The extra order done by Eren didn’t have the delivery lined up for today just as he thought.
But Eren didn’t complain. He knew Nina wanted to spend time with him as much as she could by making him stay in the lab with her.
Nina’s affection towards Eren had grown a lot more than before, thanks to his progress with her. And he needed it to grow it even further.
“Aunt Nina, we two can go for a campfire at the Green Dunes. It’ll be our camping date. What do you say?”
Green Dunes was a place not very far from the southern city gates. It was an area with green pastures, dunes covered in green vegetation, sparse trees, and an open sky.
Green Dunes was famous for family campings. People would go there with families to have barbecue nights out in the open.
“That would be great, Erni! But we need to buy a tent and other camping gear.”
Nina was easy to please. Eren didn’t even need to use his glib tongue this time. But he’ll be sure to use it somewhere else.
“Don’t worry aunt Nina. I’ll make the preparations myself. But I’ll need some time for myself. Therefore, we’ll do it three or four days after today.
I feel like my mana pathways will be created during these days.
You already know my F Rank mana core has been condensed. I think I entered the State of Epiphany when I experienced the condensation. Therefore my mana pathway creation has been accelerated.
So our date after four days will be a celebration for me starting my ranking journey. You need to give me something important as a gift at that time!”
Eren looked at Nina and gave a meaningful smile. Nina knew what he was talking about. She too felt excited about their outdoor date.
But her curiosity regarding his previous statements made her prioritise a different matter:
“Erni, you entered the State of Epiphany? Is that true? Describe the event to me.”
************************
A ranker would employ mana to strengthen their body, extend their lifespan, keep them youthful, perform superhuman feats and do many things that didn’t seem possible for a rankless being.
A ranker would communicate with mana when he employs it for different uses and practices. But that communication was always initiated by the ranker. And therefore it would remain passive from the other side.
It was believed that mana had a collective consciousness of all living beings. That consciousness would contain all the answers to the questions a ranker would have in his mind. It would also give answers to questions that even the said ranker hasn’t thought of yet.
And in the case of a naturally induced state of epiphany, mana tries to communicate with the ranker by its own initiative.
The communication with mana was a lot like how Eren and Reen communicated with each other using their thought link. There was no verbal, written or sign language involved. It was a pure exchange of thoughts.
Coming back to the case of the state of epiphany. The ranker with whom mana establishes the communication enters the state of epiphany.
In the state of epiphany, all their questions and bottlenecks regarding the rank up would get answered, helping them cross the ranking divide easily.
In the state of epiphany, a ranker’s bottleneck regarding his next rank would get resolved, aiding them to step into a new rank without any risk. Therefore every ranker wanted to experience the state of epiphany, especially when they experienced a slump in their ranking journey.
A ranker who experienced the state of epiphany was considered lucky because it would not happen with everyone at low ranks. And the ones who had experienced it might not be able to experience it again.
The state of epiphany was a natural phenomenon. It couldn’t be produced in a controlled environment or settings under normal circumstances by low ranked entities.
High ranked entities would sometimes be able to communicate with the mana and connect with its universal consciousness by using special means, spells, and artefacts. But this was called forced epiphany and its effects were far from the naturally occurring ones.
The state of epiphany was not for everyone. Mana would only talk of its initiative with a few individuals who were innately attuned to the mana. These individuals would be called geniuses of their generations. And they would traverse through the ranking journey so fast, it would create a legend around them.
The ranker would be called a genius if he could experience the state of epiphany before his teen years. As per this standard, Eren would be one of those rare geniuses who appeared once in a few centuries. If he did experience the state of epiphany that is. Which he did not.
But there was no way to prove that Eren did not experience the state of epiphany. That’s what Eren counted on when he gave this reason to justify him using the herbs to open mana pathways.
Eren was no genius. The mana never talked with him. And he never experienced the feeling of being connected to higher consciousness.
But the state of epiphany was a perfect excuse for him to justify his sudden growth. It would also serve as a reason behind any potential leap in the ranking journey.
***********************
Eren had already known about the state of epiphany and read its effects on the ranker’s psyche and body. That’s because he had read the anecdotes of rankers who had experienced it.
When Nina asked him to state his experiences, Eren knew what and how to talk about the state of epiphany. He gave pretty detailed info to Nina. That had her convinced that he was the genius she thought him to be.
“Wow. Experiencing the state of epiphany at this age can be considered a blessing and curse at the same time, Erni.
That’s because it’s such a waste to use this rare opportunity to progress further in low ranks. It’s towards the high ranks that you need a big help like this. And only in high ranks, can this gift be truly and efficiently used.
But since you’ve experienced the state of epiphany at such a young age, you must be better attuned to mana than even me.
That means the state of epiphany can happen to you again. I just hope that you have progressed further in ranks when that happens.”
Nina told Eren while looking at him with care and pride hidden in her eyes. Her Eren was one of those geniuses of his generation. Of course, she would feel prideful.
But a genius ranker would often attract trouble their way. Nina hoped that Eren would be smart enough to not get involved in that mess.
***********
Five days before heading out for the Academy!
Eren could be seen sitting naked in his room in a meditative position. He was trying to endure the tremendous pain as the mana pathways were being created inside his body at an unbelievable speed after the consumption of the herbs.
Eren knew the expulsion of impurities this time would be much higher than what he had to go through last time. Therefore he sat naked.
It took a while before the process was complete. As soon as it did, the mana core below Eren’s navel spun and sent the accumulated mana through the pathways to circulate it inside his body.
The mana core had been activated!
Eren’s body felt so much lighter and full of vitality after the mana started circulating inside his body through the newly created primary pathways. Eren knew he had entered the initial stage of F Rank with his mana core now.
Eren could see his entire body was oozing a colourless, sticky tar-like substance that was like Reen’s slimy mass. Eren looked and smelled like he hadn’t bathed in months and dipped in a beast’s mucus.
But contrary to his current visage, Eren’s body was rejoicing. He felt his body stats had been improved by a leap. Eren realized that this level up into Rank F was much better and thorough than what he had gone through in his previous life.
The gem’s mysterious inscription showed itself again under his naval before disappearing again. But there were many things lined up for him to do instead of thinking about a mystery he couldn’t solve at the time.
Eren needed to clean up. He needed a good bath to look as fresh as his current body felt. But his thoughts were focused on a different matter:
“Now that I’m done entering the F Rank, it’s about time I enter someone else as well!”
Eren smirked and told himself. It was time for his camping date with Nina.