Once Tin finished his long explanation,about the importance of fashion in history and nature, Noah had a distinct feeling that his ears were bleeding. He should have known better than to question the talkative robot. He had the misfortune of knowing someone similar in the distant past, after all— Juno of the Scorpius constellation.

She was a woman with many flaws, one of which being her extreme jealousy which was downright unhealthy. It was quite fitting, to be honest, given her name. But she was also one who gave great importance to beauty and fashion.

When dealing with people like her, Tin being the latest example, it was necessary for one to know the boundaries, limitations that should never be crossed and words that should never be uttered.

“I apologize. I shouldn’t have denied your passion.”

“Oh…?” Tin exclaimed, surprise evident in his tone, as he heard Noah apologize. The surprise didn’t last long though as Tin gave him a low chuckle before bowing with the elegance of a British royalty, “I apologize as well. I can be… let’s say a little heated when it comes to a certain obsession of mine. I do recognize that few people share my love for fashion and style.”

Tin shook his head and sighed ruefully, a hint of lament in his eyes, “Well, I would understand if you wish to put an end to this outing. I will send your armor to you later on and link you with our most competent staff to dish out a mecha for you. As I have said before, we may not be the best but we will do our utmost to satisfy your needs.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t mind. I think people with clear likes and dislikes are always interesting.” Noah waved his hand dismissively, before responding in an amiable tone, “Also, if I am going to fight in power armor, then I definitely want it to look as good as possible. Though I have a question if you don’t mind me asking.”

“A question? Is it perhaps because of my emotions?”

“You do not seem surprised…”

“I am indeed not. It’s quite normal for me after all. Not even Crow shows an emotional range equal to mine despite his computing abilities being vastly superior, to put it mildly.”

The two resumed their walk while Tin sent out an order for the pieces of the armor to be gathered. They needed to prepare them for the creation of Noah’s armor and he wanted it to be done as swiftly as possible.

“Crow talked about your wisdom and how Oz affects things differently.”

“Oh. How surprising of him. To think he would share this knowledge with you, quite impressive if I must say.” Tin nodded, “We creatures of Oz can be born or later influenced by wisdom. Wisdom can be a boon or a curse. It’s also the source of endless greed.”

Tin twirled on his steps, an elegant movement that caught the eye of onlookers, “I was once an art robot in training, you see… Machines like us are trained with the knowledge necessary to draw, sculpt, sing and write. All those artistic skills that seemed to be only reserved for humans were given to us, a privilege like no other if I must say.”

“I thought you were a combat robot?”

“The transition happened later on.” Tin waved his hand, “Art, you see… it was easy when I was a mindless machine. A picture is ultimately nothing more than the fusion of different colors. Once you understand the base, it is possible to reproduce a nearly infinite amount of pictures in just an instant. But when I received wisdom for the first time before I met Dorothy, things started changing for me. Oh, what a drastic change that was…”

He looked down at his hands, his eyes filled with nostalgia and a note of grief, “My drawings started to feel hollow. Incomplete. Unoriginal and uninspired.”

“Do you mean that they lacked a soul or something?”

“Indeed. To be clear, art is art and I believe my art was as beautiful if not more than even the most notorious artist, but it lacked a touch of emotion born from the absence of a story to support it, and so I started to crave those things— the things called emotions, a story for my art. Only then could I bring my art to the next level and reach greater heights. This was the reason why I joined Dorothy. Because I, more than anything, wanted to find a heart that could tell me what it means to have emotions.”

A laugh escaped him, an ambiguous laugh hiding myriads of stories, “It was a perilous journey. Once started on a whim with no idea about what I was really getting into. Even so, I do not regret having trodden this road. After all, during this journey, my wisdom continued to grow and so did my feelings and my wish to feel more.”

“Then now… Do you have a heart now?”

“I do not know. This is perhaps one of the things I will never come to know. No matter how much I long to know.”

[Incoherent. Why do you seek a heart when emotions are the result of chemical processing in the brains of organic beings? Conclusion– You should have searched for a brain like me, I believe.]

“I already told you this, dear friend, but you suffer from a grave lack of romanticism.”

[Emotions would only cloud my judgment. I have no need for them.]

The two bickered like the old friends they were, so Noah simply stayed silent and observed. He wondered what it might feel to be in this situation, to go back to the times he would bicker with his fellow constellations. They were vestiges of a distant past now, a past that he had an increasingly harder time remembering.

“It seems like all of you guys have led quite the complicated life.”

“We did. But it does not matter. After all, this is the Path we choose to follow and as Path Walkers, we cannot falter on this road to greatness.”

“... Path?”

Noah immediately thought of his status sheet. He distinctly remembered the section about the path that was still empty.

“Ah…”

[You talk too much, as always.]

“Is it some kind of secret, I am not supposed to know?”

“No. Not really. It is simply something Lion was supposed to explain to you. Well, I guess he would have done so if he didn’t get knocked out in that friendly spar of yours.”

Their stroll stopped as they reached a sizeable gate. The gate was dotted with strange sigils… a tree of some sort or something similar.

[Destination reached.]

“Indeed.” Tin nodded before looking at Noah once more, “About the Path, it would be mighty boring to talk about it in depth at the moment. However, they are simple in essence. A Path represents our deepest ambitions. The ultimate expression of our soul. A power that can help us reach beyond even the stars. In this world, those who managed to walk far in their Paths all undoubtedly became entities of unimaginable power and widespread renown. Some even, you might say… became gods.”

Finishing his cryptic words on that vague note, Tin pushed the gate open, showing what lay beyond.

“Very well, Noah… I believe it’s time for us to help you choose a frame of your choice.”

Noah could see that Tin was trying to change the subject and he briefly considered just forcing the information out of the talkative robot. However, he ultimately chose to just shrug the feeling off and focus on examining the interior of the new hangar they entered instead.

Eve. Please focus on the keyword Path when searching the memories of those we devoured. Same for Tiers and Thema.

Those three were the few terms he had no frame of reference to truly understand without further explanation. Thankfully, with all those he devoured, surely he would have some answers, right?

It was too bad he was only able to devour Omid’s dust. He might have been able to obtain more important information otherwise.

— Understood.

Eve had been far less talkative than usual these days and Noah understood why. In the past, she was the only means for him to talk, so she couldn’t help but chat with him whenever he was bored. This had been the source of many internal monologues.

If he had to be honest, there were many times in the past when he had wondered if Eve was nothing more than a figment of his imagination— an entity born from his desire to escape loneliness and avoid becoming completely crazy on that deserted planet.

In the end, however, that didn’t matter to him as he was now. Eve had gone from a bitter and hated enemy to the only constant in his boring and lonely life. She was basically a part of him now, in mind, body, and even soul.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

While Noah was thinking about his strange relationship with Eve, Tin was introducing the myriads of frames at their disposal to him. Thankfully, Noah had always been very good at multitasking and it was not much of a problem to follow what Tin was saying even through his contemplation.

A key factor that helped him in following along was the fact that Tin had been far less enthusiastic about the mecha than he had been about the armor. After all, there was a definitive limit to how much you could change a mecha without affecting many important functions.

The mecha, or frames, were divided into many different types. From small rover type to stronger Goliaths, or even Titan class Knightframes and those that went even bigger than that. Legends had it that there were frames even bigger than worlds themselves but that was a story for another time.

“The division of mecha is not some exact science. Even more so since different planets have different names for this classification. The most common classification is based on height and mass. Basically, the bigger a Knightframe is, the higher it’s ranked. Of course, such a ranking is, in my opinion, horrible and utterly foolish.”

He waved his hand as if he was listening to something completely ridiculous,

“More brutal brain-dead warriors like to classify frames by the level of destruction they can bring. You know? City level, continent, moon, planet, stars etc. But once again, it’s absolutely stupid. I mean. What the hell is city-level? What city is the standard? What about the planets? Some planets are hundreds of times bigger than some stars. Some moons are so big they are used as planets.”

[As stupid as it is. This is the easiest system that even low-level civilizations can follow. After all, they always use their own system or home planets as standard.]

“Of course. Of course. No matter how stupid or useless or backward a measuring system is. They were created because they were useful for the users of said mechas. I cannot deny that. But our dear Noah here is no part of a low-level civilization now, is he? He will be part of Oz or at least sponsored by us. It’s necessary to learn the terminology more commonly used.”

[He is not one of us.]

“I mean… If anything, with how Dorothy is acting around the boy, there are high enough chances of him becoming our future boss.”

[Oz does not need a new king.]

“But our Queen might need one. You know how people can get lonely sometimes.”

The back and forth between the two continued, and Noah could only bitterly raise his hand, “I mean… I am still here, you know?”

They were talking as if he wasn’t even present.

“Oh dear. Forgive us. We meant no disrespect.”

“Doesn’t matter, don’t worry.” Noah did not mention anything about their words on Dorothy. He very much doubted they really forgot him being there. After all, even if the argument could be made about Tin having emotions and being emotional. There was no way Crow acted like this without a clear intention.

Those two were basically telling him indirectly that the only reason they treated him so well, was because they thought Noah might become part of Oz even if indirectly and also because of the interest their queen had in him.

Their actions were understandable, from his perspective at least, and he found their actions far easier to understand and accept than those of Dorothy, the culprit behind this entire situation. He would need to have another talk with her.

“So… getting back on track, the universal and most used system to determine the value and power of a Frame is its Tier.”

“Tier?” Noah asked while keeping his expression neutral. He was starting to really like Tin. This chatterbox was giving him a good deal of interesting information.

“Indeed. Like many of the things we know. This is a system we took from the Vanished Empire. We sadly had to do some tweaking as that system did not fully suit our views on Mechas.”

[Additional information. The fallen empire had an 11-tier based system. Numbered from 10 as the lowest and 0 as the highest tier.]

“Indeed. But well, this system doesn’t really suit us.”

“Why?” Noah was becoming curious. He was also starting to gain a fair amount of understanding of his status sheet from the information he was gleaning from the robotic duo.

“Well. It’s pretty simple really. We cannot use that system because as far as I know, in this galaxy, only the Emperor and a few old monsters are known to have Frames equal to Tier 4. However, there is one person who is suspected to be equal to what a Tier 3 Frame should be. Some even suspect she has surpassed the bounds of Tier 3.”

[Scáthach Uanaind. The Shadow Queen and the strongest recorded entity of contemporary times.]

Strangely enough, Noah found himself being unsurprised at the mention of the Shadow Queen’s name.

Dorothy had already hammered into his head that the Shadow Queen was not an individual that anyone had the galls to underestimate. Add to that the fact that there was no way Venus would have directed him to someone who wasn’t worth his time was enough to give Noah a good understanding of the Shadow Queen’s prestige and an estimation of her power level.

Still, the way he was now, anything of the Shadow Queen’s level was a faraway dream for him. Too distant for him to even imagine, only to be kept as a whimsical thought rather than a serious aim. Rather than those distant thoughts, there was something else that piqued his interest.

The distinction between the tiers being one of them, as well as the tiers of the individual before him, giving him the rundown, and… more than anything… what tier was Dorothy at. Was she perhaps one of the top superpowers in the entire galaxy? Perhaps even in the top 10 or at some similar contrived list?

All those questions titillated his curiosity and as good as he was with his poker face, his interest did not escape the pinpoint detection capabilities of the two machines.

“The tiers of a planet or civilization are generally highly confidential. While allowing someone to know what tier you belong to isn’t a death sentence, it can still lead to danger and a steep punishment for the leaker. The Tier of a Mecha is much more easily disclosed, however. After all, they are generally the pride of a planet or rather… a Civilization itself.”

Tin gently sized up his monocle with his nimble fingers, “You will slowly learn everything about Tier, Path, Power, and all the related jargon. Just know that an example would be… that following our earlier discussion about Planet level, a Mecha able to destroy the smallest planet possible is considered to barely enter the realm of Tier 5. Tier 4 is often referred to as Stellar, Solar Systems usually come into play in this tier. And finally, Tier 3… Galactic destruction.”

Noah closed his eyes, keeping silent as he contemplated. Since the lonesome planet he had previously occupied for an unknown period of time had been destroyed in a snap, it was clear that the power used was at the very least equal to Tier 5 or even 4 since the destruction had been so clean and offputting, as for Tier 3…

“You are telling me that the Shadow Queen is suspected to have enough power to erase a Galaxy on her own?”

Tin shook his head, a gesture contradicting his earlier words, “We don’t know. This nonsensical power level is one of the reasons we have a hard time proving that the Tier system was perhaps on a more theoretical level rather than practical. After all, it’s simply impossible for us to conceive what kind of power would be capable of such a feat. This is why for many of us, Tier 3 is simply considered the Peak. At least for now.”

[To be clear, and to avoid all misunderstandings that may occur… The Tier system is generally used for Frames exclusively. Technology is the only real power with no clear limits after all. The Shadow Queen and a few Cosmic beasts are nothing short of an anomaly for us. Most people can realistically never go past Tier 6. Affecting an entire planet as an individual with no particular equipment is simply unheard of.]

Status

Noah’s eyes flickered toward the blue screen floating in front of him. A look of contemplation dawned over his inner mind as he contemplated his status according to this new piece of information. Specifically, he focused on the part where his current tier was listed.

『 Tier: 8

Growth Stage: Hatchling (95%) 』

If he wasn’t wrong… he should be able to barely reach Tier 7 once he got out of the hatchling phase.

Did this mean he could continue to grow without any limits whatsoever? Reaching Tier 6 or 5 and so on as he advanced through the stages of growth?

Noah imagined himself with the power to destroy an entire planet with his own body and couldn’t help but smile with anticipation.

“This is fun.”

[What is?]

The mechanical Crow asked him in the same flat and monotone voice as he always did, but Noah felt that he could detect a note of curiosity in that voice.

“Learning. Learning more about the world is always interesting. Knowledge is power after all.”

Crow nodded alongside Noah’s words and if it wasn’t because of the expressionless steel, Noah could swear he could feel happiness radiating from the small robotic crow along with its gestures. It felt like Noah was picking up more and more visual cues of the talking bird made of inorganic materials, and it felt weird, to say the least.

“Then, what Tier of Mecha can you build for me?” He asked the most important question, the only question that mattered now, in fact.

“Well, Frames that can use Dark Matter have varying sets of power. After all, it all depends on the skills and power of the user itself rather than the raw output that the mecha can put forth. Even more so when they are only standard units. In your case, we can procure a unit with its power varying between tier 9 at minimum to tier 8 at maximum output. This is pretty high-end, just to remind you, as most units are between Tier 10 and Tier 9 and none of them can reach High Tier 9. But what can we say… the Queen does appreciate you quite a bit.”

Noah nodded, “Thanks. I really appreciate this gesture.”

— Do you think it’s time to reveal the low-level blueprint to them?

Not yet. I was planning on trying to exchange this with them but as things stand, I believe it’s better to wait and observe for now.

Noah could see that Oz was treating him with great respect, much more than he thought he deserved, and the higher-ups of these powerful civilizations were taking their time to help him visit and create his weapon and armor.

Because of the sincerity they were treating him with, Noah wished for nothing more than to share a few of his own secrets with them. However, he didn’t have the leeway to mess things up at this juncture. This was not a game; he did not have a second chance and he couldn’t save and reload. It was all or nothing.

It didn’t matter if he even gave the lowest level of blueprints to them, since they were still blueprints belonging to an ancient and extremely powerful civilization. If things went south and if they expressed even the slightest amount of greed then, Noah would have no way of escaping.

Ideally, we should wait until I am outside of their zone of influence or when I have built enough power for myself. It would take some time and this was quite the cowardly way of acting.

But the difference in power was simply too large for him to play around and test things out.

***

“Well, things are more or less settled here. Unless you wish to observe and learn more about how the whole creation process of your frame is conducted that is.”

While the frame they were trying to build for him was a standard one, they decided to build a new one to avoid it having the signature signal of Oz. After all, while being allies with Oz was a great thing, it could also be a source of endless trouble for Noah, not unlike Pandora’s box.

[Since you have no Path at the moment, a standard Mecha is the best and only viable option for you. We do also have powerful Standard Mecha but no matter how close you are to the Queen, giving those to you is impossible as they are necessary for our elites.]

Noah waved his hand, “Do not worry about that. I am not shameless enough to request something so… extravagant from Oz, especially since I already owe you guys a lot as is.”

Noah sighed and walked away with Crow while Tin waved them goodbye in a high-spirited fashion.

This small visit to Oz had been a great learning experience and now that he had a better understanding of the things mentioned in his Status Screen, it would soon be time for him to finally focus on his growth— and the most efficient and realistic path before him was quite simple, all things considered.

In the end, nothing really changed. Leave Oz, explore the vast galaxy and…Devour, Adapt, Evolve.