After everything had been reviewed and double-checked, Sim began the process. Every human and sapient being on the planet was immediately forced into their own astral space just as Sim dropped the shield surrounding the core, and the immediate rush of mana exploded out, giving her the required power. As soon as the mana was released, many things happened simultaneously. The astral funnel to the moon activated, altering its core and creating an atmosphere with the same properties as the Earth. Sim began altering base elements to create plant life and added the necessary organisms to maintain a stable and healthy environment.
Simultaneously, Sim created an astral space to store all the items for the system store as well as all the items we had both discussed. This was a huge undertaking. Some of the items being created required multiple years of processing and reforging. The system store astral space had a constant 10,000-to-1 time dilation that she could control in either direction per item. This allowed the forging of items to be performed in a quick enough manner to be ready for when someone was able to purchase it. The exact opposite time dilation was placed in the food portion of the store. Time was slowed to a virtual standstill to remove the perishable variable.
At the hero facility, a blast of mana erupted. Jeff jumped into immediate action. The mana blast was much more powerful than originally expected. Jeff had to alter a few candidates’ mana channels on the fly to accommodate the extra power. He chose Chris, Riley, Juan, and Lucas, of course, but the last one he decided to increase was Johnson. The berserker was by far the most effective fighter, and that was the whole point of the program, so he chose him for the increased power. He hoped that his channels could process at such a high speed so soon. As Jeff strained to guide all their channels at once, Sim noticed Jeff’s mana channels straining. She teleported Peaches in and told her exactly what to do to help. Peaches not only helped guide Jeff’s channels to expand, increasing his bloodline capabilities, but she was also shielding Baron Foxy McFox Face. He had already been blasted three times with mana and would have been vaporized if she dropped the shield. As Jeff’s bloodline became more powerful, the strain of guiding the heroes’ channels became easier. Peaches monitored Jeff to make sure he didn’t over exert himself.
As soon as the shield was dropped, Sim informed me of issues with both styles of the dungeon cores and the town cores. They were absorbing too much mana. If the rate at which the mana was hitting the cores didn’t decrease, the dungeons would be too powerful for any low levels to use, ultimately rendering them obsolete for quite a while. The town cores could hold the excess mana but would require a fundamental change in how they operate. I multiplied myself as much as I could, and each of my duplicates took a different area around the Earth. Our main goal was to absorb as much of the mana as we could from the dungeon cores to keep them as low of a level as possible.
I could handle as much mana as could be thrown at me, but a disadvantage that my duplicates had was that as soon as they hit their threshold, they exploded, and I would have to create another. When they exploded, the mana saturation in the area would skyrocket, and we noticed some strange alterations. Plant life developed carnivorous tendencies, and rock formations would change between the elements. Some would phase in and out of the normal visible spectrum. Some of the vegetation melded with solid structures and began to move around. Once we noticed the issue, I started ordering them to teleport back to me the instant before they exploded, and I absorbed their mana. It took over 50 explosions before we came up with the idea, so there were quite a few unknown variables and possibly new types of creatures we were going to have to deal with.
Alec was having the hardest time with the integration. He knew his path, and because he had already set his direction with Sim, he was not teleported away. He stayed to watch the Earth go through its metamorphosis. He was blasted many times with mana and was trapped in a collapsing building until he activated his bloodline. Luckily, due to the nature of his bloodline and his abilities, he just smashed his way out. He noticed his mana channels starting to alter themselves with each mana blast that hit him, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He was unaware of how to repair them. He would just have to deal with whatever was happening and wait to have Jeff help him in the future.
One of the mana blasts actually altered a bus directly in front of him into a metal/organic hybrid monster. Sim had yet to atomize all man-made structures due to the ongoing issues from more mana being released than originally expected.
As soon as the creature roared, Alec froze. It was some kind of paralyzation skill activated through sound. Alec’s bloodline was already in a partial activation state so it took mere moments for him to break out of it and roar himself. As he activated his full bloodline ability, the beast froze in place. Alec may have been caught off guard, but a newborn monster was no match for his current strength. With one quick motion, the beast exploded. Many months ago, Alec had learned to utilize his crimson mana to create a pressure ball inside of his target and activate a rage function. This not only expanded the ball but literally ripped the atoms apart as it passed through any solid matter. He had yet run into a monster he couldn’t just instantly destroy. The only problem was the amount of mana required to perform this at the level required for large beasts. Fortunately, at this moment, the world's mana levels were almost instantly recharging his storage.
Inside of Yggdrasil, Cookie felt the release of mana and was awakened from her melding process. As she focused her power, she guided the required origin mana into the correct parts of the tree. This was not only preparing the tree to absorb the souls required for full activation, but it also altered a portion of the tree to allow for origin mana production. This was the part that universe 158 was counting on the most. They had fended off an attack previously, but during the initial altercation, their tree’s mana production was damaged. By oversaturating Yggdrasil in our universe, it would also reactivate full production in theirs. This process was part of the info pack Cookie was given when her bloodline first activated. Origin mana production was the key to having the capabilities needed for full protection against Origin the Omnipotent.
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As Cookie finished guiding the required mana, she then set out on her second goal. She pushed as much mana as she could without being noticed by Sim into the roots. As soon as the integration was over and the inhabitants returned, she needed to activate the soul absorption process in as much of a coordinated strike as possible. She needed at least 500 million souls to bond with the tree to enable its connection. If Sim caught on too early, she would stop the process, rendering all of her efforts obsolete. She decided to wait until there were at least 50% of the required souls and then snatch them all at once. If the effort was stopped prior to the required number, she would rebond with Yggdrasil and hope that her father would choose to finish the process before it was too late. Even with all the events of the past years, she hoped he would choose to save her over destroying the tree to stop the process.
Without anyone noticing due to the effects of the void, both the Void King and the Grand Magus teleported through the link. In the exact spot they were supposed to create the siphon that would have slowly drained origin mana into their universe, they created a one-time-use portal instead. The blast of origin mana was great enough, and the conditions were just right for inter-universal travel to be possible. They had preemptively put the required elements for the portal into the core when Origin made them add the elements to increase production a few years prior. As they arrived in the Earth's core, they knew they had to find the tree in order to ensure its completion, or Origin would risk coming through himself. The Void King maintained the bubble that shielded them from detection while the Grand Magus activated one of his detection skills to find the tree. Once located, he teleported them both to the base and awaited the interaction they knew was coming once the true cost of Yggdrasil was discovered.
During the initial blast when Sim created the billions of astral spaces, her connection with the universe had deepened. Every intelligent being was given the opportunity to choose a species, race, gender, class, and profession. As Sim’s reach expanded, she noticed that there was a race of potential sentient beings frozen deep within an exoplanet floating away from the remnants of an exploded red giant. This planet was on the outer reaches of the Andromeda Galaxy. This was the only other intelligent life form she had found in the entire universe so far. She was constantly expanding but has yet to reach even 1% of the known universe. This particular life form was a quadrupedal mammal with strange physical features combining many optimal evolutionary traits. Thumbs on each hand, mini-tentacles that could be extruded out through the skin for performing tasks on a microscopic level, adjustable limbs with the ability to move in many different directions due to ball joints instead of tissue connecting the bones, microfibers that could contract and release at speeds 10x that of normal muscle, the ability to process oxygen through breathing or filtering it through water with gill-like appendages. Their airways were also equipped with a filtration system that allowed them to live in completely hostile environments, such as inside a volcano. They were completely fireproof, had the ability to harden their skin, had spikes on a retractable tail, waterproof fur, eyes that can adjust and zoom like an eagle but also switch spectrums to see much more than any creature currently known, a brain with quadrillions of neuron receptors in the frontal lobe indicating the ability for telepathic communication, and so many more evolutionary advances.
The entire species had locked themselves in a cryogenically induced hibernation. Sim decided to pull the one that appeared to be the leader based on chamber location into an astral space and wake them up. She learned many details about the species and their history in an instant. She had slowed time to a 10,000 to 1 ratio and linked with the creature. Normally, this would require the addition of mana channels, but with this species, there was no need. The mental capabilities allowed for a pre-mana connection.
After a lengthy debate on the options available and the direction desired for its species, the entire race was awoken and brought into their own astral space for integration. Instead of individual spaces, they were all brought into a singular world created by Sim. As the species linked their thoughts, the entire conversation was reviewed, and the course was agreed upon. Millions of the Conruchu would be allowed the same choice as everyone else. The one request they had was that they be able to reside on the surface of the moon without giving the option for others to join their species for 100 years. The civilization and cultures were so different that Sim agreed to avoid possible issues arising.
Due to the Conruchu’s evolution, their species was already at the height of physical capabilities. During the conversation with the leader, Sim had discussed how to proceed during integration. The leader had demanded that every Conruchu maintain its current form, but Sim denied the request. If there were to be choices, changing their species needed to be one of them. The leader was adamant that none of them would change, but without knowledge of each individual mind, Sim still decided to give them the opportunity.
As each member was brought into their own astral space, they made their selections. Although their minds were linked, some members of the Conruchu sought independence. They decided to give up their mental abilities to be able to control their own destiny. Out of the millions integrated, only 3,732 chose to change their race. Thousands more chose the abilities of a mind mage to be able to block their mind and think independent thoughts, but ultimately it was a very minuscule amount based on their total population.
Sim created a separate city on the far side of the moon. She transported one of the larger city cores and prematurely activated it to build the initial foundation that would ultimately hold their entire civilization. She added in the options for their species to be able to build their society as it was before. Their technology may be obsolete now that mana could reshape the foundations of what they thought possible, but she gave them the choice anyway.