'Wind, rise!' Jian Xin shouted, emerald light surrounding around her as her fist-wind cut like a blade.
'Ah!'
Gold and green flashed across the open ground of Taoyuan Vale.
'Breath, still!' she called again, her fists suddenly faster.
'Ah!'
Arlan's eyes widened; Jian Xin's palm struck his chest and sent him stumbling back several steps. Before he could exhale the trapped air, her next assault was already upon him.
'Dao, illuminate.'
'Ah!'
Invisible green qi answered her call, circling her body in steady flow, the vast power within on the verge of eruption.
'May intent and qi endure forever!'
'Stop, stop, stop! Don't use your Liberation—I surrender!'
Recognising she was about to unleash her Resonance Liberation, Arlan simply squatted in surrender, staring at the Tacet Mark on the back of his right hand in disbelief.
After gaining Rover's combat skills and Resonance Ability, he'd felt stronger in every way—stamina, eyesight, reflexes.
Yet bare-handed he still couldn't beat Jian Xin.
Had the gold he'd pulled been fake?
Seeing his life-in-crisis expression, Jian Xin reined in her aura and smiled.
'In our exchange I sensed it: your awakened Resonance Ability is extraordinary. Even I had to give everything.'
Her words made him look up, eyes clear and eager to learn.
She gave a small shake of her head.
'I struck at full speed—too fast for ordinary eyes to follow—but you tracked every blow and reacted.'
'Sadly, you're still too far behind in speed and strength; you could only block, never counter.'
'Once you close that gap, I might no longer be your match.'
Even Jian Xin had to draw a sharp breath at the thought.
She had spent over a decade mastering Fengyiquan and could claim to be among Jinzhou's strongest Resonators.
Arlan had only just awakened, yet the boost was enormous—potential that could far surpass hers.
It was enough to make anyone envious.
'Still, congratulations. As a newly awakened Resonator your power is both mighty and stable—almost no risk of losing control.'
'Thank you for the guidance.'
With a wry laugh he rose, gaze fixed on the back of his hand as his mind raced.
So it was merely lack of strength and speed—impossible. He had already gained Rover's combat techniques and Resonance Ability.
He closed his eyes a moment and called up the game interface.
A new icon had appeared at the centre: 'Resonator'.
Six modules now lined the panel: Summon, Quests, Mail, Exploration, Inventory, Resonator.
He tapped 'Resonator' without hesitation, and Rover's stats appeared.
HP: 10,631
ATK: 446
DEF: 1,276
Resonance Efficiency: 100%
Crit Rate: 5%
Crit DMG: 150%
The pitiful numbers made him swallow; a suspicion formed.
He opened the Resonator-details submenu.
Level: Max
weapon: Empty
echo: Empty
Resonance Chain: s0
Skills: Maxed
'Case closed!'
Without weapon and echo bonuses, of course he couldn't win.
Only after pulling weapons and raising echoes to a 'big-endgame' panel would he reach Rover's true strength.
For a moment he felt the absurdity—and the logic—of it all.
Back on Earth he'd farmed echoes daily for wuthering waves; now, inside the world of wuthering waves, he still had to farm echoes.
Wait—if that was true—
If he later pulled limited units like Jinhsi, Chun, or Carlotta and built them to endgame, could they outshine even Rover?
The thought lit up his eyes; the idea was full of promise.
When characters power-creep, I power-creep; characters affect me.
When characters get nerfed, I stay untouched—I'm different!
'Young Taoist Priest, come quickly!'
A shout snapped him back to reality; a villager of Taoyuan Vale was waving to Jian Xin.
She cupped her fist to Arlan in apology.
'This Taoist monk must take his leave. Explore your Resonance Ability at leisure; seek me if you need help.'
'Understood.'
Her figure receded. As he strolled through Taoyuan Vale he pondered where to farm echoes.
He currently possessed Rover (Spectro); the best echo set would be Eternal Radiance', found only in Rinascita beyond Jinzhou.
For now he'd settle for the alternative set, 'Floating Star Dispelling Darkness', easily farmable in Jinzhou.
With a goal in mind, his fighting spirit soared.
Earlier worries had come from being an ordinary man; now he was a cheat-user who could Summon other powerhouses.
He reopened the interface to study the remaining functions.
He checked Mail—empty.
He opened Summon: ten pulls remained. He dumped them into the permanent weapon banner, pulling one purple 4-star swift blade, 'weapon', and nine blue 3-star weapons of various types.
Good news: every weapon came already max-level, sparing him the grind.
With a thought he opened the Resonance screen and equipped 'weapon' to Rover.
Though only a purple swift blade, 'weapon' granted a hefty ATK boost—perfect for early game.
The instant he equipped it strength flooded him and the swift blade appeared in his hand.
'So the Resonator's ATK stat equals my raw strength; what about crit or crit damage?'
He murmured the question, then set it aside.
With another thought the blade vanished, stored back in Inventory.
Convenient.
He chuckled and opened the central 'Exploration Module'.
Only one function was unlocked: Perception, letting him scan the world at will.
In game it mainly revealed chests and clues; here it built a 3-D map inside his mind.
Through Perception every detail stood out clearer than sight.
He closed Perception and clicked the last icon: 'Quest'.
[Main Quest: 'A New Voice for All Things – Part 1' unlocked.]
[Description: The wuthering resonance has sounded… Follow its call, recover your lost past, and set foot upon an unknown journey.]
[Rewards: Radiant Tides x20, Lustrous Tides x10, Astrite x1,600, shell credits x100,000.]
'Main quest?'
He blinked; Professional Account Booster instinct kicked in and the whole sequence flashed through his mind.
In wuthering waves, Yang Yang and Chi Xia found the amnesiac Rover in Gorges of spirits and escorted him toward Jinzhou.
On the way they met Bai Zhi testing a newborn Tacet Field, defeated the Raging Tide-class Remnant Crownless that attacked, and received an invitation from Jinzhou's Prefect.
That was the entire first arc: 'A New Voice for All Things – Part 1'.
'If this quest is active…'
His eyes suddenly blazed and he clapped his hands.
'Does that mean the launch storyline has already begun here in wuthering waves!'