God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Gathering everyone who was ready to fight was a small endeavor. Those who couldn't or wouldn't were given support roles far away from any danger. Cain had no intention to force anyone to do anything as that wasn't his style.

To him, building an army that would weather the coming storms with him should involve personal willpower and strength. If they didn't have the guts to jump headfirst into danger without any pushing, then they would just become liabilities down the line.

Of course, that was not to say he planned on having them risk their lives unnecessarily.

Currently, he stared at the rows of people dressed head to toe in leather or plate armor. Depending on their battle styles, strengths, and weaknesses, they all had armor and weapons of their preferences.

As such, the only bit of uniformity was seperatijg them according to their 'classes'. Those with heavy plate armor stood at the forefront. The 'Guardian' class. These ones held tower shields and some sort of stabbing or slashing weapon like a shortsword or small battle axe.

Standing behind the Guardians were those wearing lighter plate armor and leather armor. The 'Warrior' class. They wielded all sorts of melee weapons, from spears, to clubs, to swords and daggers.

Then came the 'Archers', 'Marksmen', and 'Mages'...

The last class, the 'Mages', were just a very small group consisting of those that had followed them from the Northern Island, Old Man Ling, and the hot secretary woman with the curvy body, Maya.

Ever since they had come to the Central Island, they had been going on continuous excursions, killing Mutant Beasts to increase their ability. Thanks to the blessings granted to them by Levron, most of them had awakened abilities that made them resistant to water elemental magic at first.

Eventually, they had also gained the ability to use weak magical abilities. Still, they were a great addition to the team, and their potential was decent. If they survived, they could acquire new magic spells to use.

As for Old Man Ling and Maya, they were incredibly favored by Levron. Maya's attack blessing and Old Man Ling's utility blessing made them quite powerful even though they didn't have the powerful assistance of the system.

Cain was currently worried about how to get them to the Western Island. Using an ice bridge was a notable choice, but it was I credibly dangerous. Previously, it had been manageable because the amount of people moving across it was roughly around fifty. Not, they were in the thousands.

He wasn't even sure the bridge would hold...

Another option was to rely on either himself or Evangeline to transport them all. The main problem with this was the mana consumption such a thing would require. While both of them were not Tier 1 beings, that didn't mean their mana capacity shot through the roof immediately. This option was scratched away as well.

"Boats... How do we get our hands of boats..." Cain muttered. He had heard that the Followers of the Blood God traveled using the speed boats that had been docked at the island before the catastrophic incidents that split the school apart.

He was a bit at a loss. He had already gathered them all here. Their spirits were high, ready to charge into battle. It would be incredibly embarrassing to fail now.

"Cain... I believe there is a very simple solution to our problem." Steve who was standing beside him said with a smile.

Cain's dark expression brightened, "Really?!"

Steve nodded, "A ship."

Cain's expression darkened once again, "You... Are you playing with me?!"

Steve shook his head, then laughed as he turned to Vincent who was sulking in a corner.

Feeling his gaze, Vincent glared at both of them,

"What do you want from me now?"

Steve's words were like autumn's winds, damp and cold,

"That reward you got... Give it here."

Vincent's eyes widened and his face paled,

"You... What reward?" He played dumb.

However, Steve had seen through him,

"C'mon... You know what I'm talking about. We need it right now. You'll be paid heftily for your contributions."

Vincent snorted angrily, "No... I'm not giving you anything."

Cain shook his head, "What is all this about? What's going on?"

Steve turned to him, "Our boy Vince here has a ship in his custody."

Cain's brows shot up, "A ship?"

"Fuck!" Vincent exclaimed.

Steve nodded, "Indeed."

While their conversation wasn't very quiet, those far away weren't able to make out what they were saying. That didn't mean they were completely unheard.

Hunter walked up to them and stared straight at Vincent,

"Give it here..."

Vincent snorted, "No!"

"I'll kill you if you don't." Hunter said calmly as he retrieved a small knife from his inventory.

Vincent felt a chill race up his spine, but still refused to give in.

"A no is a no, and that's final. Plus, you lot have nothing that is of equal worth to give me in return!"

Cain seemed to think about it for a while,

"Then what do you want? There has to be something you want in exchange for the ship."

Vincent seemed to think for a while then he spoke cautiously,

"If you can give me ten Tier 1, Grade 2 Water elemental mana shard, its yours..."

"Son of a ..."

Cain immediately cursed Vincent's entire bloodline in his heart. Of all things, he hadn't expected to hear that.

While mana shards weren't very expensive, this was only true for the low grade ones. From Grade 5 to 1, the price of mana shards was simply heartrending. Worst of all, he had asked for a Tier 1 mana shard.

Tier 1 mana shards came from Tier 1 creatures. The drop rate for Tier 1 creatures was even more insane than for Tierless. A Grade 2 mana shard comes from Legendary grade creatures.

He was asking for ten of these...

So in conclusion, what he wanted was nothing less than a fortune. Cain doubted he would be able to gather so many mana shards in a month even if all he hunted was Legendary grade mutant beasts.

Cain was about to refuse, but then he thought about Vincent's proposal properly...

While it did seem like a lot, if he could get his hands on a functional sailing vessel, it would be more than worth it.

'System, how much is that worth?' Cain cautiously asked the system.

{Replying to host: The market value of ten Tier 1, Grade 2 Water elemental mana shards is four million system points}.

Cain felt a bit lightheaded, 'Shit. Freaking fatty wants to blackmail me!'

Watching Cain's expression closely, Vincent smirked,

"Do you still want it? That's my price I'm not going a single shard lower!"

Cain rolled his eyes. His thoughts shifted. He couldn't help but feel like he was about to be scammed.

While he did have four million system points, wasting it all at once like this left a sour taste in his mouth.

He couldn't allow himself to be ripped of like this.

He glared at Vincent,

"Five... I'll give you five for it."

'Shit! What a rich guy!' Vincent couldn't help but exclaim in his heart. He himself didn't have up half of that much system points and look at Cain ready to cough it all up.

A sinister smile appeared on his face. He definitely won't let this cash cow go until he had squeezed out a substantial amount from him.

Vincent snorted, "What?! I already told you that's my final offer. Or would you rather I raise the price?"

Cain's eyes narrowed, "Don't push me, Vince "

Vincent met his glare courageously, not willing to back down at all,

"What do you mean? This is a negotiation. Why resolve to threats? If you have something to offer, then give it here. This is simply business..."

Inwardly, Vincent began sweating. If Cain decided to try ripping him off, he would be forced to concede as he still wanted to keep his head. However, he wouldn't make things easy for him. He was hellbent on making the most out of this deal.

Cain sighed...

What in his possession could attract the Fatty's interest.

His eyes suddenly turned into crescents,

"Well, since you are a marksman, would you be interested in these?" Cain said as he pulled something from the {Armament Armory}.

Vincent wanted to say something, but caught his words at the end of his tongue. Laying in Cain's hands were the two {Hand of Midas} firearms he used.

These weapons were special because they were a result of Cain's magical engineering. There was no other weapon like it in existence. Vincent's firearm of choice was a sniper rifle that could transform into a mini cannon. It was useful in all sorts of situations. However, it was very large, and heavy on mana consumption.

They also took some time to reload, so while his shots were heavy and hard-hitting, the frequency of his attacks was not that great.

What he needed right now were something like this. Portable, fast, and most important of all, deadly...

Seeing the obvious interest on Vincent's face, Cain smiled. He stored the weapons back into the Armory.

"If you want, I'll give you five of the mana shards and make you custom handguns much more powerful than these..."

It was incredibly tempting...

Almost irresistible...

Vincent struggled for a few more seconds before finally giving in,

"Fine..."

Cain smiled. Though it hurt him to oart with two million system points, it was still far more bearable.

Besides, he had finally solved the pressing issue at hand.

He finally had a ship!