Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4354: The First Farmer! II

It was answer that provided information while revealing nothing, the verbal equivalent of showing someone a closed door and describing its surface without opening it.

Elyndra stared at him for a long moment, her expression suggesting she was deciding whether to push for more details or accept the deflection gracefully.

Finally, she laughed with genuine amusement.

”You’re infuriating to interrogate,” she observed, ”Every answer creates more questions. I can see why Father wanted to meet you personally.”

They descended together, approaching the figure at the center of the golden-radiant field.

Noah’s analytical capabilities were already activating, his enhanced perception beginning to break down and catalog what he was about to encounter.

The First Farmer.

The entity who had gazed upon THE Living Spirit...and likely other THE Living Existences!

The being who had created sanctuary in the Wandering Territories when nowhere else would accept Fold Dwellers.

The cultivator who had planted Seeds of Civilization and nurtured concepts into Principles.

Noah had high expectations!

This being was potentially one of the solutions to The Fallout...a force that could stand against The Dead, a mind that understood existence’s architecture at levels that current-era beings had forgotten, a power that had survived when so many others had collapsed.

He had been active in the same time as Khor in the Earliest Folds.

He had met THE Living Existences personally.

Surely, such a being would radiate authority that made normal measurement meaningless. Surely, his power would exceed simple quantification. Surely...

Noah’s eyes began to glow with blue light as his analytical capabilities fully engaged, breaking down the figure before him with precision that could measure power down to individual units of Complexity and Purity.

Beside him, Elyndra’s voice rang out with genuine respect and affection.

”Father,” she called out warmly. ”I’ve brought the guest you’ve been expecting.”

The figure turned.

And Noah’s eyes widened as his analytical vision completed its assessment.

”What the fuck?”

The curse escaped before he could stop it, shock overriding his normal composure.

Because the figure who turned to face them was...

The First Farmer.

Noah recognized the features from their brief meeting in the Earliest Folds...the same bone structure, the same general appearance, the same fundamental presence that suggested agricultural authority refined through impossible time.

But everything else was wrong.

The being who stood before them now was old.

Not elderly. Not aged with dignity.

Old in ways that suggested imminent collapse.

His skin hung loose on bones that seemed too fragile to support even his minimal weight. His hair, which had been vibrant in the Earliest Folds, now appeared thin and colorless, each strand looking ready to fall out from sheer exhaustion.

His eyes, which had held depths of wisdom and determination, now carried shadows that spoke of pain and weariness that transcended normal suffering.

He was adorned in a green-gold robe that looked too heavy for his frame, the fabric somehow emphasizing his frailty rather than concealing it.

And worst of all, he leaned heavily on a walking stick...not as affectation or symbol, but as genuine necessity.

His hands trembled where they gripped the wood, his entire posture suggesting that without that support, he would simply collapse.

Noah’s analytical vision completed its assessment, and text appeared above the First Farmer’s head with information that made his expression sour dramatically.

|Viltharion, The First Farmer|

|The One Who Gazed Upon THE Living Existences|

|The Cultivator of Sanctuary|

|Complexity: 0.000001 Quintillion|

|Purity: 0.000001 Quintillion|

Quintillion.

The measurement was technically correct...he was following a Way that operated on that Scale of Existence.

But those decimals...

0.000001 Quintillion was... 1 Trillion.

One trillion in both Complexity and Purity.

That was a tenth the power of a measly Duke!

That was less than many Living Existences possessed. That was... pathetic, for someone who should have been a cornerstone of resistance against The Fallout!

Noah’s expression rapidly soured, his mind racing through implications.

This was the strength of the powerful First Farmer?

This diminished, frail, barely-functional being was supposed to be a core force for survival and prevention of The Fallout?

What the fuck happened?!

His thoughts were heavy enough that some of them clearly showed on his face, because the First Farmer actually laughed...a wheezing, painful sound that suggested even amusement cost him dearly.

”I will have to apologize for disappointing you,” the First Farmer said, his voice carrying kindness despite the weakness.

”I imagine you had certain... expectations about what you would find here. About who I would be. About what kind of help I could provide.”

He moved slowly, painfully, each step requiring visible effort as he approached them with the walking stick bearing most of his weight.

”But despite my current... diminished state,” he continued, ”I do remember you. Countless eons ago, I gave you a discarded Seed. My first failure. The concept I could never make bloom no matter what techniques I employed.

HUUM!

He stopped a few feet from Noah, studying him with intensity that made the moment feel significant.

”And eons later...” the First Farmer’s voice grew softer, almost wondering, ”...is that really what I sense in you? Did you allow Perpetual Harvest to bloom?”

...!

The first thing he asked about was Perpetual Harvest.

The Principle that Noah had built significant portions of his existence around, that fed his continuous growth, that made effort compound into exponential returns.

The Failed Seed that had become one of the cornerstones of his Way.

Noah looked toward this grand being calmly, his expression giving nothing away.

But before he could formulate answer, RUINEDEN’s voice emerged in his consciousness.

|Master, I’m detecting significant anomalies in this situation.|

Her holographic form appeared in his peripheral vision, visible only to him, her expression carrying concern mixed with rapid calculation.

|The First Farmer’s current state doesn’t match historical records or reasonable power scaling. A being who created this entire Sanctuary, who cultivated entities to Quintillion-level power, who stood alongside beings like Khor in the Earliest Folds...such an entity shouldn’t be reduced to mere trillions through normal cultivation decline.|

She pulled up data, showing comparisons and projections.

|This level of diminishment suggests targeted assault. Not just defeat, but fundamental destruction of power base. Similar to what happened to Khor when THE Living Paradox collapsed her existence, except... this seems even more complete. More thorough.|

Her expression grew grimmer.

|We hadn’t accounted for it in our calculations, Master, but I’m now considering: If THE Living Paradox targeted Khor, if other THE Living Existences were actively eliminating potential threats before The Fallout... how many other powerful beings from the Earliest Folds suffered similar fates?|

She gestured, creating illusory diagrams showing possible scenarios.

|The First Farmer may have been on someone’s radar.|

Her voice took on darker tones.

|We came here hoping for solutions, for powerful allies, for knowledge that could help prevent The Fallout. Instead, we’re finding evidence that those who might have helped were systematically eliminated long before the current crisis began.|

...!

Noah’s eyes pulsed as it felt like existence was getting tighter!

Like a huge net was closing in!

There would be no grand help from the First Farmer. No cavalry arriving to save the day. No ancient power revealing itself at the critical moment to shift the balance.

As always, he would have to come up with solutions alone.

”...”

But this trip shouldn’t be for naught. He could at least gather information, understand how things had deteriorated to this point, learn what had happened to bring a being of such magnitude down to pathetic weakness.

Noah sighed, the sound carrying weight of disappointment mingled with resignation.

Finally, he nodded, raising his hand in gesture that felt both casual and ceremonial.

And from his palm, light began to emerge.

Not just any light...this was the pristine radiance of Perpetual Harvest itself, green-gold brilliance that sang of continuous growth and exponential accumulation, of effort compounding into power that could reshape existence through sheer persistence.

It blazed between them like proof of impossible achievement, like vindication of potential that others had dismissed as failure.

The First Farmer trembled at its sight.

His entire frail form shook with emotion, his eyes widening with wonder mixed with something that might have been joy or might have been grief or might have been both simultaneously!

He looked like a man dying of thirst who had just been shown water...someone who had wanted to see this one thing more than anything else in existence, and now, finally, impossibly, he was witnessing it.

”It’s real,” he whispered, his voice breaking with emotion. ”It actually bloomed. My greatest failure... became someone else’s success. The Seed I discarded... found soil that could nourish it.”

...!

Oh!

His legs gave out.

Elyndra moved immediately, her grace transforming into urgency as she caught her father before he could collapse entirely.