Origin Seeker

Chapter 268: Second Step

Dream entered another round of isolated research. As far as he was concerned, nothing at this point was more important than his own advancement, so he wouldn't emerge until it was finished. 

The first thing he did was study a soul. He wanted to try and understand how a class 6 soul worked. According to the things he's read, only a class 6 soul could make contact with and draw power from concepts. Thus, becoming a class 6 was like having the gates of the universe open to you. Nobody with any lesser a soul was capable of making contact with concepts, and they certainly weren't aware of their existence. 

However, many months ago, Dream had disproven this fact. A little, at least. He had successfully made contact with a concept after earning its acknowledgment, but he couldn't do much with it. He couldn't draw power from it and he wasn't able to comprehend any more of it. All he had were those two marks he left on them, like little trophies that were good for nothing more than being eye candy. 

In this way, he was like the rest of the population under the class 6 realm. But now, he wanted to attempt to reverse the logic of the universe and find the thing that allowed a class 6 to make contact with concepts. If he could do that, then he could use the souls he gathered in order to bestow himself that ability. It couldn't be understated how monumental an achievement that would be. After all, if he was comprehending concepts as a class 5, what would happen when he became a class 6? It couldn't be known. 

So he was eager to get to work. Dream quickly chose the barbarian's soul to study first. His was smaller and weaker than the others, and thus less valuable. Dream wouldn't feel much of a loss consuming it for study. 

On his workbench, Dream gazed at the soul. It was a golden orb no larger than Dream's hand. It was crazy to think that this small object could obliterate a small planet at full power. 

Reaching his hand out, Dream shot out his Will, infusing it fully into the soul. Like this, he received a massive influx of data. He was reading the soul. 

The first thing he saw was a huge world of power. When one became a class 5, they formed their soul strings into soul seas, each sea comprised of their being. Then as a class 6, they fused these seas together, combining all aspects of themselves to create the ultimate version of their self. A class 6 soul represented the peak of a soul's evolution, and if it weren't for concepts, it would be the end of one's growth. Basically, a class 6 soul was the fruit of a person's entire potential and power. 

And because a class 6 soul was a single thing, not divided into different parts, Dream had a hard time making sense of the powers he was seeing. There wasn't anything like layers of soul seas that he could pick apart and analyze. The soul was an amalgamation of everything. It just was the entire thing. There were no parts to pick out. 

At least, that's what he initially saw. As he dug deeper and read more data, he was able to see discreet divisions in the soul, almost like lines in the sand. They weren't obvious, but they were there. 

"So mister barbarian didn't have the best advancement. A perfect advancement probably wouldn't have these imperfections. Let's dig a little deeper."

With that, Dream started to study the different parts of the soul. First he was able to find where the consciousness would reside. Dream was actually able to find the barbarian's mind space doing this, or what was left of it. Then, he was able to find where things like mana was stored, where his intelligence was stored, and where his skills were housed. 

Altogether, he found 5 divisions, each representing a different aspect of the barbarian. However, this caused Dream to frown. 

"The divisions are uniformly distributed across the entire soul. That means that during his class 5 advancement, he was only able to form 5 soul seas. That's barely an average advancement where a perfect advancement forms 10 soul seas. Even as a class 6, he was weak! And I thought I was pretty damn strong!"

Dream let out a heavy sigh. If the barbarian was a weak class 6, then that means Dream's performance wasn't nearly as amazing as he thought. That barbarian was probably as weak as a class 6 can be. After all, how could someone with a barely average class 5 advancement become a class 6? That barbarian probably had a lot of luck in being able to advance more. 

After quickly devaluating his performance, Dream went back to studying. 

After finding the divisions, Dream went on to split apart the soul. It split into five pieces, and Dream broke one down particle by particle. All the data of the particles streamed into his mind, and Dream slowly gleaned secrets. 

For an entire month, Dream analyzed the soul piece bit by bit. Come the end of the month, he had entirely disassembled a single of the five pieces. 

At this point, Dream lifted his head, closing his eyes and remaining silent. His mind was slightly chaotic though, processing data alongside Sophia at incredible speeds. 

He remained like this for a whole week. Then, he zoned back in. 

"There's something there."

He spoke these words. If Melody had heard these words, she would assume that he had merely learned some detail about the formation of the soul. But Sophia knew better. For a long time, Dream had a list of energies that the universe operated with, things like mana, aether, flux, and the like. There wasn't anything outside of these energies that he had ever discovered or come into contact with. Thus, whenever he analyzed something, he always knew the thing's components. It could be said that there was nothing he didn't know about. 

But this was classified as 'something'. He didn't know what it was.

He had discovered something new. 

"It's... something of the soul. Perhaps its primary form of existence. Or maybe its energetic source? I've never seen it before. But when I observe it, I can sense something familiar. It feels... like it isn't actually real. Like a concept."

Dream mumbled to himself. This thing inside the soul gave him the same feeling as the concepts he touched, something real but not tangible. He couldn't touch it, but he knew it was there. 

At the same time though, if it were only a concept, he wouldn't even know of its existence. It seemed both physical and ethereal, intangible but manifest enough to where Dream could observe it. 

This made him think of something. 

"Perhaps... this is the bridge? Class 6 souls are made aware of concepts by bringing their being together. But something has to be added during the process of amalgamation, something that opens the tunnel for conceptual observation. It doesn't just happen. Perhaps this is that thing. If I'm right..."

Dream stopped there. Suddenly, he waved his hands, and the four other soul fragments burst apart into a glorious golden fog. 

Dream's cosmic form released as he let loose the entirety of his Will. His Will infused into every particle of the souls. When he found a particle that was merely a standard energy like flux or mana, he tossed it away. When he saw semi-intangible particles though, he gathered them. 

Like that, over the course of another month, Dream sifted through the entire soul, pulling particles from the air that were no larger than subatomic particles like protons. Surprisingly, as he found more and more, picking out these intangible particles became easier, and he gathered more. 

After the month, he stopped. On the ground was solid energy that came in forms like aether or mana. And in Dream's hand was a small golden fluid in the shape of an orb and about half the size of the palm-sized soul it had come from. The fluid seemed to constantly drift out of existence, and without Dream's Will constantly infusing into it, it would have long since disappeared, never to be seen again. Much of it did disappear when he had first started collecting it, and this was now all that was left. Only he was able to keep it in this dimension through his constant observation and contact with it. 

"It's like it's subject to quantum phenomena, wanting to disperse when it's not being observed and grounded to the universe. Or it's not and it's just trying to ascend to a higher dimension where it belongs. Anyway, let's see what happens when I truly interact with you. 

Saying that, Dream extracted the tiniest portion of this golden fluid. Then, he brought it into his soul, specifically his mind space. 

Upon the golden fluid entering though, Dream's mind space shook. Without him doing anything, the golden fluid shot toward the two stars at the highest height of his mind space, the marks he had left on those two concepts. 

When the golden fluid touched the marks, white cracks appeared around them. These white cracks spread ever so slightly through Dream's mind space, only through the area around the marks. They stopped there, the golden fluid consumed. 

*Crack!*

The next moment, Dream's mind space in its entirety saw a single large crack appear across it. This wasn't created by the golden fluid, but the absurd pressure brought about by those white cracks around the marks. Dream felt his body momentarily lose control of itself before he was subjected to immense pain. 

"Ah, that actually hurts."

[Are you okay?]

Sophia asked cautiously. She hadn't spoken out when Dream was bringing the golden fluid into his mind space because nothing she said could stop him from experimenting like this. Now that his mind space sustained enormous pressure and cracked, she could only do what she could to help. 

Dream nodded blankly.

"Yea... These white cracks though. They're..."

[What?]

"...It's the gateway to concepts."

Dream spoke with a bit of wonder, completely forgetting about the pain.

"When those white cracks appeared, I could feel the door to the concepts I touched open just a bit more. I was right. That golden intangible fluid is the gateway to concepts. It's the bridge, connecting the soul to conceptual space where concepts could be touched, comprehended, and wielded. But..."

*Crack!*

Just as Dream drifted off, Sophia was shocked to see another large crack appear in his mind space. 

Dream smiled wryly.

"I think the concepts are too much for me to handle. The power, my soul can't wield it. My mind can barely sustain itself due to the fact that I've already been exposed to concepts before."

[Huh?! Then what the hell do we do?!]

*Crack!*

[Ahh!]

Sophia began to seriously panic when another crack appeared. Dream sighed. 

"I'm on a clock now. I guess there's not much else I can do."

[Wait, is this seriously how you're going about this?!]

"Well what other choice do I have? I'm commencing my advancement!"

Dream spoke outwardly. The pressure mounted every second, and there was only one place he could go to that could solve his problem.

The Legacy Space!

After Dream spoke, he was suddenly prompted by the system.

<You cannot level up before choosing a class.>

<Your selection of classes will be based on your Profile and Experience thus far.>

<The choice you make cannot be taken back. Excess Experience will be accumulated and gained after the class selection has been made.>

<Select a class:>

"I choose Emperor."

Dream made his choice. Then, he was given more prompts. Last time, the prompts came through Sophia. But now, because he was under the Wanderer System, that wasn't necessary. 

<Warning! Legacy has been selected.>

<You have chosen to continue the Archon's legacy.>

<Legacy of The Archon: Second Step - Emperor.>

<The Seven Archons, Builders of the Universe, have made you their Prophet. Now, you shall take the second step toward inheriting their Legacy. You shall become an Emperor who rules everything under the Archons!>

<Warning! Establishing connection through Title: [Origin Seeker]>

<Connection established.>

<Commencing Legacy Bestowal.>

With those prompts, Dream suddenly fell unconscious, his body collapsing to the floor. 

When this happened, Tersa immediately appeared next to him. Her face was panicked.

"M-Master?"

"..."

"He's not lucid... He said something about a class advancement? Is this what happens when he does it? I should watch him, just in case."

Saying that, Tersa stood by Dream's body, making sure nothing out of the ordinary happened. 

.............

........

After falling unconscious, Dream quickly regained lucidity. He opened his eyes while in his mortal shell, taking in the surroundings. 

A brilliant cosmic background, showing off the colorful splendor of nebulae and starry constellations. A structure floating in the endless depths of space, with a floor of glass containing swirling gray fluid and monoliths surrounding his person. 

And a single person standing with these monoliths, acting as the guardian of this space. Dream saw this familiar person, jumping to his feet with a wide smile. 

"Keeper! It's you! It's been many years, and you haven't aged a day. How have you been?!"

Dream laughed heartily when he saw that man with robes, a star in his torso, and a scowl on his forever ashy face. Upon hearing Dream's voice, the Keeper's resting scowl turned to an even deeper frown. 

{Sometimes I miss my eternity of peace.}

"Huh? Are you not also ecstatic to see me?"

{...}

The Keeper was quiet as he momentarily shut his eyes. Taking a breath, he opened them to see Dream staring at him. 

At this point though, the Keeper slightly froze up. He observed Dream, more specifically the power within him. He detected a fathomless aura that was impossibly far from what Dream used to be when he first came and left the Legacy space. 

Then, he glimpsed at Dream's mind. He could see those two concepts within, along with the white cracks that brought down immeasurable pressure on his mind space. He quickly surmised what was happening, but he didn't want to believe it.

{You... have realized Dust?}

"Is that what that golden intangible fluid is called? I have in fact found some, and I made the small mistake of putting some into my mind space."

{You fool! An unevolved soul such as yours cannot possibly bear the weight of conceptual power!}

"Yea, I've realized that! Now I need to solve my current problem, and you need to tell me how."

Dream calmly spoke to the Keeper. Even in the legacy space, his mind was still at risk of continually breaking down. He didn't have any time to waste.

The Keeper thought for a second.

{...To become an Emperor, there is a trial. However, not only do you not have the time for a trial, but since you've realized contact with Dust, you have already gone beyond it. Still, you must understand how to evolve your soul to the next level. Comprehend this monolith.}

The Keeper waved his hand. Then, a monolith suddenly shot out of the ground. Its writing was in silver script, a step above the golden script that Dream had comprehended when he was last here. 

Dream wasted no time, his Will bursting from his body and covering the monolith. All at once, the silver script was engraved into his mind space. He couldn't bother comprehending the script piece by piece. 

However, this still increased the pressure on his mind space, and more small cracks appeared. Dream disregarded this as he broke apart the silver script, reading its data shockingly fast. 

He saw all the details of a class 5 soul. After seeing the soul and how it was formed, he was able to summarize.

"So a person needs to divide their being into distinct sections, or soul seas. Each sea will be constructed from a person's attributes. From mana to their intelligence, they must assemble their being, turning it from scrambled soul strings into planes of existence. And to turn single-dimensional strings into two dimensional planes, one must ascend their soul, evolving it into a higher dimensional form."

Dream read all the data. To him, this was standard, even for the people of the normal universe under the System. But there was more, and the Keeper spoke.

{When the Record, the System, dawned upon the universe, it took hold of all functions that involved Divine Light. From the formation to the evolution of Skills, to the accumulation and strengthening of the soul's Wisdom, the System codified and entangled itself with all Divine Light in the universe, weaving itself through all beings through what is now known as Experience. It took away awareness of Divine Light, and in order to still facilitate the evolution of all beings, it guided the advancements of everything under its influence.}

The Keeper spoke these words. Dream listened, at the same time reading the rest of the monolith. Dots began to connect as he did so. 

"In order to ascend one's soul, one must realize Divine Light, descending it and filling their soul with it. Through Divine Light, one establishes a bridge to a higher form, ascending their soul. They form vessels from this Divine Light, known as Divine Seas, with each Sea comprised of a person's attribute. Through this ascension, one can realize the most extreme evolution of everything they are, filling these Divine Seas with the waters of Divine Light. And through filling these seas, they can be blessed by the universe itself, touching upon the gateway to Dust and the acknowledgment of Concepts!"

There was a spark as Dream had an epiphany. 

No wonder nobody had much information about the class 5 advancement. Under the System, they couldn't even realize its most essential process! Divine Light was foreign to them!

Experience was Divine Light, and it heightened one's mind. It didn't turn people into wise old men but instead helped them realize higher concepts like magic and skills. It was something that allowed a soul to realize more energy, thus realizing more power. It broadened minds. 

And a class 5 took this to the extreme, dividing their soul and creating vessels that could store and be filled with this empowering Divine Light. If one formed a vessel that was comprised of a skill, then by filling it with Divine Light, that skill would realize tremendous power, pushing it to its absolute pinnacle of strength. And that was only a single vessel. 

There were many aspects to a person, and in the universe today, the peak of class 5 evolution formed 10 Divine Seas. That was 10 vessels that could be filled to the brim with pure Divine Light, pushing those 10 aspects of a person to their most extreme reaches. It was an unfathomable jump in power. 

Yet, Dream was able to kill class 5's with ease. While the ones he had encountered weren't the most powerful, they were nonetheless class 5's. He was only now undergoing his evolution to that realm. 

And Dream knew very well that his being could be divided clearly into many aspects. Would he be able to reach the pinnacle of 10 soul seas?

The monolith in front of him disappeared, all of its silver script engraved into Dream's mind. Looking up, he spotted a monolith with silver script. Under the 7 Archons, there were 14 Emperors, two for each Archon, and thus 14 monoliths for each of the Emperors. Dream shifted in front of one of the 14 monoliths and read the first line of script.

"12th Divine Sea: Sea of Ash."

Dream mumbled. Then, he smiled. 

A pinnacle of 10 Seas? We'll see about that.