The guards burst into the kings’ court immediately after awakening, ignoring the contents of their dream, and assuming that it was an attempt on the king’s life. As they entered they saw the stands filled with nobility groggy and unaware, with the exception of a select few. Grand magus Archibald was already up and looking up with a dumbstruck look on his face, while prince Ragnar stood beside the king with his sword drawn, scanning the room for unseen threats.

As a murmur rose from the freshly woken nobility, king Maximilian Reinga bellowed to the crowd, showing he didn’t merely wear the crown, he was a warrior king and veteran of countless wars.

“Silence.” he demanded. He didn’t raise his voice, but it everyone heard and obeyed.

“Archibald, what was that?”

“I’m not entirely sure my liege, it was unlike any prophetic dream I’ve ever had, it was likely a vision of the past, or of another land instead.”

“And your evidence?”

“It appears to be in the sky your majesty.”

At this everyone in the court looked up at the roof, and in their stupor didn’t question how the Grand magus was able to see the sky indoors. One they looked up however, they no longer thought to questioned it.

Most of the pampered nobility openly gawked and panicked at the sight of the Bulwark through the roof. It was an entirely unnatural thing for a human to see two images overlaid over each other in this way. The eye did naturally overlay images to give it depth, but this was entirely different. The slight sensory overload from seeing both the roof with nothing special on it and a metal orb hanging in the sky covered in scars, with one particular one that had light shooting out, was enough to stun the weaker nobility.

“The court session shall end here, Archibald, gather the mages and investigate the orb, Ragnar, rally the armies and bring us to high alert” King Maximilian ordered.

“Lady Jessica” He continued, addressing the head of the adventurer’s guild, “Speak with the royal treasurer once more information is known. I want your guild to be ready for action.”

“““Yes, your majesty.””” Replied the three addressed nobles.

“Court dismissed.” Spoke king Maximilian with finality.

“Ah fuck”

The words echoed through the silent bar despite it being packed to the brim. Seeing the royal treasurer enter alongside the Guildmaster was a portent of doom, further accentuated by the dream and the anomaly in the sky.

“By Royal decree, all adventurers are to report to the Waypoint station, where they will be given equipment sponsored by the Treasury.” Began the treasurer “All cost of teleportation is to be taken by the royal Treasury, and participation will be rewarded relative to your level, as well as a bonus determined by your Guildmaster. This is the agreed terms of the deal, you have eight hours to assemble at the Waypoint station, or you shall be found guilty of desertion.”

“Desertion!?” A foolish young man shouted in outrage and surprise, “We’re not part of the military, it can’t be desertion!”

“Incorrect. As of half an hour ago, all combat classes were conscripted in preparation for any action taken by the orb, which, our oracles tell us, is to be called the Bulwark” pronounced the treasurer. This seemed like a decree of execution for most, a threat on the scale where all combat classes were conscripted was disastrous. All they could hope was that the given equipment was up to their standards, or that the orb had no hostile intent.

Most people in the bar, the bottom floor of the guild building, were surprised by the generosity of terms. It was standard for all loot to be taken by officers and provided to the kingdom, but without that pronouncement, and instead a pronouncement of free teleportation, many in this room stood to make enormous amounts of wealth. Considering that most sub-planes, which this Bulwark was assumed to be, contained strong magical energy which often condensed into items of great value, the fact that this sub-plane has such an effect on the area, giving everyone dreams, surely meant that it also had better loot.

“… ‘aight.” Said a dwarf in heavy plate armour, hiding his excitement of the metals he could find on that huge ball of metal. That suppressed excitement accurately represented most in the room.

“Well then” spoke the Guild master finally spoke “get goin-”

A lower dimension has ascended.

All entities in the 1st cycle of the 3rd dimension have ascended

A link has been made with the Remnant of Reality, named the Heart by its guardian.

The Heart is guarded by a [Unknown construction] called the Bulwark.

The Bulwark is controlled by a [Unknown intelligence] called the Custodian.

Beware, the link goes both ways.

Log #4

Log #4

One of the best things about having such a slowed perception of time is an infinite amount of it to calm down. Now that the Prime Directive is no longer raving in the back of my mind, I can get back to my logs. I’ve directed the breach away from the land below me, and the energy being lost from the Heart is entirely natural now that it’s a pulsar, I can sustain it like this eternally. The force of the pulses is powerful enough that nothing will be able to reach the heart, not even the Void, as my instincts tell my it’s called.

I’ve decided that I’m going to revert the heart form a pulsar back to a main stage star to give it more reliability, and I don’t need matter converters now that the assault has ended. To prepare for future attacks I’ve made gates to the Heart that, when opened, allow its light to spread out and destroy the Void, since it seemed to be strangely affective.

Most life, other than that on the surface, is unaffected, and even life on the surface is largely fine considering how large the surface area of the Bulwark is, there was a very low chance for all life on the surface to be destroyed. I’m unable to reach the ground below me by any means, so all that’s left to do is wait until they reach out to me, which my projections tell me is a certainty, the only variable is how they choose to reach out.

…

Wait, something coming again. It doesn’t feel like the void, instead it feels like the first entity that separated my little slice of reality from the rest of it. There’s nothing I can do to interfere when it’s not taking action, so again, all I can do is wait.

Greetings Ascendant!

You have dragged your reality into ascension with you, and protected them in the journey, you have been awarded!

You have made contact with magic for the first time, you have been awarded!

Your sovereignty over reality has been recognised, you have been awarded!

You have been recognised as a progenitor, you have been awarded!

You have been recognised as a unique existence, you have been awarded!

You have reached maximum notoriety, you have been awarded!

You have protected #C!$£^_ lives, you have been awarded!

You have usurped the title of Oldest Entity, you have been awarded!

You have usurped the title of Largest Entity, you have been awarded!

...

You have come from a lesser dimension, you will be shown you status first as guidance.

Mind

10

Durability

100/100

Body

10

Endurance

100/100

Soul

10

Strain

100/100

Traits

Ark [S]

Immutable Bulwark [N/A]

Known of Reality [S]

Ancient One [S]

Towering One [S]

Ascendant [S]

Anomaly [N/A]

Unknowable Terror [S]

Abilities

Sun Beam [S]

Create Matter [S]

Create Energy [S]

Control Self [C]

Control Reality [N/A]

Instant thought [S]

Quantum Entanglement [S]

Well, that’s not what I expected.

End Log #4