God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Evangeline nodded solemnly,

"Yeah. That's the same one I came through."

Cain furrowed his brows as his eyes squinted,

"Hmm... Looks like you are right. The rift doesn't stay stationary."

Evangeline nodded, "All the rifts move concentric to the point above that giant pillar of light."

Cain continued to stare at the rift, deep in his thoughts...

They were currently resting on a medium-sized floating landmass that had a few Aether Beasts on it. However, they were all being handled by the beastmen, led by Floki and Galip.

Although Susan had been against it, she had finally relented after Cain managed to convince her to let him purchase the Ki Plundering Techniques.

For one, he had a lot of system points. Much more than anyone else. The techniques were also very expensive, so he was the only one who could truly afford them.

He also saw these purchases as investments, so he wasn't too bothered.

He had purchased a total of three Ki Plundering Techniques. The Thousand-Miles Ki Plundering Technique, the Stainless Razor Ki Plundering Technique, and finally, the Garment of Chains Ki Plundering Technique.

The Thousand-Miles Ki Plundering Technique was a sensory type that greatly improved the senses with Ki. The Stainless Razor was a weapon-type technique that allowed the application of Ki to weapons to make them sharper, allowing their attacks to be more dangerous.

The Garment of Chains technique was a body type Ki Plundering technique that increased the defense, strength, speed, and stamina of those who cultivated it.

Because of their special constitutions, these beastmen could practice all three. However, most of them could only excel in one or two...

'Still, this is quite impressive.' Cain had thought to himself when he had first shared it amongst the beastmen.

All of them were extremely grateful and thanked him greatly. The Ki Plundering Techniques were imparted directly into their minds, giving them a rudimentary understanding of what Ki was, as well as how it could be plundered.

The realization that one could learn more than one Ki Plundering Technique made him curious, but he decided to shelve the idea of learning another one temporarily.

The effects were almost immediate. Because these Ki Plundering techniques were elementary, they weren't very hard to understand and implement. On their third day of travel, most of the beastmen had managed to learn at least one.

Cain and the others had then concluded that it was time to put them to work...

Because they were already blessed with incredible physiques, the addition of Ki to their repertoire made them shine as warriors.

Cain was beyond amazed...

'If I can get them better Ki Plundering techniques, they will definitely become a fearsome army eventually. However, I need to do something about their loyalty.'

Although he had managed to convince them that following behind him was the better option for now, Cain wanted to make sure they were aware that they now belonged to him, regardless of what he had told Galip and Floki.

This was because he was going to be investing in them. Should any one of them decide to take advantage of his goodwill...

'I'll simply take what I have given...' The eerie glow in his eyes became sharper.

Even though his system points had taken an extreme hit because of the purchases, he wasn't too concerned, as he wasn't in need of anything from the system.

He had even earned a rather unique weapon when he had killed the {Amethyst Silkworm}. Although he had the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame}, {Maelstrom}, and even the two {Hand of Midas}, that didn't mean

much, as this weapon was one he hadn't used before. It was also the only one of its kind in his current armory

***

{Wilted Tears}:

Description: This staff was crafted from the eyes of a Crying Mystic Butterfly and the wood of a wilted Wrought Evergreen by an unknown craftsman of incredible talents.

{Wilted Tears}: (Rare, Tier 1)

Magic: 200.

Spirit: 50.

Weight: 100kg.

Durability: 1000/1000.

Skills: Mystic Endorsement, Chantless Incantations.

{Mystic Endorsment}: Grants the host the ability to contact elemental spirits. Increases the magic attack power of Tier 1 and below spells by 100% and reduces mana cost by 45%.

{Chantless Incantations}: The host no longer requires chants to complete the activation processes of spells.

***

It was a formidable weapon that boosted his magic and spirit stats. Cain had also never heard the term elemental spirits before, so he had no idea what the full potential of the {Mystic Endorsment} skill was.

However, he was very happy with it. The only problem was that he was currently unable to use the weapon as it was locked until he could reach Tier 1.

Turning back to Evangeline who stood at his side, he asked,

"What do you think?"

Her brows were furrowed as though she was deep in thought,

"I don't know... It's easy to come down, but hard to go up. Malcolm and his followers had it easy because of their wings."

Right now, with them so close to the rift, they had encountered a problem...

The rift was very high up in the sky. How were they going to reach it?

Cain felt a headache building up as he tried to find a solution to this problem. Despite having reached this floating landmass days ago, they still couldn't figure out what to do.

Evangeline sighed, "At this punt, wouldn't it be better to leave them here so they could fend for themselves?"

Cain rolled his eyes at her, "If you have any better suggestions, I'm all ears."

With strands of white hair floating in the air, Evangeline looked like a beautiful painting on the canvas of reality as she stood on the slope of the hill they were currently on,

She was silent for a while, "I don't have abilities that could help."

Cain frowned, "Me neither."

Although {Wind Weaver} could give him the power of flight temporarily, it was more of a glide than a flight. If it was combined with {Burst Step}, he could achieve something similar to flight.

However, the mana it would require to raise so many people to such a height was something he didn't have at the moment.

'If only I could use that weapon...'

Although he could summon huge balls of flames that destroyed, that didn't mean he could lift so many people off the ground relying on only wind.

He also couldn't use {Spatial Jump} on so many people. If he used it on those he could, he would not be able to make a return trip back, as he would already be in the rift. It would simply consume too much time as well, so it wasn't realistic.

As they pondered on this, Cain's eyes spotted Susan, who was ascending the hill at a relatively speedy pace.

"They've come back from their latest hunt." She immediately got down to business as soon as she arrived.

"Were there any casualties?" Cain asked.

Shaking her head, she provided more details,

"Although they had a fairly hard time dealing with them, thanks to their superior numbers, the beastmen were able to hold out and eventually come out victorious," Susan explained.

Cain sighed, "The Ki Plundering techniques..."

"They wore like a charm. Their productivity continues to rise every day the more Ki they manage to accumulate." Susan said with a soft smile.

Cain couldn't help but appreciate her beauty. Although she was cold sometimes, there was no denying that the radiance of her smiles could bring warmth to his heart.

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Cain asked another question, this time with narrowed eyes,

"Galip and Floki?"

Susan's smile faded away, "I don't know if they are planning something. None of the beastmen are complaining about their leadership. However, it is obvious that they no longer trust them as much."

Cain nodded, "Good."

Susan fell silent for a while. She looked like she had something else to say. Cain stared at her with a perplexed look on his face. Evangeline also stared at her from the corner of her eyes.

"Do you want to say something?" Cain asked as he stood up, moving closer to her.

Taking one step back, she wore a smile on her face,

"It's nothing."

Then she pointed at the rift, "I have an idea on how to get everyone up there."

Cain's eyes widened, "Are you serious?"

Susan shrugged, "How could I be anything less than?"

Evangeline narrowed her eyes as she stared at Susan,

"You... found a way?"

Susan's eyes also narrowed dangerously,

"Is that so hard to believe?"

Evangeline shrugged and spoke in her raspy voice,

"Not really. But you don't seem like the type to have bright ideas all of a sudden.'

'If that wasn't a blatant personal attack, I don't know what is...' Cain could only shake his head.

It was very obvious that Susan and Evangeline were not very friendly with one another. However, they kept it civil... for the most part.

Susan's flushed red as she glared at Evangeline who stared at her with a small smirk pulling on her lips.

Seeing that the tension was about to create an explosion, Cain decided to step in promptly,

"Susan... I'd appreciate it if you could share your idea with me."

That seemed to have calmed her down, as she flashed a smug grin at Evangeline who rolled her eyes.

Turning back to Cain, she revealed the complex framework of her plans...

***

A/N: Special Mass release of chapters incoming!!!! Just like last month, special chapters will be released till the end of the month. If we can meet the goal by the end of the month, I plan to release an extra chapter every day for the first ten days.

Conditions: GIFTS!

Yes, people... Your gifts and active use of coins motivate me to write more and more of this book I'll seem to enjoy so much. So... Here's how we are gonna do it

Gifts worth 1000 coins: 3 extra chapters.

Gifts worth 2000 coins: 6 extra chapters.

Gifts worth 5000 coins: 15 extra chapters.

I really appreciate the continuous support. From the bottom of my heart. These gifts go a long way. Cheers!

P.S: Gifts higher than 5000 will also be factored in depending on if I have the time or not. For gifts below 1000, I'll try to sum up collective gifts to make it up. If it doesn't reach the mark, I'll still release an extra chapter by the end of the month.