Angel, filled with gratitude and emotion, quickly stowed the bottle within his bracelet. This was a valuable item, no less worth than Simos’s bones, and since, for the time being, only the Fire Transmission Demon could possess ghostly flames of hell, this meant it was almost a unique presence among humans.
After placing the bottle into his bracelet, Angel then fervently thanked Night.
Night couldn’t help but give a wry smile, though he didn’t make any comment about it; after all, forging the White Ash Fire Solvent had not taken much effort, and Angel had paid for the materials himself.
“I wonder how things are back at the store,” Angel said after putting away the fire solvent, remembering the other matter since Fafnir had saved him earlier, “Proprietor, may I stay here a bit longer?”
“You may,” Night nodded, then added, “You don’t need to worry about Fafnir. In Lassudral, few could harm her. And there are none who could detain her.”
Hearing this from Night, Angel felt much reassured.
However, thinking back on what had happened earlier, Angel found the whole situation baffling. He didn’t understand why Yadasai suddenly attacked him—there should be no side effects from Nya’s transformation, right? Nya clearly benefited from it, so Yadasai had no reason to be grateful to him, but to go as far as to try and kill him?
Angel shook his head; his main confusion was because they were speaking the ancient Demon Language, which he didn’t understand at all. He would have to wait until he saw Canaan to ask what exactly had happened. He remembered Nya pointing at him before Yadasai immediately attacked him.
It couldn’t be from jealousy, could it? Angel rubbed his temples, utterly puzzled.
At that moment, Night’s gaze, which rarely left his painting, shifted towards the point in the forest south of town where energy was converging.
After a long moment, Night withdrew his gaze, pondered for a while, and then looked at Angel with an odd expression, “The Pannas Succubus, she awakened in your store?”
“Awakening? What awakening?”
Night stretched out a finger and pointed into the air, and suddenly, Phantom Shadow of Nya’s enlarged form appeared out of thin air.
Only then did Angel nod and say, “If this is what Proprietor Night refers to as awakening, then indeed it is.”
Night stared intently at Angel and suddenly seemed to understand why Angel’s earnings came so quickly. Although Abyssal Awakening required one’s own will to take the lead, it was like a fire that spreads across a prairie. Without the source of the fire, it would never ignite. And Angel’s experience trip was that source.
It was no wonder then that so many demons were tirelessly trekking there, drawn by the ocean rhythm that awakened the Pannas Succubus.
Angel, puzzled by Night’s strange look, couldn’t help but ask, “What does Proprietor mean by awakening?”
“Awakening is the moment when Demonic Power breaks through limits, reaching a level of evolutionary leap in life,” he explained.
With Night’s initial explanation, Angel was stunned. Such a leap in life scale was like the difference between a Gargoyle and a Dark Gold Gargoyle; although both were Gargoyles, their strengths were worlds apart.
As Night continued, Angel’s expression grew more and more grave.
Awakening, also called Abyssal Awakening.
It is an awakened state induced by the power of the Abyss. Once awakened, not only does it signify a leap in life scale that Angel had previously understood, it also signifies…the release of Constraints.
Why do Half-Blood Demons rarely reach high magic levels? Why is it so difficult for demons to transcend their hierarchy, with small demons remaining so despite centuries of cultivation?
All these are due to innate constraints of their bloodline.
Compared to humans, demons are born strong and have long lifespans, but they suffer from a disadvantage: difficulty in breaking free from their innate bloodline constraints.
These constraints mean that although their strength is formidable, once they reach their limit, further improvement is tough. Whereas humans may face so-called grand barriers, they too have various methods of breaking through. Demons, however, do not; it is rare for millions of demons to see one break their upper limits.
But nothing is absolute. Demons truly wishing to break beyond their limits do have some methods available.
The most difficult yet effective of these methods is awakening.
Once awakened, the upper limit will be raised indefinitely.
This means that without the constraints of a bloodline limit, Nya’s future is no longer contained within the bounds of an Intermediate Rank demon, and she might even aim for a lordship!