Ais quickly caught up to Bell, then even moved ahead to block his path.
"What exactly did you mean by what you said earlier?"
Bell simply smiled at her.
"It means exactly what I said. If you don't quite understand it, you can go home and ask Vice Captain Riveria."
Ais bit down on her lip, annoyed at how slow her thoughts felt. She couldn't analyze things the way Riveria or Finn could. She could clearly sense that what Bell said held a huge implication, but she couldn't put it into words.
And she absolutely couldn't let him walk away now—otherwise she knew she'd miss something important.
"Wait!"
"You said if I keep pursuing speed, my balance will collapse. What balance?"
Bell, stopped once more, didn't seem irritated. He listened to her question, then gave a straightforward answer.
"An adventurer's growth rate is directly proportional to their natural talent. The Falna System accelerates that growth—it gives adventurers a shortcut toward getting stronger. But even with Falna accelerating your growth, that speed is still tied closely to your innate talent and your current level.
"For someone with your talent, you probably didn't feel much difficulty leveling or raising your Status before Lv.3, right?"
"Yeah."
It wasn't bragging—Ais truly hadn't felt any major pressure before Lv.3. Even when she faced stronger enemies, she overcame them bit by bit.
"And the jump to Lv.4 wasn't that hard either."
Bell nodded lightly.
"For ordinary talents, not feeling pressure before Lv.3 is already impressive. The fact that you still felt little pressure even at Lv.4 shows how fast your early growth period was. But once you hit Lv.5, everything changes."
For adventurers, Lv.2 is one major hurdle. The next is Lv.5. These two bottlenecks block more than ninety percent of adventurers.
Those stuck at Lv.2 are the ones who refuse to grow.
Those stuck at Lv.5 are the ones whose talent and abilities simply aren't enough.
On the grand stage of Orario, only adventurers who overcome both hurdles can truly be called "strong." If you can't get past them, you remain just an ordinary adventurer.
But once someone breaks past Lv.5, that's when their true talent gets tested.
"From Lv.5 onward, every adventurer hits a massive bottleneck. Trying to push further severely slows down growth, because every step forward demands enormous amounts of experience."
"The more talented an adventurer is, the easier it is for them to gain experience, and the higher their growth rate and potential cap. But precisely because their potential cap is higher, their growth becomes harder compared to those with lower ceilings at the same level."
Bell then pointed at Ais.
"You're undoubtedly the kind of highly gifted adventurer with a very high ceiling—someone who needs far more experience to grow.
"If you feel like you're progressing slowly now, it's because you're different from the rest."
"'The rest'" was naturally referring to the other members of Loki Familia.
"The 'High Novice' has been growing quickly lately because his talent ceiling is low. If I remember correctly, when he hit Lv.4, his total Status was around 600."
"Mhm."
Ais nodded. She cared about these things, so she kept track of that information.
"Then pay attention to how fast he grows now. Originally, he didn't have much room left to grow at all, but the familia's environment pushed him up to Lv.5. Even so, his maximum Status at Lv.5 will probably only reach around 500."
Such cold words.
For an adventurer, once something like that was said, it basically defined their entire future.
After all, reaching 500 in a single stat is the standard requirement for a level-up. If a Lv.5 adventurer could only reach that mark, then dreaming of moving into Lv.6 was almost hopeless.
At this point, Bell could directly categorize that "High Novice." If his upper limit at Lv.5 was only around 500, then even if he somehow managed to enter Lv.6, he would be the weakest kind.
Ais's brows knit tightly together.
"Only around 500?"
As a veteran adventurer, she knew exactly how dangerous that number was. If not a single stat exceeded 500, you didn't even qualify to level up. That was a massive problem.
Raul being estimated to cap out at around 500 was already an alarming sign.
"Surprised?"
"Mhm."
Ais didn't deny her shock, but she couldn't help wondering how Bell had reached such a conclusion.
"Raul… really only around 500? Could you be mistaken?"
Bell shook his head slightly.
"I'm not like you. I have a very deep awareness of the Falna System. That's why I can say this with certainty. A lack of personal ability can be covered up a little by relying on the familia, but a lack of innate talent? That's something you can't just muddle your way through."
"Excelia can be earned simply by keeping up with a strong familia. Even if someone can't accumulate enough Excelia on their own strength, a powerful familia can drag one or two members upward through its collective power. But personal ability values are the clearest reflection of an adventurer's natural talent. If your base stats don't measure up, no amount of luck or support will push you further."
"Which is why, no matter how hard ordinary adventurers struggle, their limit will almost always stop at Lv.4."
A "High Novice" represents exactly that: the ceiling of an ordinary person. As levels increase, the upper limit on their ability values starts constraining their growth more and more.
Reality was simply that cruel.
At the end of the day, the Falna System only accelerates an adventurer's growth. It doesn't change talent. It doesn't let someone with insufficient talent continue pushing forward just because they want to.
Reaching 500 in any stat is the baseline requirement. If you don't meet it—even if you've earned the Excelia—you still can't level up.
To Bell, that "High Novice" was already standing on a razor's edge. No matter how much effort he put in, whether he could climb any higher at all would come down to sheer luck.
...
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