God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Looking at the beautiful girl seated in front of him, Cain had an unbearable urge to grab his head.

How could he not? After all, what he had just heard was something he hadn't expected at all...

"What do you mean the entire continent might be surrounded by Dead Spots?" Cain said his hand over his head.

Evangeline chuckled as she explained,

"You should have noticed this by now. The closer we are getting to the city, the more Dead Spots keep appearing."

Cain tried to thing about what she just said. While it was hard to notice, there did seem to be a pattern of frequent encounters with the horrors on the ocean's surface.

"If what you say is true, then this isn't good news for us."

Evangeline nodded, "Indeed. So, do you have any plans?"

Cain fell silent.

Encounter in the Dead Spots was something he always dreaded.

There were two ways to escape a Dead Spot. One was noticing it, then subsequently avoiding it, while the other was to steer straight through it.

The second was simple self slaughter. Most of the time, these Dead Spots held harrowing and abominable creatures that could tear straight through the ship's hull.

With no ocean current or wind to drive the ship forward, the ship might become a sitting duck.

These Dead Spots were considered tame in comparison to those that messed with one's perception of space or time.

Escaping from these ones were quite the hassle, and one might lose their minds if trapped there for too long. Cain had no idea what evil origins these accursed place had, but what he did know, was that sailing through them was complete and utter madness...

But it seemed there was no other choice.

However, there was a condition. He would be out of options, if and only if Evangeline was telling him the truth.

Cain's brows furrowed.

'She can't possibly be lying, right? There can't possibly be any gain from doing something like that...'

Although logic dictated so, he had long since learned that logic had no place in the current world. No human alive knew what exactly went on in head of another, making liars and deceivers the ones with the upper hand in every conversation.

He had no reason to distrust her words, and that was exactly why he did...

Cain sighed, "Even if that is so, sailing through a Dead Spots right now can put all our lives in danger. We'll have to think of another way. How much longer till we make contact with the closest one?"

Evangeline hummed for a few seconds,

"A week, perhaps, two weeks?"

Cain nodded, "Then there's more than enough time to think of something."

Evangeline smiled, "You don't seem very excited to be meeting another Dead Spot."

Cain shook his head, "Who would be?"

She chuckled, "Personally, I find them very intriguing."

Cain rolled his eyes, "Speaking on the topic of dead things, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

Evangeline leaned forward, "What is it?"

"Where is Lukas?" Cain asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Lukas? Who is that?" Evangeline said, blinking her eyes innocently.

Cain snorted, "Don't look at me like that. Where is he? After the battle, I asked Jenny and Ignis to confirm. You didn't kill him, didn't you?"

Cain was mostly certain of it. What was really tugging at him was where he was.

Evangeline's brows squiggled a bit,

"Do you really have to know?"

Cain nodded, "Yes, I do. Now our with it."

Evangeline folded her arms, and spoke with a feigned frigidity,

"Well, if you must know, I locked him up in a {Prison of Shadows}."

Cain was surprised, "Prison of Shadows?"

Evangeline nodded, looking a bit uncomfortable,

"It's an evolved characteristic of my skill, {Shadow World}."

Cain sensed something off with the way she spoke,

"Okay? So how do you trap someone inside a skill?"

She remained silent, pursing her lips.

Cain's eyes twitched, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because you don't need to know more than that. All you asked to know is that he isn't dead, right?"

Cain couldn't argue with her logic. He was immediately rendered speechless.

"But... that's not..."

Evangeline had a smug look on her face,

"If that's all, I'm taking my leave."

"Wait!"

Without waiting, almost like she was escaping, Evangeline sunk into the shadows."

Cain clicked his tongue as he plopped right back down to his seat.

"He isn't dead, so maybe she's done something scary to him... Ha..."

Cain could only shiver at the thought.

He turned right back to his work. Moments later he entered a state of extreme focus.

With the current troubles at hand, his mind was stressed out. However, lost in a world of magic, he would automatically slide into a relaxed state.

In this state, his mind remained sharp, information flowing in and out.

He rummaged through the information in his head, and when he wasn't sure about something, he would consult the many manuals and times of arcane knowledge he had.

Purchasing a few from the system, plus the ones he had gotten from Azazel, he had a lot of useful information at hand.

Literature like {Rune Forge Collection} and {Magical Index} were books he had purchased. These books contained basic knowledge on Rune crafting and magic.

However, that was all it was. Basic knowledge...

Still, learning it gave him the foundation he lacked.

After a few hours of storming through these books, he arrived at many conclusions,

"The spatial magic is these books is quite different to the one I practice."

In theory, spatial magic had to do majorly with the compression, decompression, rupturing and expansion of space.

He thought about Stingè. He had been quite the opponent due to his familiarity with this element. His skill, {Idle Slash} allowed him to compress a small area into an even slammer surface area, creating an almost unstoppable blade that could slice through most things.

His other skill, {Idle World}, was him expanding a small space into a larger one. This way, attacks that were supposed to hit him would simply wouldn't.

Still, even with the existence of skills like this, when faced with a force exponentially greater, the effectiveness of these skills or spells would drop drastically.

This was the case, especially against stronger opponents.

Even though logic had flown out the window, the world of the arcane still operated on many major principles. In theory, if one had enough magic, they would be able to overpower something like {Idle World}, and break through it.

However, all this was in theory...

On reality, there were meant variables on the battlefield. However, that was simply a whole other topic.

Cain's brows furrowed as he stared at a particular string of runes...

The skill, {Spatial Jump} was a peculiar one. So far, from all that he had read, he hadn't come across one like it.

Most movement skills that manipulated space compressed, then expanded it, obeying the original rules.

His on the either hand, punctured through it to create a tunnel. Within this tunnel, time was completely irrelevant to those within in and outside the tunnel.

This was why he could use {Spatial Jump} from one location and end up in another somewhere very far away in the blink of an eye.

'Bending space... Not exactly bending, but making a funnel.'

This was the nature of the spell...

Not only was it many times safer, it was also far more efficient in moving a large number of people and things.

'But this also doesn't make sense. If a funnel was created, then there would still be a distance to cross. That will take time. Does This mean that within this tunnel, time stops completely?'

He shook his head,

'That doesn't make sense either. If time doesn't pass, then there will.be no movement, as motion is incredibly reliant on time. It doesn't make sense.'

To use magic outside of the system's interference, one must understand it. Trying to create a rune that mimics a real spell or skill was incredibly difficult.

Suddenly, Cain froze...

'Not a tunnel, but perhaps a gate. Yes... A gate...'

Rather than calling {Spatial Jump} a tunneling skill, it would be more accurate to call it opening a gate from one spot to another, completely ignoring both distance and time.

'Rather than opening a hole in space, or compressing and decompressing, it simply ignores both concepts of space and time. Incredible!'

Cain suppressed the urge to yell, 'But that doesn't make sense!'

Things like space and time were concepts on which the old world was built on. To think something as simple as a spell could throw both out of the window was preposterous.

'Still...'

Staring at the rune below him, watching the magic flow from it, watching as it interacted with the world, how it changed natural phenomena, he was forced to accept it.

The mana flow patterns were the proof in the pudding. Spiritual changes lead to a physical change.

In a sense, perhaps that was a law of its own.

'There are a few missing pieces, but I think I've got this under control.'

A look of relief appeared on his face. Understanding the central rune was the first step to accomplishing his goals

If what Evangeline said was right, then he had to create this... this {Spatial Gate} in two weeks.

He heaved a deep sigh...

This definitely wasn't going to be easy. Luckily for him, he wouldn't have it any other way. If it was too easy, he wouldn't get to experience that legendary sense of accomplishment that came with doing the unbelievable.

A grin rigged at the corner of his lips,

'Let's get to work!'