Origin Seeker

Before Dream started the advancement, he took a day to organize himself and notify Luna and Iris.

Although he didn't have the luxury of mastering his new power, he still had to be able to control himself. So he took a day to try things out, building and enchanting a variety of devices. 

First, he went through nearly all the assembly lines and production machines that he just recently built and modified their enchantments. Especially the machines responsible for enchanting and enhancing materials. He upgraded those for superior mana and flux control, greatly increasing their ability and speed. 

When he did this, his Arcana and Particle manipulation skills went through some level ups, rising to level 37 and 30 respectively. Sophia also went up a couple of levels to level 14 after utilizing her changed processing patterns and Dream's skills. Although his skills remained the same, the change in energy also changed how they were used, and the usage of his skills improved. 

After that, he finally felt that he had a good grasp on the change to his influence and how to manipulate the gray mist. With that, he called over Luna and Iris.

"You're doing it?!"

When they arrived at the factory, Iris came running over to where he was with a wide smile. Dream just looked at her weirdly.

"Why do you seem more excited about this than I am?"

"Because! You got the experience of a few thousand high level class 4's just waiting to be absorbed! How are you not shivering in excitement?"

Iris shook a bit herself as she thought about the insane power waiting for Dream just around the corner. She was a battle maniac through and through, and the drive to become stronger was wholly ingrained in her bones. Of course she would look forward to big jumps in strength, even if it wasn't her but her man. 

"The level ups will be interesting. I'm not sure how much it's going to strengthen me since I'm already so strong. Other than that though it shouldn't be anything crazy. My body and soul are filled with solid mana. Hell, I'm on the verge of being able to create solid mana naturally. I've basically gone through my advancement, and my skills aren't maxed out, so nothing should change there. I'm really just getting a new class name."

"I doubt that. Aren't classes based on your achievements or whatever? You're super strong, so you should have a really good class. What is your selection anyway?"

"Let me pull it up."

Saying that, Dream thought about the class advancement, and a screen popped up in front of him.

<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.>

"Yup. Still the same."

"What's your selection?"

"There's one called Shaper. Then there's another one called the Archon Legacy."

"A legacy?"

Iris tilted her head. Luna was also confused. They had never heard of a legacy before.

"I'm not sure what it is either. Supposedly it's gonna make me a Prophet."

"A prophet? Those guys preach about the future or whatever right?"

"Kind of? In some religions they can also be considered messengers of a god."

"Interesting. But what god would you be the prophet of?"

Iris asked curiously. Both her and Luna had received blessings from gods, so the concept wasn't foreign to them. Although this would be the first time they heard something about becoming a god's prophet.

"I guess it would be whatever this Archon is. Though... that raises another concern."

"What?"

"It's a legacy, meaning the Archon has left behind whatever this is. How can I become a prophet if the Archon isn't there anymore?"

"Huh... Good point. So are you going to choose it?"

"...I think I still will. Although Shaper doesn't sound bad, it doesn't look good either. At least this one looks decent."

'Plus I had to earn it.'

Dream spoke the last part in his head. This was the biggest factor. He had to become worthy for this class, so it was obviously something good. Plus, it was different. Shaper sounded too basic. It didn't even have a descriptive word before it like his previous classes.

"Well what are you waiting for? Go ahead and choose it!"

Iris urged him on excitedly. She really was looking forward to this more than he was, not that he wasn't really excited. 

"Alright, alright. Uhh, I choose the Archon Legacy."

Dream spoke the words out loud. When he did, there was an immediate reaction. 

<You have selected the class [Archon Legacy: Prophet]>

<Yo* ha** ***********>

.......

....

"The hell?"

Dream watched the system spasm for a second before it disappeared. After that though, he felt a reaction from Sophia.

[Oh! It's happening again!]

"What?"

[I'm gonna lose control for a bit. Give it a second.]

......

[Warning! Legacy has been selected.]

[You have chosen to receive the Archon's legacy.]

[Legacy of The Archon: First Step - Prophet.]

[The Seven Archons, the builders of the universe, have give* you the op*ortunity to become on* of their *rophets. You m*st cho*se an Archo* *nd pa*s t**ir ***t.]

[Ch***e *n Ar****]

1. **********

2. ***

3. *******

4. **********

5. ********

6. ******

7. *******

"...Have I been given a faulty class?"

Dream's jaw dropped at all the distorted text. He was able to decipher what it said though. It wanted him to choose one of the seven Archons to supposedly become the prophet of. The only problem was that he couldn't see any of the names. Nothing seemed to be working properly. However, after giving it a few seconds to figure itself out, the prompts continued.

[Warn*ng! Can*ot esta*lis* con*ecti*n wi*h an Ar*h*n.]

[W*rning! Cannot establi*h conne*tion with an Emperor.]

[Warning! Cannot establish connection with a Prophet.]

[Warning! No connection lines established. Rerouting...]

[Rerouted. Connection through Title: [Origin Seeker] has been created.]

[Legacy series confirmed. Final Legacy of the Archons granted.]

[Beginning Legacy bestowal...]

After many lines, the prompts stopped, and Dream could feel an extremely strong power erupt from inside him. Before he could react, the power entered his mind and put him to sleep. His body fell limp on the couch.

"...Dream? Did you just fall asleep?"

Iris asked with a weird face. Both her and Luna had seen his weird face and assumed something odd was going on.

"His soul is fine. Let's just wait. As long as our powers are fine, nothing bad should happen."

Saying that, Luna just sat there, monitoring her contract and making sure nothing out of the ordinary happened. Iris thought for a second before doing the same. 

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

........

.....

"Mmm... Wha... What happened?"

After he passed out, Dream found himself waking up not long after. However, he wasn't in his factory anymore. 

He was in space. Well, on a structure in space. The ground he was sitting on looked like glass that held swirling gray gases inside of it. When he looked up, he could see bright stars and colorful, brilliant nebulas that shined red, purple, blue, and white. They easily lit up the surroundings, and he likened them to the aurora borealis, just on a cosmic scale.

It was almost as if someone had painted an exaggerated picture of space on a canvas and plastered it across the black void. It looked so unreal that Dream's eyes went wide and his pupils dilated as if trying to take in as much of its splendor as possible. 

He stared and looked around at the illustrious cosmos that seemed close enough to touch for a long time. He just couldn't bear to tear his eyes away, but when he remembered that he definitely wasn't in his factory, he snapped out of it and continued looking around. 

When he did, he found that there were tall 100 foot flat, rectangular monoliths all around his surroundings made from an unknown black material. They all stood on the glass floor and radiated intense power stronger than he had ever felt before. However, it wasn't threatening, and he instead felt himself focusing on the writings on the walls of those monoliths. 

On every black monolith from bottom to top were tons of golden scribbles. The scribbles seemed random and messy, and Dream assumed that they were some kind of language he didn't know about. However, after focusing a bit, he felt himself understanding the scribbles, not by comprehending the writings, but by sensing the power embedded within them. It seemed very similar to how he would enchant items with strings of information.

Dream looked around at dozens of monoliths, and as he scanned the writings, he felt like they were imparting some knowledge to him, though it was scattered and hard to understand. He slowly stood up, and as he spun around to look at the other monoliths behind him, he suddenly laid eyes on a person who was also observing him.

The person looked like an older man. He was dressed in odd clothes that seemed like a combination of robe and armor that seemed to be both metallic and flexible. The man had an ashy and wrinkled face, and it was as if he came out of a wildfire whose ash turned his skin gray. The man's ashy face was only somewhat weird though, and after looking at it for a second, Dream turned his eyes downward to the man's chest. 

Inside his chest was a solid swirling ball of white fire. It didn't seem like simple fire though, and after looking a bit closer, he found that it was actually a star. The man had a star in his chest!

It was so odd that Dream found himself staring at the star. It looked like a neutron star since it was bright white but colored its surroundings blue. Not only that, as the star rotated it pulled the space around it, distorting light in the vicinity. 

The whole thing was shocking to say the least. How could a single person have a star floating around inside his chest?! Although he could assume that it was just a ball of fire, his gut told him otherwise. 

The man, the monoliths, and the place they were in. Everything was far more extraordinary than he could even imagine, and he knew it. He felt so very small standing there in the midst of such glorious structures. 

{The Seven Archons...}

Suddenly, the man in front of him spoke. His robotic and apathetic voice echoed out as if it wanted all of space to hear his voice, and the power of his voice resonated with Dream's very soul.

{...are beings that constructed the physical universe by their own hand. From their higher dimensional souls spawned Order and Chaos that governs the Totality. However, the Archons are no longer, and you, who wishes to become a Prophet, will have a chance to receive their last legacy.}

"...Okay?"

{There are three steps to receive the full legacy. The first step is to become a Prophet. The second step is to become an Emperor. And the third step will solidify your foundation and make you an Archon's successor. To become a True Archon thereafter will require you to become a transcendent existence by your own power.

In this time, you will become a Prophet and inherit knowledge and techniques through a trial. If you pass, you will become a Prophet. If you fail, you will be returned and forget all that has happened here. Do you understand?}

When the man finished, Dream paused and looked down, processing everything for a bit.

"...Okay. So there's a trial. But what qualifies as a pass or fail?"

{I will be your judge.}

"Hm?"

Dream looked up with a surprised face at the response.

"You can speak? Like, normally? You aren't some kind of recording?"

{...I am the Keeper, the one who oversees this legacy.}

"Oh! That's cool! So you're an actual person... Have you been just sitting here all this time? How long have you been a keeper?"

Dream smiled brightly when he realized the man really was a normal man and not some leftover hologram. He thought that since everyone was dead like the class advancement prompts said, there would be no one he could talk to. 

The Keeper remained apathetic as he answered the question.

{I am bound to this place, and have been guarding it since the fall of the Archons.}

"And how long ago was that?"

{You cannot possibly comprehend the span of time that has passed since then.}

"Why not? Just give me a number."

{It cannot be represented by a mere number.}

"...Okay then."

Dream just gave up at the Keeper's firm answer. He didn't think he was lying or didn't want to tell him. He believed the Keeper, and he understood that it really might be beyond his understanding. Everything else in this place was. 

'He's got a star in his chest for crying out loud. If he says I can't understand something, he's probably right.'

Dream sighed to himself before looking back at the Keeper. He just stood there with his eyes on Dream.

"Uhh, so what's this trial I need to take?"

{Your first trial is the simplest yet perhaps most important trial of the three. You will re-create yourself in your own image, and your self will be the basis of your foundation by which you advance and grow from now on. Look to the monolith behind you, and comprehend the trial.}

Dream tilted his head and looked behind him. When he saw that a monolith had mysteriously appeared behind him, he was startled and took a few steps away from it. 

This monolith was shorter than the others, only about 10 feet tall. On it was similar scribblings to the others, and Dream concentrated on the scribbles to understand. 

At first, he was only able to comprehend tiny bits of information from the scribbles. It seemed as though his mind had to pull out the information from it. But after he decided to release a bit of his influence and use his soul to comprehend them, the information got much easier to read. 

"Let's see... From Primordials past, to creations present. From Divine Light spawns Logos, the pure potential of being. From the reduction of Divine Light spawns the Earthly Man, a loose lump of clay. Rise from Mortal Dust, and attain immortal Light. Return to your most primal form, and create yourself in your most True image..."

Dream drifted off on the last word. After going over it a couple of times, his face wrinkled and he turned back to the Keeper.

"Uhh, can you tell me what the hell this means?"

{Do you not understand?}

"Well I understand the words. As you said, it's telling me to recreate myself. But how exactly should I go about doing that?"

{If you do not understand the meaning and guidance the monolith gives you, then you are not properly extracting the message.}

"...Not properly extracting it? I got the words though."

{Those writings are more than just mere words, and more than just a representation of a meaning or concept. It is a transmission of pure knowledge and wisdom from the one who wrote it with their own power. You are comprehending a language that is beyond languages. Feel it in your soul, the message from the Archons that constructed this legacy. If you cannot do that, then you do not even qualify to attempt the trial.}