In one field, Noah saw rows of plants that looked like crystallized ti, each one representing a different temporal concept being grown from seed to full expression.
Elsewhere, massive trees grew downward from invisible ceilings, their roots reaching toward sky while their branches burrowed into earth, defying orientation itself.
Elsewhere, Fields cultivating...Everythings that looked like waves of stellar brilliance!
Between them, rivers of liquid authority flowed!
And tending these impossible fields were Fold Dwellers and Living Existences whose power made Noah's earlier assessnts of strength seem quaint.
His eyes tracked across them to see nas and asurents floating above their heads like status displays.
Mateus of the Golden Harvest
Complexity: 1.2 Quadrillion
Purity: 1.1 Quadrillion
Approximately 1 Quadrillion. A being whose power exceeded most
Dukes!
And nearby, tending to a field of what looked like solidified destiny:
Thera, Keeper of the Eternal Bloom
Complexity: 127 Quadrillion
Purity: 119 Quadrillion
Over 100 Quadrillion. A single entity whose casual existence generated more power than so entire Folds could muster.
His gaze continued scanning, finding more beings scattered across
the fields like farrs tending crops that could reshape reality.
1.5 Quintillion.
3 Quintillion.
4 Quintillion!
And continuing on...
Ancient Torvan, the First Tiller
Complexity: 6,103,847,293,847,102|
Purity: 5,847,293,103,847,293|
Six Quintillion.
SIX.
Noah's expression remained calm, but these were wonders he was seeing!
This place wasn't rely a sanctuary!
The beings working these fields could each individually destroy current-era Folds without particular effort. Together, they represented power that could challenge... well, many things that claid to be unchallengeable.
And they were growing Principles like crops.
Master, I'm recording everything. Every cultivation technique these beings are using, every field arrangent, every Seed type being nurtured...all of it is being cataloged for analysis.
Her holographic form appeared briefly in his peripheral vision, visible only to him.
This data alone is worth the entire journey.
Noah gave the ntal equivalent of a nod, his attention still tracking across the impossible landscape.
The fields stretched endlessly...or at least, they stretched far enough
that weaker perceptions couldn't find their boundaries.
This space alone was equivalent to an entire Transcendent Fold, a pocket dinsion that had been carved from the Wandering Territories and shaped into paradise for beings who understood growth as fundantal authority.
Elyndra led them forward.
As they passed through the fields, the native beings, those impossibly powerful Fold Dwellers and Living Existences who had found sanctuary here, turned to acknowledge her presence.
Not with fear. Not with submission.
With respect that transcended hierarchy.
They bowed their heads slightly, their expressions carrying genuine warmth mixed with reverence.
She smiled back at each one, her gestures conveying familiarity that suggested she knew them all personally, had probably worked these fields beside them at various points.
It was the kind of relationship that only developed through shared labor toward common purpose.
They continued deeper into the Sanctum, passing fields that grew increasingly complex in their cultivation...Seeds of higher-order Principles that pulsed with authority approaching what Tatiana had possesed.
And then, in the distance, Noah saw it.
A single cultivation plot surrounded by golden radiance that made everything else in the Sanctum look dim by comparison.
At its center stood a figure, backlit by that impossible light, making clear identification difficult. But even from this distance, Noah could sense sothing about the presence...weight that suggested accumulated wisdom, authority that had been refined through eons, power that...
...that felt wrong, sohow. Not threatening, but diminished. Like observing a star that should have blazed with fury but instead
flickered with uncertainty.
Elyndra slowed as they approached the radiant field's edge, her expression shifting into sothing more serious.
She turned to face Noah and his assembled companions...Sigrid standing close to him, Khor floating nearby with mysterious smile, Moiraine maintaining position with paradoxical authority humming, the Emperor Penguin and others forming constellation of power around their focal point.
"From here on out," Elyndra said, her voice carrying finality that suggested this wasn't negotiable, "I have to take him forward to et
my Father alone."
Her blue eyes found Noah's, holding his gaze with intensity that searched for objections.
Noah analyzed the situationand smiled.
His gaze shifted to Khor, who stood beside Sigrid with that expression suggesting she found all of this entertaining.
His people were powerful in their own right- Sigrid now possessed 1.9 Quintillion in power, and Khor...could stomp anyone should anything drastic happen!
They could handle themselves.
And honestly, if The First Farr wanted to try sothing hostile,
Noah possessed enough ans to turn everything upside down.
He smiled calmly, his expression carrying confidence. "Walk around the Sanctuary of The First Farr," he said to his companions, "Pluck anything you're allowed to pluck. Learn what you can learn. I'll be fine."
They all nodded at his words.
Elyndra's smile widened, genuine pleasure flickering across her
features.
"They'll be perfectly safe," she assured them, then turned back toward
Noah. "Shall we?"
Without waiting for further response, she moved forward, floating toward that golden-radiant field with grace.
Noah followed, his form rising to match her elevation.
As they flew deeper into the radiant space, separating from the
others, Elyndra turned her head slightly toward him. Her expression had shifted into sothing more direct, more openly curious, as if the presence of others had been restraining her natural tendencies toward straightforwardness.
"You know," she said, "out of all existences I've encountered, and I've
encountered many across these eons, you are the second person apart from my Father who has such a sll of growth and harvest."
She studied him with intensity that felt invasive without quite crossing into offense.
"Just what Principle did you nurture?" she asked, the question delivered with bluntness.
"Because that scent... it's not just similar to Father's work. It's almost
identical, but different."
...!
Noah's expression remained calm.
She knew the answer to her own question, and yet she was here
playing around!
"Perpetual Harvest," he said simply, offering truth without elaboration.
"A Principle of continuous accumulation and exponential return on
effort invested."
Elyndra's eyes widened fractionally!
"Perpetual Harvest," she repeated softly, as if tasting the words.
"Father...called it his greatest failure, the Seed that refused to bloom
no matter what techniques he applied. And you... you actually succeeded in nurturing it?"
Her gaze intensified, searching his features for deception or exaggeration and apparently finding none.
"How did you manage what Father couldn't?"
Noah's smile deepened slightly.
"Different soil," he replied cryptically. "Different thods. Different understanding of what the Seed actually needed to grow. Even failure
is effort. Even with a failure, there is Harvest."
HUUM!
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