God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 395: Returning through the Rift (9).

Cain nodded in satisfaction...

'Thankfully, the {Blackmane Greyhounds} are, only level 70. They might struggle, but that will make them grow.'

The beastmen already possessed incredibly powerful bodies. He estimated that each one would possess around fifty to two hundred points in strength, stamina, agility, and defense. However, this was subject to change depending on the beastman in particular.

'Compared to those guys, they are definitely more powerful.' Cain thought, recalling the followers of the Blood God, and those blessed with powers of the ocean by Levron.

If their Ki was added into the mix, that would be an additional four hundred points that could be distributed amongst stats depending on how much Ki they had, as well as the quality of their Ki.

To top it off, they had the runes Cain had purchased, weapons he had crafted, and armor that had been purchased from the system.

To put it simply, they were very different from how they had been just two weeks ago...

"Nice," Cain said with a wide grin on his face.

The beastmen standing before him had flushed faces as they felt the power coursing through their veins. Applying the times to their bodies was a painful process, but they managed to get through that without too many problems.

Most of them had gone for the balanced build of one rune each. This wasn't much of a problem, as they would be able to fill it out eventually if they got more runes.

The ones that had different builds had done so because of Cain's advice. One of them was very proficient with the Stainless Razor Ki Plundering Technique and moderately so with the Thousand-Miles Ki Plundering Technique. Cain had recommended he take two stacks of the {Touch of Lightning} rune with a single stack of {Beast Heart}.

This way, he would be able to deliver fast and crippling attacks while still having a decent amount of stamina.

"Looks like we are all set. Let's go." Cain said, his expression finally turning serious.

"Yes, Boss!" The men said firmly and in unison.

Cain made the {Dark Soul} lead the way, going ahead of the group. They finally arrived in front of the basin's depression, this time, descending without slowing down.

Talking the lead, Cain descended down the slope, carefully observing his surroundings.

'This place is too quiet. I can sense a few life signatures, but they are too faint.'

His eyes narrowed dangerously, 'They are also moving fast.'

The interior of the entire basin was covered in caves that led to god-knows-where. Cain sensed these life signatures from them.

'So that's how they ambush their prey...'

Cain now had an idea of how the {Blackmane Greyhounds} ambushed invaders.

Because of how faint they could make their life signatures, most creatures would simply ignore them. By then, it would already be too late.

Cain sent the {Dark Soul} into one of the caves so he quickly switched perspectives.

'Sure enough...'

At the entrance of each cave were at least three towering monsters. They stared at Cain and his group with black, soulless eyes that couldn't be noticed because of the surrounding darkness.

Their furry coats were also pitch-black, allowing them to be absorbed fully into the darkness.

'The perfect assains.'

Cain had no words. Still, he wasn't worried.

"Stay attentive. We are about to be ambushed."

Cain's warning put the beastmen on edge.

Suddenly, pools of darkness appeared beneath them...

The battle had already begun...

Cain didn't need to say anything, as the beastmen reacted on instinct. Rather than staying put, or grouping together, they quickly jumped backward to escape the pools of darkness.

Large furry creatures immediately jumped out of the darkness, baring their fangs at Cain and the beastmen...

***

{Blackmane Greyhound}: Level 70(Deadly)

Strength: 800.

Agility: 1,100.

Defense: 400.

HP: 12,000/12,000.

Aether: 8,000/8,000.

Skills: Viscious Blood, Dark Lunge, Dark Claws, Howling Cry.

***

'They seem to be geared towards speed and agility. Will these idiots be able to handle them?'

Cain spotted more than twenty of the Aether Beasts at first glance. He wasn't sure if the beastmen could handle them.

'Either way, I'll just sit back and watch...'

As they all leaped out of the way, they were able to avoid being surrounded by the {Blackmane Greyhounds}. Now, the rabid Aether Beasts were trapped in a circle created by the beastmen.

Skidding to a stop, the beastmen had grim looks on their faces and passionate fires in their eyes.

The {Blackmane Greyhounds} also turned around to stare at the besstmen with their black soulless eyes.

Gary immediately began barking out orders,

"Cal, Ross, Davy... Take forward, the rest of us will kite the bastards!"

"Roger!"

Three of the beastmen suddenly stepped forward. Cain smiled...

These were the beastmen he had recommended to take a more defensive route for their future growth.

Charging at the Aether Beasts with their shields, these men were prepared for the worst. The {Blackmane Greyhounds} let chilling howls loose as they pounced on them.

All hell broke loose...

Two of the Aether Beasts that had managed to escape being encircled lunged at Cain who had chosen to sit the battle out, as killing the {Blackmane Greyhounds} would do nothing for him in terms of stats and system points.

Seeing them approach him with evil intent, Cain smiled lightly. A sword of gold suddenly appeared out of thin air and pierced through the head of one of the creatures, killing it on impact.

The second Aether Beast tried to stop, but it was impossible for it to kill its momentum when it was already this close. Surprisingly, Caib didn't kill it. Instead, he grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and smashed it face-first into the ground.

The ground shattered unto the weight of the blow, and blood flowed down the creature's snout and forehead. Other than that, it was mostly alright.

Throwing it to the ground, Cain leaned against the body of the unconscious beast.

'Now... Where were we?"

The beastmen continued to fight skillfully. Although they suffered injuries, they didn't give up. Cain was impressed by the ways they used their Ki as well.

Some of them chose to use ranged weapons like bows and arrows or javelins, while others fought with melee weapons.

The lead tank held no weapons, but he had one of the huge tower shields Cain had made specially for the battle with ten {Blood Abominations}. The Ki Plundering Technique he was good at the most was the {Garment of Chains}. However, the way he applied his Ki made it more suitable for defense either than attacking.

Cain had advised that beastman in particular to use one stack of the {Titan's Hand} and two stacks of {Beast Heart} runes. This way, his potential would shine greatly.

Sure enough, that beastman was like an unmoveable wall. His center of gravity was well grounded, and it was rather difficult for the {Blackmane Greyhounds} to move him despite having more strength than he had.

The rest also performed very well. It was only a matter of time before all the Aether Beasts fell...

"So... exhausting..." One of the beastmen said as he fell to the ground, completely exhausted.

Cain waited for a bit so they could catch their breaths,

"You all did well." He started.

The beastmen turned to stare at him with twinkling eyes. To receive praise after all their troubles was very soothing.

"Of course! These black mutts have nothing against us!"

"Yeah! Despite how scary they looked, all they could do was give us a few scratches."

"Yes, Boss! We aren't weaklings anymore..."

An evil smile stretched across Cain's face,

"So well, that I think we can go for a couple more runs without breaks since you all are so strong now."

The faces of the beastmen paled...

Haru cleared his throat and stared at Cain with wobbly knees,

"Um, boss... We are actually very tired from-"

Cain snorted, "The harder you all train, the more Ki you will be able to absorb. Okay, that's enough talk! Let's move!"

Not giving them any more time to recover, Can began moving. During this time, the {Dark Soul} had mapped out most of the basin's area. All that was left was to explore it.

'There are a few strong beasts here that will give me a decent amount of contribution points...' The grin on Cain's face became wider.

Soon, the basin became filled with the howls and cries of the {Blackmane Greyhounds} and the beastmen following Cain.

Once their injuries became grave, he would provide them with quality HP regen potions, or he would simply use {Blood Restitution} on them.

***

Standing in front of a shelter, Jemny leaned against a wooden post. She and Ignis had just come back from a hunt.

'Level 99, finally...'

Both Ignis and Jenny had finally managed to reach Level 99. This meant they were just a step away from Tier 1, just like Cain. They had also brought back a ton of Aether Beast meat.

Ignis was seated cross-legged on the ground beside her muttering to herself...

"I haven't recovered to my peak yet. It still seems so far away..." With a sigh, Ignis opened her shut eyes and I crossed her legs.

Then she turned to face Jenny who had an empty look on her face. Seeing that Ignis was finally done, she stretched out a hand which Ignis took.

"You've reached Level 99 as well?" Ignis asked.

Jenny smiled and nodded, "Yeah. It wasn't easy though..."

Ignis snorted, "Of course it wasn't. How many beings do you think can reach this threshold in one piece?"

Jenny didn't know how to respond to that, so she stayed silent. Letting out a sigh, Ignis continued,

"Still, this is only the first step."

Jenny became curious, "So how does one become Tier 1?"

Ignis spoke seriously, "That is done by purchasing a Totem of the Order from the system. However, those things cost a heart-wrenching amount is system points, so it's best jot to think about them from now...

Jenny sighed, "I guess you have a point."

Then a complicated expression appeared on her face, "Where is he now?"

Ignis shrugged, "He's close. Seems like he went out to hunt as well. Ah! There he is..."

Turning around, Jenny saw Cain walking towards the camp with ten beaten-down beastmen following behind him. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what happened to them.

***

A/N: Special Mass release of chapters incoming!!!! Just like last month, special chapters will be released till the end of the month. If we can meet the goal by the end of the month, I plan to release an extra chapter every day for the first ten days.

Conditions: GIFTS!

Yes, people... Your gifts and active use of coins motivate me to write more and more of this book I'll seem to enjoy so much. So... Here's how we are gonna do it

Gifts worth 1000 coins: 3 extra chapters.

Gifts worth 2000 coins: 6 extra chapters.

Gifts worth 5000 coins: 15 extra chapters.

I really appreciate the continuous support. From the bottom of my heart. These gifts go a long way. Cheers!

P.S: Gifts higher than 5000 will also be factored in depending on if I have the time or not. For gifts below 1000, I'll try to sum up collective gifts to make it up. If it doesn't reach the mark, I'll still release an extra chapter by the end of the month...