God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Dan slid through on the ground with a layer of Ice rolling before him. He was in deep thought with his eyebrows scrunched up and his face filled with worry.

After the battle with the {Flame Devil}, Forza has gained a skill. He hadn't expected it at all, as he hadn't participated in the fight much. The skill was called {Ice Craft} and it gave him more freedom to control his ice constructs. He could put varying amounts of mana into the skill and would be able to create things ranging from tiny sharp needles to whole glaciers of Ice if he wanted.

It all just depended on his mana control and the amount of mana he had.

In the blink of an eye, he had arrived at the cliff end where Hunter, David, and Blaze were looking over.

Blaze had a serene expression on his face as he held onto the shaft of his spear while facing the ocean. The grey clouds had stolen all color from the surface of the vast body of water, but that didn't take away its grandness at all. Tiny sparks revolved around him as he sat in a meditative posture.

David on the other hand hadn't healed up fully, so he rested on a tree stump with threads of blood mana surrounding his wounds, gradually healing them. None of them, including Cain, had healed up fully from their wounds. That was why making the HP and MP potions was vital.

Hunter also sat with the remnants of the Flame Devil's in his hands. His body was covered in red hot runes that radiated intense power but immediately died down when Dan approached.

However, because Dan was moving pretty fast, he was able to catch a small portion of the heat before Hunter stopped what he was doing. He quickly activated one of his skills to stop the terrifying heat from reaching him.

"Why are you here again?" Hunter said without turning around.

"Tch! Where else do I have to go on this place?" Dan sat on a small stool of ice that sprung out of the ground and turned to face Hunter.

"Somewhere that is not here?" Hunter said as he exhaled a breath of hot air and opened his eyes.

Ignoring Hunter's seemingly harsh words, Dan activated his new skill, {Ice Craft} and spoke,

"During the last fight, I got a new skill..."

First, a frozen Icebird that gently flapped its wings, then a mini armored tank that fired a few shells of ice, then even a snowball that suddenly had spikes stab out of it...

Hunter stared at the skill with a look of disinterest before glancing back at Dan,

"It is powerful, but its usefulness still depends on how you utilize it. It is already obvious you aren't that suited for defensive roles. However, it is no doubt that your hand-to-hand combat skills are exceptional."

Dan stared at the ice in his hands before allowing it to melt away.

"That doesn't change the fact that my power level is weak. If I don't have a large amount of mana or mana control, or insane skills like you and that crazy Cain, how do you expect me to make an impact when fighting against these devils?"

It was obvious that these words had dwelt in Dan's mind for a time now. The look of frustration on his face went bone-deep.

"Mana pool isn't what makes one powerful, while mana control can be trained. You lack mana because you have been slacking." There was a dangerous glint in Hunter's eyes as he spoke.

"Mana control isn't some passive trait. Regardless of how high your magic stat is, if you don't train, you'll be useless..." Even though Hunter's words were harsh, Dan didn't seem to even be the slightest bit offended.

Dan had a contemplative look on his face while Hunter just stared at him.

Hunter stared at his hands which had now changed to be more beastly than human. Long sharp claws that were powerful enough to cut through steel.

A slight smirk appeared from the corner of Hunter's mouth as he stood up all of a sudden. The changes were noticed by Blaze and even the supposedly resting David, but they made no movements.

"Fortunately for you, you have acquired the perfect skill for training your mana control..." There was a scary look in Hunter's eyes as he glared down at Dan like a predator.

The unsuspecting Dan gripped a dagger of ice he had created, his eyes glazed over as he was lost in deep thought.

"The only affinity I have is with the Ice element. I don't have any other skills, and even though I have a few martial techniques, those are nearly useless against the devils without an appropriate amount of power backing them up.

"Even if I train my mana control, what will it be useful for, huh?!" Dan has a pained expression on his face as he calls in self-hatred. He had never felt so powerless before, and their last battle solidified these thoughts that consumed his mind.

He had once been a powerful assassin who could kill men within the blink of an eye, and now, all he could do was hide behind a barrier of ice or get knocked out during battle.

"For starters, it can help you survive against me!" Hunter let out a growl as he swiped his claws with blinding speed at Dan.

Completely caught off guard, Dan was only able to form a little bit of his Ice armor around his body before Hunter's sharp metallic slammed against his body. There was nary a reaction from Blaze and David as they simply lay where they were.

Dan was launched back a few steps, yet he was surprised to see that despite the blow being obviously lethal, it didn't contain as much power as he expected

Dan stared at Hunter with wide eyes,

"What are you doing?"

"If you want to even have a chance at taking another breath, you will have to survive the hunt. Since you aren't as powerful as I am, I'll reduce my power and level to yours." Hunter's eyes gleamed as he spoke down to Dan in a condescending tone.

Before Dan could say another word, Hunter began his attack. This time, he didn't even need to chant anything as multiple summoning circles appeared all around him.

The wolves he summoned this time were much larger and more powerful than the ones he used to summon. The smell of sulfur was incredibly pungent as the nightmarish creatures burst out of the ground and rushed at Dan with bloodlust in their eyes.

Since they were just summons, Dan was able to keep up a bit, but he was gradually getting overpowered by the rabid animals. Dan was now covered with his ice armor, using his ice-covered fists and feet to battle with the wolves, yet because of how big he was, the wolves were able to dodge the attacks easily.

"The first and most important problem you have is this stupid ice armor. Not only does it make you clumsy, but it also removes one of your greatest strengths... your martial arts prowess." Saying this, Hunter moved as fast as Phantom, getting into Dan's attack range in the blink of an eye.

"Screw you, Hunter!" Dan smashed a mighty fist down at Hunter in a bout of rage. Hunter's eyes were as cold as an ice-filled lake as he shifted his center of gravity and tilted his body to the side. He grabbed onto Dan's outstretched hands and with a magical shift on his feet he moved close to Dan who now had eyes that were filled with terror.

Hunter raised his elbow and back, applying a bit of force, then lifting Dan from the ground in one fell swoop, He slammed him down into the ground headfirst.

BANG!

The force of the fall was so great, Dan's ice armor was smashed into pieces. He coughed out a mouthful of blood as he rolled to dodge Hunter's foot which came crashing down on his head.

Rolling away as fast as possible, he expected to be met with a brief moment of respite but was shocked when all that greeted him were the fangs of the terrifying flame wolves Hunter had summoned.

"Arghhhh!" The sharp fangs of a wolf broke his skin and sunk into the flesh of his arm. In a fit of rage, Dan activated his {Ice Craft} skill and poured a decent chunk of mana into a sharp ice dagger, which he buried straight into the skull of the wolf, killing it in a split second.

Another wolf lunged at him, but creating another dagger, he ducked over the attack and stabbed upwards. The momentum of the beast made it so that the beast met the ground in two halves, blood and guts spraying everywhere.

Two shurikens of ice appeared from the air beside Dan and were launched at the remaining wolves, inducing all sorts of injuries on them. Dan moved like a ghost as he utilized his body that had been freed from the ice armor to induce murder upon the summoned wolves.

A wolf bared its fangs at his legs, but a sharp spike shot out from the ground and pierced through its head and brains instantly.

A storm of ice and blood quickly and quietly ensued as Dan was lost in mindless slaughter while Hunter quietly observed from afar.

"Do you have to do it like this?" Blaze who sat leaning against his spear spoke without opening his eyes.

"It is necessary... He will continue being weak if I don't do something about it."

"Trying to kill him might develop some bad blood..." Blaze wanted to say but was cut off by Hunter before he could finish,

"We have a bond as thick as blood and have gone through things one can only dream of in nightmares together. We have also fought with and against each other many times in the past, yet we have stuck together through it all. Me attempting to kill him just this once is not enough for bad blood to form." Hunter said without taking his eyes away from Dan.

Hunter's words caused Blaze's eyelids to twitch, "You really are trying to kill him?"

Hunter remained silent...

'Crazy...' Since he didn't want to get involved, he chose to sit back and observe.

A minute later, all the summoned wolves had been killed, leaving behind only blood and gut-stained ground...

The corpses of the summoned creatures disappeared right after death, so the space around Dan was empty. He was covered in blood and all sorts of injuries, and his eyes were filled with a dark expression.

"You did well, but the fight isn't over yet..." The predatory look in Hunter's eyes had yet to fade away as flames began circling his body.

"If you think your ice is strong enough to compete against my flames, then I dare you to come over and face me."

A direct provocation, plain and simple...

Hunter had decided to completely and utterly smash Dan to pieces, then rebuild him so they could face the cruel world together once again.

Dan was silent for a moment before shifting all his weight to his left foot. The Ice sabatons appeared on his feet once again as he dashed at sonic speed towards Hunter who had his hands folded behind his back.

His daggers were held in a reverse grip and his eyes emitted a cold light that cut through the space in front of him. Although Dan wasn't very substantial when it came down to magic power or even physical strength and speed, he was still slightly on par with the other normals in the group. People like Hunter and Cain were clarified as abnormal...

He moved like a ghost as he dashed at Hunter moving from side to side, trying to enter Hunter's blind spots keeping his body parallel to the ground.

At this moment, they weren't allies...

They were opponents...