God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

AWOOO!!!

The monster that attacked let out a loud, angry howl. The {Mutant Black Bear} also let out a high-pitched scream of pain at the same time.

Lines of glowing red surfaced all over its body, forming runes. The lines of mana burnt off the fur and flesh it passed over, giving off the strong odor of burnt meat.

The brief moment of inaction allowed Cain to observe the monster that had finally come to the light.

The beast currently going apeshit looked almost like an ape. Some of its unique defining features were its surprisingly pure silver furry coat and its black hollow eyes. It crouched its posture just like a normal ape.

Its height and size weren't that different from that of a normal ape, but the aura it excluded was extremely different from that of the other mutants he had encountered.

Its aura was like an unbalanced mixture of intelligence and savagery...

{Devil-eyed White Primate} level 20 (deadly).

Strength: 150.

Agility: 300.

Defense: 30.

Mana: 100.

HP: 4,200/4,200.

MP: 5,000/5,000.

Skills: Devil eye, Primal aura, Savage bite, Spatial jump.

'Well... Fuck me.'

Cain knew he was fucked the moment he laid eyes on the monster. He compared his stats to that of the creature, and he concluded that if he was to face the creature head-on without any plans, he most likely would lose his life...

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 17.

Strength: 82. (30).

Agility: 91. (20).

Stamina: 52/56.

Vitality: 34.

Defense: 24. (-5).

Control: 3.7. (0.2).

Perception: 2.7.

HP: 3,200/3,200.

MP: 2,100/2,100.

Magic: 49.

Resistance: Poison- 5%.

Skills: Golden blood, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, Blade Mastery Lvl. 2, Burst Step, Metal Creation Lvl.2, Golden Severance, Metal Manipulation, *Fear, *Bloodthirsty, Blood Ingestion Regeneration.

Titles: Champion of Ashur (locked).

Free attribute points: 20.

System points: 2,000.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

'I blame myself for poking trouble in the butt.'

He was playing with fire at this point.

If he had not tried to lure the beast out, his death might have been delayed, or better still, he could close the gap between their power levels to be able to put up a good fight.

The creature's agility was at 300 points, while he was just a bit over 100 if he was taking the extra points he got from his {Bloody Katana} into consideration.

Even under the effects of {Golden Blood}, his agility points would be nowhere near 300 points. The strength of the creature wasn't an issue, as if he used {Golden Blood}, his strength points would be higher than that of the {Devil-eyed White Primate}, but not by very much.

What all this meant, was that he was in big trouble if he didn't have a backup plan...

With a loud shriek, the {Devil-eyed White Primate} dexterously delivered a multitude of kicks at the spasming {Mutant Black Bear}. The {Mutant Black Bear} was launched out of the clearing and into the forest, smashing a few trees in his path into splinters...

"Teddy..."

Cain felt a bit bad for the poor bear, but he had his problems to take care of.

"Golden Blood."

Without hesitation, Cain activated {Golden Blood}.

The mutant beast who was still fuming, wanting to chase after the {Mutant Black Bear} suddenly stopped dead in its tracks.

Slowly, its neck turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees without its body moving to face Cain.

"Now!"

Its previously dark and hollow eyes gained a bit of life in them as a speck of creepy bone-white light appeared in the depths of its eyes in place of its pupils. This way, it became even more creepy than before.

"Talk about disturbing..."

In a situation like this, wherein the power of one's foe was overwhelmingly greater, only those who possessed the delicate balance between wits and skill could triumph and be victorious.

Cain instantly made the right decision...

His aura burst out to the max, and without any hesitation;

He ran...

***

With an explosive burst of speed, Cain disappeared into the dense forest...

Cain knew he didn't have a choice. The {Devil-eyed White Primate} already had its eyes set on him, hence there was no way he could have escaped certain death. It was better to confront it now than later in the future. With their sword of Damocles hanging over his head, he couldn't obtain peace of mind.

'The key to my life or Death now lies in the hands of teddy...'

Just because the enemy was strong didn't mean he came here without preparations.

The only reason he had a single ounce of confidence, was because of his plan B.

In the case wherein his plan A failed, his plan being direct confrontation with the monster, and his plan B involved multiple delicate steps that had to be followed in no particular order...

As he skillfully dashed through the forest, he turned around, inspecting whether the {Devil-eyed White Primate} was on his heels. He wasn't surprised to see anything but trees behind him.

Suddenly, the space before him fluctuated chaotically for a brief second, before his greatest opponent magically stood before him.

With lightning speed, faster than Cain could even imagine, the beast brought a claw down to his chest.

Due to his reflexes being a lot quicker than before, he was able to bring his blade up just in time to block the attack.

'Fuck!'

BOOM!

Like a cannonball, Cain was launched backward, slamming his back into a couple of trees...

"Blegh!"

Cain coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood as he stared at the eerie eyes of the mutant.

Cain was expecting it to be over in just a single attack, but the mutant was fast enough to dish out several attacks in a single second.

Thanks to {Golden Blood}, his defenses were a lot higher than usual, so he was able to tank the blows, but he couldn't keep up with the speed of the beast.

'It's freaking fast!'

Cain couldn't even see the thing's attacks. It moved as quickly as a ghost, and although he could tank the attacks due to his strong vitality and defense, that didn't mean they didn't hurt him.

Once again, the beast disappeared from his sight like a silver blur. Its killing aura rose like a tidal wave, threatening to shut down the flames of his life...

'Shit!'

Cain knew he would be in trouble if he didn't do something to stop the beast.

"Lightening Edge!"

{Lightening Edge: Increase attack speed by 100%. Critical rate increases by 5% when the skill is used. Cost 100MP to activate.

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Since {Lightening Edge} increased attack speed by 100%, in that instance of usage, he was probably able to keep up with the {Devil-eyed White Primate}. But that was only in theory.

He managed to block the first and second blows thanks to his high perception stat, but the last three strikes were just too much for him to handle. Before he could even react, its claw struck his flesh hard, drawing blood in the process...

The impact from the attack launched Cain several meters backward, but he was able to stabilize himself.

'The cooldown of {Lightening Edge} is 1 minute. This fight is going to be a tough one.'

Cain swiftly concluded that fighting close quarters with the mutant was a bad idea.

Metal Creation!

Metal Manipulation!

Using his two magic skills, he created numerous arrows of metal and launched them at the mutant.

The speed of the {Devil-eyed White Primate} allowed it to easily dodge the attacks, but this way, Cain was able to ease up the pressure on himself.

'Still, this is also a good thing. The best kind of practice there is.'

Although Cain acknowledged the lethality of the situation, he couldn't help the excitement...

He could lose his life as easily as one could snuff out a candle, but this was also an opportunity for him to grow stronger.

Especially with his magic skills...

He acknowledged that {Metal Creation} and {Metal Manipulation} had so much room to grow, but he was holding their potential back.

So now was a good chance to try out a few experiments while waiting for Teddy to come join in on the fight...

"Metal Creation: Steel arrows."

Each arrow only required 5MP to be create, and another 5MP to launch to a distance of 20 meters before he began losing control, with 30 meters being his maximum range.

He did this to be able to attack comfortably while putting some pressure on the {Devil-eyed White Primate}. Each arrow of metal had an attack power of 100% of his magic stat, which was at 49 points, which wasn't a lot at all if one considered the mutant's total HP.

But his goal wasn't to attack, just to buy enough time for stage two of his plan to be initiated...

'Hurry, Teddy...'

Meanwhile, Teddy, who was still spasming on the ground after being launched away like a ragdoll by the {Devil-eyed White Primate} was experiencing a few changes to its body.

Its black fur began turning a darker shade of red, and the color of its eyes was also changing correspondingly.

Lines of crimson red began to appear on its fur, forming various complicated runic patterns.

Suddenly, the whimpers and grunts stopped abruptly.

Its body stopped moving for a few minutes before it slowly rose to its paws.

"Growl!"

A deep guttural growl escaped from Teddy, as a row of spikes emerged from its spine.

Its originally blunt, short claws grew longer with a metallic glint. Its fangs protruded from its mouth, and its bones crackled like thunder as its height increased by a few centimeters.

And the light of intelligence shone deep within its eyes like a reflection of its soul...

SNIFF!

It took a whiff of the air to catch the scent of a certain someone, before dashing into the forest, blending into the darkness...