Chapter 388: Upgrades [1] Noah nodded his head slowly, processing everything Lola had described with careful deliberation. The political landscape of Esta had been completely reshaped during his brief absence—kingdoms had fallen, alliances had shattered, and the balance of power had shifted dramatically in Darian’s favor. The dark elf king had executed a brutally efficient conquest that left him controlling vast territories and commanding overwhelming military force. After listening to everything, Noah decided to take a measured approach for the time being. Although he had reached Master Rank and possessed capabilities that would make him formidable against most grandmaster opponents, realistically only he and Lola could effectively fight against the entire dark elven kingdom’s assembled military might. Leo, despite being a capable familiar, simply wasn’t strong enough to deal with grandmaster-level elves. At master rank, he would be cannon fodder in conflicts operating at that tier—useful for scouting or dealing with lower threats, but unable to meaningfully contribute to battles against peak practitioners. The math was simple and sobering. Darian commanded multiple grandmaster-level subordinates who had proven their coordination during the failed shop assault. He had conquered the light elf territories and likely absorbed or subjugated their remaining military forces. And he maintained active alliances with at least six orc grandmasters who had demonstrated their willingness to commit overwhelming violence on his behalf. That represented numerical superiority so vast that even Noah and Lola’s combined firepower couldn’t overcome it through direct confrontation. They would be swarmed, worn down through attrition, and eventually killed despite their individual prowess. So like any sane person facing impossible odds would do, Noah was going to focus on getting stronger first. He would power up massively, leverage every advantage the system provided, train until his capabilities exceeded anything Darian could field, and only then think seriously about taking revenge against those who had killed him and threatened everyone he cared about. Rushing in now would just result in his permanent death, and the system had made it abundantly clear that he no longer had the luxury of resurrection. One fatal mistake would end everything forever. "We need to get stronger before we can do anything about Darian," Noah stated firmly, meeting Lola’s eyes. "I know you want revenge—so do I. But throwing ourselves at his entire military force right now would just get us killed." Lola’s expression showed she understood the tactical reality despite her obvious desire to make Darian suffer for what he’d done. "What do you propose we do instead?" "Train," Noah said simply. "The shop has been upgraded after processing the teardrop’s energy. I want to check what improvements have been made." Now that he mentioned it, Noah had noticed that the shop was actually bigger than before. The main floor had expanded subtly, providing more space between display shelves and creating room for additional inventory. The aisles felt wider and more comfortable to navigate. The second floor felt more spacious as well, though the basic layout remained familiar. Apart from the increased square footage, aesthetically the shop hadn’t changed much. The same warm lighting created welcoming atmosphere. The same comfortable ambiance made it feel like sanctuary rather than mere commercial space. The same sense of absolute security pervaded every corner. Is there any other significant difference, System? Noah asked mentally, curious about what other changes might have occurred during the dimensional upgrade beyond the obvious spatial expansion. [Yes, Host. The Idle Training Room has been significantly upgraded. You might want to investigate those improvements personally.] A subtle smile formed on Noah’s face as excitement bubbled up despite the serious circumstances surrounding them. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎 He had been using the Idle Room extensively before the tournament to accelerate his skill development, and any upgrades to that incredibly valuable resource would dramatically accelerate his advancement toward the power levels needed to challenge Darian. "Follow me," Noah said to Lola, heading toward the training room with renewed purpose. Lola followed close behind, curious about what Noah had so suddenly energized after the grim strategic discussion. They crossed the shop floor and Noah pushed open the door to the Idle Training Room. He immediately felt the difference—the space inside had expanded considerably, easily triple its previous size. But more importantly, the ambient mana concentration had intensified noticeably, making the air itself feel thick with power that would accelerate any magical training conducted within. Noah activated the system interface to review the updated parameters, and information appeared in his vision. [Idle Room - Upgraded] [Time Dilation Effect: Train at 5x normal speed. Eight hours of idle training time equals forty hours of training experience relative to real-world progression.] Reading through that first line, Noah felt extremely pleased and impressed. The previous version of the room operated at roughly 2x normal speed, making training twice as efficient as normal practice. Having its effectiveness more than double meant that training his skills would be exponentially faster than before. [Time Restrictions: Maximum 8 hours of use per day per individual. Current usage: 0/8 hours remaining.] The daily duration allowance had doubled from four hours to eight. That represented a massive increase in training volume he could complete each day while still maintaining other activities. [Costs per hour of real-world time: Levels 1-5: $1,000 per hour Levels 6-10: $50,000 per hour Levels 11-20: $100,000 per hour Levels 21-25: $1,000,000 per hour] Noah’s eyes widened at the final tier. A new leveling stage had been added—the Idle Room was no longer limited to Level 20 but now supported training all the way to Level 25, which Noah believed represented peak grandmaster rank or possibly even the threshold to legendary tier. The million-dollar-per-hour cost for that final tier hurt to contemplate, considering that leveling up skills at that stage might take dozens or even hundreds of hours of training. But thinking about the power he would wield at Level 25 made the expense seem reasonable. With his daily revenue exceeding two million dollars, he could technically afford two hours per day at maximum tier. It would be sustainable if expensive.