God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Eventually, the feeling gradually subsided until it eventually disappeared. Cain was absolutely dumbfounded as to what could have caused his heart to palpitate at such speeds. He had even broken into a cold sweat. He felt as though something that most definitely should not appear on this planet had suddenly come to life.

Knock!

Cain heard a knock on the door to the room. Quickly gathering his thoughts, he called out to the person behind the door.

"Come in!"

He turned only his head around to observe who came in. Entering into the room was Evangeline who he had not seen for some time now. She looked as stunning as ever, but something seemed to have changed in her. The shadow she cast upon the wall looked like a monster grinning back at Cain. He could smell a dangerous air that seemed to drift off of her in the form of a slight scent.

It would seem that his senses had increased by a large margin after his last fight. He could tell that she had gotten stronger. The only thing he noticed about her that hadn't changed yet was her pure white hair, and the look in her eyes. It was the same look she had when he had first met her. There was also something else he could not identify in her eyes.

Something foreign to him, something he couldn't quite place his finger on...

"Amanda said I would find you here. She was right... "

Evangeline said as she slowly walked towards Cain. Cain stood with his back towards her, still facing the sea. Although he had left his back totally open towards her, he didn't look bothered or worried that she would try to stab him in the back.

Looking at Susan who was still sleeping on the bed, she passed by the sleeping girl and arrived at the balcony. Cain noticed her behind him but didn't turn back yet. She got even closer as she put her arms around him and rested her forehead on his back. He felt the warmth in her embrace and was surprised at how good it felt.

Slowly, he turned around to look into her eyes and realized she was also looking at him with eyes that screamed out loud with certain emotions he didn't even know existed. Taken aback, Cain tried to break free from her embrace but saw shocked when she just leaned in and placed her lips on his.

At first, it was just a spark, which quickly grew into a crackling flame. He could feel her trying to transfer all of her warmth as she deepened the kiss, which he gladly accepted. He didn't want to be too passive, so he returned the kiss with even more enthusiasm. He pulled her deeper into his embrace as they continued the sacred act of exchanging bodily fluids.

Cain didn't know what he felt towards this girl he barely knew anything about. All he knew was that this feeling of getting intimate with her was like a drug that allowed the fire in his heart to burn even brighter. He still had problems understanding complex human emotions, and just did things that pleased him while avoiding those that didn't.

In all things he did, he always used his head and didn't let his emotions overrule his logical thought process, but when he felt like this, his logic started to fail him. It was a pleasant yet awful experience. Unknown to Cain, these were just his teenage hormones acting up...

After a while they separated from each other, the thin strand of saliva connecting their lips breaking.

"I'm glad you're safe," Evangeline said as she buried her head into his chest. She had fought against a very powerful enemy and had almost lost her life in the process. She started feeling sentimental after she had defeated her enemy and quickly lost all reign over her emotions.

Cain had never treated her differently from the others and had shown only little romantic interest in her. She didn't know the reason behind her inexplicable attraction towards him. It was a weird feeling deep within her soul that she just couldn't explain.

"Me too," Cain said as he kept her in his embrace for a while longer. Cain in no way disliked her. He was just someone who wasn't very in tune with natural human emotions.

Some things that were normal to most humans would usually just go right over his head, and he would rather keep it that way, as he had realized at some point in his life that emotions would make you weak and more vulnerable, which would greatly Increase the number of weaknesses you could expose to the enemies. But it seemed like he was going to keep this weakness of his.

What was bad with having a few weaknesses getting exploited from time to time?

"Wait... That's not it. What the hell are you doing here?!" All good things must come to an end, and for Cain, this means his reasoning was finally working fine again.

"I came to see you of course. What? Am I not welcome?" Evangeline asked with a raised eyebrow.

Cain moved a step backward saying, "That's not the point. You know what I mean!" This was not the first time they had kissed, but Cain still wasn't used to it.

"So you didn't like it?" Evangeline said as she moved forward, pressing her breasts onto his chest.

"Of course not, but we barely know each other, and I don't think it's fine getting all intimate without getting familiar with one another first," Cain said seriously. He wouldn't let his emotions rule over his logic and morals. He didn't feel comfortable with it even if she did. It was a matter of principle.

Evangeline moved back, clearly shocked by Cain's reaction.

"Don't guys usually like girls who are more forward with these things?" Evangeline had a look of confusion on her face as she looked at Cain with a look of disbelief.

Cain began to think this girl had a few loose screws up there. Everything about her was so random, and he couldn't see through her at all.

"What are you guys doing?!" Susan who had just woken up stared at the two who were standing too close for comfort with eyes filled with suspicion.

Cain froze up when he heard this. Evangeline who was still lost in her thoughts completely ignored Susan.

"Nothing!" Somehow, Cain felt a little guilty. However, all the guilt he felt instantly disappeared and was replaced by fear when he looked behind Evangeline. Susan's figure was hidden in the dark shadows of the room.

The only things that were visible in the darkness were her eyes which were glowing with anger and the light that was coming from her drawn bow that was now pointed at Cain and Evangeline.

"Fuck!" Grabbing Evangeline by the shoulders, he dived out of the way as an arrow of light quickly whizzed past them into the distance. Cain was scared out of his mind.

"Hmph!" Letting out a snort of discontent, Susan put her bow back into her inventory and left the room in anger while cursing at Cain viciously.

"What the hell with you girls! You are all freaking crazy." He quickly got off Evangeline who was beneath him after he had dodged Susan's attack aimed at him and Evangeline.

"Oh yeah... Amanda also told me to tell you that everyone is gathering in the main hall for a meeting. She said it's important for you to be there. Evangeline got up from the floor, saying this as she dusted her clothes.

"Fine. I'll be there in a minute. Give me a sec."

Kicking Evangeline out of the room, he took his clothes off and changed into some clean clothes. Sighing, he sat on his bed and opened his status screen as he remembered he had something important to do that he had delayed for long enough.

***

You have received a rune: (Mark of Hermes)...

You have fulfilled the conditions to activate the agility array. You can choose one of the following arrays to activate;

{Brand of Sleipnir}: Increase movement acceleration by 50%. Takes less time to reach maximum speed.

{Mark of increased Dexterity}: Increases the five senses as well as flexibility and fluidity of movement by 50%.

Sandals of Talaria}: Increases movement speed by 50%.

***

He had to choose the type of array he wanted to form. The type of array that would be formed was based on his choice. He observed the specs of the arrays, trying to make his decision. He decided to consult the system.

'System, what is the best option to choose as my first array.'

{Replying to the host, this piece of information can only be bought from the store.}

'Of course... ' Rolling his eyes, Cain opened the shop and in fact saw more information on all the arrays he had available to him. He accessed all of them and eventually narrowed his choices to the {Brand of Sleipnir} and {Mark of Increased Dexterity}.

The {Brand of Sleipnir} would increase the potential of his agility stat while the {Mark of Increased Dexterity} was more useful in the long run. He eventually settled on the {Mark of Increased Dexterity} as it was the smarter and more logical decision to take.

Upon choosing it, he received a prompt from the system, indicating the pain that was coming. Gritting his teeth, Cain prepared himself as the sharp pain of getting his flesh engraved by high magical currents hit him hard.

'Sigh... I don't think I'll ever get used to this... '