A pale young boy lying on a large piece of black rock above the sun, groans and wakes up. He stretches out his arm as if he's back in his old house. But of course, arthur was the farthest from home he could physically be

"Oh man, here we go" he says, looking down off his ledge in the sky. His head aches as he catches a glimpse of the sun, a massive warped rift surrounded by rings and rings of worlds, all slowly breaking apart.

Arthur was on one of those collapsing worlds, just on the outskirts where his dying world was the most fragmented. 

He sighs before reaching into the air, reaching around until he grabs something

"Hey!" a dark gnome screams as it's dragged from its own nap. "I don't go grabbing you while you're sleeping, do I?". it sits down in the air with a huff. "Still no luck with your blessing huh?" "Nope," Arthur says. "I'm not really disappointed, it's been too long"

"Well I believe in you! I'm an excellent judge of character and I guarantee that you'll at least awaken!"

"Yeah sure puff, it definitely wasn't because I was the only choice in a black realm world huh? I bet you didn't expect to end up with an unawakened person who camps on the outskirts." 

Puff huffed, seemingly angry with Arthur's reasoning, before deflating and sitting on the rock next to Arthur, its tiny legs dangling over the edge.

"Arthur, maybe you need to.. go visit the city. There are people there who can help you. The only other option you have… isn't an option at all"

"Maybe it is puff." Arthur stands up, his impressive height dwarfing the 10 inch tall sprite. He jumps 20 feet over to the next piece of hovering slate, slowly creeping away from his collapsing world and the debris floating off of it. 

"Puff, I think today is the day" he says, flying through the air toward the void. "I can't take another day with the bare soul of a mortal. You know I won't. And since I'm in a black realm world, even if I do awaken, it will barely help." 

Puff sighs, knowing the truth. There were 9, well 10 realms of worlds. First and strongest were white, followed by grey, black, red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple. The reason it's agreed that there are 10 realms and not 9 are because the rift that used to be the sun technically has a world at the very centre, a pale blue dot surrounded by coursing radiation and energy.

"Well arthur, then you'll just have to ascend further" puff says, panting as he tries to catch up to arthur. "And you're already this strong as an unawakened, imagine your future strength! No other unawakened could jump 20 feet, no matter how strong but you manage it like it's nothing."

Arthur is a little convinced, but still heads forward. Once he's reached the very last piece of debris, he stands there, staring off into the pitch dark void.

"Puff, ever since the massive white hand smashed through our sun, launching new worlds all around and creating the rift and realms, I've had this feeling. I want to get to earth"

Puff gasps at this, grabbing onto Arthur's face. "Arthur, ARE YOU AN IDIOT? Sovereigns, litteral sovereigns couldn't make it. Do you understand the difference between you and them???? It goes mortal, unawakened, awakened, gathering realm, ascending, wrecking, then sovereigns, gods, ancients, and then mythics. And the only reason no gods or ancients have attempted to enter the void, is because even if they miraculously made it through and to the original planet, nobody would be there!! It's suicide!!"

Arthur huffs, pulling puff off of his face. "Well have any awakened tried it? I need a source object to awaken, right? What if, instead of trying to form one myself, I use earth as a supplement. It's been touched by an outer realm mythic, it must have insane potential." 

"HELL NO" puff yells, his tiny voice echoing across the vast expanse of wreckage. "Going into the rift is so far past the worst case scenario, I can't tell if you're joking."

Arthur is about to relent, feeling bad he's putting his guide through such emotions because he couldn't improve his rank when suddenly he crouches down. "Puff, quiet" he says, grabbing puffs mouth and forcing it closed. 

A massive creature slowly walks out of a miniature rift, each step causing ripples. A powerfully built man stands proudly on its back, countless swords hovering around him. There is a loud yell as countless people also emerge from the void, attacking the creature and the man. 

He merely grins, the swords surging forward into a river of steel and slaughtering them. But then the man shows an expression of displeasure as the dismembered men put themselves back together.

"Filthy night creatures." the man says, his voice echoing harshly. Arthur nearly screams as the man's voice compresses his very being, popping his eardrums and making him bleed from all over. "Arthur!" puff whispers worriedly. "Here, take this" he hands arthur a small pill, which arthur quickly swallows. "Arthur we need to escape to the next dimension, that's a full awakened right there, he'll slaughter those puppets in a second!" 

Meanwhile, the men grin back at the proud man, before puking black smoke that forms into a woman. "Hello there gorgeous, " she says seductively, purring at the man before he launches a sword at her that collapses her head but it reforms. "I'm sure if you hand over that nice little heart you've got there, I could make you have a wonderful time" 

"I am confident that compromising my morals for lust is exactly what you want me to do. But I need this heart for my city, and a riftwalker like you won't touch a single bit of it, even if you're nearing rending stage."

"ARTHUR WE NEED TO GO." puff whispers, his face pale with sweat. "That's not just a riftwalker, its almost rending!!! For riftwalkers it goes traveling, which is equal to a human's awakening, rending, which is somewhere between gathering and ascending ranks, and the rest of their stages, they aren't even know because each one is specific to the riftwalker"

Arthur almost chuckles at the tiny man squeaking at him as two insanely powerful people face off behind him "Puff, I'm not an idiot, I know how ranks work. And besides, riftwalker ranks are clear limits to their powers, while humans have the ability to fight above their own ranks by using combat prowess, sorcery, and pure strength. Now shut up, I'm trying to rift." 

Arthur's fingers dig into space time, a white light leaking out of the gap. Through the small tear, you can see an entirely new realm, this time its countless cities sitting on pitch black sand that swirls like water, and a massive face hanging in the sky above the world. Arthur goes to move into the void, but then hears a jarring voice right next to him.

 "Hello there!" a grinning skull says, floating beside Arthur's head. "Do you want to hear death?" it opens its mouth and a high pitched wail slices through the air, making arthur fall off the edge, falling into the void and toward the rift.

litterally never written before, just trying out some ideas. heavily inspired by a lot of different novels I've read