God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 178: Killing Fish To Level Up (1).

Cain directed his gaze toward the direction of the loud yell. One of the people they had decided and given the Sea god's remnant was staring at the water with a look of pure horror on her face as she pointed in the same direction.

"T-there is s-something in the water!" The relatively young woman, who had been an office clerk once, said in a shrill voice.

Cain turned his attention to the area of water she was pointing at. Thanks to his extremely outstanding perception stats, he was able to see what she was so scared of easily.

At first, he thought it was just one fish. However, upon looking closely, he discovered that right below them, was an entire school of deadly mutant fishes approaching them with full force.

"Damn it! I knew this was a bad idea!" Li, with an exasperated look on his face, said as he summoned his gauntlets from his inventory as fast as he possibly could.

"This is only to be expected. Regardless of whatever way we use to travel, we would have to fight them..." Blaze said matter-of-factly. He too drew his long spear from his inventory and gazed into the now slightly turbulent waters.

"These aren't regular fish..." Cain said with a frown as he looked even closer. The mutant fishes were still a bit far away, but their movement was already causing turbulence close to the ice bridge. The woman who had seen them, just happened to look when one of the fishes had broken past the surface at sonic speed, cr the loud noise Cain had heard.

Upon focusing on one of the fishes, a description was pulled up;

***

{Black-Scaled Swordfish}: Level 50 (Normal).

Strength: 300.

Agility: 400.

Defense: 300.

Magic: 150.

HP: 9,000/9,000.

MP: 3,400/3,400.

Skills: Iron Edge Charge, Acceleration Burst, Black-scale Defense.

***

Cain stared at this sea creature with wide eyes. His head spun as only one question was running through it...

'Why the hell are its stats so high?!'

The {Phantasma} he had beaten had stats that were roughly twice that of this Normal grade mutant swordfish. And the {Phantasma} was a legendary grade devil!

Cain was in complete disbelief...

"D-damn! The stats of these things..." Hunter said, his voice showing a hint of nervousness as he too stared at the approaching creatures.

"The biggest issue is their numbers. I can count at least 80 from here..." Steve said as he pointed his staff at the approaching school of fish.

"We need to make sure they stay away from the bridge," Cain said, a cold look making its way into his eyes.

"You mean?" Blaze said with raised brows.

"We take the fight to them. They are too many of them. They could harm some of the others that don't stand a chance, or even worse, destroy the Ice Bridge, dooming all of us." Steve reiterated.

"Just so you all know, I can't swim..." Lii said with a smile on his face and a raised right hand.

"That's okay... You can stay on the bridge to guard the others. Those who will be able to engage, come along. We need as many hands as possible if we want to even have a chance to stop these things.

"Wait! I can still attack from here! Anyone that breaks through the water's surface can be dealt with by me." Lii said hurriedly.

"Fine..." Cain said nothing more.

"I'll stay here as well. My skills will be useless in the water, but I can provide support from here." Jenny said as she smacked the barrel of her gun.

"I'll stay too.." Sue said with a dull expression on her face.

"My spells can cover long ranges," Susan said as she waved her hand. Motes of light spread and touched every single member of the group, providing them with a blessing.

"My spells can also cover long ranges..." Steve said with a nervous laugh.

"You come along..." Cain wasn't taking any excuses from Steve.

Steve's eyelid twitched a bit before he let out a defeated sigh...

Nodding, Cain looked around and made a mental note of those that would be fighting with him...

He stared at the troubled waters before him with a stoic expression. Taking one step onto the water's surface, he nodded his head when he saw that the surface of the water beneath his feet had frozen over, creating a solid platform of ice for him to step on.

"Oh? Never seen that one before..." Hunter exclaimed with wide eyes.

A thought passed through Jenny's mind, 'Just how versatile can this boy be?'

She knew that his stats were high, both magic and physical. However, she also had to admit that his repertoire of skills was incredibly impressive as well...

'It's like he can adjust himself to every condition and situation he faces. Like there is nothing that comes his way he can't deal with...' Jenny directed a complicated gaze toward Cain.

Shaking her head, she steadied the arm holding onto her rifle, and prepared to attack...

Cain exhaled a breath of cold air...

His muscles tensed up and his tendons were pulled taut. It had been a long while since he was able to fight, and he was already this battle hungry. Although the enemies were strong, he was stronger...

He is battle-lust flared like a bonfire into the grey skies. His hair was raised by the wind revealing his near-spotless skin that had become pearly white due to the {Curse of Perpetual Frost}. His strong gaze and deep eyes added even more charm to his visage, causing those who had already been enraptured by him to fall even deeper into the pit of attraction.

Oblivious to the changes he was making, Cain's mind was filled with thoughts,

'I probably won't need Black and White for this...' Cain said to himself. Since he wouldn't be engaging in melee combat thanks to his ability to walk on the water, he would need to attack with other methods.

"Let's go..." Once he planned out a method of attack, Cain put his other feet onto the water. He watched as the water beneath his feet solidified into a hard icy surface.

Cain was about to take a step forward when he noticed that the ice platforms weren't stable. With a sudden movement, he was flailing his arms around as he nearly fell into the waters below due to a slight mistake.

'Balance...' He let out a deep exhale as his control and agility stats went to work. With how high those stats were, it was nearly impossible for him to lose his balance and stumble into the waters below.

Hunter who had now transformed into his wolf form dived straight into the water, and with a terrifying burst of speed, he kicked against the water and zoomed toward the tornado-like school of mutant fish.

Despite being in a land creature form, Hunter was surprisingly incredibly fast underwater, and while he wasn't as fast as the fishes, who had their swimming abilities upgraded every time they leveled up, he was almost as fast that them.

Meanwhile, Vincent simply activated a skill that allowed him to dive into the water effortlessly by pushing the water before him to the sides and allowing it to stream backward, creating a means of forward thrust. This way, there was absolutely no resistance when he was moving forward, and he was able to move without trouble in the water.

Manny on the other hand simply jumped into the water and began swimming toward the fish. He had no skill or technique that would make it easier for him to engage in u underwater battles, so all he could do was swim. However, he had a smile on his face as he grasped both of his swords in his hands, swimming as fast as he could so he could go cut down the mutant beasts swimming toward them.

The same fate befell Stan and Blaze who also had no means of moving underwater except swimming.

David on the other hand had to sit the fight out as there was no way for him to be efficient underwater, especially after he had lost an arm.

Together, all six of them charged, aiming to stop the approaching enemies. Once Cain had gotten the hang of it, he began gently walking on the water.

With every step, a sturdy ice platform would be created, and when he pulled his feet away, it would melt back into the ocean. A slow walk turned into a brisk walk, then a jog, then a run, straight into a full-on sprint...

The water was split, and many small waves were created as Cain dashed at the school of mutant fish. The feeling of freedom that burned within his chest drove him to run even faster and faster...

In a few seconds, he was already above the school of fish. Just like all mutant beasts, the fishes were incredibly violent and attacked him right away. Before he was even able to catch his breath, two {Black-scaled Swordfish} broke through the surface of the ocean and charged at him with the speed of a bullet.

The {Black-scaled Swordfish} were completely covered in sharp scales that spread out when they were still in the water like the feathers of a bird when spooked. However, once they jumped out of the water, their entire body became streamlined, and the scales closed down on them, creating a very tough defensive system.

The scales spread out in the water to provide them with more maneuverability but closed down when they were in the air to make them faster and more protected as they took their prey out.

Such a thing could only appear on creatures that evolved in the path of balance. A skill that provided them with enough defense and offense. In this case, the skill made use of the terrifying nature of their defenses to boost their offensive capabilities to the maximum...

Their bills were even more terrifying as the black blade with sharp edges looked like they could cut straight to the bone like butter, which wasn't far from the truth. Even with Cain's defensive stats, if he didn't activate a defensive spell or skill, he would be penetrated by the {Black-Scaled Swordfish} and turned into a sieve.

Despite all these, Cain had a calm look in his eyes as he activated a spell he had created not too long ago...

"7 Golden Stars..." He chanted in a near whispering quietude...

Seven gold-colored magic circles appeared from thin air, creating a link between the physical and spiritual planes in less than a split second. The metal-attributed mana in the air congealed and condensed.

The magic circles expanded, and in their place, seven menacing swords of gold appeared. These blades of gold were created by Cain's {Metal Creation} and {Metal Manipulation}. There were runes inscribed on them that emphasized the attributes of metal...

***

{7 Golden Stars}: Gold is the essence of metal, and commanding it means wielding incredible killing force. Create seven incredibly tough and sharp blades of gold that can cut through and sever the threads of life. Blades produced can only inflict physical damage. Due to the level of {Metal Creation}, the host currently possesses, the seven blades of gold can last for 20 minutes.

This skill has a cooldown of 30 minutes.

Cost: 2000MP per sword.

Note: This is an Internal Spell, and can be upgraded...

***

The runes on the frame of the blades created a shining effect, making it seem as though they were stars that had manifested in the mortal realm.

Golden light burst out of Cain's eyes. His fingers spread out as he linked to the shining blades of metal.

"Fly..."

A tornado of metal, blood, and flesh was created instantly...