"Clarity."
Jianxin called out clearly. Cyan light blazed around her body, her fist wind sharp as a blade.
"Ah!"
Golden light and green glow crisscrossed on the open ground in Taoyuan Vale.
"Serenity."
Jianxin called out softly again. Her fist speed abruptly increased.
"Ah!"
Noah's eyes widened. Jianxin struck his chest with a palm, forcing him back several steps in succession. Before the stifled breath in his chest could escape, Jianxin's onslaught pressed in once more.
"Come forth."
"Ah!"
Invisible cyan energy was guided by Jianxin, circulating steadily around her. The immense power within threatened to erupt.
"Chi lasts evermore!"
"Stop, stop, stop! Don't use your Liberation—I surrender."
Recognizing that Jianxin was preparing to unleash Resonance Liberation, Noah immediately squatted on the ground in surrender, staring fixedly at the Tacet Mark on the back of his right hand, his eyes full of disbelief.
After gaining Rover's combat techniques and resonance ability, he clearly felt that his stamina, eyesight, and reaction speed had all been enhanced across the board.
Yet he couldn't beat Jianxin bare-handed.
Was the gold he drew fake?
Seeing Noah's expression of doubting his entire existence, Jianxin reined in her aura and smiled lightly:
"In our spar just now, I sensed that the resonance ability you awakened is truly extraordinary. Even for me, it required full effort."
Hearing Jianxin's words, Noah raised his head, his eyes clear and earnest, showing a humble desire to learn.
Jianxin shook her head slightly:
"When I attacked at full power, my fist speed is so fast that ordinary eyes cannot even catch it—but you were able to clearly track it and react."
"Unfortunately, you were far too lacking in speed and strength. You could only barely block, but not fully parry."
"If you had sufficient strength and speed, I might not be your opponent."
At this point, even Jianxin couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
She had bitterly trained Fengyi Fist for over a decade and dared to claim herself among the strongest Resonators in all of Jinzhou.
Yet Noah—an ordinary person who had only just awakened resonance ability—had achieved such enormous improvement, with potential that could far surpass hers.
It was truly enviable.
"But congratulations all the same. As a newly awakened Resonator, your ability is not only powerful but also very stable—almost no risk of losing control."
"Thank you for the guidance."
Noah gave a wry smile, slowly standing up from the ground, his gaze fixed on the back of his right hand as he pondered.
So it was a lack of strength, a lack of speed—how was that possible? He had clearly awakened Rover's combat techniques and resonance ability.
He briefly closed his eyes. With a thought, he brought up the game interface.
Sure enough, a new "Resonator" function had appeared in the interface center.
Now there were six modules on the panel: Convene, Quests, Mail, Exploration Modules, Inventory, Resonator.
Noah clicked "Resonator" without hesitation. Rover's attributes appeared.
HP: 10631
Attack: 446
Defense: 1276
Resonance Efficiency: 100%
Crit Rate: 5%
Crit DMG: 150%
Seeing these pitifully low numbers, Noah swallowed hard, a vague guess forming in his mind.
He quickly opened the other options for character attributes.
Level: Max.
Weapon: None.
Echoes: None.
Resonance Chain: 0 Sequences.
Skills were fully upgraded.
"Case closed!"
Without the attribute bonuses from a weapon and Echoes, that's why he couldn't beat Jianxin.
But if he drew weapons, farmed Echoes, and built a fully graduated setup, his strength would reach Rover's true level.
For a moment, Noah felt a mix of frustration and reluctant acceptance.
Before traversing, he played Wuthering Waves and farmed Echoes every day to boost attributes. Now that he had traversed into the Wuthering Waves world, he still had to farm Echoes to boost attributes.
Wait—if that was the case—
If he later drew limited characters like Jinhsi, Camellya, or Carlotta—big damage dealers—and built them to full graduation, would his strength surpass even Rover's?
At this thought, Noah's eyes lit up. He felt there was great potential here.
Characters get power-crept—I get power-crept with them. Characters affect me.
Characters get nerfed—I don't. I'm different from the characters!
"Young Taoist priestess, come quick."
A loud call snapped Noah back to reality. He turned and saw a Taoyuan Vale villager beckoning Jianxin.
Seeing this, Jianxin clasped her fist toward Noah in apology:
"I'll take my leave first. Young hero, feel free to explore your resonance ability on your own. Come find me anytime if you have questions."
"Alright."
Jianxin's figure gradually receded. Noah pondered where to farm Echoes while strolling through Taoyuan Vale.
Currently, he had Rover (Spectro)'s resonance ability. The most suitable Echo set was naturally "Eternal Radiance."
But that Echo set could only be collected at Rinascita outside Jinzhou.
For now, he would have to settle for the next best "Sacred light!."
And that Echo set was easy to farm in Jinzhou's areas.
With a direction, Noah felt full of fighting spirit.
He had been worried before because he was just an ordinary person. But now—he was a cheating player who could gain the abilities of other powerhouses through Convene!
At this thought, Noah opened the game interface again and began studying the other functions.
He opened Mail.
Empty.
He opened Convene. Seeing he still had ten pulls, he threw them into the permanent weapon pool and drew one purple-quality 4-star sword "Commando of Conviction," along with nine assorted blue 3-star weapons of various types.
Good news: all weapons were instantly max level, saving him the trouble of leveling them.
With a thought, Noah opened the Resonator interface and equipped "Commando of Conviction" on "Rover."
Though "Commando of Conviction" was only a purple-quality weapon, it provided a high Attack bonus—perfect for early transition.
The instant he equipped Commando of Conviction, Noah felt power flood his body. A swift sword appeared in his hand.
"So that's how it is. The character's Attack stat corresponds to my strength. Then Crit Rate or Crit DMG stats would provide other enhancements?"
Noah murmured softly, soon setting the question aside.
With a slight thought, the "Commando of Conviction" in his hand vanished, returned to the inventory in the game interface.
"Convenient."
Noah chuckled lightly, then opened the "Exploration Modules" in the interface center.
Currently, only the "Perception" function was unlocked in Exploration Modules. Whenever he wanted, he could use it to sense information about the surrounding world.
In the game, "Perception" was mainly for finding treasure chests and clues. But now, "Perception" was like 3D modeling the surrounding world in his brain.
Everything sensed through "Perception" was crystal clear—far sharper than the naked eye.
Turning off Perception, Noah clicked the final function in the game interface—"Quests."
[Main Quest: "Utterance of Marvels - I" Activated.]
[Quest Description: The Remnant Lament has begun to play… Follow its guidance, and you will seek your own past, embarking on a brand-new journey into the unknown.]
[Completing the main quest "Utterance of Marvels - I" will reward: Radiant Tide x20, Lustrous Tide x10, Astrite x1600, Shell Credits x100000.]
"Main quest?"
Noah paused for a moment. His professional proxy player instincts made him subconsciously recall the entire process of this quest.
In Wuthering Waves, Yangyang and Chixia find the amnesiac Rover in Cloud Ridge Valley, then take Rover back toward Jinzhou.
Along the way, they encounter Baizhi investigating a newly formed Tacet Field, defeat a sudden Overlord-class Tacet Discord Crownless, and receive an invitation from Jinzhou's Magistrate.
This is the full process of the first main story segment, "Utterance of Marvels - I."
"This quest has activated—does that mean…"
Noah's eyes suddenly gleamed. He clapped his hands:
"Does that mean the main story in this Wuthering Waves has progressed to the launch plot!"