God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The heart was once thought to be the center of human thought. Each though was guided by the pulsating rhythm of the fleshed, blood-pumpinh organ.

Humans had grown to know better, but didn't diminish the importance of the heart.

Its true purpose was discovered...

It was responsible for the circulation of nutrients around the body, put simply.

Cain's {Mana Heart} operated on the same principles, just that what they circulated was not physical, but more spiritual.

The gap between the physical and spiritual realms could be bridged by the mind. With mana, one could interact with the spiritual, which in turn could affect the physical world.

The spiritual equivalent for the blood vessels that transferred the blood from the heart into all other parts of the body, the Ley Lines, were delicate and fragile, so they didn't exist in the physical world. Instead, Cain's {Mana Heart} existed in the physical realm, but could interact with the spiritual plane directly.

In no uncertain terms, it was a bridge through and through.

That was why the idea of creating another one seemed farfetched.

Two bridges to cross the same divide...

While it could probably increase his output, it seemed a bit redundant.

However, it was far easier that trying to tamper with the preexisting one. Not only that, it was probably safer.

'Nor just the output, but perhaps its functionality could be different.'

His current {Mana Heart} had two less meaningful functions. One was the absorption rate of mana, also known as mana regeneration. It was too low to even consider it at his level. Another was the ability to store certain spells for later activation.

While it was still possible to do the latter, it had become incredibly redundant to do so. As he was, anything that could kill him, would kill him, no questions asked. Sure, it might allow for the existence of an extra, hidden trump card. But his other trump cards were far more powerful than a single spell stored in his fake heart.

So this new {Mana Heart} could serve a series of different problems the first one couldn't address properly, plus a few extra.

Cain rubbed his chin, 'It's not a bad idea. If fact, it's a really good idea.'

But what about the side effects?

Cain shrugged...

He could think about that later. That wasn't important.

First, he would created the nexus of the skill.

One of the more obvious difference between skills and spells was the longevity of the circulation within the respective magic circle.

With the exception of a few, the longevity of spell-based magic circles wasn't great. That of skills were far more prolonged. However, the spells made up for this with increased output.

Since this was going to be a skill, Cain had to be careful of placing the output within reasonable limits. Otherwise, he ran the risk of killing himself unknowingly.

Generally, there existed a seemingly infinite combinations of runic characters and magic circles. Each one would possess different attributes and different uses in different circumstances they were made use of. It was a complicated science.

With such a large pool to close from, finding the appropriate combination was like diving into a lake just for a sip of water.

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Terribly overwhelming...

Still, this was just one step on the path of Sorcery.

With his mind as his tool, he began putting the Nexus together.

Different runic characters were drawn, then broken apart. Some stayed and others joined later before becoming magic circles that were either kept as was, or broken apart.

Cain frowned, 'This is going to take a while. Thank goodness for time dilation.'

***

Lucia stared at Cain.

'Did he fall asleep?' Seeing Cain unresponsive despite her obvious stare, she decided to make a bold move.

Moving in close to him, she poked his cheek with her index finger.

When Cain didn't react, she scratched her head,

"Is he dead?"

With a sigh, she got up. Leaving him there, she leaned forward slightly to peek out the open window.

With nothing to do, she was bored out of her mind.

It seemed better to just stare at the zombies. At least, they seemed more interesting than this boring guy. A whole beauty like her seated before him and he could only sleep!

How infuriating!

Clicking her tongue, Lucia focused on the rotting corpses.

At first, it seemed no different from watching Cain sleep.

But then, she began to notice something different.

The movement pattern of the Zombies had changed.

Her eyes widened in shock,

'They aren't leaving anymore?!'

This meant their plan was perhaps going to undergone terrible changes. Their success banked on not being discovered early.

If the {Zombies} didn't move on, they would either be smoked out, or worse...

Forced to remain here longer than expected.

'Damn it!'

Before she could say anything, the door opened up and Boulder, alongside Khan walked in.

Both had very unpleasant expressions on their faces.

Lucia could tell they had realized what she had.

Boulder was the first to speak,

"They are planning something." He said, his tone barely a whisper. They had to talk like this to prevent anything, or anyone from hearing their voices.

Lucia raised her brow as she spoke in the same hushed tone,

"What, the {Zombies}?"

Khan folded his arms,

"It would have been better for us if that was the case. But that's very unlikely. The {Miasma Devils} seem to be trying something different today. The question is what could it be?"

Boulder frowned, "Logic says the best course of action would be to wait patiently and see. My gut tells me staying here to witness whatever abominable activities might go on is a terrible idea."

Lucia gave him a side glance,

"You guys is never right."

Boulder shrugged, "First time for everything. So... What do we do?"

Lucia smiled brightly, "You are the Captain. You figure it out. Don't worry. If I die, I'll make sure to haunt your soul properly."

Boulder's face became dark,

"Don't say that. You'll jinx us with your bad luck."

Khan chuckled, "Even in situations like this, you both are still so eventful."

Boulder sighed. His attention was suddenly drawn to Cain.

He raised a brow suspiciously,

"This... What's he doing?"

Lucia shrugged, "Don't know. He suddenly fell asleep after I caught him being a staring pervert."

Khan gave her a look. She turned the other way.

Boulder, a bit curious, approached the seemingly unconscious Cain.

"I can sense dull mana fluctuations coming from him. It's... strange."

Lucia narrowed her eyes, "Could it be a spell? What is this bastard planning?"

Boulder shook his head, "No, not a spell. The fluctuations are too weak. What could it be?"

Khan frowned, "I think its best to give him his space, Boulder. We don't know what he's doing. Interfering with it might make him angry.

Boulder finally seemed to snap out of it.

"Well, whatever it is, we need to get him to wake up. I don't think we can keep staying here. We have to leave."

Just as he made to step away from Cain, his eyes snapped open.

Immediately, Boulder felt a deluge of boiling hot mana flood over him and try to infiltrate his body.

His face turned pale as he quit fought against the invading energy with his own. Much to his surprise, his mana could only keep this tenebrous, ethereal mana.

Cain's eyes has turned completely milky, with a bright sheen or blue radiating from it.

Lucia quickly rushed to Boulder,

"What the hell was that?!"

Boulder took a deep breath to steady himself, finally regaining control,

"I have no idea. But I can tell its quite dangerous."

Lucia gritted her teeth, "This motherfucker!"

Khan's face turned dark,

"This is bad. The Devils will definitely notice these flunctuations."

Boulder sighed, "This is definitely your bad luck at work, Lucia."

Lucia almost yelled, "What the hell did I do?!"

As they couldn't do anything about it but watch as the mana surrounding Cain continued to increase in volume. At first, it began as a light blue film of energy covering his body.

Then, it slowly turned into a darker blue flame surrounded his person.

Then its intensity continued to climb and climb until eventually...

Boulder suddenly yelled

"Quick! Behind me!"

The Mana on the surface of his body quickly exploded out like a bomb, destroying the room and most of the upper floor of the building.

It continued beyond haht, spreading to the ground, obliterating the droves of {Zombies} gathered around the base of the building and turning them into complete ash.

Before the power of this pure mana, nothing of corruption could stand. Even the very building beneath them was turned to dust.

However, shockingly, the humans remained unharmed...

A series of runic patterns appeared simultaneously across Cain's flesh, branded onto him by the tongues of blue, magic flame licking his body.

Boulder stared at Cain, his eyes wide,

"This guy... What the hell is he?!"

Lucia was even more surprised. She had an inkling previously, but now, she was sure of it.

Cain was different from them. The power they had, while inhumane, wasn't beyond all reason.

What they were nearing witness to, was beyond reason.

Then, they all felt a slight tug on their bodies. It was strange, unlike anything they had ever experienced.

A split second later, they all disappeared.

Cain, Boulder, Khan, Lucia, and the rest of the twenty Hunters scattered around the building, which was now turned to dust, vanished from reality like they hadn't been there in the first place.