== BARRIER TIME ELAPSED: 75,010 DAYS... ==
Within The Groove Canopy, deep inside but not at its core region, stood something that defied simple categorization—a dome that wasn't quite a dome, a hill that wasn't quite natural. From an outsider's perspective, it appeared as a small, unusually symmetrical hill, covered with the same lush vegetation that characterized the rest of this primordial forest.
The dense canopy above cast dappled shadows across its surface, the extraordinary light of this realm—filtered through layers of ancient leaves—creating patterns that shifted and changed with the subtle movements of the massive trees. Bioluminescent fungi dotted the mound's surface, adding their gentle glow to the ethereal ambiance, while vines with eye-like nodules occasionally blinked as they sensed movement nearby.
The ambient sounds of The Groove Canopy—the distant calls of strange creatures, the creaking of enormous trunks, the soft bubbling of vertical water columns—created a symphony of life around this unassuming hill. Occasionally, the hill itself seemed to pulse almost imperceptibly, as if breathing in harmony with the forest's rhythm.
A traveler or passerby or even a creature of the outside world would wonder how such a hill had formed, considering how specific and shapely the surface appeared. Its curves were too perfect, its placement too deliberate among the chaotic growth of the forest floor. Yet nothing about it triggered immediate alarm—it was strange, certainly, but in a realm filled with wonders, one peculiar hill hardly demanded special attention.
From the perspective of an outsider, it was merely one of many similar formations scattered throughout The Groove Canopy forest—certainly not the habitat of anyone, let alone the incubation chamber of a being evolving beyond conventional understanding.
And that's because, for the nine years that had passed in the outside world, almost ninety-seven years had elapsed for me inside the cultivation abode made for my transformation.
"And with all these days... I've only managed to get my mana reactor core to the D rank of my stature," I complained as I took a break from my cultivation to perform some simple workouts.
The interior of my sanctuary barely resembled the cave it had once been. The crystalline walls had evolved, growing inward and outward simultaneously, creating chambers and passages that shifted according to my needs. The central pool had expanded into a perfectly circular lake of liquid primordial energy, its surface occasionally rippling with patterns that corresponded to the pulses of my core.
The air within was charged with potential, each molecule saturated with refined energies that would have instantly vaporized any conventional being. Light emanated not from any particular source but from the very substance of the space itself, creating an environment without shadows, where nothing could hide.
It had been days, months, even years since I formed my new body with its quantum physique as well as the reactor core. The process had been neither quick nor easy, but the results were undeniable.
With the help of the Aegis of Stone and Veil, I was able to manipulate my spacetime to flow a bit faster. According to my variants, if I was able to pull off the development of my reactor core and new body, it would take a tremendous amount of time to even move a single step in a realm of power—and this was keeping in mind that a single progression in my case was incomparable to any other.
Currently, at my D rank in power, I was already stronger than an EX rank mortal in this plane I was in. To be honest, even I was making a rough estimate since my current existence was a cheat.
"And being a cheat is absolutely necessary if I wanna survive against those fucktards," I said as I did some one-handed pushups, clear sweat rolling off my topless body as I wore nothing but a simple sweatpant I had managed to create as I continued increasing proficiency in my manipulation of matter.
My newly crafted body was a marvel of perfection that would have made master sculptors weep with envy. Standing at six-foot-two, my frame carried the perfect balance of musculature—not the bulky mass of a bodybuilder but the harmonious proportion of a classical statue come to life. Every muscle group was defined with mathematical precision, creating a topography of power across my torso, arms, and shoulders.
My shoulders were broad and squared, tapering down to a narrow waist in the classic V-shape that spoke of both strength and agility. My chest was well-developed, each pectoral muscle clearly defined without being excessive, rising and falling with controlled breaths. My abdomen featured an eight-pack of abdominal muscles so symmetrical they seemed almost artificial, each one carved from stone yet moving with fluid grace.
My arms bore the hallmarks of balanced development—biceps that curved in perfect arcs when flexed, triceps that created distinct horseshoe shapes along the backs of my arms, forearms corded with sinew and veins that hinted at tremendous gripping strength. My legs were equally impressive—powerful thighs, diamond-shaped calves, the entire lower body built for explosive movement and unwavering stability.
My skin tone was a warm olive that seemed to glow with inner vitality, unmarred by scars or blemishes, almost luminous with the energy that coursed beneath its surface. Occasionally, when I channeled more power, faint patterns would appear just beneath the skin—not quite visible but sensed, like the ghost of a tattoo depicting ancient runes and cosmic symbols.
Even my face had been crafted with the same attention to detail—strong jawline, high cheekbones, a straight nose, and eyes that shifted between deep blue, violet and red depending on the light and my mood. My hair, black with occasional strands that caught the light like filaments of pure silver, was kept short for practicality, though it grew in perfect symmetry when left untrimmed.
The overall effect was of a being designed rather than born, optimized rather than evolved—beauty and power in perfect harmony, without the random variations and imperfections that characterized natural development.
With the constant creation and destruction of my cells down at the atomic level, I had been able to create a physique that, upon its progression, compacted itself to withstand high levels of energy. Since it was primed using the very energy that fueled its internal destruction and rebirth constantly until I reached saturation, I had simply created a ripped body, one that even low-tier immortals would find hard to pierce with whatever weapon, skill, or any sort of power.
And I did not say this lightly.
"Man, I seriously pity anyone who tries to cross me..." I said in sympathy as I thought about the characteristics of the new body I'd made.
To develop my physique properly, I needed to 'saturate' its construction completely. What did this mean? I needed to have every single cell that made up my body be able to accept primordial mana from my core, refine it, and let it flow through my veins, arteries, nervous system, organs, bones, and everywhere else.
One would think that creating a body with the help of primordial mana would make it more attuned to it, but no, that was completely wrong. From what my variants had learned, creating a body with primordial mana or energy itself just increased its overall affinity, and that was it. Said energy could still harm you if you weren't careful.
What they wanted me to develop, however, was a body resistant to whatever energy created it in the first place. In short, the completion of my physique would allow me to ideally be immune to any harmful form of primordial mana, as I'd become the very energy I was made of.
"This is truly quite ingenious, my lord. Such creativity is truly unfathomable," Codex praised as he continued to observe and record.
Since such a development of such a body had never happened even for the strongest of beings since the dawn of time, I was basically creating something new, and the cosmic entity was having the time of his life observing and recording.
"Well... you've got to say thanks to my variants... their ideas gave me grounds to even get more creative..." I said as I finished my rounds of working out.
The area I'd designated as my training space was a marvel of functional design. The floor beneath me shifted in density according to my needs—sometimes soft to absorb impact, sometimes unyielding to test my strength. Equipment I'd crafted through matter manipulation lined the walls—weights that could adjust their mass on command, resistance bands made from materials that didn't exist in conventional physics, training dummies that could simulate combat with increasing levels of difficulty.
The entire chamber adapted to my training regimen, reconfiguring itself to present new challenges as I mastered old ones. It was a gym designed by a mortal of now, for a god-in-making.
As I progressed with my core and body, I came to realize that I got bored very, very fast. And as such, I needed to distract my mind aside from hibernating it once in a while when I got insanely bored. Doing such simple workouts and meditations really helped me to keep a sane mind for however long I needed to max out my core as per the limits of the mortal realm.
"My lord, how long do you think you will need... I know you're not one to stay still in boredom cultivating and evolving your core and body..." Codex asked in worry, his voice resonating not from any particular direction but from everywhere at once, as if he had become an intrinsic part of the environment itself.
"Don't worry, I think reaching at least my version of an S rank would be ideal for me to get out and explore Gaia as I prepare to ascend," I answered as I conjured an ocean blue formation above me and let it rain down water like an overhead shower.
The water that cascaded down wasn't merely H₂O but a complex solution imbued with energies that soaked into my skin, replenishing what had been expended during my workout while simultaneously continuing the process of cellular refinement. Steam rose from my body as the water made contact, not from heat but from the instantaneous absorption and processing of the energies it contained.
Simply letting the water run down made me reminisce about my life back on Earth. I truly wondered, even in the grand scheme of things at such a cosmic level, how my dad, mom, brother, and sister were holding up. I knew I had left with regrets and wishes to achieve, but nothing could be done about that now.
And here I was, growing, evolving silently to become a final boss while they lived out their lives in relative ignorance and peace. Sometimes I wondered what would have happened if I had not died and come to realize my greater identity and the tasks required of me.
"Besides, I need to get out early to resolve some regrets of the half of my soul that was stuck here..." I thought as the memories inherited from the other half of my single split soul ran through my head in flashes.
The water continued to cascade down, washing away sweat but not the memories or the responsibility I felt toward the life that had been lived here on Gaia by my other half. The water formation above me shifted colors subtly, reflecting my changing mood—from clear blue to a deeper, more somber indigo.
"Honestly, it's kind of ironic that he was quite literally going through the typical young master betrayal situation and eradication of his family..." I said in abject dejection and miniature wrath as I thought of what the other me, the me now, had gone through.
Yes, most people would think that I'd go through a middle and identity life crisis. And honestly, I simply pitied those who even second-guessed such things when the facts were laid out before them. And I thought it was precisely this type of thinking that my variants knew I'd have, to the point where they didn't even address the whole concept of my soul being split and merging back whole, then who would be the main soul, and whatnot.
It was complete bullshit, and at the very least, from a combination of both memories, I knew that both were Ryan and both had the exact same personality, mannerisms, ego, and thoughts. The only difference was the environment, the life memories, and feelings they both went through.
The dome's interior seemed to respond to my contemplative mood, the ambient light dimming slightly, the crystalline structures along the walls pulsing with slower, more measured rhythms. The water formation dissipated gradually, the last of its energies absorbed into my system.
"Well... let's not think about complicated stuff now. Let's get back to the grind and aim for at least C rank within 10 barrier years," I thought as I sat back down into a meditative posture and began the grueling process once more.
Said process being: having Codex keep the archaic primordial formation that introduced primordial mana from the beginning running once more, absorbing said mana to increase the quality and reactivity of my mana reactor core. As I increased the generation of energy, I needed to compact my mana particles to be heavier, larger, and of better quality, then increase the reactions to higher degrees.
Simultaneously, I needed to also fuel the elimination of matter and atoms in my body, thus creating antimatter, and let it consume my other cells while immediately regenerating each individual cell with my newly generated primordial mana.
As I settled into the meditative state, the environment around me responded, the entire chamber reconfiguring itself to optimize the cultivation process. The central pool of primordial energy began to swirl more rapidly, sending tendrils of luminous power toward me that spiraled around my form before being drawn inward. The crystalline structures in the walls resonated at frequencies that harmonized with my core's energy signature, amplifying and focusing the ambient power.
The processes were daunting, as dangerous as they were unholily painful. Each session was a controlled apocalypse on a cellular level—destruction and creation balanced on the edge of a knife, with my consciousness as the only guiding force preventing catastrophic collapse.
But in the end, at the very least, I knew with assurance I would survive and have one heck of an edge. The path ahead was long, the work arduous, the pain constant—but the alternative was unthinkable. In a multiverse where entities like the Proteras and many more dangers existed, where the very fabric of reality had once been threatened, half-measures were not an option.
And so I continued, day after day, year after year, inside my temporal bubble, forging myself into a weapon, a shield, an anchor for existence itself. Progress was slow, but it was progress nonetheless.
And in the realm of cosmic evolution, progress makes perfection.