God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

There was silence for a while before the brood mother replied to the prostrating devil.

"To think I would find such a thing in this world. A creature that emits such a pure and ancient aura!"

"

To think I would find such a thing in this world. A creature that emits such a pure and ancient aura!"

The voice of the broodmother was incredibly clear and sonorous, just like that of a young maiden. If anyone was to hear this, they would never believe that this melodious voice belonged to this grotesque terror, that was an enemy to all lifeforms on the planet.

The broodmother was a massive creature. Although its height wasn't towering, it was extremely girthy and plump, just like a very well-fed worm. It had the appearance of a bizarre insect.

Its shiny black exterior was protected with a scary carapace, and numerous outgrowths were protruding from its fleshy parts.

It didn't have a face, but there was a set of antennae that stretched across its length, as well as a mouth that although shut, most likely would look like the entrance to hell itself once they were opened.

There were numerous holes around its underside and belly. These holes were connected to the ground through thick translucent tentacles. These tentacles formed a huge net that covered the barren forest floor.

Some of the translucent tentacles had red blood-like fluid flowing through them, while others had yellow fluid flowing through them.

Within this fluid, if one looked closely enough, Ione would come to realize that the yellow fluid was not just a fluid, but a fluid that contained thousands upon thousands of tiny eggs.

At its posterior, was an even bigger protrusion that looked like a gigantic stinger. This protrusion was also connected to the forest floor, but this time, in a different way. This part of the creature was responsible for the barrenness of the surrounding area.

The broodmother had cleared this large expanse and had created its give using the biomatter from the consumed trees.

It was clear that this devil was an enemy to all life...

"Yes, mother. It turns out that the creature you noticed, is a human. It is also the creature that destroyed one of your units earlier today..."

Although the Phantasma was still bowing its head, there was no denying the absolute malice in its voice.

"Is that so? It should be impossible for a human to bear such a clean aura. Are you certain it is human?"

"Yes, mother... I am certain it is."

Yes, mother... I am certain it is."

"If you are so certain, why didn't you bring it back with you?"

If you are so certain, why didn't you bring it back with you?"

The Phantasma was silent for a while, before it addressed the broodmother, this time sinking even lower toward the ground.

"I tried to take control of its mind, but I was unable to do so. Although it is of a low level, and it hasn't even reached the first rank, Its soul is just too powerful for me to do anything.

I was completely taken unawares, and suffered massive damages." At this point, the Phantasma was shaking from equal parts rage and fear.

"Hmmm... Noted. How powerful do you think it is?"

Hmmm... Noted. How powerful do you think it is?"

"For his rank and level, i would say it is incredibly powerful. It was capable of destroying one of the feeding units so easily. Not to mention its incredibly abnormal soul and aura." The Phantasma said honestly.

After all, it couldn't be dishonest before the broodmother, who was the source of its life.

For his rank and level, i would say it is incredibly powerful. It was capable of destroying one of the feeding units so easily. Not to mention its incredibly abnormal soul and aura." The Phantasma said honestly. After all, it couldn't be dishonest before the broodmother, who was the source of its life.

"How serious are your wounds?"

How serious are your wounds?"

"Not too serious, mother... I should be able to recover in less than a day."

Not too serious, mother... I should be able to recover in less than a day."

"i have not recovered back to my full strength, so I cannot engage in battle. Take as many soldiers as you need. Make sure to bring him back... Dead or alive, whole or in pieces, just make sure it is done.

I will not accept failure. If you disappoint me, you will be eaten."

i have not recovered back to my full strength, so I cannot engage in battle. Take as many soldiers as you need. Make sure to bring him back... Dead or alive, whole or in pieces, just make sure it is done.

I will not accept failure. If you disappoint me, you will be eaten."

The Phantasma shivered a little. Whether or not this reaction was due to the excitement of being able to kill Cain, or the penalty of possible failure was unknown to all but the phantasma itself...

"It shall be done..."

In a split second, the Phantasma zoomed off toward the brooding nest. Within the brooding nest were special pods that rapidly increased the regenerative capabilities of the devils. The Phantasma quickly got into one of the regeneration pods.

As soon as it lay down within it, it was covered by a thin film of translucent material. Quickly, the pod was filled up with red blood-like fluid. The liquid seeped into the body of the phantasma, healing all the below-the-surface injuries it had suffered.

The pods within the honeycomb-like sectors were mainly used for breeding new devils and healing wounded devils.

'I will kill it!' Waves of anger and simmering rage rolled within the eyes of the soul devil as it thought back to how much damage it had sustained when it attacked Cain.

'I'll rip off every fiber of muscle from its pearly white bones, and separate its organs from each other while it is alive! I'll drink all its blood, then offer its broken carcass to mother!'

To the devils, humans and most of the other species were thought of as less than others. That is, to the devils, all the humans, as well as the mutant creatures things that existed to serve only one purpose...

Being food...

***

Soon after Cain calmed the fires of rage burning within him down, he proceeded to open his status screen. There, he noticed the new skill, or in more accurate terms, a technique he had just learned.

'A technique specifically for absorbing Ki...'

Cain glossed over its information and realized that while the gains were a lot, the requirements were just as strict.

To obtain the skill, he first had to have 200+ points in his Magic, Agility, and Strength stats, and to increase the tier of the skill, he had to use it a lot...

The gains were just as good.

He would be able to gather 20 Ki points per hour if he used the technique, which was insane considering how much Ki he had before this incident.

'This just goes to show that to achieve power, you have to figure out how to attain It first.' Cain clenched his fists in excitement. He could feel the raw power coursing through his veins.

'To gain power, one must first acquire it...'. Cain glanced through his inventory and realized that there were numerous ways for him to gain power right now. These ways all represented numerous paths he could take.

On one hand, he still had many mana shards. He had used some of them, but the rest would probably sit in his inventory for some time if he couldn't figure out how to use them. Hence, the thought formed within his mind;

'What if I used them to create more skills?'

Nothing was stopping him from creating more skills if he wanted. So long as he could do so, he was free to have as many external skills as he wanted.

'There's also the option of increasing the amount of Ki I have.'

Cain realized that even though he now had a reasonable way of gaining Ki fast, there was a way he could gain it even faster. And that was through exercises. Just the act of lifting his 400kg swords was tasking enough to earn him 3 Ki points in under 10 minutes.

Although it might look little, it was still going to be gain. Plus, the requirements of the skill only stated that to use the skill, he just had to be out of battle.

What this meant, was that he could use the skill whilst exercising simultaneously. And luckily for him, there just happened to be a lot of weights present in this gymnasium that were suitable for exercise.

However, if he used them at a time like this, the others would begin to look at him funny.

Hence, he quickly thought up a more brilliant and ingenious idea...

"Metal Manipulation!"

Golden lights spread from his body as a few rotating magic circles appeared before his outstretched arm.

Numerous metal weight plates in the gym, equivalent to a few tons of weight flew across the air toward him. Controlling a few tons of metal wasn't a problem at all, as his level 2 {Metal Manipulation} skill enabled him to control a maximum of 10 tons of weight in metal.

Because of the duration of the {Metal Creation} skill, most of the spells he ended up creating only lasted a few minutes. However, with these weights, he would be able to use them for {Metal Manipulation}, and not have to worry about this particular limitation.

Once the weights came together, he began initiating his plan. The magic circles cast their rich golden hue onto the metal weights, breaking the bonds between their atoms, and causing them to be malleable before the power of Cain's magic.

With how many points he had in magic and control, manipulating the shape of the weights was done pretty easily.

After close to an hour of fiddling and mana manipulation, the baddest-looking piece of armor Cain had ever seen was created. Not that he had seen that many in the first place...

{Congratulations to the host... You have created a piece of armor with your skills. Although it is incredibly crude and lacks any sort of finesse, you have taken the first step... You have acquired the title, brilliant mind}.

{+20 to Magic stat}.

{Brilliant Mind}: The power of your imagination has become even stronger, increasing the durability of your soul. +30 to Spirit and Magic stats.

{Congratulations to the host... You have acquired the internal active skill, Craftsman}.

{Craftsman (lvl 1) locked}: There are no limitations to the imagination, and with magic, there are even fewer. Create with mana as your hammer and your imagination as your anvil, while imbibing your creations with the power of magic. (0/10,000SP)

Requirements: 200 points in Magic.

What Cain had done was quite simple. Because of the control, he had over his magic, he was able to create such a piece of work while paying attention to a lot of detail. In the end, a three-piece suit of armor that could only be used away from the battlefield was created. The reason why...

"It's too freaking heavy!"

{Please, give your new creation a name...}

'A name?'

{Replying to host: Affirmative... A name is required by the tools you created}.

'Hmmm...'

Cain looked at the metal construct for a while, trying to pick a suitable name for it. It was a four-piece metal suit.

Once the part was a chest piece, the other was a pair of gauntlets for his arms, the third was for the shoulders, and the last one consisted of a hybrid combination of boots and knee guards for his legs.

He created them as such because he needed to create space at his joints for ease of movement, which a one-piece suit wouldn't be able to provide.

Cain failed to find any defining trait in the armor, so he just went for the most obvious idea.

'Heavy Armor... Let's call it Heavy Armor...

{Replying to host: Response is being processed...}

{Response Affirmed...}

A magical light shone on the black surface of the armor as soon as the process was completed.

{You have created equipment, Heavy Armor...}

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