So, I've caught up now, so lets talk more about the 25 Arete options! EDIT: And Rihaku posts when I'm mostly done and I have to re-write some of it. Ah well.
Once and Future is the most immediate power of the three. It's straightforward and hits like a truck. And I think there's a hidden benefit as well - the description says we'll catch a glimpse of the Forebear's true history - that might give us lore on the Isekai world, and possibly information on the Hidden Masters who we are sworn to defeat!
However, this option has a few problems. The Astral Rank buff is more valuable higher our Astral Rank already is, and in the short term there are probably far cheaper options for increasing Astral Rank. Furthermore, it's likely going to be a very, very long time before the Hidden Masters are relevant to the story. Possibly beyond the scope of this quest! As such, I think Once and Future should not be the first 25 Arete that we shoot for. It's true benefits are most important later on. On the other hand, immediate power on a Progression-type is always good, especially immediate power that does not make it harder to get more power.
Ruling Ring has the highest potential power of the options. The boost to Progression is just really good, delivering a deluge of experience we can spend on tons of things. It's an all-around boost that gets better the longer we have it. The main problem I see with it is that we'll be going through quite a dry spell to save up for 25 Arete, and then it'll take a few fights afterward for the Ruling Ring to really pay off. This is kind of an issue because it threatens us to lag behind on the Apocryphal because we're not spending Arete on immediate power, and it also threatens falling behind on curse mitigation, because you can bet the best options for that will be locked behind Arete expenditure.
Now, Pillars of Creation is super good for support, even offering freedom from the Decimator for a time, if not permanently. It also offers long-term power growth via worthy opponents, without the risk of facing said opponents in normal reality - remember, the Apocryphal Curse is only at 1/3rd strength within the Evening Realm, and the Realm will also happily provide healing items to use after every fight. The Pillars do have the downside that they don't offer any use in directly solving problems in the normal world, and we'd need to plan well to get maximum use out of it.
Now, another thing to discuss - should we try to rush a 25 point option? I would say not right away. We have the Apocryphal Curse breathing down our necks, I'd prefer to grab some low-hanging fruit before we take a shot at one of those immortal peaches high up in the tree. However, once we have a few more 2 Arete options, I think we could take a shot at one of the 25 Arete options.
The main problem is that we're definitely going to be offered more "This update only" options, and some of those might be really valuable. Just look at Evening Sky - offered for one update, 7 Arete, gives really good defenses against everything, lets us improve said defenses for XP (not Arete!), and it unlocked Winter Moon and Pillars of Creation. These kind of offers are impossible to predict and will disrupt any plan we make regarding Arete saving. It'll come down to our ability to judge if a given offer is worth delaying our big super-upgrade.
