Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 5101: Experimentation II

In THE Infiniverse.

The Early Veiled Shore stretched before Noah’s perception with magisterial beauty that felt almost absurd given everything happening across Observable Existence!

Vibrant golden sand lined the beach where waves of crystalline water lapped against shores that had never known pollution or corruption. Inland, plots of multicolored farmland spread across gentle hills, sacred herbs of every variety growing vibrantly.

The multicolored rain of THE Pluvial Epoch of Existential Infinity continued even here.

Droplets of impossible brilliance fell, nourishing everything they touched with Quintessence Infiniforce that accelerated growth and enhanced potency. The herbs seemed to lean toward the rain as it fell, leaves spreading wider to catch more of what descended upon them.

On a plot filled with mystical floating lotuses, Noah stood with attention fixed on something far more interesting than sacred herbs.

Another body of his had just begun sparring with Naldine Manthon in the tumultuous seas of Observable Force that THE Wastes had become. That confrontation would test the limits of his Hadean transformation against someone who stood past the door of Calymmian classification. But this body, this consciousness operating within THE Infiniverse itself, had different work to accomplish.

Critical work.

A floating platform of soft luminescent material hovered among the mystical lotuses, their multicolored petals releasing fragrances that would have intoxicated lesser beings. And on that platform lay Barbatos.

Her short stature seemed almost delicate against the soft surface supporting her, dark hair splayed outward in waves that caught the light of Infinity.

That hair seemed to drink in the multicolored rain, strands glistening with moisture that carried power most beings couldn’t safely absorb. Her voluptuous figure was adorned in nothing but a loose white robe that revealed curves that drew attention regardless of how many times he had seen them.

She was breathing with relief now, chest rising and falling as she recovered from what he had just done.

He had pulled her from Yggdrheim without warning, extracted her from challenges she had been navigating within that realm of trials and tribulations.

Her dark eyes opened to look at him with an expression mixing curiosity and something more suggestive.

"When you pulled me away from Yggdrheim while saying you wanted to try something, I had an entirely different idea in mind regarding what we would be trying."

...!

"I imagined candles, perhaps. Certainly not being placed on a table like a specimen awaiting dissection."

She propped herself up on her elbows, the movement causing her robe to shift mesmerizingly.

"What exactly are you planning on doing, Little Fish?"

Little Fish.

She still used this term regardless of how his power had grown, and he found comfort in that consistency all the way from his time in Atlantis!

It was surreal to think about his time years ago as an Atlantean fighting demons.

Noah’s eyes were already shining like golden singularities as he looked at her.

"I want to see if I have what it takes to be an Engineer."

...!

An Engineer.

Because he had gained the capability of Existential Engineering through his Hadean transformation. The ability to perceive the fundamental makeup of existence, to see the weavings that comprised beings at their most basic level, to potentially modify those weavings according to his will. He had not yet tested this capability, had not yet attempted to actually engineer anything.

He wanted to experiment now.

It seemed like something pivotal, a capability that could reshape how he approached advancement for himself and those connected to him. And this moment was as good as any to begin understanding what Existential Engineering truly allowed.

And this was a unqiue period.

Noah loved the relaxing period after major adversity.

Such times allowed him to breathe and gauge just how much he had grown. They provided space for experimentation, for exploration, for testing new capabilities without the pressure of enemies trying to kill him while he learned. Periods like this were rare. Sometimes he went from adversity to adversity without rest, from battle to breakthrough to battle again in cycles that left no room for contemplation.

One needed rest every now and then.

And his version of resting was keeping himself busy with work that didn’t involve immediate mortal danger.

Right now, that meant staring at the body of Barbatos with eyes that perceived existence differently than they ever had before.

"Lie back," he said softly.

She complied with curiosity burning in her dark eyes, settling against the soft platform while watching him with attention that missed nothing. Her robe shifted again as she moved, but neither of them paid that any mind. This was not about intimacy. This was about something potentially far more significant.

Noah brought his hands forward.

His palms pressed against various points of Barbatos’s body in a purposeful manner, fingers finding positions that his newly awakened perception identified as significant. Golden Observable Force gathered in one hand. Multicolored Quintessence Infiniforce gathered in the other. Both energies danced from his fingertips, entering her body through pathways that only Existential Engineering could perceive.

Barbatos closed her eyes and bit her lip.

The sensation was clearly stimulating. Her fingers curled against the soft platform beneath her. But she did her best to focus, to remain still, because she could see that Noah was serious about whatever he was attempting.

He infused her with tendrils of both forces, threading power through her existence!

And then he saw it.

A network of vibrant vessel-like pathways lit up across her entire body, illuminating beneath her skin in patterns that revealed the fundamental architecture of her existence.

Ethereal channels branched throughout her form like rivers feeding into tributaries feeding into streams.

Primary conduits ran along her spine and through her heart, connecting to secondary pathways that spread toward her extremities. Tertiary networks webbed between those secondary channels, creating interconnected systems that touched every part of her existence. Nodes of concentrated energy marked junctions where multiple pathways intersected, some burning bright while others barely flickered.

Her Civilization of Necromancy wove through these networks in intricate musings, death-aspected authority filled with Bounded Countable Infinity coloring the channels it had claimed.

But as Noah observed with eyes that could finally perceive such depths, he noticed something that made his expression shift.

The networks looked dim!