"Solid growth."
Loki patted Tsuna's back and handed him the freshly stamped slip.
Taking the paper, Sawada Tsunayoshi glanced over it and immediately understood.
1101 is my cap in everything except Magic. Pushing past that will be too hard—and not worth the cost.
Simply raising parameters by a few points wasn't the key; the key was whether he could keep "breaking through."
After grasping the essence of the Falna, Tsuna understood that the line between an ordinary prodigy and a once-in-an-era prodigy was whether one could break one's own limit.
That so-called limit was the 999 benchmark defined by the Falna.
As long as you breached it, even a few points beyond were more valuable than the entire 999 piled up before.
Like his Magic: after reaching 2001, it hadn't moved. That didn't mean his growth had stalled; it meant the Falna had hit its measuring ceiling.
Beyond the measuring range, the Falna could only record "breakthrough values."
And once you'd outgrown what the Falna could measure, that meant it was time to "level up."
Tsuna studied the slip a moment longer, then sought clarity.
"Lady Loki, is the Falna's 999 cap truly the absolute limit?"
"Hm? What are you getting at?"
"I mean, my Magic never got stuck at 999. Last time it jumped straight to 2001 and never budged. That shouldn't mean my ability stopped growing—it should mean that after crossing the defined limit, the Falna can't keep measuring it, right?"
Loki and Astraea understood at once, and Loki spoke first:
"You're saying everyone's upper ceiling isn't the same. For some, the Falna's 999 is their true cap, but for others with special talent, their ceiling exceeds that benchmark."
"Like your four parameters running a flat hundred past the norm—so your real cap's probably 1099—and your Magic ceiling even reaches 1999," she reasoned.
"Makes sense," Loki nodded. The theory held water.
She didn't believe Tsuna's Magic had no room left; in fact, she suspected the headroom was still large.
But since the last update, Magic had been frozen at 2001. Clearly unreasonable—unless the Falna's role was to record a personal ceiling and, after a breakthrough, only the breakthrough band. If so, that "fixed" number was actually logical.
999 was the standard extreme for most. People with a bit of talent could reach it easily, but whether they could go beyond depended on deeper talent and potential in that field.
"This round of training taught us a lot," Loki mused.
"Tiona and Tione broke through in Strength and Endurance; Riveria got huge gains in fields she's not good at—Strength and Endurance; and Tsuna popped off across the board.
Seems the Falna's base cap is 999. Anything past that is already outside its measuring range."
Loki had truly never realized the Falna worked like this.
Truth be told, almost no god in Orario could discover it—you needed a follower who actually exceeded 999 to even see the pattern.
"It's a neat discovery," Loki said, "but it only really helps adventurers with talent, grit, and results."
She figured no other gods in the city—besides her and Astraea—knew it, and few even needed to.
Loki elbowed the goddess beside her, eyes twinkling.
"Astraea, later you could tell your girls what Tsuna figured out—let 'em chew on it."
"Better not. I don't want to put that kind of pressure on Alise and the rest," Astraea replied.
"Eh~ What pressure? They held out in there too, didn't they? If you tell them this, they'll look forward to seeing which of their parameters can break the Falna's cap…"
Astraea hesitated. It would be a jolt—but also a powerful spur.
Whether someone could crack that benchmark probably marked an adventurer's true talent ceiling.
The Amazon sisters in Loki Familia had broken Strength and Endurance but stalled at the top line for Dexterity and Agility—that was a classic example.
While the two goddesses chatted, Tiona and Tione had already crowded in around Tsuna.
"Whoa—Tsuna, you broke through even more than we did," Tiona gaped. She'd thought she and Tione were already incredible, but Tsuna's growth had outstripped them.
"Lots of breakthroughs, sure, but…"
Tione tapped Tsuna's back with a fingertip. His body trembled like it had been shocked. She sighed softly.
"Knew it. You're not going to summon your rabbit? Planning to pass out?"
"Muscle pain is part of getting stronger," she added. "Best not to rush to heal it—slowing it down is better for reinforcement."
Tsuna shook his head.
The Healing Rabbit could scrub the pain quickly, but this wasn't battle, and there was no urgent danger. Pain from training didn't need to be erased; the tearing and rebuilding were part of the process.
"We won't be using that training space again right away anyway. Keeping this state is fine."
"Eh—so that's a thing," Tione murmured. It was the first she'd heard of it.
"So there's no quick way to get your body back in shape?"
"It's not like there isn't."
Proper post-exercise stretching and massage were the best ways to speed recovery.
But when Tsuna pictured Tiona and Tione's raw strength, he abandoned the massage idea immediately.
"I'll handle it after I get back to my room and rest," he said.
"That so?" Tione could tell he was holding something back. It felt like he was being a little too polite with them.
(End of Chapter)
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