God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Sitting in the empty silence and darkness, Cain wondered for how long he could keep getting away with this.

A week had passed since his fateful conversation with Boulder, and not a lot had happened. The little that had, though, was quite significant.

For one,he had managed to make contact with Hunter, albeit briefly.

From what he had heard from him, the situation of things was the same as he had heard from Boulder and Lucia.

However, there was a strange twist he was not ready for.

The day he had seen Hunter in a beaten up state, he had onformed him.tjat the otjers were still alive. However, that was all he had been able to get.

Now, he finally had a bit more understanding of the situation.

Apparently, after he had 'died', they had managed to reach the dome, only after fighting through an encirclement of Devils and running for their lives.

However, before they could do anything, they were promptly put in chains and separated. They they were all separately questioned.

Cain had no idea how Hunter knew all this, but he trusted he wouldn't feed him wrong information.

As for the beating, that was only to put up a show. In reality, he had been living in fairly good condition so far.

By interviewing them all individually, the General and his people were able to infer that Cain was the leader of this party, without a doubt.

That was why they needed him on board with whatever nonsense they planned...

Cain chuckled to himself,

'Bluffing old bastard.'

It was a nice play, with little to no gaps. Unfortunately, Cain had the ability to see through it.

He was currently within the building where he had cleared the {Blister Rats} out from.

Over the past week, he had found another use of his {Divine Essence of Metallurgy} skill.

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{Steel Dummy} was the sub-skill he had created. He created a replica that was the same height, and body structure as he was, with similar features as well.

The only difference, was that it was made of metal. Not only that, but he managed to permanently palace a {Nexus Tether} within the core of the {Steel Dummy}.

The moment the door to his room was opened, he would be alerted, quickly switching places with the {Steel Dummy}.

The ability was a slightly complex rendition of the {Fallen Stars of Orion}, as it involved a fairly large distance. However, it was quite useful. So long as the Nexus wasn't bothered, he would have no problems.

'Now, to focus on what I've really come to do.'

Cain had cleared this place out for two things.

One, he needed a space where he could think things through without being disturbed or distracted. He also needed a space to place the {Draconic Blast Furnace}. There were quite a few things he needed to get done.

The second, was the giant Spatial Transfer Magic circle he was about to build.

With the main anchor of the {Spatial Gate} on the ship, all he had to do was make a tether here, and a connection would be made instantly.

Meaning he would be able to go through the portal, bringing back an entire army with him, so long as he had the energy required to.

However, drawing this magic circle would require a lot of Devil blood, so his hands were tied for a while.

'The materials with me are good to make a few bombs, and perhaps a few new weapons. What should I start with?'

Usually, the bombs would be a good item to make, but with the scale of the enemies he was going to be dealing with, he could tell they wouldn't be effective enough.

'I need to make something far more effective. Something that'll give me an edge in battle.'

Cain's mind drifted back to the battle between himself and the Devils.

One thing he has lacked in that fight, was good mobility, besides sword skills, obviously. Alt

If he could improve that, then perhaps he wouldn't lose so terribly next time.

'As for the sword skills...' These were more complicated to handle.

He could improve his equipment and the likes far more easily than his sword skills.

While he was fast, he wasn't fast enough to deal with the current threats. Not only that, but the {Fallen Stars of Orion} weren't as effective as before too.

So besides making equipment, he had two things to do; improve his skills, and his sword mastery.

Cain let out a deep breath of air he had been holding for a while now.

His body was experiencing a dull pain, as he had been using the Magic Square all day.

Grasping the hilt of {Platinum Genesis}, Cain began to swing his sword.

To improve his mastery of the sword, he truly didn't know where to begin.

His mind flashed with images of his battle as his sword cut through the air. He thought about the battle, remembering the movements he had made, as well as those taken by his opponent.

Using a sword was a dangerous, delicate art...

He couldn't treat the blade like it was an extension of his body, as it wasn't. Instead, he has to treat it like the tool it was. He had to understand its limits and embrace its strengths vigorously.

His eyes seemed to dull as he became lost in his movements.

His mind begàn flashing with countless other scenes, all jumbled together. There the scenes of each and every battle he had taken part of, using his sword. It was as though a dam had broken apart.

Pretty quickly, Cain had to come to the stop, as the level of stimulation had become too much.

Sweat poured down his brows and temples as the fought to control his breathing. Staring down at his hand with wide eyes, he was shocked to discover that they were all bruised up. His healing was already taking care of it, but it didn't change the fact.

He frowned, 'There must be something I'm doing wrong.'

Once his hands were healed up, Cain dove into his thoughts. Rather than allowing the scenes to glow by freely, he picked one of them to dismantle before going to the next.

Very quickly, he was able to see and thread a common theme together.

'Each skill, and or spell I activate during a battle consumes certain portion of my mental energy. While mental energy is more difficult to calibrate compared to others, it still exists. Without making a most of these things, I'm just wasting useful brain space.'

His eyes burned with a strange fire,

'I have tha ability to see everything, and the ability to move, unfettered through the battlefield. These should make me invincible. And yet...'

The battle against Inixth has been lost because he didn't understand himself. It was an embarrassing defeat, far more painful than any other.

In the end, he only has himself to blame.

Luckily for him, death wasn't his final stop. Instead, he could come back over and over again until he could change his mistakes into information, and then, into an advantage.

With anotejr pulse of breath escaping his lips, he swung his sword again. This time with a purpose.

His eyes lit up as he began moving...

At first his movements were slow, combining a series of forward hacks together with diagonal slashes.

Then it transitioned into attacks coming from different angles and directions. Using tej advantage of {Eye of Clairvoyance}, he could easily see any and every possible movement a foe would take, so long as he paid proper attention.

In a high speed battle, victory and defeat boiled down to a few factors. One of them was having a proper understanding of ones abilities.

His body glitched out of reality and was instantaneous replaced with a shining star-tipped sword. At the same time the star-tipped sword was moving, he was also moving, striking at the imaginary enemy before him.

Thanks to the nature of his skills, he didn't need to be too worried about defense. Everything depended on how fast and aggressive he was willing to push him enemy.

But at the same time, he also could rely on his magic too much.

What if a situation where he was forced to stop using his magic arose? What would he do then?

Cain came to a stop, his face scrunched in annoyance. Mastering the blade wasn't going to be easy in the slightest.

Placing his weapon back into his inventory, he let out a tired sigh before plopping to the ground.

His exhaustion told him he had truly pushed himself to the limit. His stamina stat was incredibly robust, and yet here he was, panting like a dying dog.

He had no choice but to go down this path. If he desired even the slightest of chances at getting his hands on what he wanted, he had no choice but to push until his body gave out beneath him.

Steeling his eyes, Cain pushed off the ground and limped towards the area he had placed the forge.

Although he would like to rest longer, every second was too important to go to waste.

Besides, there was nothing stopping him from recovering as he went about his business. His vitality was incredibly strong...

This was how he would spend the next two weeks, grinding himself through hellish training and smelting some ores in the forge before it was finally time for what he wanted.

The day he was waiting for had finally come...

The day he would be able to leave the dome...

***

A/N: I thing I want to get through this arc quickly ^⁠_⁠^. If we can get 5000 coins worth of gifts before the month ends, I'll release two chapters everyday next month. So if you can, don't hesitate to drop a gift. It really, really helps as an incentive to do more.