God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Strength: 82. (30.3).

Agility: 91. (20.2).

Stamina: 20/56.

Vitality: 34.

Defense: 24. (-5.05).

Control: 3.7. (0.202).

Perception: 2.7.

HP: 2,000/3,200.

MP: 40/2,100.

Magic: 49.

Resistance: Poison- 5%.

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.

Titles: Champion of Ashur (locked).

Free attribute points: 20.

System points: 2,000.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

The Golden suit of armor around him fell to the ground piece by piece. As the pieces fell towards the ground, they broke down into golden dust, and we were carried away by the wind.

The golden light on the blade in his hand also dimmed out, until it was gone completely, leaving the once-bright world, slightly less illuminated.

As the power of the blade increased, Cain could also feel its weight increase minutely. It wasn't an apparent increase, but if it got too much, he wouldn't even be able to lift the blade.

Cain bent his knees to separate the mana shard of the {Crimson Demon Bear} the size of his palm from the bloody bones and fur.

{Blood Elemental Mana Shard}: 50% purity. Contains concentrated blood elemental mana.

"Good job, Cain," David said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah! That was breaking awesome, dude!" The fatty yelled with stars sparkling in his eyes,

The others looked at Cain like he was a monster. He killed the monster they were struggling to beat with only a single slash of his weapon.

"What the hell was that? Was that a skill? Tell me how you got it!" Manny got closer and closer to Cain, disregarding his personal space completely.

'Space...'

Cain pushed the overexcited Manny and Vincent away as he examined his new stats and skills.

'With {Blood Ingestion Regeneration}, I'll be able to consume the blood without suffering the side effects.'

Just remembering the pain he had put himself through that day, Cain once again swore not to put any random thing into his mouth without taking proper measures first.

'On the other hand, I wonder how strong I truly am. We haven't even gotten to see the current state of the main campus. I have no idea what is going on in the world! I need to get stronger.

Only by acquiring enough strength, will I be able to handle anything or anyone that crosses my path!'

Turning to the others, the vicious expression on his face instantly mellowed down to a near-harmless smile.

"Using this skill is very tasking for me. I need to recover."

Cain opened his inventory and retrieved a few mana regeneration potions. They came in small transparent tubes. A glowing blue liquid with a fresh minty taste. Cain downed a few bottles at once.

He could feel the heat building up and then diffusing to other parts of his body, with a majority of the heat flowing to his head. The burning sensation enveloped his mind, leading him to heave a sigh of relief, as the drawback of using too much of his mana at once became apparent.

Suddenly, a feeling of immense danger washed over him, the danger of the likes he had never felt before. His pupils dilated to the size of a pin, and his brows shot up.

'What was that?!'

Cain straightened his posture abruptly, leading to the others raise a brow at his weird behavior.

He looked around, monitoring his surroundings with the eyes of a hawk. With over 2 points in his perception stat, he had more than two times the observational power of the average human before the series of catastrophic incidents that had befallen them.

He saw nothing...

He couldn't notice anything at all. Only that encompassing feeling of danger remained present. His instincts were going off like alarm bells, warning him of the dangers that lurked in the shadows.

"Cain? What's the matter!" Susan said, worry flashing in her eyes.

"I suggest we head back." Cain suddenly said in a low, serious voice.

"Why should we?" Hunter, who had been silent for a while spoke up.

"I'll forget the little stunt you tried to pull earlier, but we don't have time for crap right now!" Cain said in a calm voice.

The danger was lurking behind the trees, and he knew it.

If there was one thing that irked Cain, that would be the unknown. If he didn't know what he was about to confront, that layer of uncertainty always left a bad taste in his mouth...

"Well, we all agreed to reach the main campus grounds before nightfall today. If we go back, I highly doubt that will be possible." Hunter said in his constant monotone voice.

Turning to the others, he continued;

"I think we should keep going. We are losing sunlight if we just keep standing here doing nothing."

"Coming from a coward who refused to fight when everyone else put their lives on the line." Vincent let out a snarky reply.

"No one's life was in danger. I observed the fight very closely. Although the mutant beast's skin was very tough, we would have eventually worn it out. Even after it activated its {Bloodlust} and {Blood Berserk} skills, there would have been little to no problems at all."

"What the hell are you saying?! You said it yourself! We could barely damage it when it hadn't activated its skills, so how do you expect us to kill it when it powered up!" Susan said in a burst of rage.

She was angry at the fact that Hunter didn't even lift a finger to kill the mutant, but he dared to say they were no problems.

"Well, because I always have a backup plan."

Upon saying this, the wolf-like creature Hunter had summoned let out a howl towards the gray sky. Its body glowed bright orange, as the stench of sulfur in the air became many times thicker...

"Flame Demon Hound: Possession!"

His voice blended into the wind as he uttered the magic words...

The wolf turned into a stream of burning orange light that enveloped his body.

HOWL!!!

A howl prompted all the trees in the area to shake from the resonance. The burning light shattered to reveal a fully transformed Hunter.

His blond hair had grown centimeters longer and now resembled a blazing fire. His ears had been replaced with a pair of fluffy wolf ears. His eyes looked like red hot coals, and his hands and feet were now the limbs of a wolf.

A sharp metallic glint hidden under cuffs of fur was revealed in the faint light caused by the flames that now enveloped his body. He had also grown a fluffy tail...

He had also added an entire foot of height, making him look even more powerful and malevolent. His skill was a transformation skill just like Cain's {Golden Blood} transformation skill.

The aura he was releasing was not a bit lower than Cain's when he activated {Golden Blood}...

"This is why I said there will be no problems. With me here, we would have had nothing to worry about even if the {Crimson Demon Bear} used all its skills."

"So, let me ask again... Why do you want us to go back?"

Even though he was still speaking in his normal voice, Cain could sense the underlying tone hidden within the statement.

The heated wind blew across Cain's face as he examined Hunter's transformation...

'So that's why, huh?'

A lot of things still unclear to Cain had some light shed on them...

The two of them stared each other in the eye, neither of them backing down.

BOOM!

Cain activated his {Golden Blood} skill...

Aura against aura...

Power against power...

Their auras clashed violently against each other like the tides against the hull of a ship.

"Eh? What is this for?" The fatty said as he and everyone else stared perplexed at them.

Simultaneously, the two young men deactivated their skills.

"Night is coming."

Unbeknownst to them, dusk had begun to set, and the last rays of sunlight were disappearing from the world. They all looked around them and realized that they had spent all afternoon in the forest.

"I'm certain this forest is going to be many times more dangerous than it is now. Our visibility is going to be affected, and most of the animals that made this forest their home before all this were all nocturnal."

"We continue forward, and our chances of dying increase. Besides, we didn't have a solid plan before we left. It would be wise to go back and make proper preparations. We haven't gone too far, so I'm sure we will make it before nightfall."

"Alright. I have no problems with that. Let's head back then."

Just like that, the awkward confrontation ended as abruptly as it began.

"Come on, Dan. Let's get going."

"Sure..."

Hunter and Dan went ahead, leaving the others a bit perplexed.

"What's that guy's deal, anyway?" Manny asked while scratching his head in confusion.

"He's just a douche. Don't listen to him. Let's get going as well." Susan said with an eye roll.

"He's a rival," Cain muttered under his breath.

"Hm? What was that?" Susan turned to Cain who had muttered something whilst starting at the departing Hunter.

"Nothing..."

He looked up at the rapidly darkening sky, the grey clouds reflecting in his eyes for the thousandth time that day.

His eyes darted to his surroundings, taking in all that had happened just now.

'I have a long way to go, don't i?'

No reply...

"Let's go."