Born in apocalypse

The air was thick with tension as the battle was about to begin. Dhruv, with his determined eyes, looked toward his guardians and said,

"You guys go rest I will handle this one." he wasn’t just trying to show off but could genuinely feel the tiredness in their eyes.

’For some reason, now I can feel their emotions more clearly,’ Dhruv ponders for a bit about the reasons but pushes this one further down on the list of problems he has to solve.

After hearing this the trio was reluctant to leave their master to battle on their own but they followed the order nonetheless.

The giant golem—who somehow survived this wave unlike most of Azarex Undead—lifted his hand and made an ice platform for them to stand on. The moment they put their feet on the platform he lifted the platform in the air because that was the only place devoid of any monsters on the island.

After finding themselves stable on the platform the trio looked down to witness the greatness of their master.

Dhruv like an immovable being was ready to face the hoard on his own. He lifted his clawed hand a sign that he had sung the horn of the battle.

Looking at the charging goblin horde, his hand began to glow that of the red. A moment later a ball of fire appeared in front of it, but he didn’t let it go just yet and began to pump more mana into it. The more mana got pumped into the ball the hotter and brighter it began to get. When Dhruv was satisfied with the power of this fireball he looked at the hoard once more and let it go.

The ball traveled for a bit before it hit the ones who were in front of the hoard, and then...

"Boooooooom"

With a thunderous roar, the fiery wave engulfed the first wave of goblins in a searing inferno. Their agonized screams filled the night with a strange symphony making it more beautiful. Even on this beautiful night, a hint of a frown appears on Dhruv’s face...

"Tsk"

Sliding the numerous notifications to the side, he tsked with a sigh of disappointment.

The reason for his disappointment was, that he had tried to use [Multiply] on the past five spells but they just didn’t seem to work. With a hint of anger and disappointment, he continued his spellcasting.

The monsters being monsters, were not so easily afraid by the display of Dhruv’s might. They closed in, their grotesque forms moving with eerie coordination.

Trying to find a different form of battle Dhruv jarked his hand revealing sharp steel claws that glinted menacingly in the moonlight as he lunged into the fray.

His movements were a blur, as he slashed and tore through the goblins, his claws like razor-sharp scythes. Each strike was precise, each movement calculated, as if he had become one with the art of combat.

The spiders, with their venomous fangs and nightmarish visages, advanced on Dhruv from all sides. But he remained unyielding, as he knew they were even less of a threat than the goblins.

When the number began to climb up he lifted his hand and within seconds of doing that a rain of sharp metal flung in all directions killing everyone in its path. The ground shook as the monsters fell one by one, their hideous forms twitching in their final moments.

As the battle raged on, Dhruv’s face bore a twisted grin. He reveled in the sensation of power coursing through his veins, the ecstasy of domination. "This is what it feels like to be a king among insects!" Despite his control, this thought crossed his mind. He wasn’t feeling arrogant because his enemies were just insects and there wasn’t any might in squashing an insect after all.

In the midst of the chaos, his mastery over the magic began to increase at a noticeable rate. With a mighty sweep of his hand, he summoned a swirling vortex of flames that engulfed the remaining goblins and spider creatures. Their screams merged with the crackling of the inferno as their forms were consumed by the searing blaze.

The island, once shrouded in darkness, was now illuminated by the inferno’s fiery glow. Dhruv stood amidst the smoldering ruins of his foes, his chest heaving with exertion. The air was thick with the acrid scent of burning flesh and the eerie silence that followed the carnage.

Dhruv’s eyes gleamed with a maniacal fervor as he surveyed the battlefield. He had decimated the horde with ruthless efficiency, yet his lust for power hadn’t been sated. The moon hung low in the sky, casting an ethereal light upon the scene of devastation.

***

The moment the battle ended the trio climbed down from the platform and began to walk toward him.

As Dhruv looked at the charred bodies of the monsters began to change to that of the KFC menu. The culprit behind this barbaric illusion was none other than his own hunger.

He thought of eating the few meals that were still left with him but he quickly dismissed the idea. He didn’t know why but eating the normal meal didn’t look that appetizing to him now. He once again side aglance toward the monster corpses...

To tell the truth, he wasn’t hungry to the point that he would see illusions. Actually, that is also wrong There was a hunger in him, but it wasn’t for food no it was for knowledge as he wanted to know what would happen when he consumed the monster’s meat.

How much essence he would get in one bit? how much essence it would take him to mutate one of his organs? How much stronger his body part will get with each mutation? These types of questions began to make themselves home in his mind.

He was about to walk toward one of the monster’s corpses but stopped himself when he saw the trio approaching him.

The moment he sees them one of the biggest questions about this evolution surfaced in his mind. Why can’t he get exp from the kills of the trio anymore? 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Looking at them, Dhruv signals them to walk faster...

The trio increased their speed and within a minute they reached Dhruv’s location. After stopping near him Alaric walked forward a step and asked...

"Master! What is it?"

Dhruv didn’t talk around the bush and directly asked, "Have any of you noticed any difference in yourself recently? Anything no matter how small it felt or looked."

Hearing the question, Azarex asks a question himself, "How recently are we talking about master,"

"During the period I was evolving.." Answers Dhruv.

"No, I don’t think there..." Azarex was about to say that there wasn’t anything like that but Alaric cut him in the middle and said.

"No, Azarex, actually there is one thing I have noticed."

Exited to hear a positive news, Dhruc asked eagerly, "What is it,"

"I had noticed a strange star tattoo on the backside of Vexar’s neck."

"A tattoo!?" Dhruv found this weird and wondered what a tattoo had to do with any of this but was curious nonetheless. He looked at Vexar and signaled him to come close to him so he could inspect it.

When Vexar got close to him he turned him around and looked at his neck there he found a tattoo that showed a star in the center of a dark purple circle, surrounded by light. The star is bright and glowing, with its light radiating outward from the center. The background of the image is composed of swirling shades of purple and white, creating an ethereal atmosphere.

In addition to the star in the middle, there are several other stars visible around it as well to be exact three. If one looks at it with some focus one would find numerous tiny stars in the background waiting for their chance to shine.

After carefully inspecting the tattoo with normal vision, the only thing he found was the tattoo was beautiful, so he switched his vision to mana vision by blinking twice so he could see any traces of mana in them if there were any.

After checking it with the mana vision he was surprised to find that there was actually mana inside the tattoo and it was quite a lot actually.

A a strange tattoo on his neck that was filled with mana and Vexar didn’t know when it got there. Dhruv found this unbelievable as being monsters they are quite sensitive towards mana so Vexar should have at least known the time this was imprinted on his.

He looked at Vexar with some hope that he could find any clue from him that would help solve this dilemma. With that thought in his mind, he asked with a serious tone,

"Do you feel any change in you, or do you remember the exact moment this tattoo was imprinted on you,"

"No" Vexar just flat-out denied.

"..."

Dhruv hit his head with his hand for the disappointment and asked again,

"Have you checked your status..." he was about to ask for the information about his status but thought that it would be a good thing if he just checked it himself.

So he touched Vexar and accessed his status..

He didn’t have to go very far to find any difference because the moment he opened the status the difference presented itself in front of him..

In the very second option where the species were mentioned, there had been a change, not exactly a change but an addition. There are two new words added to it.