Born in apocalypse

"Someone just came and kidnapped you out of nowhere?" Dhruv blurted out, not knowing what to expect at this point.

"Sigh! Unfortunately, yes, Master. That’s what happened to me. This is my story of going from a princess to becoming a dungeon boss," Aurora said, a forced smile appearing on her face.

"Well, it’s really hard to predict what will happen in the future, isn’t it..." Dhruv answered, having a sense of how she must be feeling.

There was no one here who could understand her better than him. It almost seemed like they were fated to meet each other.

"Yes, Master, it’s exactly as you said. It’s really... hard to predict," Aurora answered.

As Dhruv pondered over the provided information, something didn’t fit right. If every dungeon boss were to be placed like this, then she shouldn’t have been surprised by the appearance of the man.

He thought that it could be attributed to shock, but looking at her demeanor he couldn’t help but feel it didn’t fit right with her character. She should be shocked but not helpless like that...

’Something didn’t feel right,’ he thought looking at her.

Dhruv tried to come up with an answer but he soon hit a wall. Knowing that Aurora had much more knowledge about the cosmos than anyone he knew, he couldn’t help but feel she must have the best answer.

’Should I ask though?... I think there should be no problem. There won’t be any problem right... after all, she seemed honest during her answers.’

Looking toward her, Dhruv opened his mouth,

"Aurora, if I may. Are all the dungeons in the cosmos like this... are all the bosses in them kidnapped like you?" he asked politely.

"Huhhh! All dungeon bosses are kidnapped!? It’s certainly a good question and many great minds must have pondered over it. But sorry, Master, I don’t have an answer for this," Aurora muttered.

"Not have any answer. Any particular reason for that..." Dhruv instinctively asked back, as this was the first time she didn’t have an answer.

"An answer... well, I have one but I am not confident in this one, Master."

Looking at him she continued, "Although we have a long history and great knowledge about the cosmos, because of its mystical and grand nature we are still lacking in knowledge."

She admitted.

"On top of that, it is very, very rare to encounter a dungeon with a sentient monster as a boss, and even if you encounter them, they are mostly on the verge of insanity... making it very hard to get any information from them."

Taking a breath, she added,

"...Because of all these factors, it is very hard to tell whether every dungeon is formed in the same way or if there are different methods for each dungeon."

"Ohhh! Well, this makes sense..." Dhruv replied, not satisfied but still happy with the answer.

’Sentient boss. So it’s very rare to find something like that... then what am I? Very lucky or extremely unlucky...’ Dhruv sighed.

While he was thinking about all sorts of questions, Aurora’s words disturbed him,

"Master, if you don’t mind, at which quest is your planet on?" she asked, looking at Dhruv.

"Quest!? We are on the third quest, which is about to end pretty soon," Dhruv answered with all honesty.

"You must be on the Clearing the Dungeon quest then... Is this your first or have you cleared any more dungeons?" Aurora asked, looking at him with expectation.

’What! She seems familiar with the type of quests...’ Controlling his ever-emerging ideas, Dhruv opened his mouth,

"I have cleared another dungeon... it was filled with goblins. This is my second dungeon and then the third dungeon, where spiders resided, should be cleared by others. So in total, we have cleared three dungeons I guess..."

Dhruv answered, making an educated guess. He still wasn’t sure whether others had cleared the spider dungeon or not.

"Ohhh! Three dungeons as solo or with groups?" she asked further.

"With groups. If I may, why are you asking these questions?" Unable to hide his curiosity, he asked back.

"First, I want to know if you have met all three types of monsters in the cosmos or not..."

"Three types of monsters?" Dhruv asked again having his curiosity piqued.

"Yes, Master. The monsters inside the cosmos are divided into three categories. First, totally monstrous with little to no sentience. Animal-type monsters come in this category."

’So spiders would be of this category,’ Dhruv thought, nodding his head.

"The second type is semi-sentients. They can think on their own and have the capability to make some decisions, but they are ultimately inferior to the third category."

"Goblins would come in this category, right?" Dhruv asked.

"Yes! Goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, undead, and many more come in this category," Aurora nodded giving some examples.

"Last but not least are the sentient monsters. The monster category whose intelligence is on par with or even higher than sentient races because of our mutation," Aurora muttered.

"We Crystallace, phoenixes, dragons, vampires, and many more such races come in this category."

Looking at Dhruv she added, "After becoming a mutant, you also come in this category."

"Mutant!?" Dhruv asked, confused by the term.

’He is surprised,’ Aurora noticed.

"Yes, Master, you are a mutant. If I may ask, how did you become a mutant?" Aurora asked the question she was eager to get an answer for.

"How can I tell you how I became a mutant when I don’t even know what a mutant is?" Dhruv muttered, confused by the terminology.

It’s not like he had not heard the word mutant. But he had only heard it in cinemas and novels. And now... now he had become one without even knowing it.

’Without even knowing about it, he has already become a mutant. How lucky...’ she thought, looking at him with bewilderment.

"A mutant is someone who becomes a monster by forcefully changing their own species. From your appearance, I can guess you were a human by birth and now you are a monster."

"Mutant, Me." Dhruv blurred out.