Noah looked down at this terrifying monstrosity of a being...soone who could probably erase entire Folds with a sneeze.
Soone who carried terrifying power, who had reached heights that should have been impossible...and saw nothing but absolute
reverence and joy.
"Ancestor, you look the sa as all those years ago..." Kael said again, his voice breaking with emotion.
"We have been waiting for so long. Isolated for billions of years, cut off from everything, but I always knew. I always believed that one day, you would call for us."
His form shook with barely contained feeling.
"That you would rember we existed. That you hadn't forgotten your Civilization, sealed away in that bubble you created. I told them... all of them, every generation...I told them the Ancestor would return. That we were not abandoned. That this isolation was purpose, not punishnt."
WAA!
He looked up, his deep blue eyes blazing with tears and power simultaneously.
"And now you have called us. After all these years, you have finally acknowledged our existence. I am... I am imnsely happy, Ancestor. More than words can convey."
Noah's smile softened slightly, carrying warmth he rarely displayed.
"I would never forget," he said simply.
The words were quiet, but they carried absolute certainty!
And in that grand mont, as Kael trembled with joy and the blue mana still cascaded outward painting existence in Noah's authority...
"Uncle Kael, is this really the Ancestor? He seems a bit weak."
...!
A skeptical voice cut through the profound atmosphere like a blade through ceremony.
Kael's face transford instantly, joy vanishing, replaced by horror and fury. He spun around, his blue-winged form blazing with sudden anger that made the surrounding space crack.
"Riya!" His voice thundered with disapproval. "I told you to watch your mouth! You weren't even supposed to co, but you never listen! This is The Ancestor, the Architect of Mana himself! I know you can sense it...I know you feel his authority resonating with everything we are, so stop playing these gas and pay your respects!"
HUUM!
Existence shook at Kael's anger, the raw power in his voice enough to unmake Folds!
Behind him, a young woman rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah," she said.
She floated forward, and Noah's perception focused on her with interest.
She looked young, early twenties if judged by physical appearance.
Short spiky dark blue hair frad a face that was unfathomably beautiful, features that suggested soone had taken the concept of rebellious perfection and given it form.
Radiant jewel-blue eyes regarded Noah with open assessnt, no deference in her gaze whatsoever.
She wore a blue cropped jacket over a matching cropped shirt, practical clothing designed for mobility rather than ceremony.
Blue bloor shorts revealed slender white legs that shone with thousands of Mana Glyphs etched directly into her skin.
She moved with the kind of confidence that ca from beings who'd never t sothing they couldn't handle, approaching Noah without kneeling, without bowing, without any of the reverence Kael had displayed.
Noah's eyes sharpened as prompts materialized.
CIVILIZATION MBER DETECTED
IDENTITY: Riyannara (Prefers: Riya)|
CLASSIFICATION: Second Generation, Prodigy of the Civilization|
COMPLEXITY: 61 Quintillion
PURITY: 61 Quintillion
MANA GLYPHS FORGED: 61,000|
MANA ARCANA GLYPHS FORGED: 73|
DISTINCTIONS:
-Daughter of Council mber Voltrax
-Breaker of the Complexity Cap
-Most Attuned to the Way
-The Unbound Prodigy
-Chaos Elent of Perfect Order]
[TITLES:
-She Who Exceeded Limits
-The Strongest of the Civilization]
-Voice of Irreverence]
-The Unchained Talent
CURRENT STATE: Curious about external existence, mildly
disappointed in Ancestor's apparent power level. Rebellious, sarcastic,
refuses limitations. Secrety reverant and shocked as out of all
mbers of her Civilization, she can more closely sense the imnsity of Infinite Mana.
...!
HUUM!
'Sheesh!
Noah's mind buzzed with the assessnt.
Sixty-one Quintillion. She had exceeded Kael, the ancient leader of
their Civilization, the one who'd guided developnt by a substantial
margin.
And she'd done it while apparently being such a discipline problem
that even beings of Kael's power level struggled to control her.
Her outward thoughts were clear even as inwardly, she actually felt
different!
She floated directly in front of Noah, looking him up and down with open assessnt that bordered on rude.
Her jewel-blue eyes tracked across his form, evaluating, asuring, and apparently finding the results sowhat lacking based on her
expression.
"Hello, O Great Ancestor," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"I am Riyannara, though I prefer you call Riya. I have answered your call alongside Uncle Kael here, and I'm reporting for glorious, magisterial fucking duty."
She snapped off a mock salute, standing straight with theatrical precision while a smile played across her features.
Noah looked at her...this terrifying being whose power exceeded most of his own current instances, who carried enough authority to reshape Folds, who'd apparently been such a problem child that an entire Civilization had struggled to contain her...and said nothing. Just observed, his tyrannical gaze steady and assessing.
Kael appeared beside Riya with movent too fast to track, his expression carrying profound apology mixed with frustration. "Ancestor, I... I apologize for this." He gestured at Riya with obvious
exasperation.
"This is Riyannara, and she is... she has been a headache for our Civilization of Mana since the mont she achieved sufficient power to ignore the Council's authority."
He paused, organizing his thoughts.
"She is the daughter of Voltrax, one of the Original Seed mbers,
one of your initial forty-seven. He sits on the Council of Mana as one of our primary strategists. And his daughter..." Kael's expression suggested he was choosing words carefully.
"She showed more talent than any of us. More natural affinity for the Way. More instinctive understanding of Mana manipulation." His voice carried both pride and concern.
"Years ago, the Council instituted a rule. A complexity cap of 50
Quintillion. We sensed potential dangers from exceeding that threshold, felt like crossing it might make our isolated pocket
detectable to... whatever threats existed outside. We all agreed to stop
our advancent at that level."
...!
He looked at Riya with an expression sowhere between fondness
and frustration.
"After she was born, she ignored the rule completely. Just... kept advancing, because telling Riya she can't do sothing is apparently the best way to ensure she will do it. She exceeded 50 Quintillion not
too long ago and is now our strongest by significant margin."
He paused.
"We may have been lucky she ca along later in our developnt. By
the ti she broke the cap, the dangers of detection had beco
minimal. But the principle stands...she doesn't follow rules, doesn't respect limitations, and has never once listened to Council authority. So please, do not be offended by her disrespect."
...!
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