Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4510: Tatakae! II

The weight of these records hung in the air!

"The Way of THE Creature is a unique one," Tor said with something approaching interest. "THE Creature seeks to encompass all of Existence itself. Not pieces of it, not aspects of it, but the totality. It is ambitious beyond measure, it is grand beyond comprehension."

His eyes met Noah’s.

"And if THE Creature succeeds in fully claiming that Sovereignty completely, nothing will be able to do a single thing to them in Observable Existence. They would become synonymous with reality itself, unkillable and absolute."

...!

Noah’s existence buzzed at these words and stories, his mind racing through implications.

He wondered...with how powerful THE Creature clearly was, how did THE Living Paradox and Emotive succeed in whatever they did in the future? How did THE Loom occur if THE Creature was this overwhelming? Were...any of the Stories of The Earliest Folds filled with accuracy, or were they loose events embellished here and there or even told in a version that never occurred?

Did THE Creature truly give his Everythings to all of Existence?

"..."

There had to be a critical piece of information he was missing here, some variable he didn’t yet understand.

At his churning thoughts, Tor looked at him with knowing eyes before speaking.

"But stories of others are fun and entertaining, educational even," Tor said with a shift in tone. "But at the end of the day, your story is what matters the most."

...!

Tor’s gaze drifted to their changing surroundings, to the inverted mountains and flowing rivers of light that composed The Infinite Unfurling.

"In this place, in The Infinite Unfurling where everything is still being decided, one should do their best not to compare themselves against others," he said, "I have seen countless entities destroy themselves through comparison, through measuring their worth against beings they could never match."

His voice took on a teaching quality.

"Do not compare yourself to THE Creature. Do not even compare yourself to me. Comparison against others does not do much to aid one in existence. It only breeds either arrogance or despair, and both are equally poisonous to growth."

He turned to look directly at Noah.

"So what if others are immensely powerful? So what if THE Creature can eradicate Sovereignties or I can devour Pre-THE existences with a single bite? Their power is theirs, built on their choices, their struggles, their unique paths through existence."

Tor’s expression became intense.

"Find your own definition of powerful and set it for yourself. Never define yourself or measure your worth based on comparisons to others. If you are stronger than yesterday, that is growth. If you understand more today than you did before, that is advancement. If your Sovereignty deepens even by the smallest fraction, that is progress."

His dark eyes seemed to see through existence itself!

"The moment you start comparing yourself to others, you begin walking their path instead of your own. You begin trying to match their Depth, mimic their Sovereignties, follow their Ways. And in doing so, you guarantee that you will always be lesser, always be a copy, always be derivative."

He gestured at the infinite expanse around them.

"Every THE existence you will ever encounter, myself included, we all had moments where we could have compared ourselves to those who came before. We could have measured ourselves against the ancient powers and found ourselves wanting. But we didn’t. We chose to walk our own paths, to claim our own Sovereignties, to build our own unique Ways regardless of how they compared to others."

Tor’s voice dropped to something profound.

"The day you truly stop comparing and measuring yourself against others, the day you stop feeling lesser because someone is more powerful or grander because you surpass another, that will truly be the day you head towards THE with clear purpose."

He smiled with genuine warmth.

"Your unique THE growing within you? That is your path, Outsider. Not my Hunger, not THE Creature’s Existence, not THE Living Elemental’s Elemental authority. Yours. Something completely novel."

His words carried the weight of absolute certainty.

"Do not waste it by trying to measure how it compares to what already exists. Build it into something incomparable, something that stands on its own merits. Let others compare themselves to you in the future, if they must engage in such futile exercises."

Tor’s words hung in the air like a revelation.

"Power is not a ladder where you climb by stepping on others or measuring yourself against their positions. Power is a vast landscape where each being carves their own mountain from the raw stone of existence. Some mountains are taller, some broader, some more beautiful. But the only mountain that matters to you is the one you are building with your own hands."

He looked at Noah with eyes that held eons of experience.

"So build, Outsider. Build without comparison. Build without measuring. Build simply because that is your nature, your choice, your Way. And when you finally achieve THE Absolute Sovereignty over whatever you choose to claim, it will be yours alone, incomparable and absolute."

...!

Noah listened to such words as his eyes shone with unfathomably grand luminosity!

While they may not be immensly applicable since his Existence was a Quintessential one, there was no harm drawing some lessons from this.

He had been comparing himself a few times. To Khor, to the entities within THE Loom, to the descriptions of THE powers.

Measuring, always finding himself wanting or surprisingly advanced, sometimes defining his progress in relation to others. How rapidly he advanced in days instead of years.

But Tor was right.

His THE Organ of Civilization was unique. His combination of Mana and Hunger was his own. His Mana even moreso. His path through existence belonged to him alone. Quintessential!

And if he was to survive The Fallout, if he was to build a Civilization that could endure what was coming, he needed to stop measuring himself against others and simply... build.

Build his Sovereignty. Build his Depth. Build his Way.

Not because others had done it better or worse, but because it was his to build!