God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

'Fucking Cardio!'

Cain could feel heat burning within his lungs as he ran with all his might. His Ki circulated like crazy within him, burning up, and replenishing at the same time, becoming thicker with each revolution.

However, Cain paid attention to none of these things. Right now, he had only one goal. And that was to escape from his very angry-looking pursuants.

***

Lythoran Wyrm: Level 30 (Normal).

Strength: 1000.

Agility: 1000.

Defense: 500.

Magic: 0.

HP: 10,000/10,000.

MP: 0.

Skills: Booster Run, Ki Enhanced Claws.

***

'They don't have a lick of mana, yet they are more deadly than anything I've ever faced. And they are just level 30 normal grade. This is hell...'

To Cain, the scariest part, was their level. Ordinary level 30 creatures should posses stats in the tens. For these level 30 creatures to have stats in the thousands was nothing short of abnormal.

'System, What the hell are these?!'

{Replying to Host: These creatures are called Lythoran Wyrms. They are a lower sub-dragon specie that once populated the Godless realm, but were driven to extinction}.

'Godless realm? What is that?' Cain immediately took note of this as he had never heard the system mention it before.

{Replying to Host: The Godless plane is another plane within the physical realm that is ranked higher than the host's home plane, The Earthly plane. It consists of higher tiered lifeforms and biomes of which the host cannot even imagine. The main difference between the Godless and Earthly planes is the quality of mana and other energy sources in these planes}.

{Normal grade Tier 1 creatures in the Godless plane can be compared to Legendary or even higher grade Tier 1 Earthly plane creatures. The host is from the Earthly plane. There are a total of five planes in the physical realm. The rest are of no concern to the host, so the system has deemed it will do him no good to have knowledge of them...}

Cain wanted to burst into flames of rage, but instead turned it into fuel that propelled him forward as he dashed toward salvation. There were ten of the creatures behind him, and if it wasn't obvious before, now that there was just about thirty meters of distance between them, there was no way he could argue it.

He was their target...

He also knew that if he was caught, he would die. He wasn't about to doubt that. He wasn't powerful enough to fight them yet, especially with the conditions of the world he currently was on.

Beads of sweat bounced off his face as he ran with all his might.

His thighs, calfs, feet...

Everywhere...

It hurt...

He was getting more and more exhausted with every step. He had been running for less than twenty minutes, yet it felt like he had run for hours on end.

The worst part? They were slowly getting closer. Although he was slowly adjusting to the gravity, and his stats were a bit higher than theirs, there wasn't that much difference. If he didn't posses {Gravity Defying}, he would have had things much harder...

Despite looking like devilish beasts with a touch of a draconic aura about them, they had the unmistakable light of intelligence in their eyes. Their builds despite being humanoid was more beastly than human.

They looked like the natural hunter...

Inverted joints, terrifying claws that emitted a chilly blue light, and a terrifying silence that shouldn't come from beastly creatures.

Their mere existence gave Cain chills down his spine. And not just normal chills... Chills that ran through his bone's marrow.

Gritting his teeth, Cain pushed forward...

He pushed and pushed and pushed untill he could push no more...

And not in the figurative sense...

He was now literally with his back against a wall...

As he ran forward, his face fell dramatically when he saw a huge wall of mountains looming in the distance.

"Fuck! I've been had!" Cain exclaimed in a panic.

He realized that he had been pushed toward this area like a lamb to the slaughter. Not like he had any other choice to begin with. The {Lythoran Wyrms} had herded him like cattle and now, it was time to swoop in for the kill.

He could try entering into the mountain range, but that was like entering the lion's den. He didn't know what was waiting for him in there. He would rather face the creatures out in the open. At least, that way he would have a better chance.

With a deep exhale, he steeled his eyes...

"Argh!" Ki exploded from him in bright flashes of crimson as he burst forward. He quickly put a 200m distance betweem himself and the approaching creatures.

He skidded to a halt with his knees packing up a cloud of dust. Light flashed around him as he summoned his weapons. He stabbed his blades into the hard ground. He summoned his quiver and {Sea Demon} bow.

With lightning speed, he attached the quiver to his back. He also pulled a metal attribute mana shard from his inventory and attached it to a socket in the quiver. In just a few seconds, he was ready for action.

'Now... How the hell do I use this thing?'

Thinking about it, Cain realized he had never used a bow before. He had only seen it being used, but had never had the grace to touch one. And now, he wanted to use it in a time of life and death.

He truly liked playing with fate...

'System, quickly run me a short 'how to use a bow' tutorial...' Cain said to the system in all seriousness.

{Replying to Host: "..." }

'Oi, oi... My life depends on it here!' Cain couldn't help but plead.

{Replying to Host: When you're ready to shoot, line yourself up so that, if you drew an imaginary line from yourself to your targets, the line would go across your feet. If you are right eye dominant, hold the bow with your left hand, point your left shoulder to the target, and handle the arrow and string with your right hand. If you are left eye dominant, do the reverse...}

{With your fingers on the drawstring, raise your bow and hold it out toward the target. Your inner elbow should be parallel to the ground and the bow should always remain vertical. When held properly, you should be able to look straight down the spine of the arrow...}

{Use your back muscles for strength and let your arm stay as relaxed as possible. Keep pulling until the bow feels tight, then use your chin, ear, or another body part as a reference point, that way you can draw the string back to the same spot each time...}

Cain followed the instructions of the system as the creatures drew closer, watching him with cold confident eyes, almost as through they were sure they would get to him and devour him whole.

With every instruction, he adjusted his body to fit accordingly. In a few seconds, he had an arrow fitted into the bowstring of his bow. He had his right eye closed and his fingers holding onto a metal arrow. With his strength, it wasn't a problem to pull the bowstring taut.

His posture was terrible, but his arm was steady and his gaze, penetrating...

THWANG!

The arrow split the air into two streams and buried intself into the body of one of the approaching creatures.

Blood sprayed through the air as a terrifying roar echoed through the desolation...

The entire herd of creatures stopped to stare at their comrade that was rolling on the ground with an arrow buried from tip to shaft in its thigh. The creature angrily got back to its feet and tried to drag the arrow out, but was unsuccessful. Letting out an angry yell, it continued its rush at Cain, only this time, it was much angrier, and sent a wave of bloodlust straight at him.

On the other hand, Cain had a look of euphoria on his face as he stared at the bow in his hands...

Compared to the blade, the feeling of using a bow was somehow magical. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It just felt... right...

He threw his arm backward and pulled another arrow from his quiver. He nocked it into place with shakily and drew back again using the same procedures the system had instructed him with.

In the blink of an eye, another arrow whizzed through the air. This time, the creature was expecting the arrow and was able to telegraph it's flight path based on Cain's actions.

The arrow was dodged easily by the beast, quickly giving Cain a good idea of the creature's intelligence. This served to excite him all the more. He didn't know why, but there was just something about taking an intelligent beast that was trying to kill you down with a bow that got his blood boiling with excitement...

With greater fluidity, he drew another arrow and fired. In the same breath, he drew another arrow and fired again. Then again, and again, and again...

In the blink of an eye, a wall of arrows was flying straight at the approaching {Lythoran Wyrm}. With a roar of panic, a burst of Ki Cain had never sensed before erupted from the creature. Its claws let out a cyan glow. With a swing of its arms, six beams of Ki flew at the wall of arrows, crushing them into bits.

'Ki skill?' Cain wondered what sort of energy source they relied on. Now, he knew...

Ki was a life force type energy, so creatures with abnormal vitality would have a larger portion of it. However, only special creatures could harness it naturally without a Ki Plundering Technique.

He wasn't discouraged by the decimation of his arrows. Instead, his excitement grew even further. With greater accuracy, he began targeting the creature's vitals, aiming at its head and torso instead.

The creature tried to dodged some and use it's enhanced claws to swat the out of the way as they approached, but Cain's firing frequency eventually won out.

Another arrow buried itself into its torso...

Another passed through its left cheek, causing blood to run down its face. Little by little, Cain bullied the poor creature with his consistent rain of arrows until it could bare it no longer.

With a loud roar, it cried toward its comrades for help help. Immediately, they answered the call by dashing at Cain with their bloodlust overflowing like thick river of blood.

In response, the already agitated Cain let out an excited howl...

"Come at me, you bastards!"

Drawing his {Sea Demon} boss into afull moon, he let loose a rain for arrows at the foes that sought to take his life.

The excitement he felt allowed him to ignore whatever had been going on in his mind previously...

Now, it was time to fight...