Born in apocalypse

The moment Dhruv opens the status, he skips over everything and quickly looks at his stats. The section where he had gotten the most boost.

’Hehehe! 500 magic power... now isn’t that something worth celebrating over,’ he thought, glazing over his magic power.

Magic wasn’t the only one to get this much boost. Almost all his stats had doubled in numbers, which wasn’t natural in the cosmos. Forget about tier IV, with his stats Dhruv could rival tier V monsters.

Controlling his smirk, he looked at the top of status and began to check everything properly from the start.

’So, I need about 80 levels to reach tier V... well, I guess this will be a long journey then,’

Dhruv thought, remembering how long it had taken him to reach tier IV from tier III. With each tier, the need to satisfy the exponentially increasing level is getting harder and harder.

If everything goes like this Dhruv even suspects that the earth won’t have enough monsters to let more than five people or monsters reach tier VI. And Tier VII... Tier VII is something he can’t even imagine existing in this planet.

Shaking his head, Dhruv looked at his affinity... sure enough, a new affinity was there with an SS rank. A smile appeared as he tried to imagine what type of spell this one would bring.

Getting down, Dhruv looked at his exclusive ability. He knew both of them were supposed to upgrade with his advancement as well. Skipping over Mark of Asteri for later, he clicked on [Inventory].

[Inventory: Having this exclusive ability allows the user to control a personal space of 100 meters in length, 100 meters in width, and 100 meters in height.

This pocket dimension can be used to store any items the user likes. Being a pocket dimension, the physical laws don’t apply here. The space will grow with the user.]

’As expected, the space has increased... with this I also have a space with the size of a million cubic meters. I can store this entire castle within me...’ Dhruv thought, ready to use his stealing ability at a moment’s notice.

After going further below, he looked at his abilities... there were two new ones there as well.

’Basic Authority Manipulation and Basic Authority Resistance.’

’So I understand that the manipulation will grant me new spells, but what will this resistance protect me from? Authority? And what type?’ Dhruv thought, confused by this resistance ability.

After thinking for a moment, he remembered something.

With so many manipulation skills to his name, Dhruv had found some similarities, or it could even be said abnormalities.

Some manipulation skills provide resistance as well... like illusion and fire. Both of these skills had come along with resistance abilities.

’It’s like... it’s like... the resistance is given so the caster won’t harm themselves during the casting,’ Dhruv thought, nodding his head.

This theory of his makes even more sense when comparing that other manipulations like air, water, wood, earth, and even metal don’t give free resistance skills.

’It’s like... these elements don’t inherently possess the ability to harm their own caster. While fire, illusion, and authority can directly harm the caster.’

’Does that mean the authority resistance will protect me from my own skill? Well, this makes the most sense at least,’ Dhruv thought as he moved to the next part of the status.

Looking at how Ethereal Eyes replaced the sorcerer’s eyes and Steel Heart did the same with Healing Heart, Dhruv could now confirm that a new organ would replace the preexisting organ.

’1... 2... 3... ... ... 11... 12... 13. I have a total of 13 mutable organs now. Well, haven’t I come a long way.’ Dhruv smirked, a proud smile appearing on his face.

’With this much organ, I needed that much essence as well. So, how much essence will it need to upgrade each one to tier IV?’ he thought, trying to do the mathematics in his mind.

Cough! Cough! ’More than I think... more than I think.’ Remembering his limit, Dhruv quickly put down the math and moved further. There was nothing new further down, so he closed the status and focused on his walk.

During his walk, he turned toward Azarex and asked, "So, when will you evolve, Azarex?"

"I was thinking of evolving after getting out of this dungeon, Master," he replied calmly.

"Well, that is good..."

After pausing for a bit Dhruv asked again.

"...Had something happened during my evolution?" Dhruv asked, finding the presence of the undead somewhat peculiar.

"Nothing that substantial, Master. If you don’t mind... why do you think so, Master?" Azarex asked, trying to answer everything perfectly.

"No... it’s just that I don’t think he was here when I started the evolution." Dhruv said pointing toward the undead.

"Ohhh! This, Master... Thank you for mentioning this. So when you went into evolution, I searched the castle, and during that search, I found something interesting in the basement," Azarex explained everything word by word.

"Well... not only in the basement but on the second floor as well. There are two such artifacts in the castle. Both of their designs are different, though," Dhruv explained.

"You knew, Master?" Azarex asked, surprised by this. He clearly remembered Dhruv hadn’t gone into the dungeon.

"Yes, I sensed those two when coming out of evolution," Dhruv answered, remembering how he had sensed these two artifacts when he had activated his mana sense.

"Did you find out what they were?" he asked.

"No, Master... I was about to look through his memory when you awakened and then I forgot about it. Should I do it now?" he asked, looking at the undead.

"There is no need... let us not keep the fifth guardian waiting any longer," Dhruv answered, a smile appearing on his face.

Their walk continued as Azarex asked some questions about tier IV evolution, which Dhruv was happy to answer. The talk continued until they reached the throne room.

Looking at the corpse lying on the floor, Dhruv smiled. He knew It was time for the birth of the fifth guardian.