Born in apocalypse

Seeing the monstrosity of a ship in front of him, Dhruv couldn’t help but continue to stare at it for a few seconds. Even with all the weird things he had encountered there were very few that could bend his mind at this point.

And a giant ship shilling through complete whiteness certainly is one of them.

"Who could’ve built something so big in a place like this..." He mutters not even trying to understand why or even how a ship is sailing in this place, Dhruv simply concludes and begins thinking about his next course of action.

After observing the ship for a few minutes, when he couldn’t find any other abnormalities, Dhruv understood it was time for him to take action.

"Let’s see what you hold for me..." muttering, he activated mana sense and began moving toward the already approaching ship slowly.

The distance between the two was getting closer and closer with each passing second.

As Dhruv looked at the ship, he couldn’t help but frown.

There wasn’t anyone on the ship.

He wasn’t picking up any of the mana, no more correctly he wasn’t picking up strong enough mana which radiates from a core.

’Is there not a single monster on the ship...’ Dhruv thought scratching his head.

He wanted to believe the result of his mana sense but there was something stopping him from doing that.

Even though he wasn’t getting any sign of a strong cluster of mana, Dhruv, deep down, understood there were monsters on the ship.

After thinking for a few moments, he even understood why he was getting this feeling.

"Is this the result of Ethereal Eyes?" Dhruv thought aloud.

Dhruv was indeed right... but only half. [Ethereal Eyes] was only a big cog to move the whole thing. Without the combination of others, [Ethereal Eyes] alone wouldn’t have yielded this result.

"Hmm! Interesting..." Seeing his eyes in a new light, he began moving toward the ship hastily.

Upon reaching it, instead of entering the ship, Dhruv began hovering over its dock.

If the monsters Vexar had encountered were the limit of this floor’s tier, there shouldn’t be any problem with him clearing the ship... but still, Dhruv decided to be cautious.

After all, it’s better to be late than never.

Equipping his armor, Dhruv was about to move forward but stopped as a thought occurred to him.

"Should I try it here... but wouldn’t that be overkill...?" Some skeptical thoughts occurred but in the end, he decided to go with it.

"Ahhh! Who cares—I have to try it at least once before going into an actual fight worthy of its prestige..." Thinking this, Dhruv opened his inventory and picked the item he had been thinking about.

An incomparable crown appeared in his hand as he looked at it with a smirk.

"Hehe! Let’s test you out..." Muttering these words, Dhruv moved his hand, preparing himself for the unimaginable power the crown should bestow upon him.

"Here it comes..." Giggling, he placed it on top of his head.

"..."

"..."

Nothing happened.

"No shit, nothing happened. I have to provide it with my mana first." Realizing his mistake, Dhruv took a deep breath before allowing his mana to flow toward the crown.

Following his command, mana moved precisely.

Faster than one could blink, it connected his core with the cores of the [Crown of the Seven Stars].

The moment the connection was completed, all seven of the gems instantly lit up. Five of them continued to glow while two returned to their dormant state.

As the seconds passed, Dhruv felt... he felt something. Something he hadn’t felt in such a long time.

"Shit.. no this is too fast..." Before he could take any action, half of his core was already dry, and it was depleting more and more at an alarming rate.

But that wasn’t the only change he felt.

The very first thing he noticed, besides the depleting mana, was obedience. Obedience from beings that were on the ship.

The obedience was so much stronger than he could ever hope to achieve with the spells he currently possessed.

That wasn’t all, either.

A blue barrier had surrounded him. A wave of refreshment overwhelmed him as he felt the mana he controlled become even more potent. His mana regeneration had also sped up.

Dhruv turned, glancing toward the tattoo symbolizing the cosmic connection, as he felt his connection deepening with the vast cosmos.

While he was experiencing all this, something else began to draw his attention.

Dhruv suddenly felt someone’s presence beside him.

The presence of someone he was sure didn’t exist. A presence of someone that didn’t exist.

An illusion...

Or so he was so sure of.

"Why did... why?... did... HE... why?"

The hairs on his body stood on end as drops of sweat began forming on Dhruv’s brow. Gulping, he tried to move.

Nothing went his way as his body froze in place.

"Why?..." Another wave of torment was rushing forward, but before it could finish, his entire core ran dry.

The mana stopped supplying the crown, and the gems ceased glowing.

His wings began to vaporize as the mana supporting them vanished as well.

Dhruv was now crashing toward the ship, but this was the least of his problems.

"Arghhh!..." A pained cry left his mouth as a sudden wave of pain surged through the entirety of his body.

"Fuck..." Cursing his reckless action, Dhruv managed to open his inventory and pulled out a bottle.

Gulp!... Gulp!...

The liquid rushed toward his core, barely making a difference. Yet it was enough for his weakened body to start functioning again.

Crash!!!

Before he could bring out another bottle, however, Dhruv crashed into the ship. Breaking through the floor of the dock, he found himself in a room devoid of light.

"Shit..." Lifting himself up, he tried to bring out another mana bottle but stopped upon noticing something happening all around him.

"Tsk! Give a break at least..." Dhruv muttered, but he knew the being around him was of no reasoning.

Because of his grand entrance, hundreds of skeletons that had been dormant were now waking from their slumber.

Their cores lit up as Dhruv realized why his mana sense hadn’t detected them before.