Born in apocalypse

’What the heck... can this thing become even weirder than this,’ Dhruv thought. Even though he wanted to see more Dhruv tactically decided to close his eyes.

’How can there be no traces of mana here?’ Dhruv thought as he tried to wrap his head around this information. Even the earth, which has recently evolved, now has traces of mana in almost every item.

But this realm... a realm that could be something as ancient as our universe hasn’t had a single trace of mana. How is this possible?

While Dhruv was pondering this, a sudden realization struck him: the mana he had used to cast the spell Enhanced Serrated Blade hadn’t been regenerated.

’Is it really that there is no mana here? If this is true, then why does Alaric always dive down into shadows to regenerate his...’ As time passed Dhruv began to get more and more confused.

Before Dhruv could ponder over this matter any further, he got dragged out of the realm of shadow. The moment he got out his eyes constricted under the eyelid in response to this sudden increase in light.

To ensure he was where he was supposed to be, Dhruv opened his eyes.

The moment Dhruv opened his eyes, all types of information began to get processed in his head. Even though he was still seeing things in 2D, after processing, he was getting results in 3D, which felt oddly satisfying to Dhruv.

Phew!

Dhruv heaved a sigh of relief when he found that he had appeared on top of a hut. He had already told Alaric to choose a location on the far side of the village so they could have time to prepare.

Alaric had done as he was told and Dhruv could observe that there were no goblins around them. Looking around, he found his guardian beside him. Both of them were safe as well.

Glancing at Alaric, Dhruv asked the question, "Alaric, what was touching me in there..." Although the question about mana was important, Dhruv already had his priorities set.

"Ohhh! That was the creature known as ’Shadow Dwellers’..." Alaric pauses for a moment to remember information about them. After a few seconds of silence, he remembered everything.

"They are shadowy creatures that are obsessed with going into the material world and that’s why they often cling to anything that falls from the ’Material world’ in the hope of making them their host so they could get out of the realm of shadow. But I don’t think they should have been there..." While explaining, Alaric began to ponder why the monsters were there.

Quickly, Alaric was able to figure out, why the creature was there. Turning toward Dhruv, Alaric replied,

"Master, I think when Vexar and I had passed through there, the dwellers must have noticed and then come to find us, but we got away and you became the victim."

’....’ Dhruv’s mind went blank as he processed this information.

After calming down, he looked around to see if the creature was still. When he couldn’t find anything he turned towards Alaric and asked, "Victim... are they strong? And if it is clinging to me, then is it here..."

"No, they are usually at Tier Ⅰ, and in the very rare scenario will they be able to evolve to Tier Ⅱ? And no, Master, you don’t have to worry about them; they can’t cling to you and come to this world," Alaric answered.

"Why..." Dhruv couldn’t help but ask this question.

"Like everyone else, you also have a shadow Master. And because you are at Tier Ⅲ, your shadow is at the same tier. Because the dwellers are only tier Ⅰ or tier Ⅱ creatures, they can’t defeat your shadow and attach themselves to you," Alaric shared his knowledge about the monster.

"Is it that in that realm the monsters are only at low tiers..." Dhruv asked, eager to know about the hierarchy in the shadow realm.

"No, master, there are far stronger creatures living there. The most powerful one I have seen was at Tier Ⅵ. But the good thing is that they only live in their own territory, so there aren’t any problems," Alaric explained.

"Tier Ⅵ!!!.." Dhruv exclaimed as he thought about how powerful the monster must be. He was sure that one or two of those monsters would be able to destroy all of the people on the earth... it would be even easier for them after all most of them are only at Tier Ⅱ.

This gives Dhruv even more reasons to get stronger as soon as possible, so not anyone can come and destroy what he has.

While keeping an eye out for the goblin, Dhruv asked other questions as well. Patiently, Alaric explained all the questions.

Dhruv learned that if he wanted to see there, he had to buy a skill called [Shadow Sense]. Alaric had already warned that this skill would not be easy to get. Dhruv could confirm this, as he hadn’t seen the skill yet.

And for his question about... why there is no mana there?

Alaric explained that he was only half right and there is mana in the shadow realm. The only problem is that all the mana there is elemental mana, also known as [Shadow Mana]. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The Shadow mana of the shadow realm is in its purest form, and that’s why Dhruv wasn’t able to see anything despite using mana sense. After explaining this, Alaric said along the line that ’even he wasn’t entirely sure if this was true or just half true...

’Man, the realm is even more interesting than I had thought...’ Dhruv thought as he found his previous version naive to think the shadow realm was something uninteresting...

While Dhruv was still in the middle of his thought, someone attacked him suddenly.

Whoooosh!

Boooom!

Dhruv dodged the attack by a hair’s breadth. Drops of blood began to drip from the cut that the attack had just made on his cheek.

"Master, are you alright?" Alaric quickly deployed a shield as he looked at the monster in front of them.

Dhruv wiped the blood with one hand, while he put the other on Vexar’s shoulder. The temperature had already begun to increase within the shield as Vexar was getting ready to attack the monster.

’The boss perhaps?’ Casting basic heal on himself, Dhruv had this thought. From behind the safety of the shield, Dhruv observed the monster in front of him.

’Uhhhh! What is this thing.’ Dhruv couldn’t help but thought as he looked at the monster in front of him