Dimensional Descent

Raoulin didn't say a word as he followed his father. Even though he had been to this garden almost every day of his life without ever seeing this staircase, he still didn't say anything.

He knew his father well. Even as his son, he didn't dare to take a single step out of line.

His father spoke when, and only when, he wanted to. No question, no words, no insult, could ever budge him from his own pace of doing things.

However, the more Raoulin saw, the more he found it difficult not to say a word.

The underground space was impossibly vast. At first, Raoulin thought that it must span at least the whole garden. Then he became certain that it spanned at least the whole Castle. But, by the end, he wasn't even certain if even the entire Royal City was as large as it.

There was nothing but a large grey expanse held up by pilar that muster have been at least a hundred meters tall and ten meters thick. Just standing by one of them could make one feel like an ant without goal or purpose. And, just walking within such a large space made one feel as though you would never reach your destination.

Yet, though it took several hours, they eventually did.

From start to finish, as though to allow his son to soak everything in, Alexandre never increased his pace. He took one step after another, his feet perfectly spaced and the cadence of the to of his shoes resonating in perfect, controlled harmony.

It was then they reached those doors, those very doors that Raoulin would never forget so long as he lived.

Compared to the pillars they weren't very tall, just ten meters or so. Yet, their presence was so much larger that Raoulin felt as though he was being suffocated.

The doors were the only color in this large expanse of grey. They were cast in a heavy, solid bronze. Even without trying to open them personally, Raoulin felt that he would never have the strength needed to open them alone.

On its face, ancient runes were drawn across it. The more one stared at it, the more it felt like one's vision was blurring.

Raoulin lost himself in the runes, suddenly finding himself imagining the start of the world.

There was nothing but endless darkness until a hand seemed to reach down from nowhere and began to form things as it pleased.

Raoulin couldn't even last through the formation of the first star before his brain practically combusted, his nose erupting in a rain of blood that almost made him pass out completely. The only reason he didn't was because he knew what would happen to him if he failed here.

His father could always have another son, but he only had this one chance.

Swaying, Raoulin managed to stay on his feet, his jaw trembling as he grit his teeth. He bit down so hard that a tooth of his cracked in half, almost splintering completely through. But, it was this pain that managed to keep him awake.

Without a word, nor even a faint acknowledgement, Alexandre placed his palms on the doors and pushed hard.

At first, all Raoulin saw was a blinding light. But, what he saw next almost made him drop the girl slinked over his shoulder.

His father, the man he respected most in his life, the King who seemed to hold the world in the palm of his hands…

Dropped to his knees and kowtowed with such fervor that the banging of his forehead against the ground made Raoulin feel as though his ears were ringing.

Raoulin stood frozen, his gaze traveled up and into the room, only to find that within the entire expanse, there was nothing but a singular silver tablet.

It sat upon a pedestal, a river of flowing energy hovering around it without a sound. There was nothing present to even acknowledge his father's kowtowing.

Moments later, Alexandre stood.

"Give me the girl."

"… Ah, yes…"

Raoulin passed the young girl over to his father. Despite the fact the both of them stepped into the room, Alexandre didn't say anything about his son having to kowtow. Instead, he began to speak of things Raoulin didn't know how to accept.

"In this world, every being is separated by their worth."

Alexandre placed the girl down on an altar before the silver tablet, stripping all of her clothes off. Yet, even to this point, the girl hadn't reacted with even a flinch. It was only at that moment that Raoulin understood… He was the only one who was here for the first time.

"This world that we live in, is nothing more than the Fifth Dimension. However, even then, most who live upon it are just of the Fourth Dimension because even amongst other Fifth Dimensional worlds, we are weak."

Alexandre brought out a blade, cutting into the young girl just above where her womb would be. One would have expected crimson blood to flow out, and that it did. However, there were very clear specks of gold mixed within that caught Raoulin completely off guard.

These specks of gold poured down the side of her hips and between her legs, pooling around the alter. However, after reaching a certain point, even as blood continued to flow, the pooling blood didn't continue to rise. Clearly, it was being siphoned somewhere.

"Compared to the Fifth Dimension, those of the Sixth Dimension are Gods.

"Compared to the Sixth Dimension, those of the Seventh Dimension are Deities.

"Compared to the Seventh Dimension, those who could step into the Eighth were Beings beyond comprehension."

At that moment, the silver tablet began to glow with a slightly crimson light that slowly grew more golden.

"To many, this is where the limit of the universe is. Not everything has to end in beautiful, round numbers. The world is often not perfect. After all, there is no real tangible thing as the First Dimension. At the very least, it hasn't been properly observed.

"As for the Second Dimension, some say that word of mouth and stories can be placed into this category, but even then, the consensus is not there.

"It could be said that the first Dimension to truly exist is the Third and the last is the Eighth. Even the strongest existences in our Dimensional Verse is of the Eighth Dimension, and all of them are recluse entities that haven't appeared in countless epochs.

"An awkward Five States of Beings, Five Steps to ascend to the true Apex, to true Godhood…

"But… There is still one more. The true overlords of all that there is, the only existences truly worthy of being called God, the Creators. Or as some would like to call them…

"The existences of the Ninth Dimension."