Chapter 274 – [Emperor]

After forming his body, Dream dove into a frenzy of work. 

First of all, even though he had just dove into his concepts, he was able to immediately begin comprehending them. Thus, he gained knowledge that essentially solidified all theories about physics and magic. Especially for physics where he had effectively formed a theory of everything. 

As for Ethereal Force, he was able to glimpse deeper into the nature of every energy, and knowledge on Arcane Transmutation grew by the moment. Thinking, Dream dumped a bit of extra Divine Light into the Divine Sea of Magic. Along with his deepening comprehensions, Dream felt the skill behind Arcane Transmutation become perfect. 

He was able to see even information behind the dots that comprised all material. Thus, taking control over every process behind transmutation was no longer difficult. Dream seamlessly converted mana into iron, then back again without any loss. It only took a bit of energy to perform. 

After that though, Dream took a glance at the Keeper's star, his engine that powered his magic. Dream really wanted that, but how was he supposed to endlessly enchant his own neutron star to power his magic? It would take infinite energy. 

"Wait a minute."

Dream felt a spark within his mind. Infinite energy? That came from Dust and Ash, or more specifically, from concepts! With Dust as the bridge, Dream could tap into the unlimited energy behind his concepts. Even now he could feel the ability to draw upon the energy of his concepts, but this energy was all being wasted without his intervention. Now, he had a good idea of how to channel it. 

"Manifest, my neutron star."

Saying that, Dream's cosmic form was released. His chest then flickered with light. The neutron star within his inventory manifested as a large orb inside his cosmic body. It was a motionless ball of extreme physics, and Dream wanted to tap into its energy. 

This didn't mean simply harvesting the light it gave off. Neutron stars weren't bright compared to orange or blue stars. No, their power came from their extreme gravity and magnetic field, along with all the physical phenomena within their stellar bodies. 

What would happen if Dream harnessed the energy behind the degenerate neutron matter? This matter had tensile strength on the order of the strong force, the fundamental force that held protons to neutrons. Then there was the gravity continually compressing it. It was unfathomably strong, the bond between the matter inside the star. If Dream could turn that bonding energy into a driving force behind his mana, how strong would he be then? He could create barriers of mana with unbreakable hardness. 

And he knew how to do it. Suddenly, Dream took out a golden orb. This orb was a soul. More specifically, the soul of the class 6 old man. Dream had only used 9 of his souls, leaving this one for last. 

Dream didn't want to utilize the Dust within his Divine Sea since it was responsible for increasing the connection strength between him and his concepts. So he opted for foreign material. 

Upon taking out the soul core, the old man's consciousness shouted. 

"Let me go, you damned monster! Or hurry up and kill me!"

"Shut up, will you?"

Dream silenced the raging consciousness. 

"You want to die, do you? Well, It's about time I granted your wish."

"What are you- AHH!!"

Just as the old man began to question, Dream suddenly destroyed a small sliver of his soul. Particles flew into the air, Dream plucking out all the Dust. Of course, even just this small extraction was extraordinarily painful for the soul. 

"AHH! No! Stop!"

"Let's do this until your mind space shatters from the pain."

With emotionless words, Dream continued extraction Dust bit by bit. The old man felt his soul be torn apart piece by piece, feeling every vivid wave of pain. His mind space was quick to crack. 

Dream went on like this for an entire week. Finally, after getting through 60% of the soul, the old man's mind space finally shattered after bearing unbearable pain. After that, he turned into nothing more than an animal, even lesser. He was subject to a nightmare of insanity as his shattered mind space tried to think of anything comprehensible. 

Seeing that, Dream directly wiped his consciousness. After harvesting the rest of the Dust, he moved on, never to think about that old man again. 

With the new Dust in hand, Dream began to enchant his neutron star. The Dust was put into his Divine Sea of Dust, and this Divine Sea was connected to the Sea of Inventory. Like that, Dust came in contact with the neutron star. Then, Dream activated his Sea of Will, connecting the three together. 

After that, the powers of the soul seas were combined. The Dust was enchanted to the neutron star while remaining within the Sea of Dust, both combined and separate entities. Using an amount of Dust equivalent to a single class 6 soul, Dream was able to enchant a 500 square foot area within the neutron star. Technically, he could enchant with however much or however little he wished, using all or none of his Dust to enchant. 

With that, the three Seas connected to each other, his Sea of Will tapping into the power of the Dust within the neutron star. When this happened, Dream waited a few seconds before suddenly feeling a surge of energy inside of him. 

It was larger than any source of energy Dream had ever felt before. That bit of Dust converted all the energy of that 500 square foot chunk of neutron star into energy for his Will. Through Dust's combination with Arcane Transmutation, Dream was able to gain a source of ethereal power from physical power. And once he connected his inventory space with the Sea of Will, all that energy was channeled into his Will. 

Now, Dream was truly powering his magical self with physical phenomena. And the way to get stronger? Acquire and use more Dust to enchant the star.

The only downfall was that Dream needed to dump some Divine Light into the Sea of Will, strengthening the Sea to accommodate the increased energy throughput. This was the purpose of Divine Light, a way to realize and contain more power within the soul. 

From now on, it was Dream's job to fight more enemies and acquire more Divine Light, strengthening his Divine Seas. With this would come more Dust to do with as he wished, whether that was strengthening the connection to his concepts or enchanting his new power source. 

After feeling the increased power from his neutron star, Dream was elated. 

"Very nice... So Keeper, you actually spent Dust on this? Very creative thinking."

{I did not invent this method. This method was developed by the 6th Emperor who built the Divine Sea of Will. With his insights into magic and science, along with Dust and most especially Will, he was able to create this method with some help from other Emperors. Thus, this technique was born. Only, it requires Arcane Transmutation, a skill only understood by those who are close to touching concepts.}

"Wow. Have you enchanted the whole thing?"

{Yes.}

The Keeper nodded, causing Dream to ponder. The Keeper wielded, at minimum, the entire power generation of a star. And Dream wasn't even close to enchanting all of his. The Keeper was still far beyond him in sheer strength. 

"So I've got a long way to go. Oh well. The immediate future will be filled with rapid power advancement. Hey Sophia, let's go through the Seas again. Time to top everything off."

...........

.......

For the next long while, Dream spent time within the legacy space. He spent around 6 months inside while time flowed, and during this time, he constantly improved his soul, refining it until he couldn't refine it anymore. 

For example, he improved his Divine Sea of Magic beyond perfection, now integrating conceptual information. It was the same with his Sea of Physical Reality that held his material understandings. Dream made it so that filling these Seas in the future would merely increase his ability to tamper with physical and magical forces. Everything else would come from his concepts. 

Through this, Dream came to understand something. When it came to his concept of Physical Reality, forming a theory of everything was almost like the barest foundation. Dream truly did form a theory of everything, able to outline every force interaction and explain every physical phenomenon. And yet, the boulder within the conceptual world didn't grow. 

This was because all growth in the future would be understanding the why's behind the theory of everything. This was literally learning the concept of science. 

And it was the same for magic. Dream could now control and wield all magical energies however he wished, yet he was only able to go down about 150 miles within that conceptual world. Now he would need to go far beyond his current understandings. How would this give him greater power? Dream didn't know yet. 

Still, when it came to his Divine Seas of material and magic, they were effectively perfect. His first several Seas of, Mana, Runa, Aether, and Flux were also perfect, merely acting as storage for the energies. 

There wasn't much to improve other than his Sea of Concepts where even now he was indulging in comprehension. At least, not yet there wasn't. As Dream has discovered, he could view information. Literal information. He could see the informational values behind physical particles and units of mana. Only, Dream had a hard time viewing and processing such vast amounts of sheer information. Thus, he turned to his trusty sidekick. 

Unlike Dream, when Sophia observed the information, she was instantly able to process all of it. Thus, Dream passed the job to her. And like this, Dream was able to feel the skill know as Sophia become perfect. 

The two spent a while viewing information and modifying Sophia's Sea, making it more capable. After handing her a bit of Dust, Sophia's ability increased severalfold. 

Like this, she connected to Dream's Seas of inventory, material, Will, and intelligence. And through combining their powers, she was able to tap into the true power of information. It took a lot of energy and concentration on both her and Dream's part, butafter some time they were actually able to turn a proton into a neutron. There was no mixing and matching subatomic particles. Just pure informational change. He had warped existence itself. 

Of course, there was no application for such a power, but Dream didn't care about that. All he cared about was touching upon the deepest layer of existence. That was his first time wielding conceptual power. 

Like that, Sophia became basically perfect. After the two did a one over of all the Seas, Dream concluded that there wasn't much more reason to stay inside the legacy space. 

At some point, Dream turned to the Keeper. 

"So what's next?"

{Next... I'm not sure.}

The Keeper hesitated to speak.

{You've evolved your soul, but you've also begun comprehending concepts. Normally, you would step out of here, level up, and come back when you were ready to evolve once more. The next step would be to bring all of your existence together, forming a soul core similar to the ones you used as fuel. At the same time, you would attempt to comprehend the final 7 monoliths constructed by the Archons themselves. After that, depending on your final performance, you would become the Archon's Successor. Only, you've gone beyond what this advancement had in store for you. You are an Emperor on the level of the Emperors during the time of the Archons.}

"So I've deviated in a good way."

{Indeed.}

"Alright. Well if I'm farther ahead than normal, would I be able to take a glance at those monoliths?"

Dream turned to the final 7 monoliths. The Keeper was unsure of what to say. If it were anyone else, the Keeper would deter them with the threat of insanity. That black script was far greater than the silver script, and it was written by the Archons themselves. 

But Dream was now comprehending concepts. Did he have the ability? The Keeper wasn't sure. 

So the Keeper didn't say anything as Dream approached those monoliths. He read the first lines of the monoliths, taking in that black script.

The First Archon - Pronoia of Chaos

The Second Archon - Lordship of Order

The Third Archon - Deity of Creation

The Fourth Archon - Kingship of Annihilation

The Fifth Archon - Envy of Death

The Sixth Archon - Wealth of Life

The Seventh Archon - Sophia of Time

With every line Dream read, he felt a small shock to his mind. Especially the last one. 

"Sophia... You're an Archon?"

[I wish. You think I know anything about time?]

"Good point."

Dream chuckled a bit as he looked through a bit more script. 

Very quickly, he found that each of these monoliths and their scripts contained conceptual information. When Dream read the first monolith, he found that it talked about the concept of Chaos. And beyond the very first introductory line, Dream was shocked to see incomprehensible information. But, this information felt familiar. 

"It truly is conceptual information. Reading and understanding this script is no different from understanding the concepts. These Archons actually wrote the concepts into these monoliths!"

Dream was baffled. What kind of ludicrous power was needed in order to actually contain and transcribe concepts onto something? Better yet, the Archons who held such power are now no longer. Were they killed? And by who? The current universe with the System came only after the Archons, so was it the System that killed them?

Dream had many more questions, and no answers. Such things were beyond his pay grade though, so he was quick to discard them. After taking a few more long looks at the monoliths as well, he shook his head. 

"I can't do anything with this. It's beyond me. The two concepts that I've begun comprehending are below any of these. I can only slightly glimpse into the concept of Creation. Before I even begin to touch these things, I need to understand my concepts first. Hey Sophia, maybe you should start trying to comprehend Time."

[Comprehend Time? Of course, let me get right on that. It's not like time is an all encompassing rule that affects even other concepts, or anything like that.]

"Sweet. Let me know when you make progress."

[...]

"In the mean time, I suppose I should return. I've gained all I can from this place."

Saying that, Dream's material body manifested. Now, instead of his material self merely being a shell, it was his actual body, just like his cosmic form was its own separate body. When in his material form, he held deeper control over physical reality. And when in his cosmic form, he held greater control over magic. This was due to his two concepts. 

Dream turned to the Keeper. 

"What about you? Do you plan to stick around until I come back?"

{I am forever bound to this place, my duty to keep the sanctity of this final repose for the Archons.}

"Really? You don't even get vacation days?"

{The existence of this place must be kept a secret. Emerging into the universe can and will bring catastrophic trouble. If such a thing happens, even you will perish with this place as one who has built himself of our knowledge.}

"Oh. Then nevermind. Still, one day I'll break you out of here. Like a caged bird, I'll toss you off a cliff and let you fly off into the wild."

{...Take your time.}

The Keeper was unsure of how to respond, leaving it at that. Dream smiled and nodded. 

"Alright. Then my time has come. I guess I'll be back when I'm ready to become a class 6."

{And no sooner. Be on your way.}

With a wave of the hand, the Keeper opened a portal. 

Taking a look at the portal, Dream waved goodbye before stepping through it. After a tiny lapse in consciousness, Dream reappeared where he was before. 

"He moved!"

Dream heard a voice as he opened his eyes. He was in his human form and sitting against his workbench at the top of his mountain. He lifted his head to see Tersa beside him. 

"Hello Tersa."

"Dream! I mean, Master!"

"Hey, how much longer could you possibly have slept?"

After Tersa, Melody spoke in annoyance. She had her arms crossed as she move in front of him. For a moment, she observed his entire body, trying to feel anything from him. 

But the only thing she could sense from him was the heartbeat of a normal man. It was something she had never seen from him before ever since he had first disappeared from Earth. After he returned, he had formed a spiritual body, and his human, material body was forever tossed away. Now it was back, apparently. 

"...So? How'd it go?"

"I'd say it went beyond perfect."

"You spent half a year unconscious, so I would hope so."

She nodded as Dream stood from the floor. He stretched his body, feeling every muscle fiber inside. Right now, his body was truly a physical one, not at all modified or enhanced by magical components. 

But it wasn't as if he only had the strength of an ordinary man. Dream could feel the forces of his body, how it was constructed of material that had the strength of his Will. And because his strength was that of the binding force of neutron matter within a neutron star, his body was just as strong. His mere skin had the strength of degenerate neutron matter. 

"Hey Melody, come and see if you can make me bleed."

Dream spoke as he put out his arm. Melody smiled at his request, not hesitating to take out her sword. 

Bringing it back, Melody entered her most powerful sword stance, pointing the tip of her blade at Dream's arm. Then, streaking across space, she thrust at the skin of his palm. 

*Ding!*

A small shockwave was released as the tip of her sword bent and warped to the side. All the mana that came from her sword merely bounced off his skin like the blade. Her eyes widened. 

"What the hell? That's some disgusting defense."

"It's the defense of a star. Well, a small part of it anyway. You see this?"

Suddenly, Dream reached for his chest. Melody saw him dangle a necklace that sat atop his vest. It was a silver metal necklace with a capsule at the end. Inside this capsule was a glowing blue ball. 

She rubbed her chin. 

"Yea. What is that?"

"It's a neutron star."

"A what?"

Melody was hesitant to immediately believe what she heard. Dream repeated himself. 

"A neutron star."

"An actual star?"

"Yes. A neutron star."

"..."

"I'm using it as something of a power source. The star is actually inside my inventory, but because it's being used as my power source, it's manifested outwardly. I thought you would find it cool like I do."

Dream flicked the necklace, making it dangle a bit above his chest. Melody stared at it blankly. 

As she stared though, Dream looked around him. He nodded to Tersa when their eyes met. After that though, he felt something. 

<Warning! Individual has undergone class advancement!>

<Reclassifying Profile...>

<Established Concept: {Physical Reality - Lesser Dominion}>

<Established Concept: {Ethereal Force - Lesser Dominion}>

<New Class gained: [Emperor]

<Warning! Individual has surpassed Stat calculations. Declassifying...>

<Alert! [Particle Manipulation] is Max level!>

<Alert! [Arcana] is Max level!>

<Alert! [Arcane Transmutation] is Max level!>

<Alert! [Universal Language] is Max level!>

<Alert! [Sophia] is Max level!>

<Reclassifying Skills...>

<You have gained the Skill: [Sophia - Queen of Logic]>

<You have gained the Skill: [Adeptus Physikas]

<You have gained the Skill: [Sovereign Force]

<You are level: 404>