Noah had already experienced many large jumps in power over his journey since he first beca a Hunter.
So of these jumps were ridiculous ones where his entire body would explode or get deconstructed before being built again, flesh and bone and foundation scattered across existence before reforming into sothing grander than what had been destroyed.
Other jumps left him physically the sa but granted him sothing that fundantally changed how he perceived existence itself, alterations to awareness rather than structure.
The jump from Countable to Uncountable was a unique one.
His existence did not explode and reconstruct, but he still felt such a significant force of change in how he could potentially wield Infinity compared to before. The difference was categorical rather than incrental, a transformation in the nature of his relationship with the endless sea he conducted rather than rely an expansion of how much he could conduct.
Which in itself was an understatent.
He had not had all that long to experint with what the major differences would have been at Countable compared to Uncountable since he declared himself a finite existence. The transition had happened too quickly, the Sacred Herbs too effective, the progression too urgent for extended contemplation of each stage along the way.
He almost complained that he was progressing too fast.
As he took the multiple roots, he felt his Interdiate Depth and Fundantal Depths all gain that sa irresistible feeling of Uncountable. It felt like most of his finite existence now possessed the sturdier, more imnse capability of commanding Infinity. Where before he had sensed endless points in sequence, now he sensed endless points between endless points, density that filled every gap his previous perception had left empty.
If he had been a scrawny thing that could barely lift five pounds, he could now lift hundreds and thousands and even millions of pounds compared to before.
But even that comparison of asurents of weight did not do justice to what he could do before and what he could do now. The difference was not quantitative. It was qualitative, a fundantal shift in the nature of strength itself rather than rely an increase in how much strength he possessed.
The only part of him that remained at Countable was his Absolute Foundation, where his derivative Civilizations of Infinite Hunger and Infinite Undifferentiated Fate resided. But after his change, all of them felt like they were simply part of his greater Civilization, the entanglent and distinction of derivative slowly becoming lost as his existence unified around its new understanding of Infinity.
Because the main Civilization of Mana was not officially at Absolute, it felt like the vast majority of his body was completely Uncountable, and only this one last part remained. He had been keeping it for a grander foundation, waiting for the right mont to elevate it properly. But he knew that Absolute Infinity was too far away, and since the rest of his finite existence had achieved Uncountable...
"Take the step."
HUUM!
He smiled as he commanded his existence to complete the transformation.
The mont he did, brilliance began to unfold within him as he closed his eyes to feel it. His Absolute Foundation trembled and shifted, Countable limitations dissolving as Uncountable density flooded through the last remaining portion of his existence that had not yet been elevated. The sensation was completion, wholeness, every part of his finite being now capable of conducting Infinity in its denser form.
All of him would stand at Absolute, and all of him would be Uncountable!
But he frowned soon after because he sensed sothing.
Well, another one of his bodies within THE Agora sensed sothing. Three auras of considerable magnitude were breaching into the Shores of Kleos and moving rapidly toward his location, their approach carrying intent that suggested this was not a social visit.
At such a pivotal mont of his transformation did things have to arise? Could he not simply complete his advancent in peace?
He sighed lightly as his body in THE Agora focused on the approaching presences.
---
In THE Primordial Archive of THE Agora.
Noah’s seemingly mundane body closed a book that had been shining with stellar obsidian-gold light. The title glead across its cover in symbols predating THE Infinite Unfurling: "Architectural Theorems of Scale Transition: thodologies of the First Primordial Architects."
He had been studying it for insights into what separated THE First Scale from THE Second, seeking understanding that might inform his own unique path.
But he allowed the book to float beside him as he looked up from his research with eyes becoming filled with piercing blue light. He sensed three auras of utmost brilliance breaching into the Shores of Kleos, their trajectory unmistakable. They were coming here, and they were coming fast.
The illusory figure of RUINATION materialized beside him, her blue-gold holographic form flickering into existence with the tragic beauty that characterized her manifestation.
The radiant figure of THE Infiniverse appeared on his other side, multicolored jeweled eyes already focused on the approaching presences with attention.
"Wrap up the devouring of THE Agora."
Noah’s voice erged calm but heavy with implication.
"It seems we won’t have a mont of peace."
His expression grew serious as he felt the auras more clearly now that they had entered his domain. Two of them blazed with power more terrifying than any Absolute he had encountered. But they should still be at THE First Scale, their authority impressive without crossing the threshold.
The aura of the third was different.
It reminded him of the oppression he had felt from THE Primordial Armor, that crushing weight of soone operating at heights his Scale should not have been able to perceive. The oppression of THE Second Scale. It was likely a Primordial Architect, another ancient being who had achieved what most of existence considered impossible.
Beside him, THE Infiniverse and RUINATION disappeared to work on accelerating their consumption of THE Agora’s resources. They trusted their master to handle whatever approached.
"How do you compare to Beowulf..."
He whispered these words with chilly light in his eyes, genuinely curious whether this Primordial Architect would prove as overwhelming as the one who had nearly captured him in THE Wastes. The mory of that confrontation remained fresh, the sensation of his attacks phasing through platinum armor without effect.
In the next mont, the doors of THE Primordial Archive flung open with brilliance that pressed against the ancient space.
Three vibrant figures appeared in the doorway, and before Noah could fully gaze at them, a sharp and authoritative voice was the first thing that bood out across the Archive.
"I will have to disappoint. I am not sothing as simple as Beowulf."
WAA!
The words carried weight that made the Grimoires on their shelves tremble!
With these words, Noah saw them clearly.
An Undivided One in humanoid form stood at the front, his skin shining obsidian beneath clear blue robes, his radiant eyes filled with excitent that seed inappropriate for the circumstances. Beside him, a Formless Terror whose entire body consisted of crimson tentacles arranged into humanoid shape looked at Noah with similar enthusiasm, as if eting him was the culmination of sothing long anticipated.
But Noah’s gaze rapidly focused on the figure floating behind them.
A woman adorned in those sa blue robes, but the air surrounding her carried weight of an entirely different magnitude.
Her eyes were pure white with blue dots of singularities orbiting within that whiteness, and radiant white hair cascaded down her back with its own faint luminescence. She was strikingly beautiful and...curvaceous!
Around her, Noah’s eyes opened wide as he could see glimrs of his Infinite Absolute Seals, the ones he had scattered across Observable Existence.
But more than that, silent and calm rivers of Infinity occasionally spun around her form before dispersing.
It seed minor at first glance, but Infinity was rotating around her and empowering her.
His eyes beca sharp as he grasped the floating book in his hands, looking at the new entrants who had not attacked right away despite their dramatic entrance. That hesitation suggested they wanted sothing other than imdiate conflict.
"And what might this be?"
His voice erged asured, curious despite the tension pressing against THE Primordial Archive.
"An Undivided One, a Formless Terror, and a Primordial Architect are moving together to chase Infinity? What an odd thing to see."
Existence was vast and filled with wonders, but even this combination was sothing he had not expected.
The Formless Terror and Undivided One were looking at him with shining eyes. Their enthusiasm was almost unsettling in its intensity.
In the next mont, the Primordial Architect behind them moved forward as her power pressed against the surroundings with authority that made THE Primordial Archive itself seem to contract slightly. Her voice bood out with confidence that brooked no argunt.
"We ca to see the lifeform playing with forces he does not understand. I am Naldine Manthon, and I have co to make sure that you, Osmont, do not cause the Splintering of Observable Existence."
...!
BOOM!
Noah’s eyes beca sharp as the words registered.
What the fuck was this crazy thing talking about?
Naldine stepped forward calmly and imposingly, her pure white gaze sweeping across THE Primordial Archive before focusing on him again with intensity that suggested she was trying her hand in evaluating every aspect of his existence simultaneously.
Her voice continued with the certainty of soone who had spent eons building toward this mont.
"Observable Existence is so vast and stable that even sothing at THE Second Scale could attack it for eons and it would not crumble. You are weaker than sothing at THE Second Scale, but you happen to have tapped into a power you barely understand."
Her singularity-dotted eyes narrowed.
"If you are foolish enough, Splintering Observable Existence into Undefinition can only be a matter of ti. I have listened to the Echoes of THE First Cause and the Artificial Causes over eons. I have studied Infinity and its wonder and its Encroaching Imperiosus."
She took another step forward, her presence pressing against Noah as Infinity began to gather around him.
"I...bear a weight and purpose even you cannot understand."
...!
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