Born in apocalypse

Almost instantaneously, Alaric got out of Dhruv’s shadow and conjured a shield, protecting Dhruv from the shockwave that was generated by the sudden explosion.

"What the fuck, why on earth are they launching nukes all of a sudden?" Dhruv shouted. He was so shocked by this startling incident that he almost forgot about the cracks.

Not even a second later, the little demon asked, "What do you mean by ’nukes, master’?".

Vexar was so taken by the power of this spell, which seemed to be connected with fire magic. The magic for which he had an affinity, so he couldn’t help but want to learn it as soon as possible.

And for him to learn the spell, he had to at least know about it, so he asked the most knowledgeable member of his family about this sudden spell. So, he can learn and know how to cast it as soon as possible.

Dhruv thought for a bit, not knowing how to explain the nuke to someone who didn’t even know one bit about the outer world. The only thing Vexar knows about in this world is me, his brothers, monsters, and this island.

Still, he had to tell him something, so he started with the easiest bit...

"It’s a kind of device," Dhruv began explaining, recognizing that this short answer wouldn’t suffice anything so he added more, " Not just a device, it is a really powerful one. The core of it is created using special materials known as ’uranium’ or ’plutonium’..."

"Is it as strong as my swords?" Vexar asked with an eager expression.

"At least finish me what I was saying... but the answer to your question is yes and no."

"How is that, master?" Vexar asked with a confused expression.

"If you reach tier 3... No! Tier 4, then you should be strong enough to match the firepower of that nuke. But before that, the answer will be no!" he explained.

"Ohhh! I should consume core faster.." After saying that, he looked toward the core with greedy eyes.

Cough! Cough!

Distracting Vexar from the core, he said, "..Anyway, where was I?"

"It’s made out of uranium or plutonium, master.." Azarex said.

"Ohhh! I see! So, when the device is activated, it releases an immense amount of energy in the form of light, heat, and kinetic power, capable of wreaking havoc on everything nearby. In essence, it’s similar to a fire spell that triggers a huge explosion," Dhruv elaborated.

Everything was flying over his head until the last sentence came. After hearing the last sentence, Vexar managed to grasp the concept and nodded in acknowledgment.

Dhruv’s thoughts returned to more urgent issues as he was giving Vexar a more thorough explanation of nuclear weapons.

Now, he couldn’t afford to think about the reasons behind the launch of the nukes right now, as a more urgent concern had already captured his attention.

And the problem was that no monster had gotten out of the cracks, even when the time had already passed the five-minute mark

Under normal circumstances, the absence of monsters should be considered a good thing, almost worthy of celebration.

However, when Cosmos was involved, there was no room for a positive attitude. While part of him wished that he proved to be wrong and that this was truly a good sign,

But there was a gut feeling inside him, that was telling that something unexpected and challenging was likely lurking ahead.

As he was thinking, a theory popped up into his mind, offering a potential explanation for this unusual incident.

’So, we’ve already encountered four waves with Tier 1 monsters and each one was separated by four hours,’ Dhruv calculated mentally. ’If I count up all the hours that have passed since the beginning of this quest..., then the total would be 16 hours.’

’That leaves us with 8 hours to complete a day or another two waves," he reasoned.

Dhruv’s theory revolved around the idea that the cosmos was giving them an 8-hour, or two-wave, interval for resting.

And this made sense, at least to him. If we count eight hours of rest to complete a day, then that would make the three-day-long quest filled with monsters at the maximum Tier 3.

And that should be a double challenge for humankind to face. This could be further enhanced by the fact that each rest should make the fighter fight in their best condition. The next day, they had to face the monster of the next Tier.

’It makes sense; even when the cosmos is terrifying, one thing it isn’t is unfair. It’s so fair that it had already sent many cracks prior to the cosmic evolution so that humans could prepare for what was about to come.’ Dhruv thought.

Yet he knew that it was highly unlikely that the government would have announced any information about these cracks. Before he could delve into others’ problems, he looked at the crack one last time and decided. what he was going to do with this free time.

He began moving toward the middle of the island along with the trio. He told them about his theory; of course, he didn’t mention anything about this being a theory. They were happy to get some form of explanation regarding this phenomenon, as they were also quite confused.

Dhruv was satisfied, or maybe even a bit surprised, by the fact that he could even think of these theories on his own, without any help. After all, he wasn’t someone who had been considered a bright child.

’Maybe, these are the effects of the stats,’ he thought, once again marveling at the fact that he could think this fast and come to a conclusion.

Not diving into the mysteries of ’how stats actually work,’ he sped up his pace and began moving in the direction of the mega core with a faster speed.

Which, from Dhruv’s understanding, would be a core of tier 5 level; if not that, it would at least be a core of Tier 4 range with a saturation level of 90%.

After reaching the core, he placed his hand on the surface of the Core.

The moment he touched the surface of the core, he realized that it was ’sooo smoooth’ that he hadn’t touched anything smooth on this level.

The man inside of him was about to awaken and tell him not to destroy this shiny object, but somehow suppressing that feeling, he quickly touched the surface of it and said...

"True fusion"