NOVEL NEXT Chapter 443: Growth Slowdown
At the moment, four people were sitting around the table—three women and one man. Of course, all three women were sitting close around him, looking at him with smiles.
Daniel let out a sigh. Thankfully, it had been a few minutes since his sister and mother had finally let go of him after hugging him to death.
For the first time, he felt like even hugs could kill someone. Still, he preferred not to run away. After all, he hadn't been here for a while, and just from their mood, he could tell they really missed him.
No lie, he had missed them terribly too. He had wanted to come sooner, but he couldn't just drop everything he was doing. On top of that, he had been worried that if he came back early, he might not be able to return to the Celestial Domain when he needed to.
His eyes landed on Tiana. Thankfully, this girl wasn't like the other two. She was more considerate, only giving him a short hug before pulling away.
"What have you been doing all this time? Do you know how much we missed you?" Liana asked with a sigh.
"Sorry, Mother, but I was caught up in some things and had to take care of something important." Daniel scratched his head a little awkwardly.
"Well, as long as you're fine, it's okay. You're grown now anyway. I just hope you didn't put yourself in danger."
Daniel's eyes flashed strangely at her words. Dangerous situations? Well… it depended on what you called dangerous.
He had nearly died multiple times, maybe even actually died once or twice. But of course, he wasn't about to tell his mother that.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'm careful. If I ever end up in a dangerous situation, I'll just run away."
"..."
"Pfft, hahaha~!" Alice burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" Daniel frowned. Did he say something funny? Every time he talked with his sister, he felt like his brain cells were dying thanks to her low IQ.
"No, no. It's just that whenever you lie, it's way too obvious." Alice stopped laughing and said mockingly.
"My lying is obvious?" For a second, he thought he'd misheard. He couldn't even count how many times he'd put on an act and lied in front of people. None of them ever noticed a thing—not even the smartest ones. And this girl had the guts to question his skill at lying?
Of course, even he knew his tone had given him away. He hadn't been trying to lie, just to hide the truth. Anyone could tell he wasn't even trying.
"Calm down," Liana sighed. She also noticed her son's lie, and it was clear he had probably put himself in dangerous situations.
"What I said was more of a request. I know you won't listen and won't follow it anyway. After all, your father was the same. He'd say things to reassure me, but his actions were always different."
"Sorry, Mother," Daniel sighed, feeling a little guilty. But honestly, what else could he do? With all his trump cards and skills, could he really even be considered in danger?
Even if he died, with the number of Fallen he had, he could come back to life hundreds of times. Even against powerful enemies, he had ways to escape—or even win.
So technically, he wasn't lying.
"No need to apologize. I'm not dumb enough to think you can keep getting stronger without putting yourself in danger. Let me correct myself—just be careful." Liana gave him a small smile.
"I understand. No need to worry. No one can kill your son." He answered with confidence and a grin.
Then his thoughts turned to his father. Truthfully, he really wanted to meet this man. He didn't even know if he was dead or alive.
His mother had never properly explained what had happened to his father and always tried to avoid the subject. Maybe he'd have to talk with her about it seriously someday.
"Anyway, what about you two? From the looks of it, you haven't improved much since the last time I saw you. Don't tell me you've been slacking off?" Daniel turned to the two girls with a serious expression.
"Brother, we haven't been slacking! We've been training really hard, but the effect of the training has dropped a lot!" Alice panicked at his stern gaze.
"Alice is right. We're training really hard—both at home and at the guild. But our growth speed has slowed a lot. I even feel like I've hit a wall in cultivating and understanding the four elements." Tiana explained quickly, a little nervous too.
"Oh?" Daniel frowned and used his spiritual senses to check them. But honestly, he didn't have enough experience with this stuff to know what the problem was.
So, he reached out mentally to some of his Fallen who were more knowledgeable. They should be able to answer better than him.
Zaimorn was the first to respond. After receiving his Lord's command, he carefully examined the two girls' bodies.
As a human and a false rank S himself, he was the best option among the Fallen. Elarion was there too, along with others, but most of them weren't human or didn't have enough knowledge in this area.
Soon, Zaimorn explained the reason their growth had stagnated. The cause was actually pretty obvious.
'I see. Thanks.'
'It's my honor, my Lord,' Zaimorn replied with deep respect before his awareness returned to the spiritual sea.
"The reason your growth has stalled is pretty clear."
"Really? What is it?" both girls asked eagerly.
"It's because of your rank. You've reached the peak of your current rank and can't progress further. At this point, you should already be among the strongest rank F Awakened." Daniel paused a little before continuing.
Their situation was exactly like when he had reached rank C. Back then, he'd also hit the peak of his power, and no matter what he did, he couldn't get stronger without ranking up.
He'd been lucky to get the Undying Soul of Dragon and the Indestructible Death body, which allowed him to break through his limits.
But these two weren't that lucky. Opportunities like that basically didn't exist in this world.
Both of their faces fell. They had suspected it but didn't want to accept such a reality.
"Is there really no way? Do we really have to stay this weak until we turn eighteen, unable to get stronger at all?" Alice muttered bitterly, clearly thinking the same thing Tiana was.