Ritchie spoke with great confidence about his goal.


    Both Jeremy and the ss-change goddess Janna were quite satisfied with Ritchie''s determination. With a smile on her face, Janna said, "Hurry and take action! The sooner you clear the awakening instance, the better your awakening talent will be."


    Ritchie nodded enthusiastically, and together with Jeremy, they left for the next phase of their journey.


    Once they returned to the real world, Ritchie couldn''t stop staring at the awakening key in his hand.


    "Stop staring at it," Jeremy said, sensing Ritchie''s distraction. "The awakening key is only for opening the awakening instance. Once you use it, the key will disappear. What you need to focus on now is figuring out how to clear the awakening instance."


    Jeremy quickly reminded him, though his concern was clear.


    Jeremy couldn''t help but feel uneasy about Ritchie''s readiness. He still wasn''t entirely sure that Ritchie would be able to handle the challenges awaiting him in the awakening instance.


    Ritchie nodded, slightly distracted from his thoughts. "You''re right. I should focus on how to clear the awakening instance. I know a bit about the one we''ve chosen. It''s filled with shadows. Almost all the monsters inside are in the form of shadows. So, I''ll just need to bring items that enhance my shadow maniption skills. I don''t think I''ll need to carry many other survival tools or weapons. In this instance, I''m not expecting to face too many serious threats."


    Ritchie''s confidence was evident as he spoke. He waspletely sure of himself, but Jeremy couldn''t shake the feeling that Ritchie was being overconfident.


    "Don''t underestimate the danger," Jeremy warned, his tone stern. "The instance we''ve found may be ideal for you, and it may be only level 51, but once it bes an awakening instance, its difficulty will increase dramatically. You need to be prepared for a tough battle."


    Jeremy''s words seemed to prate Ritchie''s arrogance, and for a moment, he took them seriously. But only for a moment.


    "I understand," Ritchie said, though his confidence remained unshaken. "I''ll get ready as quickly as possible. I feel like I can enter the awakening instance tomorrow. I''m sure my actions will lead to sess. I''ll clear it andplete my awakening in no time."


    Though Ritchie had be slightly more thoughtful, he still didn''t fully appreciate the gravity of the situation. In his mind, he believed that clearing the awakening instance would be a quick and easy task. Jeremy, however, could not shake the feeling that Ritchie was underestimating the challenges ahead, and he knew that no matter how well-prepared Ritchie thought he was, things might not go as smoothly as he hoped.


    At this point, Jeremy felt a bit helpless.


    He had already warned Ritchie numerous times, and if Ritchie ultimately failed, there would be nothing Jeremy could do to help.


    After a night of rest, Jeremy and Ritchie set off.


    At the entrance to the chosen instance, Jeremy gave Ritchie a few final reminders.


    "Make sure you make full use of your shadow control skills inside the instance. If you use them well, you''ll be able to clear the awakening instance," Jeremy advised. "And if you encounter danger in the awakening instance, don''t panic. You must trust yourself and stay calm. Don''t let yourself fall into a state of confusion. If you feel you can''t clear the awakening instance, just ask for my help. I can enter the instance with the help of the ss-change goddess Janna. But, in that case, the awakening instance will be a normal instance, and your awakening will failpletely."


    Jeremy had made all the preparations.


    He didn''t believe Ritchie would necessarily seed, so he had prepared a fallback n for him.


    Ritchie nodded.


    "I understand! Thank you so much for everything you''ve done for me! I''ll give it my all! If I run into something I can''t handle, I''ll definitely ask for your help."


    After saying these words, Ritchie walked up to the entrance of the awakening instance.


    Ritchie took out the awakening key, which was glowing with a strange light.


    The moment the key appeared, the instance before Ritchie transformed into the awakening instance.


    Ritchie looked at Jeremy onest time.


    Jeremy nodded, signaling Ritchie to go ahead.


    Taking a deep breath, Ritchie stepped into the awakening instance.


    As Ritchie entered the awakening instance, Jeremy immediately arrived at the space where the ss-change goddess Janna was.


    "You''ve finallye. Do you have so little faith in yourpanion?" The ss-change goddess Janna asked, her voice full of concern. "Do you think he will definitely fail?"


    "I do have faith in mypanion, of course," Jeremy replied. "But I also have to be prepared for the worst. You told me before that you can teleport me into any awakening instance at any time, right?"


    Jeremy asked directly.


    The ss-change goddess Janna nodded.


    "I can indeed do that," the ss-change goddess Janna replied, "but if I do, the awakening instance will turn back into a regr instance. Do you really want yourpanion''s first awakening to failpletely?"


    "Of course, I don''t want mypanion''s awakening to fail," Jeremy answered firmly. "But I also can''t ept mypanion falling in the instance."


    For Jeremy, the life of hispanions was far more important than anything else.


    It was true that hispanions could offer him help, and he appreciated that, but he would never abandon apanion just because they couldn''t provide help. Even ire and Emma, who had never been particrly strong, had never been left behind.


    Ritchie, in particr, was someone Jeremy could never abandon.


    The ss-change goddess Janna was slightly moved by Jeremy''s response.


    "It seems you and yourpanions have a very strong bond," she said, her tone softening a little. "But don''t worry. If he runs into real trouble, I can pull him out of the instance. You won''t need to go in yourself."


    The ss-change goddess Janna had the power to transform an awakening instance back into a regr one at any time. She could also erase all the monsters inside.


    However, doing so came at a cost. Every time she interfered, her strength would be slightly diminished. And given her current weakened state, she was reluctant to intervene in the awakening instance unless absolutely necessary.


    Jeremy nodded, his expression unreadable.


    He and the ss-change goddess Janna were both watching Ritchie''s every move.


    At that moment, Ritchie had only just entered the awakening instance.


    He hadn''t encountered any particrly powerful monsters yet, but even the weaker ones were already posing a certain level of threat.


    The monsters in the awakening instance were all specially enhanced, making them more dangerous than normal. The shadow monsters in Ritchie''s awakening instance had also gained a form of resistance to control, which severely limited the effectiveness of Ritchie''s shadow maniption skills.


    "This seems a bit worse than I thought," the ss-change goddess Janna said, her voice tinged with concern. "His performance isn''t as good as I expected. But I still think he has a chance to clear the awakening instance."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Jeremy nodded, his expression unchanged.


    Jeremy had no intention of speaking. He simply wanted to watch Ritchie''s every move.


    Inside the instance, Ritchie also felt an overwhelming pressure.


    He suddenly realized that he couldn''t even defeat the monsters that were lower level than him. This seemed almost impossible for Ritchie toprehend.


    "Why are these lower-level monsters able to pose a threat to me? Is this the additional difficulty of the awakening instance? If I had known this would happen, I should have prepared more thoroughly," Ritchie thought, already feeling a bit of regret.


    But no matter what, he wasn''t going to quit easily. He felt that Jeremy had already provided him with a lot of help, and he couldn''t just give up now.


    Ritchie took a deep breath. After calming himself, he decided to continue deeper into the awakening instance.


    Though Ritchie was nervous, there were two people who were even more anxious than him: the ss-change goddess Janna and Jeremy.


    Not far ahead of Ritchie, hidden in a ce he couldn''t see, was a very powerful monster.


    Ritchie was getting closer to that powerful enemy.


    At this moment, both ss-change goddess Janna and Jeremy were silent. Their hearts were filled with anxiety.


    They both could tell that Ritchie was absolutely not strong enough to defeat the powerful monster ahead.


    Step by step, Ritchie moved closer to an enemy that he stood almost no chance against.


    Just as Ritchie was about to step into the enemy''s attack range, he suddenly stopped.


    He sensed the danger around him.


    Ritchie had no idea what kind of danger surrounded him. He cautiously scanned his surroundings, instinctively taking a step back.


    It was because he took that step back that he narrowly avoided the most dangerous situation.


    When ss-change goddess Janna and Jeremy saw this, they finally let out a sigh of relief.


    "It seems yourpanion still has enough sharp awareness to sense danger. If he had taken one more step forward, he wouldn''t have been able to clear the awakening instance," ss-change goddess Janna remarked with a hint of admiration.


    Jeremy nodded slowly.


    Although he felt a little more at ease than before, he knew it was still too early to rx. After all, Ritchie had yet to clear the awakening instance.


    "I hope Ritchie''s performance improves from here on out. If he can''t clear this awakening instance, the next chance won''te until a week from now," Jeremy said with a hint of concern in his voice.