Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4383: The Civilization of Mana! IV

Riya seemed enthusiastic to get started!

Noah stood before the illusory diagram of the Bastion of Mana, his perception drinking in every detail.

One hundred Nodes at minimum 1,000 Quintillion each.

The number alone was staggering because achieving it at scale presented challenges that even he would have to pause at.

Is it even possible to raise that many beings to 1,000 Quintillion before The Fallout arrives?

The thought circled through his consciousness.

He’d been climbing through the Quintillion ranges himself, and the experience had taught him brutal lessons about the limitations inherent in existential advancement.

There was the clear Ceiling that Ruination spoke of in detail!

Not a soft limit that could be pushed through sheer effort...a hard ceiling built into the fundamental weavings of Existence.

Devouring beings at 5 Quintillion Complexity and Purity would only ever get you toward that level. It didn’t matter if you consumed one such being or a thousand...you’d approach 5 Quintillion, but never exceed it through that method alone.

This had been made clear.

Which meant traditional looting and devouring, while effective for early advancement, became increasingly inefficient past certain thresholds!

His own means were more effective.

The Cultivation Citadel of The Early Creature could grant harvests exceeding 5 Quintillion per day if used optimally.

The pressure-based advancement combined with his Principle of Perpetual Harvest created multiplicative effects that showed the glory of his way.

If I could get many in My Civilization to reach the 10 Quintillion threshold sufficient to withstand the Citadel’s pressure, their power would begin rising rapidly.

The strategy formed itself naturally in his mind.

Bring all his Civilization members into the Citadel’s crushing environment, let them grind under impossible weight while Perpetual Harvest amplified their gains, and watch them skyrocket toward the thresholds necessary for the Bastion’s Nodes.

Of course, that assumed they had time!

That assumed The Fallout wouldn’t arrive before sufficient numbers reached necessary power levels.

Too many unknowns. Too many variables he couldn’t control yet.

He turned slightly, his analytical gaze shifting from the diagram to Riya, who stood nearby watching him with intensity.

Her jewel-blue eyes tracked across his form with focus as if she was studying him, or trying to see or confirm something that she was not being entirely clear about.

Their gazes met, and a slow smile spread across Riya’s features.

”Are you checking me out, Ancestor?” she asked.

Before Noah could respond, another voice cut in from the distance.

”Why would the Ancestor want your scrawny ass, Riya?”

...!

Behind them, Kael and several other Seed Members materialized as they had been close behind.

An older woman floated among them, her form blazing with 50 Quintillion Complexity.

She looked at Riya with cold smiling eyes.

Riya’s expression transformed to match hers.

”At least my ’scrawny ass’ reached 61 Quintillion without needing to hide behind the Council’s pathetic complexity cap, Aunty Elina,” she said sweetly. ”How’s that 50 Quintillion treating you? Still comfortable sitting down there?”

Elina’s face pulsed, her aura buzzing with indignation.

”Why you little...”

”Enough.”

Kael’s voice cut through everything.

He floated forward!

”Ancestor,” he said, turning to Noah while deliberately ignoring Riya, ”this troublemaker should have told you a decent number of things by now. The Repository of Formed Authority and the Bastion of Mana represent just the beginning of what we’ve accomplished.”

”With you in the lead, with your Infinite Mana guiding our efforts, what we can accomplish has become infinitely grander. We have systems, techniques, principles...all waiting for the final component that only you can provide.”

Noah nodded, his tyrannical gaze sweeping across the assembled Seed Members.

”Yes,” he said. ”This is just the start. We will take what you all have accomplished here and bring another part of this Civilization...The Infiniverse, to reach this same height.”

WAA!

He paused.

”They did not have the millions of years you all had. They have just begun walking on the Way of Mana in the last day. But with the systems you’ve developed, with the Repositories and Glyphs you’ve refined, we will compress their advancement timeline to match your own achievements.”

...!

Kael and the others showed expressions of astonishment.

Bringing an entire separate Civilization to their level in short period of time? It was audacious to think of!

But this was the Ancestor speaking.

The one who’d given them Mana and told them to build something magnificent in isolation. If he said it could be done...

They nodded, their expressions transforming into determination.

Noah’s voice took on commanding weight.

”Prepare the Repository of Formed Authority to transfer at least half of all stored Glyphs here. And any other means of rapid elevation you all have designed...ready everything for immediate deployment.”

Kael bowed deeply. ”It will be done, Ancestor. We will-”

”You all take care of these minor things.”

Riya stepped forward, her voice cutting through Kael’s response.

”I’ll take the Ancestor to the place I designed specifically for his advancement. Don’t even try to follow, okay? I’ve blocked off all access.”

Her jewel-blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

Before anyone could respond, before Kael could voice the objection already forming on his lips...

Riya moved.

HUUM!

Faster than anyone present could track, her form blurring with speed that transcended their considerable perception.

Mana wrapped around both her and Noah in complex, and they disappeared!

WHOOSH!

...!

Kael’s expression transformed into frustration once more.

Voltrax, Riya’s father, materialized beside Kael with a slight smile, his hand raised in a calming gesture.

”Let’s just do our part,” he said, ”You know how much Riya adored The Stories of The Ancestor more than anything else. She probably memorized every detail you shared about him over the eons.”

His smile widened slightly.

”Let her have her fill of his presence. She’ll settle down afterwards and become manageable again. Come on...let us prepare the aid packages for the advancement of the Ancestor’s other part of Civilization. That’s where we can actually contribute meaningfully.”

The others sighed collectively, their frustration dissipating into weary acceptance.

They dispersed, floating toward different sections of the Repository to begin the massive undertaking of packaging millions of years of accumulated advancement for transfer!

—

Noah’s vision cleared as the teleportation of Mana completed, and he found himself standing atop one of the massive ring-shaped buildings that floated in the skies of this grand Civilization.

Rivers of blue mana flowed through the air around them.

They cascaded past the building’s edges and circled back through the loops.

Riya sat down on the building’s surface, her legs dangling over the edge as she used her fingers to play with the flowing mana.

The blue currents responded to her touch like living things, wrapping around her fingers, forming complex patterns at her silent direction.

”For me,” she said quietly, ”when too many mana signatures cluster in one place, my sensitivity actually overloads my senses.”

She manipulated the flowing mana into a spiral, watching it spin with distant focus.

”It’s like... imagine if you could hear every individual conversation in a crowd, every breath, every heartbeat, every rustle of clothing...all at maximum volume, all demanding your attention simultaneously. That’s what large gatherings feel like to me. Overwhelming. Exhausting.”

Her jewel-blue eyes remained fixed on the mana spiral.

”I prefer purity. Singular, focused signatures rather than chaotic clusters. That’s why I’ve been taking you away from large crowds since you arrived. Not just to show off or be irreverent...”

She paused, then looked at Noah directly.

”When it comes to purity, your existence gives off a sense that’s unmatched. Like... concentrated essence of mana itself, undiluted by any other authority. My sensitivity actually calms down around you. Since you appeared, your existence has been drowning out the noise of everyone else.”

...!

Bursts of rivers of Mana bloomed right after as this entire region became even more radiant!