After finishing the backlog of work, Noah closed the smithy and went to Runner's Hall. It was a thirty-story building in the center of the city where runners could train their attributes.
Noah walked over to an appraisal screen to check his status.
No runners had the ability to gauge their status unless they challenged a rift and became Rift Walkers.
They could only guess, as improvements in attributes would cause drastic changes in their bodies.
Name: Noah Walker
Age: 15
Tier: 1
Talent: Inverse Mana
Talent grade: Impossible
Health points: 150
Mana points: 80 (Inversed)
Magic damage: 10 * Spirit
Essence damage: 10 * Strength
Magic defense: 10 * Spirit
Physical defense: 10 * Defense
Attributes: Strength - 35, Defense - 29, Agility/Speed - 29, Spirit - 10
Skills: None
The appraisal screen blinked, displaying his status. Over the past year, he had not only improved his strength attribute, but all of his attributes except Spirit had drastically improved through training at Runner's Hall. Today, he had a hunch that his Speed and Defense attributes were on the verge of reaching 30.
"Noah, are you here already?" A happy voice sounded from behind him, and a girl with short, dark hair and a tanned face approached him.
"Delna…" Noah muttered, trying to hide a trace of sadness in his tone.
She was one of the orphans trained with him. After she awakened her talent, which was graded as B, she was selected by a top guild on a C-grade planet.
He had met her a few days ago when he was training Agility here. Her guild had her improve her attributes here before relocating her to the other planet.
They also sponsored her to run dungeons in this city for free. Yesterday, she told him she was on the verge of breaking through to Tier 2.
Now, seeing her high spirits, Noah could guess the reason.
"Did you break through?" he asked, returning her a calm smile.
In response, she released her aura, almost causing Noah to lose his balance. She quickly retracted it, apologizing when she noticed his discomfort.
"I'm sorry, Noah…I forgot you are~" Delna stopped. Noah shook his head, assuring her he was fine.
"Why are you apologizing to him, Delna? It's his fault he can't withstand your aura," a mocking voice sneered.
Delta, one of Delna's guild members, walked up behind her.
Noah groaned internally, trying hard not to let his frustration show. He didn't know why this fool always seemed to want to start trouble with him.
'Probably because I'm more handsome than him,' Noah thought, scoffing to himself before moving away from the idiot.
'Human idiocy is a contagious.'— Modrich
Delta looked ready to continue his taunts, but Delna stopped him with a pull. Her previous friendly smile faded, replaced by a cold, mocking gaze.
Memories of their training together in the orphanage flooded her mind. Back then, he had always outshone her despite her hard work.
The warden had always praised him, looking down on her.
And now?
She had been selected by a top guild on an upper-grade planet, while he was trapped on this trash planet for a lifetime.
Her lips curled in a smirk as she imagined Noah wasting his time here while she became a legend he could only look up to.
"Let's go… it's enough," she said to Delta, leaving the hall with arrogance.
The only reason she had come here after reaching Tier 2 was to show him how mighty she had become. She wanted him to face the bitter truth of heaven and earth.
Now her purpose was fulfilled. She had no time to waste in this trash planet.
She had to catch the first flight to her guild's headquarters.
In her wildest dreams, she never expected that the boy she deemed worthless would one day become someone she could only watch from afar.
Meanwhile, Noah walked toward the Speed and Agility room, humming a tune. He was happy to be improving his attributes again. He had already forgotten about Delna and Delta, as he had never considered them his rivals.
His aim lay far above what they could even imagine.
Modrich had written that, "Never aim for the end; make wherever you reach the end for others. A warrior must be like mana—never-ending, yet always present."
The attributes of Agility and Speed were intertwined, forming a single combined attribute. To improve in this area, one had to master both speed and agility.
Noah stood in the Speed/Agility room, his gaze focused. The room was a hundred-meter-long space with a floor that moved like a treadmill.
He could adjust the speed, which was how one trained to improve their speed attribute. For agility, there were holes in the walls that launched balls at high speed. He had to evade these balls while running.
"Boy, are you sure?" the controller in the room warned him again.
Today, Noah was challenging a speed of 35 and agility of 35, hoping to break through by pushing his abilities to the limit.
Noah nodded, and the next moment, the floor started moving rapidly. At first, he nearly stumbled, but he quickly began to adjust to the pace, though he slipped a few times.
After observing him adapt to the speed, the controller pressed the button to release the balls.
The first one hit Noah squarely on the forehead, and he fell back, landing hard. The controller hurriedly stopped the treadmill, waiting for Noah to get back up.
Not wanting to discourage him, the controller simply nodded in appreciation of Noah's determination.
Noah bowed gratefully, asking him to start the floor again.
After repeatedly falling and failing to dodge the balls, he finally managed it. Noah laughed loudly, feeling the improvement in his Speed/Agility attribute.
Now he could handle the room's challenges with greater ease. He continued training there for a few more hours to stabilize his upgraded attribute.
"Boy, congratulations," the controller, a middle-aged man, said, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Thank you for your time…" Noah replied, walking toward another room.
"Time to work on my defense…"