“Spark, why did I raise 9 levels from looking up a recipe?”


    “You already had proficient experience with that skill, merely performing the task caught you up to your skill level.”


    “Wait… I have back skill levels… but why didn''t I gain any levels for my swordsmanship with those goblins?”


    “Because you didn''t use any skill, they were like cutting down weeds. But you did get talent with your draw strike”


    “What about all the spiritual control I used between my talents?“


    “That is one of the things unlocked at Tier 5. I wasn''t joking when I said I was surprised your spiritual control was so high. That is crucial to bending talents, skills and abilities beyond their initial framework.”


    Arthur took that all into consideration and decided to move on. Going into his Door dash app and ordering what he needed to make pemmican from the local grocery store.


    “Can I still naturally increase my stats by doing logic puzzles, running or weightlifting?”


    “Yes, you can. Though your body will grow stronger, your self image will also have an effect on your appearance. It''s one of the ways that mana affects the development of sentient and self aware species. Even in some universes where external expressions of mana only begin to manifest once they have condensed an Either core. powerful fighters arise through internal expression of mana, but their outward appearances are still affected by it.”


    “Ehhh?! Are you talking about Cultivators? Wouldn’t they thrive in a system less universe?”


    “Yes, I am talking about cultivators. They often reject the system. But it usually takes ancient monsters to travel the void between universes without Aetheric pathways between them. Given how saturated your cultures are with similar stories I''d wager there were once cultivators and cultivation traditions in your world, before the current state of things. Further I''d wager that most of your major religions were based on sects before they left your world. Now it''s just a mana starved place that pays tertiary energy dividends to those factions who still have a religious foot hold.”


    Arthur quickly stood. “So, what you are saying is that if I go too far down this path ima hafta fight gods?”


    “System no…” Spark sounded Shocked. “Even I couldn''t contend with a god. Gods can control the Aether in an entire universe, it would take several top powers from upper universes to contend with a God. Gods can survive the void. The greater powers in your universe are merely the equivalent of high tier beings capable of manipulating matter, energy and spirit on a level as to seem like gods.”


    Arthur sighed and said. “Ok so I will eventually have to fight these greater beings?”


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    “I mean I wouldn''t say it was inevitable. If you chose to stay in the demi plane after you reach Tier 10 no being on this side would or could know… and you should never actually have to fight any of the greater powers until you are on the same level as them. Since once you hit tier 30, you will have to either stay in your Demi plane or ascend to an area with strong enough ambient energy that can sustain your body. That''s why these sects all have multiple tiers of adherents, so that they can keep enforcing at every level. Now like i said if they detect a system, they will come down like a hammer. So as long as you don''t trip any sanctified ground, or approach anyone capable of projecting their Authority.”


    “So I''m some sort of Demon? Like the pope could exorcise me back to my demi plane?” Arthur''s voice got a little too high pitch for his liking at the end of that statement.


    “Perhaps or perhaps not. It''s possible that This pope could just be a human figurehead with no spiritual power… especially if he is elected. No likely there is some Exorcist organization that really knows what''s going on and keeps it a secret.  There has to be a path to ascension or else whenever an ascension happened higher in the ranks it would leave holes in the sect structure.”


    After that discussion, Arthur decided to go inside and do some mundane things. He sat at his computer and logged onto Face Space, flipped through some reels. And generally failed at distracting himself.


    After about an hour he got up and went out to his garage where an old broken tv sat up against the wall collecting dust and cat pee. He scanned it with Savant Artificer, and then he absorbed it with the pass that breaks bonds, but then he stopped. He didn''t immediately craft or use the resources for anything, however the blueprint for the device was now stored in his mind space.


    “Spark, Doesn''t this directly go against conservation of energy.”


    “As your science understands it, yes it does. However what you are missing is that the system aids in this by converting the mass into energy and temporarily condensing it into a higher form of energy until you need it, at which point it unpacks the energy back into matter including the bonds that hold the matter together. The mana works as a median force to facilitate the transition. The same way it resized your clothes. The excess energy that was matter is still stored in the part of the talent that the system aids you with. Now I will say at higher tiers you can do things like this manually. But for now the system helps bridge the ability gap.”


    “So I could just run around breaking down or absorbing things? And what just reconstitute the stored blueprints? Like ok… say i absorbed a mason jar… and got the blueprint. I could just absorb a bunch of quartz and use the abundance of Silica to make more glass?”


    “Essentially yes, this talent is another one that is powerful, but limited by your knowledge.”


    Just then there was a brief knock at the door. Arthur roused from his thoughts and went to see who it was. His grocery delivery had arrived. He set about putting things away, but then he just imagined the process. And the bags went in the trash and the groceries got put away. He then pulled his phone out and began to read the Pemmican recipe again. After about 2 hours he finally had a method that produced a product that he liked, and set about using his power to quick craft them.


    *****


    You have unlocked the cooking skill.


    Your cooking skill has reached lv 10 there is now a chance that prepared meals may produce either more than expected or a higher grade of food from cheaper materials.


    *****


    By now it was dark outside. Arthur seriously considered some less than legal shenanigans, like deconstructing the atm machine at the local Pursuit bank, and then just reconstructing the cash. But that was a potential tracking point in the future. Don''t shit where you eat. In the end he put himself to sleep with caloric completion.