Truth and Decisions.

Rowan had collapsed and entered a state of hibernation in real life, but in his mind he was pulled into a special place where a familiar figure stood with his hands together and behind his back. Rowan could tell by the demeanor that, instead of one of the billions of clones that existed, this was the genuine article. He was standing in front of the voice of the system Empry, who was smiling at Rowan like a proud father.

"You know it has been a short period since you left, but already you have grown so much. The second layer truly is magnificent. Its unpredictability leaves such an amazing room for such rare geniuses to be born. That is why we have reached this moment far faster than we could have ever expected, but I suppose back in the day there was another whose growth was much like yours. Rowan Raid, you have reached a turning point from which there is no turning back. So I am here to present to you two things. The Truth, and a choice."

Rowan said, "Can I pick which one I get first?" Empry just looked at him for asking something. He already knew the answer to causing Rowan to scratch his head and look away. Empry spread his hand and started to weave a picture of the ark together with mana as he spoke. "The truth is about where you live. Many you meet from here will know this thanks to the academy's purpose being to send people up to the first layer to join your master in his wars. To start, I will tell you the version that they know. You all live in a boundless universe that grows larger and larger with each passing moment, but in actuality, that boundless universe has been allowed to simply expand as it pleases while still being bound. It is bound by the same thing your calendar is named after. The Ark."

"The ark is a massive spaceship that contains the second layer where you reside and the first layer where your master resides. The beings of the first layer live in a virtual paradise of mana and science in the upper layer. It is the pinnacle of all of your master's achievements. The ship itself sails through the true, boundless universe, visiting foreign worlds and fighting armies through the stars, with your master and his family at its helm and the forefront of every battle. It is required that every major race contribute 1 elite every year to your master's army. Over time, he has formed a massive army of elites that roam the stars with him in a goal known only to one before this conversation started."

Rowan's mind was speeding through theory and processing information while at the same time a number of things began to dawn on him and then confusion spread across his face and Empry knew that things would change for the young man greatly soon. "The second layer exists as its own separate plane for experts to be born and when they ascend they get to choose to join the army or be given land to do what they want with whether it be build a home or whatever. If they are a primogenitor of a new race, the land given will be bigger so that the race can prosper. Then after ten years they are required to send an elite or come themselves to fight. Service for at least 4 years is mandatory. Not that his majesty loses soldiers, he guides these people in all the new techniques that he has learned and sends them back four years later and everything spreads and his world embraces innovation over and over again."

"I give you all of this information to tell you that your master's true goal is way beyond any of that. Your master's homeworld was even smaller than even the world you hail from, and from that, he grew into this entity that could not be matched. He created this ship through the creation attunement. He had to sacrifice much for it, but you have Emmily by your side. You understand how a creation user works. It's a part of them. You all fight and evolve based on the mana. The ship absorbs and your experiences and mana flow back into the ship, which in turn flows into the king and strengthens him several times over.

Your master wants to constantly grow stronger because he wishes to create something even greater than the Ark. He wants to create an unparalleled world in the wider universe. One day he will shatter the Ark and rebuild it as a planet that is capable of constantly growing and expanding, but he needs something else. He needs beings capable of rivaling him to rise from the ark to become the pillars of this new world, that combines with the asking of his wife, gave birth to this initiative to find people that could be his equal. He needs two beings of power equal to him to create this world." Rowan took all the info in and worked out the questions that were simple on his own before speaking.

"So why the second layer? What makes it necessary?" Empry's eyes lit up at the question as he put the mana painting to the side and it solidified into a screen and began to play different scenes of battles. "Your master is certain that true experts must be built through battle and only battle. It is not just because he was born with the soul affliction known as the battle gene, but because without coming up through battle, you will never truly reach the pinnacle and that means you would never equal him. The chaos on the second layer is actually rather mild than what occurs on the continents on the first layer. Gods wander the streets. It is a world of true cultivators. The master gives people land when they ascend, but it's up to them to keep it. The ultimate honor is earning the right to a home in his own city that is beneath his castle and even that can only be earned through battle. In return, your master gives a piece of himself to every being born in the ark, raising their potential beyond what most of you would ever fathom."

"The second layer is supposed to replicate millions of times over the harsh conditions he had to live through to grow to this point in different variations in a way to create as many possibilities of people that could one day grow to that point." Rowan finally connected the final dot and looked up at Empry. "Like parasites falling from the sky, creating a race that feasts on other races and causing massive loss of life across thousands of worlds." Empry nodded his head. "Yes, exactly so, Rowan Raid, the beings that your master kills in the outside world are replicated in the second layer and given the chance to grow once more and ascend, earning themselves a place in the new world that will be born. All the while mana innovations are made and the patch of cultivation is rewritten thanks to you all being from the ark master devours yours skills, and digests them the same moment you do."

"So, what about the levels given back to the system?" Empry smiled and spoke "They are the price he exacts so that people can use all the knowledge of the universe through the system. He naturally devours all that live here either way." Rowan nodded his head and sighed "So at the end of the way we are just his buffet, what bullshit. Then he learned about that technique I just used and everything is for naught." Empry smiled once more, like he had at the start of the conversation. "Actually, young man, no, I saw that you had discovered a new path and temporarily blocked masters devouring so that I could offer you this choice." Rowan let that sink in as his eyes never left Empry.

"So now, young master, that leads us to the choice. I can not block my master forever and you would not grow strong enough in time to block his devouring on your own." Rowan furrowed his brow and challenged the statement. "You don't know that you just said I was growing fast. Empry nodded and replied in kind. "Silly boy, how would you even fathom blocking his devouring when you can't even see it?" Empry snapped his fingers and all of a sudden Rowan was surrounded by mighty wolves that were all chained to something far in the distance that could not be seen, but the interesting thing was that they were all asleep. Empry snapped his fingers once more, and they were gone.

Rowan looked gobsmacked and struggled to close his hanging open mouth. While Empry folded his arms across his chest. "Rowan Raid, you can not yet truly fathom how powerful your master is. Now as I said, you have two choices, leave the attachment to your master and allow him to devour your technique while using the system to take your new evolution to unparalleled heights with its aid." Rowan gulped audibly in understanding exactly what the second option was so he spoke it himself with a feeling not even he could understand. "The other option would be to sever my master's attachment and keep my technique to myself and lose the attachment or the system as.

Empry could only nod as the young man reached the other conclusion on his own. "Yes, the other option is to tread the path of cultivation with no system and sever it from you so that it can not be tracked by the wolves of devour."