God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"Where did he go?" Susan said to Jenny who had an awkward look on her face.

"Ask the Old man..." She said, staring at the direction Cain ran in.

Susan threw a glare at Old Man Ling who was busy curling up on the ground staring into empty space. Feeling the heat from Susan's terrifying glare, the old man glanced up.

"Where did he go? What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be doing something?" Susan asked again, her glare becoming even more terrifying.

"Well... Dan is in danger..." The old man began narrating.

"So Cain went to rescue him? Is that what you are saying?" Steve said with a contemplative look.

"Yes..." The old man said. His eyes shifted from person to person, clearly showing how nervous he was.

"Let's go..." Susan said. Grabbing the old man by the collar, she threw him at Steve who had the look of confusion on his face turn into one of dread.

"W-wait! Hold up a sec!"

"He might be strong, but going alone without backup is stupid. Just what the hell is he thinking?!" Susan said in a calm voice that hid a volcanic undertone.

'Damn... She's pissed.' Steve thought to himself. Without any more hesitation, he held on tightly to his passenger who looked like he was having the worst day of his life.

"I'm coming with." Jenny said.

"Just don't get in the way." Susan said coldly. With a wave of her hand, a magic circle covered the group. She placed a hand over her left eye, then pointed the other forward.

Brilliant radiance washed over the four individuals. In a split second, they had completely dissapeared from where they stood, leaving onlookers in awe.

***

Cain stood over the mangled body of Francis...

Turning back to Dan who lay on the ground motionless, Cain thought to himself,

'Since when did I care about the life and death of others?' Cain shook his head.

'The main problem is I currently have no way of healing him. Potions are useless if he can't drink them. I have to get him to a proper healer quickly.'

"Hey, you... Don't think I don't know you are still breathing. That beating wasn't enough to kill you." Cain said to Francis, who also lay on the ground in a pool of blood. The formerly still body suddenly shook violently, causing Cain to nod his head in satisfaction.

"Should I just cut your legs off? That might not be such a bad idea after all..." Cain said with a hand on his chin." He didn't want Francis going anywhere as he wasn't done with him yet.

"W-what do you want from me?!" Francis said in a weak voice filled with rage and fear. His face was turned toward the ice bridge, so Cain couldn't see his expression. However, he couldn't care less...

"Don't move from this place. If you do, I will find you and take your legs from you. I let you off easy today, but next time I won't be so nice. You've hurt my comrade badly, so this is the least I can do for you." Cain said, his tone becoming more and more menacing with every word.

Francis was silent as he took his time to digest Cain's words. From their clash, he could tell that he was no match for Cain. He figured that the only person that would be a match for Cain would be The Boss, his leader.

Despite his rage, he was forced to think calmly...

Do I really want to lose my legs as well?

He had no doubt Cain was capable of doing so. After all, he had just lost his arm with the same ease it took to peel a banana.

Seeing that his defeated opponent remained silent, Cain took that as confirmation.

"In that case, I will be back shortly..."

Although he couldn't use {Blood Regeneration} to heal Dan, he was able to maintain his condition with it by using blood elemental mana shards.

'While this might put a sting in my pocket, I can't have him dying after I've already put all this effort in.'

Lifting Dan from the ground, Cain was prepared to make the return journey when his instincts were triggered. Taking a few steps backward, Cain was shocked to see a pillar of light travelling from the distance. It took only a few seconds for the pillar of light to arrive before him, breaking apart in the next second to reveal four figures.

Surprise was etched on Cain's face, "Hmm? What are you all doing here?"

Being followed was the last thing he expected, so he was completely caught off guard.

"Hehe... Good to see you too." Steve said with a nervous laugh.

"Move aside!" Before Cain could respond, Steve was pushed aside roughly by Susan, while Cain hurried out of her path as he could tell she wasn't in the best of moods. She walked to Dan who lay on the ground and began treating him without saying much else.

"Oi, oi... What's up with her? Did you do something again?" Cain, still very confused, whipered to Steve who had moved a bit closer.

"Again?! When did I ever do 'something'?!" Steve whispered angrily.

"Then what is it?" Cain whispered.

"Hmph! You are the cause of all this." Steve said, poking his index finger at Cain.

"Me? What did I do?!" Cain had

"You left alone. As the strongest member of our group, you leaving alone means condemning the rest of us to potential death." Steve said matter-of-factly.

"That can't be it, right?" Cain asked with a frown.

"From what I can tell, that's what this is all about. But she is right. You can't just up and leave at any time. The times we are in are dangerous ones, and should anything happen to you or any other person because nobody was there to offer help, then we wouldn't know how to deal with it." Steve said, his tone turning solemn.

Cain fell into deep thought upon hearing Steve's words.

'Did I act too rashly? If I didn't act as fast as I did, Dan would be dead by now...' Although he knew he had made the right decision, Cain was torn on whether he went about it correctly.

"Don't think about it too much. For now, all we need to do is get him all fixed up. We can save the rest for later..." Steve said with a smile.

"You are right. In that case, let's just wait."

Without saying much more, Cain plopped down to the Ice bridge and watched Susan work on Dan.

She had her hands stretched out, her dainty fingers moving ever so slightly as though she was paluing a delicate stringed instrument. Streams of light elemental mana poured out from her outstretched hands and onto Dan's body. Cain could see his wounds visible starting to close up.

Staring at her a bit longer, Cain couldn't help but be drawn in. Shaking his head to remove these thoughts, he cleared his mind.

Opening his status screen, he glanced through it more than a few times.

'While I have a lot of skills, unfortunately, most of them are geared towards pure attack, while very few are defensive.' Cain thought to himself as his eyes scrolled further and further.

'The only way I can think of right now to improve my strength is by gaining more stats and leveling up.'

A thought suddenly ran through his head...

"I'll be back..." Cain announced abruptly.

"Eh? Where are you going this time?!" Jenny who had been quiet since their arrival suddenly said.

"Don't worry. I won't be gone for too long." Cain could tell she was worried for him, but he couldn't afford to be held down for too long.

"I'll go with you then." Jenny said with a frown. Moving closer to Cain, she leaned in closely, completely catching Cain off guard.

"If you end up dying, you won't be able to keep your end of the promise after all."

Cain could feel the heat radiating from her body. With how close she was, there was no doubt that his body would begin to react. Just as he was about to lose himself to this feeling, he remembered something that sent a chill running down his spine. His face quickly turned pale as he took a few steps from her.

"Ehem... Well, you can't go with me even if I wanted you to." Cain said with an awkward cough.

"And why is that?" Jenny said, pursing her lips and staring at Cain with a questioning gaze.

Without saying much, Cain simply pointed a finger downward. Although she was confused for a while, it didn't take her long to understand.

Jenny raised a brow, but eventually just shook her head and responded with a sigh, "I see... In that case, just be careful."

Cain paused for a while, staring at Jenny for a few seconds. He could sense something had changed within him, but he didn't know what it was. He could feel a warm, yet comfortable sensation flowing within his body.

Without wasting any more time, he turned around, and jumped into the water.

"What do you think he wants to do?" Steve said, looking at the patch of water.

"I don't know..." Jenny said, her eyes showing great amounts of worry.

"If he doesn't come back safely, I'll kill him." Susan, he hands still outstretched and her eyes still closed said through gritted teeth.