Chapter 156: Break Through

The next morning, Reinhard had already taken over the largest private training room in the hotel.

The room had been reinforced with several layers of Mana-resistant material, and even then, he had asked the hotel staff to evacuate the surrounding rooms for the next few hours.

He had no intention of becoming the man who accidentally destroyed an expensive hotel because he wanted to break through another rank.

Several rare resources were arranged around him.

The Heavenly Crimson Fruit sat beside the Void Mana Crystal, the Dragonblood Crystal, Astral Spirit Fruit, Titan Essence Stone, Celestial Body Jade, Manaheart Crystal, Worldroot Fruit, and Immortal Blood Lotus all prepared within reach.

Two Enlightenment Grapes, two Mana Infusion Fruits, four Royal Mana Infusions, and the accumulated Mana inside his Heavenly Pillars were waiting as well.

Reinhard looked over everything and smiled. He had practically emptied his treasury onto the floor.

Before he could begin, the familiar notification appeared before his eyes.

[Investment Opportunity Detected.]

[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]

[Current Rank: B.]

[Current Value: A+.]

[Objective: Breakthrough to S-Rank.]

[Difficulty Grade: B.]

[Success Probability: 50%.]

He stared at the final line for a moment before his smile widened. "Fifty percent? That’s basically an invitation."

The difficulty was only B-Grade despite the objective being an S-Rank breakthrough, and considering how difficult the jump from B-Rank to S-Rank normally was, the mission almost felt absurdly generous.

He wasn’t going to complain.

Reinhard crossed his legs and sat down in the center of the room, glancing at the mountain of resources surrounding him. "All right. Let’s see if this investment pays off."

He picked up the first Enlightenment Grape and popped it into his mouth. The effect was immediate.

Mana spread through his body, but instead of simply increasing his reserves, his perception became clearer, letting him feel the Mana inside every part of himself with remarkable precision. He could distinguish the energy moving through his muscles from the Mana gathered around his Gnosis.

The Mana inside forced into an increasingly dense state until the Gnosis had reached the absolute limit of what its current structure could contain. He ate the second grape, and his understanding deepened.

The current container had reached its limit and now it needed to break.

He leaned back slightly and looked at the remaining resources. "So that’s the wall." His eyes moved toward the four Royal Mana Infusions. "Then let’s break it."

He consumed the first, and a massive amount of Mana surged into his body. His muscles tightened as the energy rushed toward his Gnosis, and the pressure inside his stomach grew so intense that the air around him seemed to distort.

The Gnosis trembled under the sudden increase and held.

He consumed the second, and another wave of Mana poured inside him, forcing the previous energy even deeper. His body began heating up, and the pressure around his Gnosis grew noticeably heavier.

Still, it held.

The third infusion entered his body, and this time he felt something change. A faint crack appeared across the surface of his Gnosis.

His eyes narrowed. "Oh?"

The fourth infusion followed, and the pressure became enormous. His breathing grew heavier, but he stayed seated, refusing to move, as Mana pushed against the Gnosis from every direction and the faint crack slowly extended across its surface.

Then it stopped.

He stared inwardly at the stubborn container. "You’re really going to make me work for this?" He laughed quietly and picked up the first Mana Infusion Fruit. "These are items I spent over a hundred million credits on. I really hope they know what they’re worth."

He ate it.

The effect was immediate, another enormous wave of Mana crashing into his Gnosis, and the crack spread farther as his fingers tightened against his knees. The second Mana Infusion Fruit followed, his entire body shaking once as the additional energy surged through him, but the Gnosis still refused to break.

He exhaled slowly. "Fine. If you want to be difficult, I’ll just keep spending money on you until you cooperate."

He reached for the Void Mana Crystal.

It dissolved against his palm, releasing an incredibly dense stream of Mana into his body, far purer and more concentrated than the earlier resources. The change was immediate.

The existing cracks widened, and he could feel his Gnosis struggling to contain the increased density, while the energy from the Dragonblood Crystal followed soon after and reinforced his physical body against the pressure.

His muscles tightened, his bones grew heavier, and his body became capable of enduring the tremendous force building inside him.

The Astral Spirit Fruit sharpened his perception next. Suddenly the cracks in his Gnosis were no longer vague sensations. He could observe every tiny fracture and feel exactly where the pressure was weakest. "That helps."

He absorbed the Titan Essence Stone, and the energy strengthened his physical structure further, letting him push more Mana without damaging himself.

The Celestial Body Jade followed, stabilizing the energy running through his body.

The two resources worked together almost perfectly, one letting his body withstand more pressure while the other kept that pressure from becoming unstable.

"Now we’re talking," he smiled.

The Manaheart Crystal was next.

The moment it dissolved, an enormous quantity of Mana poured into him, and the cracks spread across the Gnosis, one reaching the center, another splitting toward the opposite side.

He could feel the container trembling.

The Worldroot Fruit strengthened his recovery and stability, letting his body recover almost as quickly as the energy damaged it. Then came the Immortal Blood Lotus, vitality surging through his body, every part of him growing more resilient.

He opened his eyes.

His expression was calm, but the pressure around him had become terrifying. Understanding, Mana, density, physical reinforcement, perception, stability, recovery, everything was finally coming together.

Reinhard turned his attention toward the Heavenly Pillars.

Eight of the twelve Mana Orbs were already filled from the previous five-year infusion, and the additional Mana rushed into the eighth orb first, filling it completely, then the ninth, the tenth, the eleventh, and finally the twelfth.

For a moment, the twelve orbs seemed to resonate with one another, and he felt the power settle throughout his body. All twelve Heavenly Pillars were complete, the four-hundred-percent overall enhancement they provided settling into every part of him.

He slowly clenched his fist. "Oh, that’s nice."

He flexed his fingers once and smiled. "I suppose spending that much money wasn’t completely irresponsible."

His Gnosis trembled again, and the smile disappeared as he straightened. The pressure inside his body had reached its limit and the Gnosis was overflowing.

The Heavenly Pillars were completely filled. His body had been reinforced enough to withstand the pressure, his Mana was denser than before, his recovery was faster, and his perception was sharp enough to see every fracture inside the Gnosis.

There was nothing left to add.

There was only one thing left to do.

Break it.

Another surge of Mana entered the container, and the pressure reached a terrifying level. He gritted his teeth and forced even more Mana inside.

Then he heard it.

Crack.

His eyes widened as the sound was tiny, but it was unmistakable.

The Gnosis cracked again.

He pushed once more. "Come on." The pressure peaked. "Break."

Crack!

The Gnosis shattered. For a brief moment, everything inside him became completely empty. The old container broke apart, and the Mana that had been compressed inside it suddenly had nowhere to remain.

It erupted, surging through every part of his body, rushing through his muscles, bones, nerves, and senses before gathering around the fragments of the shattered Gnosis.

Then something new began forming.

A larger container with the Mana that had once been compressed against the limits of the old Gnosis suddenly had room to expand.

Reinhard’s eyes opened, and the world changed.

He could feel Mana inside the walls, sense the reinforced floor beneath him, detect the faint energy moving through the hotel several rooms away, and even distinguish the presence of different people by the subtle fluctuations of their Mana.

Without thinking, he released some of his own. The air around him changed, his Mana spreading outward, five meters, ten, twenty, then fifty.

Everything within that space became clear to him.

He could feel movement through walls, detect Mana disturbances, and sense the structure of the reinforced room as though it were an extension of his own body.

He looked around slowly. "So this is Mana Domain." His smile returned, and he pushed his perception further.

Something else responded.

His Gnosis wasn’t simply strengthening the Mana around him. Its nature was beginning to influence the environment itself.

The distinction was obvious: at A-Rank, Mana could become the environment, but at S-Rank, the Gnosis itself began becoming part of that environment.

He extended his hand, and a portion of his Gnosis manifested outside his body. He stared at it for several seconds, then grinned. "So this is what S-Rank can do."

He tested the limits of his Domain next, and the sensation was incredible. His senses were sharper than before, and weaker Mana would have difficulty resisting his influence inside the Domain, while his own abilities became easier to control.

And then the room around seemed to stretch impossibly far into the distance. The floor split into a maze of shifting passages, and he suddenly found himself surrounded by a thousand versions of himself.

Somehow, they could fit because the room had expanded somehow.

He blinked before his smile grew. "That’s ridiculous."

The notification finally appeared.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[B-Grade Investment Successful.]

He glanced at it and smiled. "Right."

The reward was probably going to be ridiculous, but he had just become an S-Rank Awakener, and there was no way he was going to sit around reading notifications when he had a new power to play with. "I’ll check that later."

A powerful Mana surge appeared nearby.

He turned his head. "Yuna?"

The pressure kept rising, her Mana becoming denser and more stable, and he could feel her Gnosis adapting as he watched the transformation through his Domain.

Then the surge settled, which was a good indication Yuna had reached S-Rank.

He laughed softly. "Of course you did."

Before he could finish, another change appeared, this one different. He recognized it immediately. Emily. Her Mana surged, her Gnosis expanded, and the energy inside her stabilized at a higher level. A-Rank.

His expression softened. "Good."

Another two fluctuations appeared almost together. Maki. Lily. Their Mana climbed rapidly before finally settling at the Peak of B-Rank.

He could sense all of them now. and the difference was enormous. Before, he’d had to rely on ordinary Mana perception and distance. Now his Domain connected the entire space around him, and he could feel his family as naturally as he could feel the room itself.

He leaned back and smiled.

Two S-Ranks. One A-Rank. Two Peak B-Ranks. The Nephilim remained at B-Rank, and Archon was still a Calamity.

He looked toward the ceiling as if he could somehow see beyond it. "The Baal Family really has no idea what they’re about to deal with."

There was no anger in his voice.

If anything, he looked amused. The situation had changed dramatically in a single morning. Not only had he reached S-Rank, but his entire family was growing stronger at an alarming pace.

And yet, there was still the festival. His smile widened as he imagined Emily’s expression when they arrived.

Then he remembered something. The investment. He looked toward the floating notification he had ignored. The reward was waiting.

He finally opened it.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[B-Grade Investment Successful.]

[Calculating Investment Returns...]