Chapter 8: Glorious Loot! II

When Annalise returned to their apartment at around 10 pm and saw her brother sleeping with a carefree smile still present on his face, anger bloomed on her cute face as she truly didn't know what to do with this brother of hers!

She was out with her team this entire time diving into Rifts while he...he…!

It was too frustrating to even think about as she skipped her dinner and went to rest right away.

The parents of the two children came in two hours later as it was past midnight, watching as their kids slept safely with a smile.

The lives of all Blessed were hard, no matter their ranks!

The 'weakest' in their family returned home the earliest as he was in bed by 8, with his little sister coming in 2 hours later, and their Bronze Rank parents coming back past midnight as they had to work even harder to provide their children with what they had today.

It was a heartwarming scene as the Eckert Household spent the night peacefully in their beds.

---

'Hmm…'

Early morning on the next day, Noah woke up with a yawn while rubbing his eyes, looking towards the clock to see that it was 6 am!

This might seem truly early for others, but he could already hear the sounds of his parents and little sister moving outside his room as they went to sleep later than him but woke up even earlier.

Such was the regiment of powerful Blessed- they knew in their hearts that they had to rise up early to be truly successful.

Noah shook off his grogginess as his eyes honed in towards the icon of a golden sword that represented his Idle Gaming System.

The Interface came up as he saw a blinding gold light on the square box with the picture of the Minotaur.

The Idle Mode that had been running this entire night was filled with an overabundance of loot as Noah very quickly clicked on it!

THRUUM!

Glorious golden light erupted out as his vision was filled with vibrant text boxes, things only calming down a few seconds later as Noah's eyes focused on them.

[+50 Idle Exp][+150 Iron Rank Cores][+11 Iron Rank Minotaur Shards][+300 Iron Rank Unit Upgrade Crystals][+3 Blazing Armor][+1 Blazing Sword][+2 Blazing Helm]

"..."

Noah had no words as he stared at the bright loot that went straight to his Inventory.

Not even taking into account the multiple Equipment that very rarely dropped in Dimensional Rifts...just the number of Iron Cores alone nearly frightened Noah!

150 Peak Iron Rank Cores!

That was more than enough to bring some to the Peak of Iron Rank 3 times over, and he had all of it to himself.

He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming as he nearly burst out laughing in delirium!

His emotions were rising so high as he felt his confidence rise, bursting out of his room as he went to the kitchen where his parents and Annalise were.

His face looked bright as it showed someone with grand goals and aspirations, his eyes shining brightly as he spoke!

"Annalise, Mom, Dad...this son has finally decided to get serious and become a capable Blessed!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

All three Blessed in the apartment turned towards him briefly as silence filled the room.

Annalise threw him the cold shoulder after his actions yesterday as she went back to her meal, his father only nodding disbelievingly as his mom gave him a light smile while patting the seat next to her.

"Come have some breakfast, you little rascal."

His whole family ignored his bold claim as they went about their business, Noah breathing out exasperatedly as he groaned about his past slacking behavior before he joined them for breakfast.

They might not believe him now as things stood, but results would speak louder than words when the time came!

And his results….well, he didn't have to think about it too much when he thought about the rewards of Idle Mode for a single Dimensional Rift after just barely one half a day!

Noah ate his breakfast in silence while his parents and sister talked about the happenings of Academy City.

Being Blessed themselves, his parents had gone through everything that Annalise and he were doing right now, and they had already passed through the stage of the Blessed Academy years ago.

The Academy was an institution established to help prepare all upcoming Blessed and to reduce the deaths occurring in the Dimensional Rifts.

There wasn't truly a grading system or any such thing as the only grading was one's strength!

When a Blessed first entered the Blessed Academy, they would be given an identification badge that classified them as 'Students'. This badge could be used by the Blessed to pass through the encampments of the Iron Rank Dimensional Rifts within Academy City.

If they felt like they had grown strong enough and the Blessed Academy could not be of any help to them...then they would have to take a test that would grant them an official Blessed Licence which allows them to enter the higher ranking Dimensional Rifts within Academy City!

Noah was thinking about this method of things at this moment as he was setting up a plan to clear the 2 remaining Iron Rank Dimensional Rifts in the Academy City before he took the assessment of the Blessed Academy that certified his identity as a qualified Blessed and allowed him to delve into the more dangerous Rifts.

Of course, his life was the most important, so he had to be truly confident in his abilities first before he did any such things!

As he saw from the first Dimensional Rift he cleared- as long as he was in the team clearing it, it was counted as he could utilize it in Idle Mode.

This gave him many ideas as he had a myriad of ways to go about when it came to clearing a Rift.

The family finished their breakfast as the parents were the first to leave followed by Annalise, Noah being left alone in the house as he breathed out slowly.

He went back to his room as he waved his hand and caused the appearance of a Peak Iron Core, lying on his bed grandly as he began to absorb it in order to pump his strength even higher.

He had to work hard to absorb the Cores he obtained after a hard night's work of Idle Mode!

Other beings had to farm Low, Medium, and Peak Rank Cores for months as they divided them between their party members and decked themselves out in equipment first before they began slowly absorbing them to raise their strength.

It was only after they graduated from the stage of having to rent out Equipment that they could begin amassing Cores to increase their strength, taking another month or two as they worked with a team to collect and absorb enough Cores they could absorb to hit Peak Iron Rank!

This was the point when they could take the assessment of the Blessed Academy to be labeled qualified Blessed that obtained the License to delve into the Bronze Ranked Rifts within Academy City.

This was when the adventure truly began, and also the stage where many Blessed remained their entire lives- the Bronze Rank.

Getting into such a Rank was achievable with time, but getting past it and into the Silver level? Insurmountably hard!

An example was Noah's parents that were still in the Bronze Rank after all these years…

Noah thought about the plight of all Blessed as he continued absorbing the Peak Iron Cores, spending the entire morning doing so as he only regained his bearings in the afternoon.

This was because as he was in the process of absorbing another Core, he found out that no energy was flowing into his body anymore.

"Hmmm?"

Only then did he rise from the bed as he checked his body, seeing his muscles tout as they vibrated with strength, each part of his body screaming out with power!

PEAK Iron Rank- achieved!

THRUUM!

He released a burst of strength from his strong body as the bed below him creaked, rising up and staring at himself in front of the mirror while he admired the grand visage of muscles.

Wow.

The toned body he never thought he would have in his wildest dreams could be seen in the mirror, his hands tracing over the six packs that he thought was a mere dream!

Didn't one have to do a lot of cardio and control their diet if they ever wanted something like this?

In this Ethereal Realm, he just had to absorb the Cores his Idle Gaming System provided for him as his body would be sculpted to perfection along the way!

"Ah…!"