God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

He just had a feeling that many things weren't impossible for the Demon. From shifting through worlds to changing the color of the skies. Cain had seen it all at the hands of the Demon.

'Even though he's powerful, there are still things he can't do...' Cain remember what the Demon had told him concerning getting involved with affairs he wasn't supposed to associate with.

'I can't rely on him...'

The first thing he did was call for a meeting. A few minutes later, everyone had assembled. Hunter was the first to speak up,

"Is this about the Mutant Beast hordes?"

Cain shot him a look, "No? Why did you ask?"

Hunter sighed, "The Mutant Beasts have been getting more erratic. So far, we've lost close to fifty men."

Cain was shocked, "That many?!"

Manny nodded, "Even the ones on the shores are getting insane. Yesterday, I was nearly eaten to death. Luckily David is always two steps ahead!"

Cain frowned, 'Is this what he was talking about?'

Cain turned to look at the rest. Everyone was staring at him, silently. Even if nobody said it, they all held some sort of expectation towards him. It was no secret that he was currently the strongest in the group. Although he wouldn't be able to beat them if half of them came at him all at once, that would be the only case where they could win. That just showed how far he had come.

Still, it wasn't enough...

The words of Azazel echoed in his head.

"From now on, I'll follow you guys on the Hunts. Steve, I want you to speed up the construction process. Get as many buildings as you can functional as soon as possible."

Leah frowned, "You want to go out on hunts? What about the weapon forging?"

Cain shrugged, "We currently aren't in need of special equipment. These ten over here can manage smaller requests just fine." Cain said as he nudged his head towards the Mutant Beastmen that helped him forge weapons and other equipment.

Haru beat his chest boastfully, "Don't worry, Boss! We've got this!".

It seemed that the other Beastmen bore the same sentiments as they all grinned proudly as well.

Cain nodded. Vincent on the other hand didn't seem convinced,

"Boss Cain... It seems like you are planning something. Care to share with the class?"

Cain stared at him placidly, "There's nothing much to talk about. However, it won't be a stretch to say that we are running low on time."

Cain turned to Roselle who stood unassumingly in a corner,

"I'll also join you guys. There are a few things I want to get."

Roselle rose a brow up, "There is a particular Beast you are after?"

Cain grinned, but didn't say much, "Yes. But now's not the time. Instead, there's something else I'm after."

The conversation continued for a few more minutes before Cain finally addressed what he had been holding on to.

"Tomorrow, I plan to use this thing to advance to the First Tier." Cain said as he pulled the the mystical totem from his inventory.

This was the item that would allow him and nineteen other individuals access to the next realm of power.

Everyone in the room had already been aware of it. However, Cain had told them he planned to use it at a much later date.

Ignis who had been standing beside him with an impassive expression on her face turned to stare at him with a complicated look on her face,

"Are you sure? Don't you think you need to make more preparations?"

Cain shook his head, "From what I heard, during the advancement, access to the system and inventory is temporarily restricted when trying to advance to the next Tier. There will be a limit to how much we can prepare."

Ignis sighed. Her face hardened, "The advancement to Tier 1 is no joke. Don't treat it like it is some special quest. It is life or dead. Sometimes both..."

Cain was surprised. Then he finally remembered that Ignis was a Tier 1 being as well. Although she was not as strong as she used to, that's to a number of things she had chose to keep private, that didn't change a thing.

Once she was done speaking, she let out another sigh

"Still... You advancing to Tier 1 could mean good things for me as well."

"Really?" Cain asked carefully.

"Don't worry about that. What you should be worried about, is your friends. Are you sure they are all up to the challenge?" She said as she stared around the room.

Yes... Everyone here was quite strong in their own right. However, they had never experienced the Tier 1 advancement before. As such, they couldn't say if they were strong enough. However, Ignis herself wasn't that strong. If she could do it, why couldn't they?

Cain was confident in the strength of his teammates,

"They will all be helpful."

Ignis didn't attempt to dissuade him again,

"In that case, I'll give you as much info as possible."

Cain smiled, "Sure."

Ignis cleared her throat, addressing everyone in the room,

"The advancement process is quite stranger I can't really give you a lot of details, as they are different for everyone. However, there are two important thing you should know."

"The first is that although the limit to the number of people you can bring us twenty, that doesn't mean that the difficulty stays the same. The more people are brought along, the harder the challenges."

Cain's eyes narrowed, 'Challenges, huh... That means there might be more than one.'

Everyone was focused on the things she said so they would not miss anything. They had all been at Tier 0 for some time now. Why wouldn't they be eager to see what taking the next step felt like.

"The second and more important of the two, is Survival."

Survival? What did she mean?

Ignis clarified, "Once you enter the trial, you might be exposed to brutality your eyes and mind cannot fathom. Terrible weather conditions, indescribable hunger and thirst, ravenous killing hordes and beasts... The vat to choose from is immeasurably deep."

"Once it begins, survival should be the only thing on your mind. However, that shouldn't be too hard to do. The trial only lasts a day, so I don't anyone will die at the very least."

Steve who had been listening quietly all this time shot his hand up. Ignis seemed annoyed,

"What do you want?"

"A quick question... How strong do we become after becoming Tier 1?"

The rest were also curious about this. If they would become only as strong as Ignis, then there really was not a huge gap between the two Tiers.

Ignis seemed to sense what they were thinking. She snorted,

"If this was me in my primez I wouldn't even need a single attack. Just a breath from me would have been enough to wipe you all out. However, right now, there are some things holding me back. That's all I will say on the matter."

"So, what's next? Are we just going to get ready for the Trial?"

Cain shook his head, "We have to accumulate as many resources that will help us outside of what the system is willing to provide."

If they couldn't rely on the system for the Trial, all they could do was rely on themselves.

Cain's eyes were strong as he spoke, "Hunt as many Mutant Beasts to gather extra stat points, sharpen your blades, eat your fill. We aren't just going to get ready. We are going to gather resources. Resources that will allow us pass this Trial."

Twenty Tier 1 beings...

That was such a scary amount. Although they won't be as powerful as Stingè or the {Amethyst Silkworm}, they would have the ability to achieve something very close to that.

Frankly, he was excited, albeit a bit nervous. He was going to take Azazel's advice to heart. The first thing he wanted to do was leave this place with enough security so they wouldn't have to worry even though their strongest fighters were leaving, even if it was going to be only for twenty four hours.

Cain sighed, "Alright. Go get ready. We meet tomorrow."

***

Cain stood in the center of a magic circle, hif face beet red. His skin was the color of a freshly cooked lobster, and his blood vessels swam across his muscles like angry snakes.

He was currently enduring an insane amount bof pressure pressing down on his body. Not only that, but he was also swinging the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame}, a weapon that could I creaee its weight at will. This made it even more tasking...

'Five... Only five.'

Current, under the effects of five times the gravity under tentimes his body weight, he could only swing the blade five times. It seemed almost pitiful. However, if it was a normal person in his shoes, they would have already died from internal bleeding a long time ago.

His organs and joints were coated with hardy films and strings of Ki that reinforced them, allowing them to endure under the strain.

'Can't take it anymore.!'

Cain collapsed to the ground. His face turned pale as the moment he lost his strength, he was forced to the ground with full force. If he landed, he could very well split his skull open.

Still, his control stat was fantastic. He managed to deactivate the Magic Square just in time.

The pressure on his body died away slowly. Cain sighed. The training was pure brutality. However, he had seen insane results.

Cain took a single glance at his Ki to see that it had increased greatly over the few days since he started using the Magic Square.

'This is good...'

That wasn't the only place that had seen improvements. His Defense and stamina stats, as well as his agility and strength had all been shooting up rapidly. There was no doubt about it. This method of training was very effective!

'Is it enough?'

Was this going to be enough to advance to the next stage?

He would get to know in a few hours...