[Aether is the energy hidden from the naked eye— an important component in the fabric of the universe. Initially, the energy was simply called Dark Matter, but one of the Kings judged the distinction not to have enough flair. So it was called Aether.]

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

[The Aether stat 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 that goes beyond one’s initial capacity.]

[Control over Aether means control over phenomena beyond the common man. It’s possible to manipulate the forces 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… crude, to say the least. All he could do was use it to strengthen his body further.

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

[The host is already holding one such technique —Maxwell’s Demon.]

Huh.

[Opening information about advancement method.]

[The Ouroboros core and Maxwell’s Demon technique were created as a 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 is necessary for all stats to reach the minimum of S rank. To Advance to Tier 6, at least three stats must reach the SS rank. As for advancing to tier 5, at least two stats must reach SSS rank. Finally, reaching Tier 4 requires the host to have at least one stat in the EX rank.]

[Warning: While advancing to the next tier after reaching the minimum requirement is possible. It is advised to reach the SS or SSS rank in every stat before advancing. However, if that is not possible or the circumstances dictate immediate advancement, precedence should be given to Aether and Endurance. Always try to advance them to the highest rank possible for the host.]

Noah frowned, taking a peek 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.

[All stats are calculated from F rank after one reaches a new Tier. The previous stats vanish and enter the hidden points category.]

Show me my hidden points.

『Speed: 198

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Dexterity: 180

Endurance: 318

Strength: 228

Aether: 25 』

[The hidden points are the culmination of all the stats reached in previous tiers. In the host’s case, that is Tier 10 and Tier 9.]

Noah groaned a little, his Aether count was… pitiful to say the least when compared to his other 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 points. The higher I reach for each tier, the higher my hidden points become and the higher my overall strength is. At the moment, rather than mindlessly absorbing energy, I should use Maxwell’s Demon technique and then focus all the 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 that I have been trained on. Based on the host's current stats and the existence of an EX rank in Endurance, it’s advised to wait until the Host reaches at least an SSS rank in Aether before proceeding. The higher the Tier, the more energy is required to increase the 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 simply not think about something that was way ahead in the future. 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 those 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 about them.

[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 own Path are Pathwalkers.]

[To break through and reach Tier 3. No amount of stats is enough. One needs to create their own Path, completely intertwine oneself with said 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 rendered speechless. He did not expect much from a question he had asked on a fleeting note, but it seemed like this had to be the one whose answers gave him the greatest shock he had received all day.

So, they are basically 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 by many.

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 changes in its entirety. This is not a matter of physical prowess or the scale of destruction one can enact. The law of the universe stops binding you, and you can even create new laws for yourself.]

The Shadow Queen… She is supposedly Tier 3.

Not only that. The thing Venus fought should also be considered one of those Higher 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 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 had finally found the right track. So many of the questions and confusion he had were now cleared up.

There were still many secrets he needed to uncover and many things he needed to understand. But now he was not as clueless as he was at the start.

The knowledge he obtained also made him understand something.

He needed energy now. As much as possible to reach Tier 7.

Time to train.