God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain watched the old man sit in one place absorbing the mana from the mana shards with a thoughtful expression.

'Changes...'

The world had begun to change heavily during the past few weeks, so much so that Cain couldn't even recognize the old world anymore. Mutant creatures, devils, superhuman abilities, potions, magic...

All were the things of fairytales in the old world, but now, they were so real and surreal that they had become a norm every day.

Cain opened his status window and began going through his stats and information. After the battle with the {Flame Devil}, he gained even more power. His speed of growth was so fast, he was shocked...

***

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 45.

Strength: 1,000.

Agility: 1,072.

Stamina: 499/783.

Vitality: 721.

Defense: 762.

Control: 74.6.

Perception: 76.8.

HP: 10,050/22,700.

MP: 17,000/29,800.

Magic: 1,226.

Ki: 31,274.

Spirit: 884.

Resistance: Poison- 80%. Fire- 30%

Skills: Golden Body, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, Burst Step, Metal Creation Lvl.2, Golden Severance, Metal Manipulation, Blood Regeneration, Azure Burst, Mana Heart, Seal, Hollow Judgement, Devil's eyes: Eye of Clairvoyance, Elemental Body, Abyssal Dragon Blade Mastery Tier 1, Abyssal Crimson Slash, Spirit Sense, Gravity Defying, *Charge, *Pure Energy Strike, *Evil Devouring.

Spells: Art of Fire: First form, Flame Orbs, Air Whip, Dark Cloak, Blue Lightning, Blink, Golden Halo.

Titles: Champion of Ashur (locked), Sorcerer's Mind, Blessed by Mana, Pioneer, Devil Hunter.

Free attribute points: 43.

System points 170,709.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

***

'Almost double...' Cain was shocked to find out that almost all his stats had nearly doubled. His magic, agility, and strength had broken the thousand-point mark, meaning that he was stronger than the combined strength of 100 humans that existed before the apocalypse. His Ki had also increased a lot thanks to the passive characteristics of the {Dragon's Gate Ki Plundering Technique}.

Cain clenched his fists, feeling the power laying dormant in his veins and bones. Because his control stat grew proportionally with his other stats he was able to exert maximum control over his power as well.

Cain let his eyes scroll down to his skills. There, he noticed that his arsenal had grown by a bit since he last checked. However, his eyes focused on only one skill.

'Metal Creation...'

His metal creation skill had been stuck on the second level for a long time, so he figured it was high time he leveled it up. Luckily for him, he had more than enough mana shards available.

Opening up the system store, he quickly began purchasing grade 8 and 7 mana shards.

'That should be enough...' Cain stopped only when he had purchased thirty grade 8 metal attribute mana shards and ten grade 7 ones.

While watching Old Man Ling who was also absorbing mana shards with a mana shard in each hand, Cain began absorbing the power held within each mana-saturated gem.

The dense mana flowed from the mana shards into his body...

Ignoring the system prompts that chimed in the corner of his mind, Cain continued absorbing without rest. As soon as the ones in his hands turned to dust, Cain grabbed two more and continued from where he stopped.

A few minutes later, all the mana shards had turned to dust, but Cain still had a displeased look on his face.

'Guess it couldn't be so simple...'

Leveling an elemental skill up had certain factors involved, and having a given amount of elemental mana was just one factor. To level a skill up, understanding the concepts behind the working mechanisms of the skill was just as important.

By understanding these concepts, using the skill becomes easier with less waste and more creativity. Cain stared at the empty grey horizon before him before closing his eyes.

'Metal, gold... The true nature of my metal creation is gold. Metal manipulation is a subskill that grants me control over all other forms of metal. With Metal Creation, I am only able to create gold, but only temporarily...'

Cain's mind drifted to the past as he recalled having seen something related to the nature of gold in a certain book he had read in the past...

"Gold is malleable as it can be hammered paper thin and it will not shatter. The precious metal can be easily molded to fit upon or create, almost any Statue or work of art. To that measure, Gold is a Symbol of indestructible, eternal, and adaptability. The color of Gold does not fade due to the effects of time or the elements of Nature.

A Gold coin, or a Golden object, which has been excavated after a thousand years, will come out of the ground in the same untainted condition today as when it was first buried either centuries or millennia, ago. Because Gold will not tarnish, corrode, or fade in color. The metal is not only a Symbol of Immortality. It is a Symbol of any incorruptible Quest, Ambition, or Purpose.

Gold is also a Symbol of ultimate Wisdom and ultimate Truth."

Cain's heart sped up by a beat as his mind drifted even further into his thoughts. His understanding of this precious metal was slowly becoming less vague.

'Gold can be used to do anything. From creating an impenetrable bulwark to forging the sharpest of blades and spears. Perhaps it is one of the most incredible metals in the entire universe.'

Activating {Metal Creation}, Cain produced a lump of metal that radiated a bright lustrous golden sheen. Activating {Metal Manipulation} immediately after, he turned the lump of metal into a shield, then a sword, then into a bunch of thin sharp wires...

He continued changing the form of the metal lump for a while before finally stopping. Suddenly activating {Eye of Clairvoyance}, Cain began observing the changes caused by every activation of the skill.

When a skill or spell is activated, it produces a corresponding change in both the physical and spiritual planes. Normally, observing the spiritual plane should be impossible, but with the power of his devil eyes, he was able to do this with relative ease.

He was shocked to realize that every time he activated and used {Metal Creation}, there would be a subtle, almost unnoticeable change in the mana flow and fluctuations between both planes.

He was able to see the magic circle that was responsible for the activation of his {Metal Creation} skill. This magic circle was so complex, his head spun just by looking at it. If couldn't even be compared to the {Fireball} magic circle, it would be an unfair comparison.

He was able to manipulate the {Fireball} magic circle with his limited knowledge, yet he felt a deep feeling of powerlessness before the {Metal Creation} magic circle.

It had a total of 8 core runes with 32 different external circles that each had their level of complexity. The outermost circle was responsible for these fluctuations. He noticed that it was similar to the limiting factor in the {Fireball} he had tried getting rid of.

Cain stared at it for a while before he was hit by a moment of understanding. He deactivated {Eye of Clairvoyance}

All this time, he had been confusing the nature of the {Metal Creation} skill with a basic spell like the {Fireball} spell. Metal Creation was such a mystical skill because it involved him manipulating the very concepts of Metal itself through understanding them.

A strange golden glow came over Cain's hands as he activated {Metal Creation} and {Metal Manipulation}. Different from before, he had come to accept that he couldn't take the easy way out. His limitations, despite being only temporary, were there for a reason.

'The power of gold, the element of the divine... Unbending, indestructible, yet capable of cutting through all.' Cain's eyes took on the same golden glow as his hands as he entered a profound state of enlightenment.

He reached out into space...

"Metal Creation..."

A small metal blade was produced from the air the tiny invincible specks of metal mana. This metallic blade had a lot more detail and looked incompatible and more solid than his earlier constructs.

***

{Congratulations to the host... Your internal skill, {Metal Creation}, has been successfully leveled up...}

{+30 to Magic stat...}

{+10 to Control stat...}

{Metal Creation Lvl 3.}: Gather the Metal elemental attribute mana to create constructs of metal. The effects of the skill are influenced by the host's magic and control stats, as well as imagination. Constructs last 300% longer and possess stronger properties as well as significantly more details. The host is also granted greater control over the metal element. (0/100,000SP)

***

Cain let out a breath of air...

With a wave of his hand, many more golden blades were created. They circled Cain's body like dangerously sharp guardian angels. His eyes flashed with golden light as he stretched his hand toward the distance.

BOOM!

The blades of gold tore through the air like missiles. A total of seven blades, they raced above the water's surface, causing seven huge waves to be created.

"Metal Manipulation Technique: Seven Golden Stars..."

The blades performed all sorts of acrobatics in the air, and even below the surface of the water. Once he was satisfied, Cain ordered them back to his side, each with a gigantic mutated fish skewered.

Cain let out a breath of hot air as he gazed at the seven blades hovering above him. They circled around him fiercely for a while, letting off a deep golden hue before settling onto the ground.

'Understanding one's limitations is also a strength...'

By understanding that there was no way to change the nature of his skill, Cain decided to accept his limitations and work with them instead. Instead, he would work at them and turn them into strengths.

Turning his attention to the huge fishes skewered onto the metal blades, Cain felt a headache coming up...

"Why are they so damn big?!"

The average size of a normal-grade mutant beast was about half of Ruby's total length. However, each fish Cain had so easily chopped down were also normal-grade, yet they were all roughly the same size as Ruby with some even a little bit larger.

They also possessed a few terrifying mutations...

Cain noticed that one of the fishes had been a goldfish before its mutation. Now, its body was completely covered with sharp golden scales. It radiated faint metal mana as well even in death, making Cain aware that the creature was on the verge of evolution at the time of its death.

The other sea mutants were also incredibly powerful with enormous fleshy bodies that could be compared with higher-grade land mutant creatures.

Cain had an idea as to why this was so, but he didn't want to make any conclusions yet...

"Seems like I underestimated these Sea mutants too much..." Cain had a complicated smile on his face as he reached out to stroke the stomach of the nearly evolved of goldfish he had caught.

"Hmm?"