CF CH 62 (Patreon)

[Aether is the energy hidden from the visible eyes. An important component of the fabric of the universe. Initially, the energy was simply called Dark Matter but one of the Kings judged this did not have enough flair. So it was called Aether.]

Noah chuckled, this was definitely something he could imagine one of his friends doing.

[The stats Aether reflects the maximum capacity your body can hold. It’s judged to be the most important out of all the stats. Followed by Endurance for the simple reason that higher Endurance means one can hold even more Aether even if beyond your initial capacity.]

[Control over Aether means control over phenomena beyond the common man. It’s possible to manipulate the force of the universe at will.]

Noah nodded, remembering how Dorothy could read Fate, stop time, and even teleport, while Omid had been able to create and control fire.

Compared to them, Noah's control was quite crude and all he could do was strengthen his body.

Do you have any way for me to learn some special techniques?

[The host is already holding one such technique. Maxwell demon.]

Huh.

[Opening information about advancement method.]

[The Ouroboros core and the Maxwell demon Technique were created in pair. The core by itself can absorb and devour all forms of energy to strengthen itself. But such absorption is extremely crude and wasteful. By using the technique, one can focus the flux of energy toward specific stats.]

[Finally, once the host reaches Tier 7, the Maxwell Demon will allow you to control Heat.]

I guess I have to stay as a brute for quite some time. So, how exactly do I reach Tier 7?

He finally asked about the situation that had been bothering him. Why was he unable to grow further?

[To advance to Tier 7, it’s necessary for all stats to at least reach Rank S. To Advance to Tier 6, three must reach Rank SS. As for advancing to tier 5 at least two stats must reach SSS. Finally, to reach Tier 4 one stat must reach Ex.]

[Warning: While reaching the next tier after reaching the minimum requirement is possible. It’s advised to reach the SS or SSS in every stat. But if not possible, precedence should be given to Aether and Endurance. Always bring them as high as possible.]

Noah frowned a looked at his stats,

[ Speed: SS-120

     Dexterity: S-99

     Endurance: EX-160

     Strength: SSS-150

     Aether: A-80 』

Does it mean all I need to enter Tier 6 for example is to have Dexterity and Aether reach SS?

He was confused. If so, this would seem a little too easy.

[No. All stats are calculated from F rank after one reaches a new Tier. The previous stats vanish and enter hidden values.]

Show me my hidden values.

[ Speed: 198

     Dexterity: 180

     Endurance: 318

     Strength: 228

     Aether: 25 』

[The hidden value is the culmination of all the stats opened in previous tiers. In this case, Tier 10 and Tier 9.]

Noah groaned a little, his Aether was quite pitiful when compared to his over-stats. But it wasn’t like he couldn’t understand. There was not much he could do about those now.

In short, my full strength is my current stats+my hidden stats. The higher I reach for each tier, the higher my hidden stats and the higher my overall strength. At the moment, rather than mindlessly absorbing energy, I should use Maxwell Demon and then focus said energy on Aether until it reaches S. Did I summarize it well?

[Perfectly.]

Then, in your opinion. When should I reach Tier 7?

[My opinions are based on all the knowledge and patterns I’ve learned. Based on the host's current stats and the existence of an Ex rank, it’s advised to wait until the Host reaches at least SSS in Aether before proceeding. The higher the Tier. More energy is needed to increase stats, so it’s essential to accumulate as much as possible now.]

When you say. More energy…Just how much?

[To reach S rank in any stats when you reach Tier 4 you will have to devour the energy of a few stars.]

Ah…

Noah chuckled helplessly and decided to not think about something like this, now. The scale was so high it made his head hurt.

So let’s see. I have received information about Growth, Advancement, and Stats. I guess, I only have the question about Path left.

In his information panel, those informations were highlighted as such,

 [ Path: Voracity

     Thema: Predation, Adaptation, Evolution]

In essence, he understood what this represented. Voracity was about his ability to devour energy and the Thema represented his innate skills. But he was curious about what the system had to say.

[A Path is the road toward becoming a higher dimensional entity. Paths are congregations of energy, born as manifestations of universal philosophical concepts. Those who believe in and practice the concepts behind a certain path become Pathstriders. Those who create their Path are Pathwalkers .]

[To break through and reach Tier 3. No amount of stats is enough. One needs to create their Path, completely intertwine oneself with that path, and explore its philosophical and physical concepts in their entirety. Becoming the manifestation of the Path and even becoming able to bestow power to those who walk the same path.]

Noah was speechless. He did not expect much from this question, but it seemed like this was the one who brought him the greatest shock.

So, they are gods?

[Gods, demons, devils, and angels as depicted in most legends can all be considered Higher Dimensional Entities.]

Tin did tell him that walking far enough on a path can allow someone to call themselves a god, so to speak. But Noah thought it was a simple exaggeration. In the first place, someone able to destroy a planet alone would already be considered a god.

But it seemed that he had been misunderstanding the situation the whole time.

[Reaching Tier 3 is a true transformation of life. The scale of operation completely changes. This is not a matter of physical prowess or destruction scales. The law of the universe stops binding you, and you can even create new laws.]

The Shadow Queen…She is supposedly Tier 3.

Not only that. The thing Venus fought should also be considered one of those Higher Dimensional Entities. So the two of them were at least Tier 3.

Noah wanted to laugh. The more he learned about the world, the more he realized how truly grand and absurd his goal to become the strongest truly was.

But he did not despair. If others could do it, so could he. If becoming a god was the goal, then he would become one.

Thank you.

The system might not be sentient but Noah did not care. He felt like his head was all cleared up. So many of the questions and confusion he had were cleared up.

There were still many secrets he needed to uncover and many things he needed to understand. But now he was not so clueless.

The knowledge he obtained also made him understand something.

Saving those Mecha cores to sell them is useless.

He needed energy now. As much as possible to reach Tier 7. The Mecha themselves should be worth quite the amount of money, and he could use his part of the bounty to give what he promised to Morgiana if necessary.

Time to train.