God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 344: Magical Engineering 101 (1).

An idea had been brewing in Cain's head for a while now...

The {Divine Essence of Metallurgy} wasn't a regular skill. A higher form created from the combination of {Metal Creation} and {Metal Manipulation}.

Its potential was basically limitless as it gave him almost complete liberty when it came to influencing the metal element.

However, for what he was about to do, he would need much more than that...

Cain's mind churned as he thought back to the first magically influenced item he had created, the {Heavy Armor}. This armor was created from metal of the weights used in the school's gymnasium. However, because of the normal properties of this metal, there was no way it could stand the test of time.

However, the system still considered it armor...

'The reason for that... is that while it didn't have any magical properties of its own, it was still influenced by my magic.'

And so, he had pondered...

Were there truly any limits to magic?

He realized he couldn't think of any. Susan's conclusion about how the items, tools, weapons, and armor gotten from the system were created by other beings in the vast cosmos further pushed him along this path.

He remembered the description of the orb the {Dark Soul} had come in...

***

{Eldritch Orb}: (Tool)

Description: The soul of a dead Realm Walker was captured and placed within a prison forged from the essence of the barrier that separated the realms by a mad god just for fun.

***

The keyword Cain observed was forged...

The fact that it was forged meant it was indeed created by someone or something. One could never tell...

He also got confirmation from the system, so he didn't doubt it one bit. Hell, he had also created the {Dark Egg}, which was something he was really proud of. Although it wasn't perfect yet, it was still quite impressive.

All these things, combined together had opened Cain's eyes to a new branch under the study of magic theory and application,

Magical Engineering 101...

It sounded stupid at first glance, and even he, sitting down on a bed made from dried-out grass and sticks, surrounded by thick, stone walls, couldn't help but question his sanity.

Then, he thought about the fact that the system made guns available. That had indeed opened his eyes a bit. This was the point where science and magic fused together!

'Oh, the possibilities! There are endless!' Cain shivered in orgasmic delight as his brain conjured countless scenarios.

Meanwhile, Susan stared at him with a very questionable look on her face...

A few minutes later, Jenny walked back into the room, a tired, yet satisfied look in her eyes.

Susan turned to face her,

"So, any luck? You look exhausted..."

Jenny nodded, "It was stressful indeed. However, you must not underestimate me. I might not look like much, but I have quite outstanding public speaking skills." She said with a victorious smile on her face.

Susan rolled her eyes, a questioning look still on her face. Sighing, Jenny gave her what she wanted,

"It was tense at first. However, I made them realize that we aren't threats to them. Although some of them were hesitant, and a few more were downright hostile, most of them after being introduced to the hope of having their lost bodily functions restored, eat everything I said up."

Susan didn't care what methods she used. As long as she produced results...

"Good. The real question is, did they buy it?"

Jenny grinned brightly, "Buy it? That's quite the understatement..."

Turning to Cain, who still had an obscenely obsessed look on his face, she blurted outright,

"He did something, didn't he? All of them are completely healed, right? Hunter said you'd have the answers."

Susan threw her a small smile,

"Yes, he did."

Jenny shrugged, "No wonder that big dog didn't want to say anything. Well, it's not like it is a secret how much of a monster he is." She said, referring to Cain.

"Hunter was able to get them all riled up. Now, most of them, especially the ones that were at death's door think he is some kind of savior sent down by a god called Pluto, or something.."

Susan frowned a little, but ended up ignoring it,

"It's fine. As long as they go along with all this without a fuss, then we should have no problems. Let them believe whatever they want."

Jenny nodded, "Noted."

Turning to Cain, a look of genuine concern surfaced on her face,

"Is he alright?"

Cain looked like someone who had invested what he wasn't supposed to. His eyes had a certain crazy look in them that was reserved for people who had certain... medicines in their system.

Cain's nearly silent mumblings paused for a moment before he turned his neck slowly until he started right into Jenny's eyes. This freaked her out completely...

Seeing the terrified look in her eyes, Cain felt the urge to blurt out, 'Overreacting much?'. However, he bit his tongue...

Putting on the sweetest smile he could muster on his face, he spoke in a polite tone,

"Jenny? Didn't notice you come in! Haha! Can I please borrow your weapon?"

A suspicious look appeared in her eyes,

"What?! Why do you need my weapon?!"

Cain rolled his eyes. Clearing his throat, he made himself as clear as possible to avoid any misunderstandings,

"Look... I just want to take a peak at the runes and magic circles in it. I'm not planning to sabotage you or something."

Although she still had a strange look on her face, she eventually gave it to him begrudgingly after a few minutes of persuasion and a pinch of bribery...

Susan watched all this with a barely contained laugh almost erupting from her throat. Cain gave her a brief glare before he ignored her and got to work.

'Eye of Clairvoyance!'

The moment he activated the skill, his left eye lit up with brilliant light. Then his brain got flooded with a bit too much information. Blood immediately poured down his nose. However, he simply wiped it off with the back of his hands and continued peering through the material's surface.

'Most of these runes are high-tier runes that I can't even begin to comprehend.'

Up until now, Cain had only dealt with runes that were at his tier. The lowest tier possible. Through countless hours of studying these runes, sigils, and magic circles, he was already at the level of proficiency in basic runic transcription. He could do the impossible with these runes...

However, when it came to runes of higher tiers, he knew absolutely nothing. And this was due to a single fact...

One could only learn runes and magic circles of the corresponding tier. A being like Cain couldn't learn Tier 1 or higher magic circles or runes. It was simply too much for his soul to handle...

Regardless of how strong his soul was, it wasn't something it could endure through. It was much worse than the mind attacks Og-solath had dealt on him...

Simply staring at these runes made his head spin. However, he trudged through the pain. What he wanted to learn wasn't the runes or the magic circles. No! His ambitions were far greater...

Rather, he wanted to study their arrangements and their relationship with the materials the weapon was made with.

The various parts of the weapon were made from materials with differing characteristics and properties. Some were made to handle recoil and tension. Hence, they were flexible, as well as stress and heat-resistant.

However, some were made to bear the force that is created when manifesting magical bullets and projectiles. Hence, they were made to be rigid and hard.

Cain was very knowledgeable before the apocalypse. Hence, he knew about how a lot of things worked, and that includes guns...

Guns weren't very popular amongst the general populace in his time. Most people believed that guns were simply parts of fairytales or a history that had died away thousands of years ago...

However, members of the underground world dealt with these weapons of murder on a daily basis. Although Cain wasn't immediately connected to the underground, numerous details on these weapons could be found hidden in the history books.

As such, he could understand the importance of all these parts. As he did, he began to mentally divide and piece all the parts together, as well as allocate appropriate magic circles and runes to their various functions.

This process was a slow one, and it took him hours to complete. However, after a few hours and a few restless nudges from Jenny, he finally got a rough layout of the way he wanted to proceed.

With a bright but tired smile on his face, he passed the weapon back to Jenny, who couldn't help but stare at him with concern etched deep into her brows,

"Are you okay? You seem tired..."

Cain smiled and nodded, "Could'not be better. You've been a great help. Thanks..."

Flashing him a small smile, Jemmy placed a hand on his bare shoulder and walked out of the room, giving him some peace. Even Susan had left the room after a while to give him his much-needed privacy.

However, all these things were washed out of Cain's head because of this seemingly thoughtless action. As soon as she put her hand on his bare flesh, a terrible chill assaulted his senses...

'What the hell?!'

However, before he could say anything about it, it was gone, making him question if it was actually there in the first place or not.

'So... strange.'

With a sigh, he pushed it to the back of his mind, completely forgetting about it, his head filled with all the things he could achieve with his newly found knowledge...