God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The wind blew across the water's surface ever so gently, causing ripples to spread in all directions. The shoes were still grey and thick, allowing little to no light to filter through them.

Because of the lack of sunlight on the planet's surface, the daily temperature continued to drop every day. Cain stared at the water's surface as he walked along the Ice bridge, taking one step at a time.

There were many things on his mind, but his mind was occupied with mainly one thing...

Once they reached the other end of the ice bridge, which was the central region, what were they supposed to do?

Would they encounter humans who had managed to survive? Would they be hostile or friendly?

Would they encounter devils and begin a long hard battle once again, or would they encounter a swarm of mutant beasts?

These questions plagued his mind as he cooked up all the different scenarios that could take place and how he needed to.be prepared for every one of them.

The ice bridge was going to be very long. The distance between the separated parts of the school wasn't little at all. It was so great, that if they walked at the pace they were going in without rest, they would arrive at the other side in twelve hours. He speedboats from the other Island would be able to cover the distance in a little less than six hours.

The less powerful people in the group already had looks of fatigue once the first hour had gone by. This was mainly due to the temperature that had long since plummeted below freezing point.

Seeing that the others were struggling to keep up due to the cold, Susan raised the scepter in her hand and cast a spell that illuminated the entire group of 30. The warm light seeped into their bones and drove the biting cold away.

"Ha... This is much better." A man exclaimed. Although their resistance to water elemental magic was higher, it still wasn't enough to beat the cold away.

"Thank you so much, miss..." One of the younger girls said to Susan who sported a calm, yet dignified smile on her face.

A frown made its way onto Cain's face when he saw this...

"You should conserve your mana..."

Susan turned to Cain with a radiant smile, "Just this bit of mana isn't enough to make a difference in my mana reserves. Besides, them being in good condition will allow us to move faster." Susan said matter-of-factly.

"That's true... Just try not to overexert yourself." Cain said. He knew that the main healer and support character on the team was Susan. Having her in anything less than her best could make or mar the team when push came to shove.

If they happened to encounter a life-or-death experience, she would be able to make sure their odds were more inclined towards the life side.

"Ho? You seemed worried about me..." Susan had a sly smile hanging from her lips as she spoke.

Seeing that he was about to be misunderstood, Cain spoke quickly to clear the air,

"Of course, I would be. You are a valuable asset to the group."

A complicated expression made its way onto Susan's face. Without saying a word more, she simply walked at her pace with a face filled with different emotions that Cain couldn't decipher.

Cain also sported a frown as he couldn't help but wonder if he should have said something different.

'Sigh... I can't afford to be distracted by anything at this point. I'll think about it later. For now, I have to be ready to deal with any danger that might pop up.' Cain said to himself. However, his mind was in continuous turmoil as his eyes couldn't help but drift over to Susan from time to time.

Suddenly, he could feel a presence draw closer toward him. He was a little surprised to discover it was the tiny frame of Sue. As it would seem, she wasn't very cautious of him anymore.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

However, the first question that came from Sue nearly made Caun choke on his saliva.

"You this brat... What does that have to do with you?" Cain had an exasperated expression as he berated her.

"You two seem oddly close," Sue said with narrowed eyes as she drew closer.

"She was my class monitor before all this. While we aren't strangers, we aren't that close as well..." Cain said, briefly, yet efficiently putting the topic to rest.

"Is that so..." Sue had an odd smile on her face as she stared up at Cain with her big doe-like eyes.

"In that case, get me something to eat..." A sinister smile appeared on the beautiful mage's face, revealing her pearly white teeth.

Cain gulped down a mouthful of saliva when he saw that expression. He didn't know why, but he felt an ominous undertone within the smile.

'Food...' Cain suddenly remembered something that put a smile on his face.

"You want food, huh..."

"Yes. You seem to keep some on you." Sue said with sparkling eyes as she remembered Cain's generous offer to her back on the Island.

A chuckle escaped from Cain's mouth as he retrieved a giant fish from his inventory...

"Let's take a break, everyone..." Cain said with a smile.

"Oh! My boss!" Vincent had tears streaking across his cheeks as he approached the extra-large fish with saliva streaming down his mouth.

"Idiot!" Hunter slammed a first down on the fatty's head before looking at Cain with a complicated frown,

"Where did you get that?"

"Err... Fishing?" Cain said with a chuckle.

Hunter went silent for a while before letting out a weird chuckle himself.

"Yes... We should have some rest and get something to eat. There is a whole ocean of delectable delicacies beneath us! Hahaha!" Hunter let out a maniacal laugh that Cain didn't think he could ever produce. Usually calm, stoic, and cool, Hunter had never lost his composure, until now.

Now, his newly grown tail swished behind him violently, showing that he couldn't conceal his excitement.

Seeing that he had lost control for a moment, Hunter cleared his throat and closed his eyes to conceal the hunger within them...

"If you would all excuse me, I have something to do. If you would all be so gracious as to wait a few moments, I will be back shortly..."

Without even waiting for anyone to say anything, Hunter transformed into his half-wolf form and jumped into the freezing watery abyss without a single sign of fear on his face.

"I knew you all were insane, but this... This is just something else." Blaze had an odd look on his face as though he had swallowed a bug. Shaking his head, he stabbed his spear into the ice and sat down with a plop...

"I thought dogs were scared of water..." Sue said viciously, causing Cain to stare at her with a displeased look. Seeing the look Cain was giving her, she let out a nervous laugh before staring at the huge fish in his hand with a pitiful expression.

'This kid...' Cain let out an internal chuckle before flinging the large limp of meat at Blaze. Effortlessly, Blaze placed the creature at his feet, then directed an inquisitive stare at Cain.

"Let's eat..." Cain sported a grin as he too popped down onto the ice.

"F-food?!"

"Do we get to eat?!"

"Thank goodness! I was starving!"

The people following behind them all let out relieved sighs as they stared at the giant fist with predatory gazes.

Seeing this, Jenny cleared her throat before raising her voice,

"All of you should settle down! If you want to eat, you will have to be patient. Anyone that behaves unruly will not be fed." Jenny said with a tone that held no room for arguments.

Due to their respect for Jenny, as well as a slight fear they had for those they knew were more powerful than they were, they were quick to establish order amongst themselves even though they were very hungry.

Seeing Jenny's work, Cain nodded with a pleased expression before he pulled out the remaining six fishes from his inventory.

"Relax... There is more than enough to go around."

Looks of joy surfaced on their faces as they stared at the delicious meal with anticipation...

"Wait a minute..." Blaze said, a vein popping out of his forehead.

"Hmm?" Cain stared at him, urging him to continue.

"Ha... Nevermind." Blaze had an exasperated look on his face as he resigned himself to his fate. He picked three of the large fishes and with a butcher's skill, began to carve them open with a small dagger he pulled out of his inventory.

Meanwhile, Cain picked one of the fish up and began working on it. He created a small metal knife with {Metal Creation} and started by descaling the fish. Due to their evolved nature, the fishes had tough exteriors that although would weaken upon their death, were still impervious to almost all types of regular blades.

However, the blade Cain created wasn't regular. It was a magical construct created from the very principles behind the concept of metal, mainly cutting. The blade was a physical manifestation of metal's ability to cut through most solid materials.

In other words, not only was the blade very sturdy, but it was also sharp. Very very sharp...

Like a hot knife through butter, the edge of his knife danced like a butterfly, completely featuring the attention of the spectating Sue who looked rather bedazzled by Cain's knife skills.

In a matter of seconds, the entire fish had been broken up into its edible and inedible parts.

"Help me burn these up..." Cain said to Sue as he pointed a finger at the guts, bones, and scales of the creature.

"Okay, but why?" Sue asked as she shot a tuft of flames at the pile of rubbish, burning it into ashes, yet not melting the ice underneath, showing her incredible control over her mana.

"Throwing it into the ocean could attract other stronger sea mutants that we might not be ready to deal with," Cain explained.

"That's true..." Sue said, her eyes filled with intrigue as she stared at Cain. Oblivious to what was going on, Cain stared at the fish he had not cleaned up with a frown,

'Now then... How do I cook these things?'

The nature of a magical skill or spell was always important, as it couldn't just be changed casually in any way.

A skill that spread fire mana around in a large area to create a sea of fire could be used in many other ways, but due to the nature of the skill lacking penetrative force, it couldn't be used in that sort of manner. It couldn't be used to bore a clean hole through an opponent during a battle.

Cain's fire-oriented skill, {Flame Orbs}, was a skill that concentrated all the fire elemental mana into a hot ball that rotated quickly to keep all the heat stored within the ball so it could be released explosively all at once. It was a powerful skill that could be used to kill many an enemy.

However, because of the nature of the said skill, he would not be able to use it to start a fire or roast a fish for many reasons. One is that no matter how much he lowered his mana output, the only thing he would be able to do is bore a hole through whatever.

Under the flame elemental magic tree, this was the basic concept behind the three main types of fire-related skills and spells.

Ignition-type skills and spells...

Manipulation-type skills and spells...

Burn-type skills and spells, and;

Combustion-type skills and spells...

Cain's {Fire Orbs} skill was of the first two types...

Cain stared at Sue with an intense stare,

"Would you like to help me cook these up?"

Seeing and understanding Cain's situation, as the little devil she was, Sue immediately jumped at the opportunity.

With a small innocent smile, she said shameless words that made Cain nearly puke up blood,

"I'll help you only if we split the food 90% to 10%."

'You little...'