More than He Thinks

Seeing the expression on both of his parents' faces, Jason, who was beside Jean, could not help but stop eating and look his older brother with a face that shouted 'You should probably apologize'. He then said, "Bro, I think you hit a soft spot."

Hearing Jason's words, Jean looked back at him and said, "Well…I was just curious about the rank beside my name. I always see it when I open my stat screen, so you can't blame me for asking about it, right?"

"I don't know, I haven't even entered the World Net," Jason replied to his brother's words as he shrugged his shoulders, before returning back to his meal.

On the other hand, Jean, who had already finished eating, looked at both of his parents, who still had solemn expressions on their faces. His parents looked at each other for a bit, before looking down at the floor again, making Jean think that the information he was trying to obtain from his parents was a secret. With that thought in mind, Jean decided to say, "Mom, Dad, if you don't want to answer my question, it's fi—"

But before Jean could finish his apology, John looked towards Jean and opened his mouth. "Nah, it's fine, it's fine. You deserve to know about it anyway."

After that, John looked at his wife, to which Jane nodded in response before looking at Jean and explaining, "The Cleaner rank thing beside your name is something everyone that uses in the World Net call as the power rank. In short, it acts as the limiter as to how much power you could obtain from the World Net through leveling."

Finally obtaining a response, Jean was quite elated to know the function of the rank beside his name, though he could not help but wonder why Omni was limiting the power one could obtain in the World Net. With that thought in mind, Jean asked, "But why does Omni limit the amount of power one could obtain with ranks? Wasn't the World Net made with the purpose to give people a way to obtain more power?"

"Well…yes." This time, it was John who responded to Jean's question. He went silent for a bit before continuing, "To be honest, we don't know the reason why Omni decided to make power ranks that limit the power one could obtain in the World Net. What we do know is the difference in power between the ranks though."

Continuing from where John left off, Jane started to explain, "The Cleaner rank is the first power rank in the World Net, the rank where everyone starts off in. Once you reach the maximum level possible for the Cleaner rank, you can exhibit abilities at the level of an elite. May it be in sports, martial arts, intelligence tests and so on, you would be considered an all-around genius with this level of ability in the earlier eras."

"As for the rank after Cleaner, it's the Devourer rank." After Jane explained the Cleaner rank, John decided to cut in and explain the rank after that. "As long as you break through this power rank, even if you're only at Level 1, you would still have around twice the power of a peak level Cleaner rank user."

Hearing this, Jean's eyes could not help but widen as he asked, "That much?"

"Yeah, not lying," John nodded as he replied. He then continued, "Once you reach the peak level of the Devourer rank though, that's when the difference between a single rank becomes evident. By reaching the peak level of the Devourer rank, you'd be able to exhibit abilities beyond what is possible for a human, superhuman level basically. You'd be able to run as fast as a supercar, punch with a force of a mountain crushing down on you, memorize multiple books and easily recall whenever you want, and so on. The gap in power between a single rank is quite absurd if you'd ask me."

Hearing the difference between a Cleaner rank user and a Devourer rank user, Jean could not help but think about the difference between the Devourer rank and the rank after that. Eager to know the rank after that, Jean asked the two, "What about the rank after that?"

"Uhh…" At this moment, John and Jane looked at each other before looking at their son as they shook their heads. Not long after, Jane replied to his son's question, saying, "To be honest son, we don't know much about the rank after Devourer. It was only due to how long we've been using the World Net that we were able to obtain information regarding the next rank. "

"What we can tell you though is the name of the next rank, that we're certain of," John continued where his wife left off, before adding, "The name of the next rank is the Slayer rank."

"Cleaner, Devourer, then Slayer," Jean muttered to himself, committing the names of the ranks, as well as their differences, to his memory. At this point, he was quite satisfied with the information he had obtained from his parents. Nevertheless, the expression on his parents' faces from a while ago could not help but linger in his mind. While thinking about whether he should ask about it or not, he looked at Jason beside him, who had his eyes twinkle like multiple stars in the sky.

Not long after, Jean scratched his head for a bit before deciding to ask the two, "So the rank beside my name is called a power rank, now I know. Anyways, why were you hesitating on giving me this information? It seems like this information is very well known, unless…"

Just as Jean was about to continue talking, John let out a sigh before looking at Jane, who was looking at him concurrently. Jane could not help but look at John with a hint of worry as she asked, "Are you sure?"

"Trust me on this one, hon," John replied to his wife's question with a light smile. "You don't have to worry about a thing."

After that, he looked at his son and said with a serious expression, "The reason why we hesitated to tell you this a while ago is that…"

Hearing that his suspicions were finally going to be cleared, he could not help but clench his fists in glee…only to loosen as a grin appeared on his father's face not long after.

"Well…you'll have to reach Level 50 to find that out." As he said this, John let out a light chuckle, while Jane let out a soft sigh of relief. As for Jason, who had finally finished eating, he could not help but say, "And I thought I'd find out before I entered the World Net."

"Sorry son, you'll have to reach the same level as well to find out," John looked at his younger son Jason with a slight grin. He then looked back at Jean, who had an expression of defeat on his face, before saying, "Don't be so glum. Think of it as motivation."

Hearing his father's words, Jean let out a sigh before saying, "Yeah, I guess I could think of it as motivation."

After that, Jean stood up and gather all of the plates he and his family members ate out of before starting to wash the dishes. Alongside this, his brother Jason decided to tidy up the dining table while his mother and father went ahead and placed the leftover dishes in small bowls to put into the refrigerator for tomorrow.

While all of them were doing household chores, Jean, who was in the middle of washing dishes, could not help but look at his father, who was grabbing a few bowls from a cupboard, and ask, "Dad, are we still going to do that later?"

"Hm?" Hearing his name being called, John turned his head to look at Jean to process what his son said before nodding. He then said, "The big boss of Azure Forest? Yeah, we're still going to hunt that later."

"Oh? You two are actually going to hunt the boss of Azure Forest?" Jane, who was in the midst of placing the leftover dishes in the refrigerator, could not help but ask after hearing what the two were talking about. "How about I join you two later?"

"Mom is going to join us?" Hearing that his mom wanted to join them, he could not help but imagine how strong his mother was when compared to his father. This thought could not help but make him excited for later.

"I'm so jealous…" Jason could not help but say as he continued to clean the dining table with a cleaning beam. "Can't time move faster so I can finally enter the World Net?"

In response to this, John, Jean, and Jane laughed at Jason's words, bringing a lively atmosphere to the household of the Darke family.

…

Eventually, all of them finished what they did, going to their separate rooms not long after.

Bang!

Slamming his door shut in excitement, Jean could not help but lay down on his bed with elation. He was finally going to see his father's full power. Although he had an estimate as to how strong his father actually was with the show of power he did a few hours ago, that was just a part of his father's full power. By the sound of it, his father wasn't going to hold back.

"Not only that, I'll also be hunting the boss of the Azure Forest," Jean muttered to himself as he closed his eyes. "I wonder what kind of items and equipment drop from it?"

After that, he muttered the word 'Enter' for him to enter the World Net, with his Net Actualizer transforming his body into ones and zeroes not long after. A few seconds later, he was back at the World Net, at the place he was at before he left the World Net.

"Hmm…" While adjusting his body to the World Net, he could not help but look at his surroundings and mutter, "It seems that when I enter the World Net, I spawn at the place I left from. Good to know."

Whoosh!

Not long after, two holographic screens appeared in front of his field of vision, bringing a light smile to his face.

'Welcome back to the World Net, Tenebris.'

'Your friend Xx_SilverAxe47_xX is online.'

"I still can't help but cringe at dad's name," Jean muttered inwardly before removing the holographic screens in front of him. He then went ahead and sat down on the boulder behind him, before going ahead and contacting his dad. Not long after, a connection was made between the two, with a holographic screen with his dad in it appearing in front of his field of vision.

"I'm heading to the Azure Forest as we speak." At the very instant the two of them were connected, John said to his son while the landscape behind him was quickly changing.

"I'm at the boulder I usually sit on to allocate my stats," Jean nodded before replying to his father's words. Not long after, he could not help but ask, "Speaking of which, is mom coming to the Azure Forest as well?"

"Yeah, she said she had something to do in Halus City, but she'll arrive at the forest not long after I come and meet you," John replied to his son's question, before adding, "Anyways, I'll end the call here for now. Give me a few minutes or so and I'll see you there."

"Got it," Jean nodded in response, before adding, "Stay safe."

A light smile appeared on John's face before the connection between them had cut off, leaving Jean on his own as he waited for his father and mother to arrive at the Azure Forest.

"Hmm…should I enter the Azure Forest before them and grind some experience?" After a minute or so since Jean ended his call with his father, this thought could not help but linger in his mind. Although he knew that both of them were pretty strong, it would still take a while for them to arrive at the Azure Forest thanks to the distance between areas. In the end, he decided to just wait for them.

…

After a couple more minutes, Jean, who had been playing with a few pebbles on the ground while waiting, heard a loud breeze coming from a certain direction, prompting him to look at the origin of the sound. At the very instant he did, he could see a man wearing silver armor get closer and closer to him. Seeing this, a light smile appeared on Jean's face as he shouted, "Dad, you're here!"

"Hahaha!" In response, John laughed out loud before saying, "I told you it'll only take me a few minutes!"

After around ten seconds or so, John had arrived in front of Jean, sitting on a boulder that was near Jean. At this point, the two were only waiting for Jean's mother to come in order for them to enter the Azure Forest and fight the big boss. The two waited for a couple of minutes in silence before starting to talk about the plan they were going to execute when fighting against the big boss of the Azure Forest.

"Dad, what is the big boss of the Azure Forest like?" Jean could not help but ask as his father explained the plan to him.

"Well, in short, the big boss is a larger wolf that's more ferocious, powerful, and deft," John responded to his son's question, before adding, "Not only that, the big boss also has a few skills in its arsenal. Don't worry though, these skills are pretty easy to dodge."

"I see…" Jean replied as a thought lingered in his mind. Not long after, he asked his father regarding this thought.

"What kind of items could you get from the big boss?"

"To be honest, it's been a long time since I've fought against the big boss," John had a slightly apologetic expression on his face as he looked at his son. "I'm sorry I can't tell you."

"It's fine, dad. I understand," Jean replied to his father's words, before saying, "Anyways, mom sure is taking a lot of ti—"

Just as Jean was about to say that his mother was taking quite a while to arrive, a person manifested out of thin air in front of them, slightly shocking Jean. Nevertheless, Jean could not help but look at this person quite closely, becoming entranced by the person's beauty. Crimson red hair that went past the shoulders, rosy red lips, as well as crimson red irises, this complimented the near perfect face of this woman, as well as the red dress she wore.

The woman noticed that Jean was looking at her in a slight daze, eliciting a light chuckle from her. After that, she turned around to look at John, who was behind her. She then said, "I bought the things you told me to buy. Are your skills ready?"

"Yeah, they are. You don't have to worry about a thing." In response, John stood up and replied to the woman's question with a smile. On the other hand, the conversation between the two could not help but leave Jean confused, looking at his father before asking, "Dad, who's this beautiful woman you invited?"

In response to Jean's question, John, as well as the woman, could not help but laugh. Eventually, John responded to his son's question, saying, "You can't tell? That's your mother!"

"…" Thanks to his father's response, Jean was left at a loss for words, rubbing his eyes a few times to see if he was dreaming. Eventually, he let out a short sound.

"Eh?"