God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain had come to realize that he had no issues with taking a human life.

What bothered him was doing it for no reason—killing unjustly.

That, to him, was simply a waste of resources.

In the current times, every human could very well be considered a resource. The death of a single one meant there was one less on the planet of Urbus. More than ninety percent of the entire human population was already gone.

Losing more humans meant there would be less fighters, less crafters, one less pair of hands that would be needed to rebuild what was left of human civilization.

And so, unless it was absolutely necessary, he would rather not kill humans.

The current situation, however, was not one of those times.

Even with the death of their Matriarch and the disappearance of the Blood Moon, the Blood Moon Sect was still rather powerful. In their ranks were several powerhouses, most of which he had heard about, but had not yet come to face.

Of course, he had tried several times to bury the hatchet and even extend an olive branch, but the Blood Moon Sect seemed intent on taking them on.

Particularly his own faction, the Golden Asura.

'Perhaps this will be the first course of action.'

"I've notified the others. Where would you like to meet tomorrow?" Hunter said as he slowly stood up.

Cain pursed his lips as he thought for a bit,

"The usual place is fine..."

He thought about it for a moment then added,

"We will also begin planning the offensive tomorrow. Perhaps this will help us prepare to face the rest of what is out there."

Hunter hummed then turned around.

Before he disappeared into the dark night once again, he stopped and called out,

"Cain."

Cain slowly tore his gaze away from the relatively dark sky.

His hair was carried by the night wind, creating a riveting ebony river behind him.

"What is it?"

Hunter was silent for a moment. Then he shook his head,

"Nevermind."

With that, he disappeared.

Cain went silent as well.

Then he chuckled,

"Look who's trying so hard to seem cool."

He sighed.

No matter what, staring at the sky got him thinking.

It had become one of his favorite things to do in his free time.

And that was because it told a story, every glance.

It was a map of past, present, and future.

In this sky, there were no stars. However, there once had been so many stars, it was hard to count them all.

Who knows...

Maybe some time in the distant future, those stars that ran away, or were ferried deeper into the void, would come back and grace Urbus's night sky with their splendid radiance once again.

With that thought in mind, Cain slowly stood up and walked away.

***

Settling into his room, Cain spread his senses out. Once he had confirmed that no one was around, he finally could relax.

It had taken him some time to walk back, but even then, he had not felt the exhaustion of the day. A lot had happened over the course of just a few hours, so much so, his abundant stamina had actually taken a hit.

Well, his body was fine. It was his mind that was exhausted.

Sitting down cross-legged, he took a moment to stabilize himself.

Within his being, several processes were taking place; in his body, mind and spirit in equal measure.

All damage to his spirit had already been healed a long time ago by {Spirit Weaver}. Now, the skill existed only to strengthen and enrich his spirit.

And it had been doing so almost perfectly.

Now, not only had the quality of his mana improved greatly, his mental clarity had become exceptional as well.

He could imagine his spells much more efficiently, and his perception of energy felt clearer overall.

His spirit body was being developed at a steady pace.

His body, on the other hand, had a lot of things going on.

The existence of an abundance of quality Ki within his mortal coil meant that his physique was always going to be a step or two superior to that of any regular human.

In some cases, he was even sturdier than some beasts.

To make things even better, he had diligently practiced the {Sunflame Body Tempering Technique}. With every revolution he completed, the Flame of Eternity burned away at the impurities that gathered within his body, strengthening his muscle fibers, bones, skin, and even his marrow.

If he was ever cut open, one would be able to see the tiny slivers of golden fire clinging to and glinting off his organs, bones, and even his blood.

'Everything seems in order.' he thought to himself.

For some time now, perhaps since the very beginning—he had been developing without a fixed direction.

And that had been fine, for the most part.

Most of those blessed by the celestials, or those who had access to the System at all, tended to grow to fit into neat, labeled boxes.

The ones who avoided battle dedicated themselves to their respective craft: alchemists, blacksmiths, artificers, and even runesmiths.

Those who did battle were much more arrayed;

There were bruisers who would not fall even after being pelted with a rain of spells and magically enhanced arrows and bullets. Under these bruisers, some possessed skills that would either boost their defensive capabilities, or give them offensive abilities that would allow them to shrug off incoming attacks and launch their own ferocious counterstrikes.

There were Rangers that could kill a thumb-sized mutant creature from several kilometers away with a single bullet, mages with the power to call down the fury of the heavens, summoners that could stir up the depths of the Aether, utilizing their summons to do battle, and even healers that could mend all manner of wounds and afflictions.

But generally, for the most part, those who did possess these abilities seemed to have stumbled onto a path at the very beginning. And from there, they had gradually progressed and continued their journey.

His circumstances were a bit different.

For a lack of better words, he had no path, neither did he have any direction.