God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

{Due to differences in physiology, the host cannot form a mana shard. Choosing the most optimal option...}

{Most optimal option found...}

{Continuing mutation process...}

{Mutation Complete}.

{Congratulations... The host has obtained an internal [physique] passive skill, Mana Heart. Note: This skill may or may not cause physical and mental changes.}

{×2 to Magic}.

{+10 to Strength}

{+10 to Stamina}

{+10 to Agility}

{+5 to Defense}

{+5 to Vitality}

{+2% to all current resistances}

{+2,000 system points}

{Level up!}

***

BA-DUMP!

The pain had stopped but had been replaced with a weird sensation in his body, especially where his heart was located.

He could feel something within his chest, aside from his normal heart, beating like a heart...

Cain took in a deep breath as he tried to arrange his thoughts better. By now, the link between him and Teddy had been broken. God Ash was still pouring from the sky, so Teddy was off to a corner, doing its best to absorb it.

He touched his chest and could feel the strong, rhythmic heartbeats in sync within his chest. He looked down at his chest, but he could see nothing had changed on the outside...

'What the hell is going on?!'

{Replying to host: It would seem that due to some external factors that even I can't seem to explain, the mutation process was successful. Congratulations, host}...

Cain's sights fell to the tome by his side.

If not for Ashur and his help, he would be a goner by now. Not only did he owe him his life, but without his most recent meeting with him, he would still be in that negative and deluded state of mind. He would never be able to have attained a state of mind as the one he had now.

'What exactly does he want from me? What is his goal?'

Cain pondered about all these things while he brought up his status screen to go through his stats...

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 18.

Strength: 92.

Agility: 151.

Stamina: 2/76.

Vitality: 39.

Defense: 29.

Control: 3.7.

Perception: 2.7.

HP: 1,520/3,200.

MP: 300/2,100.

Magic: 130.

Resistance: Poison- 7%.

Skills: Golden blood, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, Blade Mastery Lvl. 2, Burst Step, Metal Creation Lvl.2, Golden Severance, Metal Manipulation, *Fear, *Bloodthirsty, Blood Ingestion Regeneration, Azure Burst, Mana Heart.

Titles: Champion of Ashur (locked).

Free attribute points: 21.

System points: 4,000.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

{Golden blood level.1}: Upon activation, multiply all physical stats by 2. Consumes 100 MP, and costs 1 point of stamina per second to maintain. Puts the body of the user under great strain. (1000/10000 SP).

This is an internal skill, hence, it can be upgraded.

{Mana Blade}: Coat the surface of your blade with destructive mana to deal an extra 200% damage when attacking. It Consumes 5MP per second to sustain. Note:This is an external active skill, and cannot be upgraded.

{Lightening Edge: Increase attack speed by 100%. Critical rate increases by 5% when the skill is used. Cost 100MP to activate.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

{Blade Mastery lvl. 2.} (passive): Increases attack power and speed with bladed weapons by 30%. Increases critical chance and rate by 5%. (3,000/9,000SP).

{Burst Step}: Expell mana from beneath the feet, creating propulsion that allows the host to change trajectory abruptly when in motion. Increases movement speed by 30%.

Costs 5MP per activation. No cooldown.}

{Metal Creation Lvl 2.}: Gather the Metal elemental attribute mana to create constructs of metal. The effects of the skill are influenced by the host's magic and control stats, as well as imagination. (0/10,000SP).

{Golden Severance}: Condense an immense amount of metal attribute elemental mana into a concentrated beam of world light, capable of splitting anything it comes in contact with only for a single attack, and increases attack power by 500%. The attack consumes 500MP upon usage.

Cooldown: 2.5 minutes.

{Metal Manipulation}: Grants the ability to freely control metal of weight that does not exceed 1 ton. Skill is leveled up simultaneously with the {Metal Creation} skill.

{Fear} (passive): Release a malevolent aura akin to a devil, inflicting fear onto your opponent. Decreases opponent movement and attack speed by 5%.

{Bloodthirsty} (passive): Consume the blood and flesh of fallen enemies to increase the power of the Devil's broken claw. For every 100 enemies slain and absorbed, attack speed and attack power increase by 1%.

{Blood Ingestion Regeneration} (passive): Grants the ability to safely ingest the blood of mutant beasts without any adverse effects. Consuming the blood and flesh of mutant beasts grants passive Stamina, Vitality, and Mana regeneration.

For every 0.1 liters of blood, or 100 grams of flesh consumed, 100HP, 50MP, and 1 stamina point are regenerated.

{Azure Burst}: Rapidly burn out internal mana in a single burst to produce enough heat and energy to burn the surrounding mana. These flames greatly increase the attack and movement speed of the host by 200%. Attack damage increases by 50%. Critical rate and damage increased by 10%.

Costs 500MP to activate, and the skill only lasts for 10 seconds.

Cooldown: 5 minutes.

{Mana Heart (passive): Mana pool increases by 2×. Mana is regenerated at 5MP per second. The Cooldown of all skills and spells are reduced by 50%. For every level, +1 extra point to Magic stat.

Grants host the ability to absorb and transform pure forms of mana}.

NOTE: This is a physique skill, and as such will have various physical effects on the host.

"Incredible!" Cain exclaimed.

'What a powerful skill...'

Cain decided to ask the system a few things to clear his doubts.

'System, I need a better explanation on what is going on, especially this God Ash.'

{Replying to host: Further information can be purchased at the-}

'Fine, fine! The system shop, I get it!' Cain said with a. roll of his eyes.

After paying the bill at the extravagant system shop, which was all the system points he had managed to gather so far, there was a short pause before the system replied to him.

{Replying to host: The reason why mutant beasts can mutate and evolve so quickly, is because they can absorb God Ash.}

Although it was common knowledge everywhere else in the universe, it was unknown to Cain that God Ash was one of the most precious and rare sources of pure mana. It was a material that could only be deposited after the death of a god, or a god-like being.

{Since the events of the thousand-millennium war, it has become very rare to see a being as powerful as a god meet its demise.

The only way to find deposits of God Ash is to trace cosmic tides that may or may not have traces of this rich source of mana within them These cosmic currents were bound by the universal laws that governed all, to carry these deposits of God Ash to worlds that had not been influenced by mana in any way}.

{The amount of God Ash that is used to help these worlds develop can be divided into waves depending on how many times it falls onto the surface of said world. The least amount of times God Ash can fall on a planet, is twice, while the maximum number of times ever recorded, is 32 times.}

{When God Ash falls onto a world, the inhabitants of the said world usually have their various means of absorbing it, converting it into their power.}

{For beasts, their main way of converting, is by directly absorbing the God Ash, as well as devouring other beasts, devils, and even humans. As for humans, their physiology makes it almost impossible to obtain mana naturally without a few aids, such as certain special skills.

{These skills can allow them to absorb power from trees, the ground, beasts, and even God Ash itself, but more in an indirect form. The main way humans absorb God Ash, is with the help of the system, making their progress many times slower than most of the other species dwelling within the universe}.

{Using special skills and treasures might increase the absorption rate, but it isn't as efficient as the possession of a mana shard or devil orb. What the host has here, is something much more than that...}

{Since the attempt at mutation was doomed to fail, as there is no way for a human to adapt to the physiology of beasts, the host was destined to die.

But with the aid of an unknown external power, whose origins are still a mystery even to me, the mutation was influenced by a huge margin, allowing the host to acquire something that has never been seen in the history of the universe...}

{The human equivalent of a mana generator}.

'Thanks for condemning me to my death!' Cain said annoyed by how he had almost met his death because of negligence...

{Replying to host: The pleasure is all mine}.

'Ummm...' At this point, Cain was deeply concerned about whether or not he was in good hands.

'Well, you mentioned mana generator, what is that?'

{Replying to host: A mana generator is anything that can convert a raw, unrefined source of mana and turn it into any form of useable energy. It can be biological, or otherwise...}

'Hmmm... Interesting.'

It suddenly came to his attention that he knew little to nothing about the things he needed to know. Things that should be essential knowledge, and could be found within the tome he was given, but he had been putting off learning about because of his pride and resolution to learn things the hard way.

'Well, not anymore. I need to start thinking smarter. This isn't the way to go about it. The more I know, the less I can put my life in danger.'

He had found the courage to admit that he was the source of all his problems. He had been letting his pride get in the way of everything he had been doing.

His pride was important, but letting it become a hindrance to his plans, affecting them negatively, was not the way to go about it. That was why he had almost lost the mind games against Hunter the previous day.

'I need some time to think and do a good reanalysis of all my plans. But now isn't the time, nor is here the place for that sort of thing...'

Staying in the forest, unprotected for so long, wasn't a very smart thing to do. If he encountered a monster that was as strong as the {Devil-eyed White Primate}, he was doomed. He still hadn't recovered from the fight earlier.

He didn't want to take any chances...

"Teddy!"

"Right?!"

By now, the God Ash rain had stopped completely. It had only happened for a moderately brief amount of time, so Cain didn't have time to absorb any, but Teddy had gained a lot from it, as he looked even more powerful than before.

Its wounds had healed up, and the runic symbols on its body glowed with a deeper light.

"Let's go!"

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