Chapter 273 – Better Than Ever

Six people stood around Dream. Winds blew around this group, the grass underneath their feet swaying with it. Dream still stood atop the large boulder, and he gazed between each person. 

There was the woman and little boy, plus Asmodeus. The fourth was a man who carried a large axe, muscles bulging without any shirt to cover. The fifth was a woman with various gadgets strewn across her brown leather trench coat, an aesthetic of steampunk infused into each little gizmo. The sixth was a man who was covered in dust and dirt while carrying a pickaxe, looking like he just came out of a mineshaft. 

Finally, there was that giant in the center of the world, still sitting there and watching. 

These were all the people who were currently blessed by this concept of Physical Reality. Only 7 people in the entire universe were able to stand within this concept. 

And now, Dream was the 8th. 

"Let me introduce you! First, my name is Ziji, and I hail from Heaven."

The little boy spoke, surprising Dream. It seemed he was part of the Heaven faction. He might be an angel in real life. 

He continued, pointing at the woman with loose robes. 

"She is Disalya, also of Heaven. That girl with all the machinery is named Quanta, similarly from Hea-."

"I can introduce myself, Ziji."

The girl with the trench coat, Quanta, waved her hand to interrupt. She looked at Dream and his transparent body. 

"My name is Quanta. Yes, I side with Heaven, but don't mistake me for an angel. If it weren't for the damned demons, I'd be on my own."

"What was that?"

"Oh, shut it, Asmodeus."

Quanta rolled her eyes at the demon. 

After that, the man with the axe raised his hand. 

"My name is Houyi, of the Immortal faction."

"Houyi. I've heard of you. Legendary archer who shot down nine suns."

Dream tilted his head, recalling an earthly legend he had only heard about a few times before.

"Hehe, I'm glad my legends run far and wide."

Houyi scratched his head after Dream mentioned his legend. After that, the man covered in dust and grime waved. 

"I'm Kevin. Wanderer faction."

"Wanderer..."

Dream was a bit startled at the mention of the Wanderer faction, but kept his cool. He nodded to him, and Kevin nodded back. 

The little boy jumped and pointed at the giant. 

"And that's Omega! He's the strongest in this place. Don't expect him to come off his mountain. I don't believe he has affiliated himself with any factions recently either."

Ziji rubbed his chin as he gazed at Omega, the massive 100 mile tall giant who sat in the center of the world. 

Dream tilted his head. 

"Right... So why have you all spoken your names? I thought doing so was dangerous."

"Well, for you it is. We're all some of the most powerful in the universe. You? You're just a newbie, and protecting your name is protecting your life. You can't go blabbering your identity or some people might want to cut you out by the roots before you can grow."

Ziji snickered as he eyed Asmodeus. The two were obviously enemies, and their feud couldn't run any deeper. Ziji naturally wouldn't allow Dream, a potential ally, to be killed off prematurely. 

Asmodeus frowned. 

"Don't you go waving around accusations, pompous angel."

"I still find it funny that you delude yourself into thinking you're innocent, damned heathen. At least the other princes of hell are self-aware of their wicked nature."

"Ziji! I'll have your head!"

"Oh! One more closer to 6 billion! I'll go mark it..."

Suddenly, Disalya clapped and ran off, likely to mark her mountain as she spoke of earlier. 

After she disappeared, Dream sighed. 

"Alright, so, can someone better explain what we do here?"

"Why, comprehend the concept, of course. You see that boulder you're on? That's representative of your current comprehension. The more you comprehend, the bigger that boulder will grow until it becomes a mountain. Omega up there has the greatest comprehension and thus the tallest mountain. We all also have our mountains."

"So, this boulder will be my mountain?"

Dream looked at the rock underneath his feet curiously. He had simply jumped atop this boulder. He didn't think it was special. 

Ziji nodded. 

"Indeed. When everyone appears here for the first time, they find their boulder without realizing it. That boulder is yours, and from now on, your job is to grow it."

"Okay. My only question is though, how do I go about comprehending this concept?"

"A great question that doesn't have an answer. There is no one way to comprehend a concept. You find your own path. For example, Quanta has her own workshop. Asmodeus had his fiendish sex dungeon. Kevin has his mineshaft. I have an animal farm. Disalya has a garden. Houyi has his star constellations. And Omega, well, he just sits there. The giant hasn't moved in ages."

"Hmm..."

Dream pondered as Ziji waved at the observing Omega. 

He had to find his own path. It looked like each of these people have found theirs, and they grew their comprehensions as they walked down this path. This was represented by the height of their mountains. 

Ziji turned back to Dream.

"Anyway, I think that's enough in the way of introductions. Do be sure to stop by after you've gotten accustomed to this place. You'll be here for a very long time so long as you keep your life. Oh, and don't be afraid to find me or Disalya over on one of Heaven's primary worlds in real life. Anyone who can come here is someone whose expertise we'll welcome with open arms. Except for demonic heathens, of course."

"Ziji!"

As everyone began to disperse, Dream was left atop his boulder. He began to ponder this unexpected development, rubbing his chin. 

"Well, I didn't expect this. Wait, but what happened to my other concept?"

He questioned. He knew he had two. Did every concept have its own world?

Suddenly, Dream felt his body tremble. Then, his transparent self split in two. The new clone shot toward the edge of the world before exiting the concept. 

His body shot through conceptual space once more. Then, he came upon his second concept, Ethereal Force. This concept was only smaller than the previous one, though Dream didn't know what size meant or why there were differences between concepts. 

Upon arrival, Dream grabbed his mark and crushed it. After the power of the mark streamed into his body, he pushed into the concept. Like last time, he appeared in another world. 

Here, instead of an inverted and material world, Dream was greeted with a massive sphere, one half golden-white, one half void black. 

If he had to compare it to something while disregarding the majestic color, it was an ocean world with no land. Only, this world, this huge ball of water, was actually a ball of energy. Dream could detect Mana, Runa, Aether, Flux, and endless powerful turbulence coming from this ball of liquid. On the golden side though, mana was more dominant, while the black side was dominated by runa. both sides contained aether and flux. 

Dream's transparent body drifted downward toward the endless ball of energy, specifically the golden side. He literally couldn't see the edge of this world looking from his vantage point high in the sky, only the divide in the middle. It was just that massive of a world. It didn't take him long to descend to the edge of the world though, and his body stepped foot on the outermost layer of golden-white energy. 

When his body touched the flowing energy, he felt a shock jolt his soul as the turbulent energy crashed into him. It didn't hurt, only bringing about waves of information. The golden energy, despite being on the side of order, was quite chaotic. Sometimes the mana manifested into different forms, causing storms of fire, streaks of lightning, splashes of violent water, or even forming into something like metal. The space also warped and twisted constantly under aether, exposing the void occasionally. 

It was a giant mess of energy that tossed and turned like a stormy sea. It took a bit of easing into it before Dream submerged his body into this world of energy. His entire body was subject to chaotic but profound information that was carried with the world. 

Like this, Dream kept sinking downward. His body traveled several miles down, and as he went, the power behind the energies around him became greater and greater. 

As he continued to dive, Dream wondered if there were any limits to how far one could go. Did it restrict people's depth based on their comprehension? If so, how did it do it? Was there pain? Could he get injured? In the other concept, Dream was told that one couldn't be killed. He didn't know if the same rules applied. 

So Dream kept diving, sinking faster and faster as he got used to everything. As he did so, he was able to detect the changes in the profundity of the energy around him. At first it was just a mess of energy that moved around normally. But deeper in, he could feel the oddities as mana manifested or space was twisted.

Suddenly, upon reaching about 100 miles of depth, Dream found himself unable to understand certain things going on around him. Aether would start to sporadically spawn in and out of existence, while dimensions would flicker with instability. The way the energies collided baffled him. 

This meant that Dream had reached a depth at the limit of his comprehension. It was like his boulder on the other concept that was only several feet tall. He came into these worlds with a small foundation of understanding. In this world, the deeper he went, the deeper his comprehensions. 

Only, he didn't find himself restricted. With a thought, Dream shot down even more, not stopping until he reached a depth of 1000 miles. It was 10 times deeper, and as befitting its depth, the things Dream saw around him threw his mind for a ride. 

He had no idea what was going on in this area. It was almost like seeing white noise. The phenomena around him was so beyond him that his mind didn't even register it. It was simply incomprehensible. 

With that though, Dream understood the limits of this world. Sure he could go deeper, but if it were too far beyond him, he wouldn't be able to glean anything and study. He had to gradually sink down, making constant progress. And whenever he wanted, he could dive further down and attempt to push his comprehensions, maybe see something past his limits and garner inspiration. 

It was a wonderful and simplistic system. Thinking, Dream moved himself over within the ocean of golden energy. After a while, he was able to find the other half of the world that was filled with dark and destructive Runa. He placed one half of his body on each side, and after rising to about 100 miles in depth, he lingered. 

He began comprehending the things around him. The absolute chaos of the dark side, and the orderly turbulence of the light side. He was able to study both equally, his body studying phenomena by being subjected to it. The explosions and waves within his body did nothing to harm him, only deliver endless information. Dream could also use his Will, so he was able to extend the range of his observation and pull in more data. 

Like that, he sat there in meditative silence. Nobody had come to find him, a not-so-shocking fact since this world was so massive and everyone was probably deep down in the depths of this world. In the other concept, Dream was sure that each of those 7 people had been there for thousands and thousands, possibly millions of years. 

They all had a massive lead on Dream, their knowledge so far beyond his that even in real life he would never be able to even touch the hem of their clothes in a battle. Even their crafting ability was probably unfathomable to him, a fact he didn't enjoy swallowing. After all, Dream prided himself in his crafting ability. To meet 7 people who were so far beyond him wasn't a comfortable shock. 

But that only meant he had vast room to grow. 

After lingering in the concept of Ethereal Force for a while, Dream's mind was suddenly grounded. Back in the legacy space, the white light that had shot out of his soul retracted, disappearing entirely. With it, Dream returned to reality. 

However, even after looking at the Keeper who stared at him with awe, Dream was shocked to find out that his awareness of the two concepts worlds remained. It was like his mind was divided in three. Dream could continue comprehending both concepts within both worlds whenever and however he wished. 

"So this was what it meant to truly be accepted by a concept."

[I couldn't follow you, but I see all the information coming to you from those conceptual worlds. Very interesting.]

Sophia spoke after she realized Dream was back. The Keeper also opened his mouth. 

{So you've really been blessed by two concepts. You've constructed a Divine Sea specific to Concepts, and were able to take a step that only those far ahead of you should normally be able to take. Truly, you've impressed me.}

"Why thank you."

Dream smiled inwardly. It was only after constructing his final Divine Sea, the 16th Divine Sea of Concepts, that he was able to go back into conceptual space and truly step into those concepts. Even now, Dream could feel vast power flow through him. This was actual conceptual power, something his unevolved soul couldn't hope to handle. 

It was only possible with Dust, and not just having it, but using it. Those images Dream drew on the 16th Divine Sea had been the key. Those images held the essence of his concepts. They were something like a gateway. Once the gateway was constructed, Dream didn't even have to open it. He was pulled up by the concepts that acknowledged him as if they were eager for him to begin comprehending them. Finally, it was no longer just two marks in his mind space. He was within the conceptual worlds. 

Only, it was at this time that Dream noticed something peculiar. He looked around himself, at the legacy space all around. Previously, it felt like this place existed in a lull in time. No matter how long he was in here, time wouldn't actually move in the real universe. Now though, Dream could definitely feel time flowing forward. This awareness came from his concepts. 

"Hey Keeper, what's with the clock in this place?"

{Now that you have come to exist within concepts, you no longer only exist in one place. You exist in the universe and in the concepts. Thus, if your conceptual selves move through time, you also move through time. Of course, if you wish to 'freeze' time like before, you can, but your conceptual selves will also be frozen in time, your comprehensions ceasing.}

"So I can't stay in a place like this and spend infinite time comprehending the concepts."

{Correct. Time affects the conceptual realm as it does everything else.}

"Mm. Though, that goes to show how amazing this place is if it can exist beyond time..."

Dream suddenly had a small glimpse into the profundity of this place that the Archons built. It was beyond time, escaping shackles that even concepts were subject to. 

Seeing as how he was now moving through time though, Dream quickly located his pocket watch inside his inventory. Time still continued to move at its normal pace according to the Earth clock, each second ticking by endlessly.

However, the clock was quite a bit ahead. Even when time was 'frozen' in this place, the clock still ticked. Thus Dream was able to see how much time he had spent building his soul. Before, he had spent two years comprehending the monoliths. Now, he saw that it took him 8 months to build his soul. It had seemed as if he went from Sea to Sea continuously, but engraving his comprehensions took a long time. Now, he had spent a little over three years within the legacy space. 

Only now though was time moving through the universe, so every second after Dream entered the concepts was a real second passed, not free time. 

"Well, I no longer have infinite time here. But there's no way I'm stopping my comprehensions. And I still have more work to do, so I won't go back just yet."

{More work? Don't tell me you have even more Divine Seas to make.}

The Keeper was a bit worried. Dream had already created 16 Divine Seas that encompassed his every attribute, even those of the Prime 14 Seas. While one of them was the inventory, the other was concepts. He had gone so above and beyond even the greatest evolutionary path of a class 5 soul that the Keeper couldn't possibly think of anything greater he could do. 

Instead he began to worry about Dream pushing too far. Dream only chuckled at his worry though. 

"No, I don't have anything else to do in the way of my soul. It's everything else. For example, my body."

Saying that, energy from the ground began to surge upward. Dream took this energy, reforming his cosmic body. Then, his mortal shell reappeared over it.

At the same time, in the two conceptual worlds, Dream's two transparent bodies reached around them. In the concept of Physical Reality, Dream began to dig into the dirt around him. Using his Will, he was able to pull out random material and reform it atomically to be anything he wished. Like that, he built himself his normal human body, fresh with his signature old school clothes. 

At the same time, in the concept of Ethereal Force, Dream similarly built his cosmic form. However, when it was finished, the sombrero galaxy appeared above his head, acting as a hat. Without the Keeper there to scold him, he could wear his cosmic hat whenever he wanted. 

Normally, one might think that showing his appearance was giving away his identity. But in the vast universe, how many people looked just like Dream? His mortal form was in no way unique. And besides, he wouldn't be located by any of those people unless he told them his identity. At the very least, there was currently only one demon to worry about, and Dream wasn't heading into Hell's territory anytime soon, so he was safe. 

With that, Dream's 16 layered soul in the legacy space was compressed within his body. He was back better than ever, and without missing a beat, he immediately got to work.