Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4025: Do Nothing! I

Noah made his way toward the indicated plot, his movement careful and deliberate. He was acutely aware of being observed with the kind of attention given to children who had wandered into an adult workspace. The other Fold Dwellers didn’t stop their work, but he could feel their ancient gazes tracking his progress.

The Seventh Contemplation Grove rose before him like a monument to impossible agriculture.

The trees here were different from the stellar giants elsewhere...more refined, more purposeful. Their trunks were white as fresh paper, inscribed with patterns that might have been words if words had been invented yet.

Fruits hung from their branches like condensed thoughts. Each one was perfectly spherical, about the size of his fist, and contained within their translucent skin swirled galaxies of compressed potential.

Noah reached out to touch one, and information flooded his consciousness.

|Existential Dew Fruit|:: Cultivated with singular purpose by Viltharion the Principle Cultivator. Grown from seeds of contemplation after witnessing THE Living Spirit. Each fruit represents one meditation on the nature of Principles and how one could possibly grasp one. Consumption Effect: +5,000,000. Complexity Quotient Consumption Effect: +5,000,000 Purity Quotient

Special Effect: Increases perception and sensitivity to Principles by 10%*

Special Effect: May trigger epiphany regarding Principles

Note: These fruits are the result of a Fold Dweller who sought to plant Principles themselves after discussing existence with THE Living Spirit

Noah’s hand pulsed slightly as he plucked the fruit. It came away from the branch with a sound like a perfectly resolved musical note. The weight in his palm was negligible physically but profound conceptually...he was holding the crystallized meditation of someone who had spoken directly with THE Living Spirit!

He bit into it without hesitation.

The taste was indescribable as it was simple in a way that nothing in modern existence could achieve. It tasted like the moment before decision, like the space between heartbeats, like the pause before understanding dawns.

It was fucking glorious!

|Existential Dew Fruit Consumed|

|Complexity Quotient increased by 5,000,000. Purity Quotient increased by 5,000,000|

|Principle Perception increased by 10%| |You can now faintly sense the presence of Lost Forgotten Principles within 10 meters.|

|There are...0 Principles for sensed by your senses.|

HUUM!

The surge of advancement was smoother than what he had experienced from the reed sap...more refined, more purposeful. But it was the secondary effect that truly mattered. Noah could feel something shifting in his perception, as if a veil he hadn’t known existed was beginning to thin.

He looked at the tree before him with new understanding.

Another fruit found its way into his hand. Then another.

He began to eat as if he were a voracious wildling of an entity as each fruit...was 5 Million to Complexity and Purity!

|Timer: 55:48 remaining|

As Noah consumed his fourth fruit, feeling his complexity soar beyond anything he could have achieved in years of normal cultivation, a shadow fell across the grove.

The shadow that fell across the grove turned out to be something slightly new.

A curious Fold Dweller stood before him, her presence commanding attention through sheer physicality rather than any display of power.

She was burly, humanoid in general form but crowned with the head of a wolf.

Gray fur, streaked with silver that might have been age or might have been wisdom, covered her lupine features.

Her eyes, amber gold and ancient, regarded Noah with particular intensity.

”You are such a weak thing,” she observed, her voice carrying a growl beneath words that somehow made them more genuine rather than threatening. ”Yet you seem to be the least worried being here while others prepare for potential death.”

It was true. All around them, Fold Dwellers who had existed since before time had proper measurement were taking defensive positions, their ancient faces showing fear. Yet Noah stood calmly, still holding his fourth fruit, juice running down his chin from where he’d bitten into it.

He swallowed the piece he’d been chewing, feeling the surge of complexity flow through him before responding. His voice emerged steady.

”Worrying,” he said, meeting those amber eyes without flinching, ”is the act of suffering twice. Once in imagination, once in reality...if the feared thing even comes to pass. It changes nothing except to steal from us the present moment, which is the only time we truly possess.”

He took another bite of the fruit, the casual action emphasizing his point.

”I could spend these seconds fearing what might come, rehearsing deaths that may never arrive. Or I could use them to grow stronger, to experience what is rather than what might be. One should simply move forward while trying their best. The outcome will be what it is, but at least we’ll meet it having used our time rather than wasted it.”

The wolf-woman’s eyes blazed brighter, her muzzle pulling back in what might have been a grin if wolves could truly grin. ”Good mentality!”

The approval rang genuine. ”I am Silvara, Guardian of the Contemplation Groves for eight hundred cycles.”

She tilted her massive head, studying him with renewed interest. ”And who might you be, young thing who speaks old truths?”

”Noah,” he replied simply, seeing no reason for elaborate titles in this place.

”Noah.” She tested the name, rolling it around like tasting new fruit. ”Since you are a bit weak, I can help you out by sharing some of my Authority.”

...!

Her smile became decidedly devilish, showing teeth that could have torn through Folds .

”I likely have more than a thousand...actually, probably ten thousand times the amount of authority you possess. I will pass some to you through a ritual.”

She moved closer, her massive form radiating warmth that felt like standing near a sun. ”You don’t know the ritual, so I’ll take the lead. Just continue consuming the fruits.”

Without waiting for agreement, Silvara began something that predated any wonder or technique Noah had encountered. She placed one massive pawed hand on his shoulder...and began to speak in runic language!

|Ancient Ritual Detected: The Gifting of Accumulated Days- Allows Fold Dwellers to transfer accumulated complexity and purity to others. Conversion Rate: 50% efficiency.|

...!