Noah stood in quiet contemplation, the echoes of Sigrid's story still etched beneath his skin.
The Living Origin.
The Living Paradox.
The Living Concept.
Each one seemed ancient, unknowable, absolute. Each one defining truths buried deeper than the very scaffolding of Existence.
And now, Mana!
The engine of action. The force that turned potential into presence.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time since waking in this Labyrinth, he let himself sink inward.
Past the radiant lattice of his Runic Battle Mage Garden.
Beyond the spirals of glowing Sigils and the layered vines of Origin energy.
Beneath the pulsing True Sources, orbiting like distant stars around his Living Wheel.
He dove deeper.
Into the still, quiet core of his being.
There, waiting like an ocean beneath the foundation of who he was…lay Mana.
It didn't surge. Didn't roar.
It simply… existed.
