State of Epiphany

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.