All rewards were deposited directly into his backpack, ready for use at any time.
Noah blinked, genuinely surprised.
Fifty Growth Value... from one clear?
That meant one more run, and he could enter the Advancement Instance, officially stepping into First Order.
The A grade evaluation made sense.
After all, he had spent far too long inside the instance, nearly until dawn.
If he had only survived until daylight without killing the boss, the evaluation would likely have dropped to E or even F.
The system was fair.
Blood Battle Miller Family Fortress had two clear conditions.
One : Survive until down.
Two : Kill the boss ahead of time.
The former granted safety, but little reward.
The latter demanded blood, but paid generously.
Noah had chosen the harder path.
An A-Grade wasn't perfect.
But it was enough.
Noah began by checking his harvest, his gaze falling first on the four types of attribute crystals.
A strength crystal increased Strength by one point.
The other worked the same way.
This was the most orthodox and most efficient method for Awakeners to increase their strength.
Noah didn't hesitate for even a second.
Use.
Four streams of light surged into his body at the same time, warm and violent, like tides crashing through his veins.
His attributes updated instantly.
Strength : 108
Agility : 107
Constitution : 108
Spirit : 107
A Zero order Awakener's attribute ceiling was 100.
And he had just crossed it cleanly, decisively.
Noah exhaled slowly. The sense of solidity in his body was unmistakable. His muscles felt denser, his reactions sharper, even his thoughts cleared.
He continued scrolling through the rewards.
The First Clear had also granted two additional items.
[Frigid Marrow Crystal]
Quality : Ordinary
Type : Material
Description : A rare crystal extracted from beneath polar glaciers. Extremely sturdy. Commonly used in weapon forging.
Noah paused.
This item felt... familiar:
A moment later, realization struck.
"The boss's sword.."
It had the same cold luster. The same bone chilling aura.
Unfortunately, it was useless for now. Without forging knowledge or a forger, it would have to sit in his inventory.
The next reward, however made his eyes light up.
[Swordplay Proficiency]
Quality : Excellent
Type : Passive Skill
Effect : Increases proficiency with all sword type weapons. Sword technique damage +10%.
Noah blinked.
"This is the boss's skill."
No wonder.
That demonic swordsman had been terrifying not because of raw attributes, but because of how perfectly he wielded his blade. Even when Noah's stats had surpassed his, the difference in technique had still cost him life after life.
A pure combat multiplier like this.
There was no reason to refuse it.
What surprised Noah even more was the quality.
Excellent.
As information surface in his mind, he finally understood the hierarchy:
Ordinary -> Excellent -> Rare -> Perfect -> Epic -> Legend -> Mythical
Even excellent was nothing to scoff at.
In fact, in First Order Instances, Excellent was the absolute ceiling.
"This is... huge."
Noah smiled.
A Zero Order Awakener could learn three skills. Each increase in order unlocked three more.
His skill slots were currently empty.
He didn't hesitate.
Learn.
The moment he confirmed, the world titled.
An overwhelming torrent of memories poured into his mind.
He saw himself swinging a sword again and again.
From awkward, clumsy swings...
To steady forms...
To relentless practice lasting days, months, years.
Steel sang through the air.
Blades flashed.
Every kind of sword long sword, short blade, heavy saber became an extension of his body.
When the memories finally settled, Noah opened his eyes.
His skill panel now read:
[Skills : Swordplay Proficiency Lv.0]
A faint, dangerous sharpness flickered in his gaze.
At this moment, Noah was absolutely certain of one thing.
If I had a Sword...
Even the boss at his peak would fall withing a few strikes.
But proficiency was only proficiency.
It wasn't the realm where everything could be sword.
To fully unleash this passive skill, he still needed an actual weapon.
His gaze drifted unconsciously to the memory of the villain's blade, shattered by his own fist.
That sword had clearly been far from ordinary.
Too bad.
Items from instances couldn't be taken out.
"If I run it again," Noah muttered, half amused, "Maybe even the boss's underwear will drop."
"So generous... how embarrassing."
He shook his head, dismissing the thought.
Then, without hesitation...
"Exit instance."
Light shifted.
Reality snapped back into place.
Standing in his own home, Noah didn't waste a second.He opened the instance interface again, eyes locked onto a familiar name.
Blood Battle Miller Family Fortress.
The iron was still hot.
And this time...
He was going to break straight into First Order before stopping.
He continued matching.
However, unexpectedly, Noah waited a long time without a successful match, a stark contrast to the previous matches that had taken less than a minute.
"What's going on?"
Cancelling the match, Noah chose another instance but couldn't find anyone to match with there either.
He stopped matching.
Noah went online to search for information.
At that point, he also saw the text message he had received on his phone and suddenly understood.
No wonder he couldn't form a team.
Those entering instances now were basically full five person teams.
There were solo players, but very few.
Noah felt a bit numb.
If he continued matching, he should still be able to find people, but it would take a long time.
The most troublesome part was the subsequent Advancement Instance, which would likely also require a five person team.
Even if he accumulated enough Growth Value, he would have to wait for others.
Not to mention, those people would likely have their own teams and wouldn't team up with solo players for the Advancement Instance.
"If I can't advance, didn't I rush this Instance for nothing?"
Noah was speechless.
It seemed he still had to form his own team.
Logging into the Awakener forum, Noah browsed some posts to understand the situation.
The First Clear of the Instance had shaken the forum.
The spectacled youth's post had initially created quite a stir, but before Noah could come forward, it was clarified.
The reason was simple; the instance clear record was there for anyone to check.
The clear time of over six hours proved that Noah and his team clearing it had nothing to do with the Gale Force Team.
Many analyzed that Noah and his team were able to clear it not because their raw strength was high, but because their stealth abilities were strong enough.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken so long.
The boss wasn't omnipotent.
Some stealth Talents could hide all traces, rendering even a strong boss helpless.
They even suspected that similar situations were not uncommon.
There were definitely some "old sixes" still hiding in the instance, waiting for dawn.
It was just that Noah and his team entered the Instance early, so they luckily got the First Clear.
Such a First Clear undoubtedly had very low value, far inferior to the Gale Force Teams.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes."
Noah had no interest in arguing.
Instead, he registered an account using his real name and created a post.
"First Clear team captain is taking people through the instance! Waiting for four, guaranteed clear, first come, first served, won't wait after time limit."
It must be said, the words "First Clear" were quite eye catching.
The post was very popular with may bumps, but not a single person wanted to join the team.
Noah was surprised and flipped through the post to understand what was going on.
He didn't know if it was the yellow haired youth or male and female college students who had revealed their experiences.
They just lay low after entering and contribution nothing to the clear.
Their final gains were also minimal.
Clearing the Instance once only gave 10 Growth Value.
To accumulate a hundred, they would need to enter at least nine more times.
The four main attributes given, excluding the First Clear reward, were a pitiful amount, like a drop in the bucket.
Noah's team was also jokingly referred to as the Death Squad.
Everyone wanted to clear the instance, but not may were willing to do it in this manner.