the whole, the entire situation felt unsettling.
There was a feeling of fear in every camp, like a lingering scent you can't quite place.
Tents were left standing around campfires that were so recently abandoned, their embers were still glowing with heat.
Reaching into his inventory and grabbing a bottle, he downed it as he continued following the path that eventually became a cobblestone road. The change wasn't entirely unexpected, but seeing the houses alongside the road did catch him off guard.
They seemed abandoned so he pushed into the nearest one, which coincidentally had its door cracked.
Inside felt even more disconcerting than the camps had.
Despite being of similar technological development in terms of construction, there were normal appliances inside, with electric lighting and even a little television propped up on the floor across from some pillows.
Two bedrooms sat at the top of the stairs and some kind of clearly magical plumbing system fed water into the house and funneled waste out.
The development of something like a television wasn't something you could stumble on with no prior tech, so this particular device left him questioning what he thought he knew about goblins in general.
What was happening in this Gate?