God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 423: Time Tells...

Two weeks later...

Cain had finally found some sense of normalcy in his life. For the first time in months, he had gone a few days without worrying about engaging in bloodshed.

Although he enjoyed the hearthrobbing moments, he didn't want to be bathed in blood all the days of his life.

The different squads handled their respective jobs well, almost too well in fact.

Although there were no attacks from the Rift, the Island was attacked periodically by hoards of aquatic and avial Mutant Creatures.

Mutant Creatures were incredibly intelligent. However, they couldn't defeat their instincts. Their thirst for bloodshed often overcame their rationale. As such, they tended to attack places with high human density.

Of course, with Blaze, David, Floki, Calio, and Manny leading the Guard Squad, all these mutant creatures were good for was food and materials.

The reconstruction of the buildings was also on the right path. It would be a stretch to call the entire island habitable. However, a few buildings that had been relatively untouched by the destruction brought about by the apocalypse had already been selected to undergo 'redecoration'.

Steve's talent with magic was truly impecable. Not only did he reconstruct these buildings, he also added a few magical properties by applying various runes and magic circles to them.

He also found a way to repair the lighting within these buildings using Lightning Elemental magic stones.

As for the Hunting Squads...

Although they all managed to return mostly untouched every day, the interference from the followers of the Blood God was getting annoying to the point that Hunter raged about it everyday.

Apparently, defeating them wasn't too hard. However, they were incredibly slippery and only attacked when they were already embroiled in a battle with troublesome Mutant Creatures.

As for the crafting squad, things were going relatively alright...

In a way...

***

Cain stared at the disaster playing out before him with a grim look on his face.

"You girls are useless..."

Cain turned to Sue, "Especially you!"

The girl had a few years at the corner of her eyes as she sniffled. The look on her face showed she felt as though she was being treated unfairly.

Susan glared at Cain, "Be nicer..."

The look of rage in his eyes calmed down a bit. However, it still persisted,

"But I'm just saying... They aren't good for anything. Even these idiots are better than they are!" Cain said, pointing at the ten Beastmen busying away in the corner of the room.

Lin Lin snorted, "It's not our fault. You are the one who asked us to-"

Cain sighed, "Whatever... Just get lost. Go hunt some Mutant Beasts or something..."

Kai gritted her teeth, "You..."

Roselle stopped her from speaking, "It's alright. I won't argue that we aren't fit for this at all. In that case I have a suggestion..."

Cain snorted, "And that is..."

A smile blossomed on her face,

"Since you are our leader, just give us orders. Since we aren't good here, fin something for us to do."

Cain's brows twiched, 'Youblot aren't good for anything!'

He sighed...

'This was a mistake...'

He had made a huge error in judgement. Strength didn't equate usefulness. And these girls standing before him with their heads down were the definition of that ideal!

He had split the group into two squads. He and the ten Beastmen would form one squad, while Susan, Jenny, Roselle, Kai, Lin Lin and Sue would form the other.

The two squads would be on rotation. For a whole week, one squad would be in charge of sourcing materials for crafting, be it from the Hunting or Maintenance Squads, or simply sourcing them personally.

The other squads would then be in charge of the creation of weapons and other equipment itself. During the first week, Cain and the ten Beastmen had been in charge of Crafting the week before, with the girls being in charge of sourcing materials.

That week had gone by smoothly. However...

This week, Cain had suceeded in sourcing different materials needed. With the aid of Pudding, getting metals and magic stones wouldn't be an issue. However, he still needed to hunt Mutant Beasts for their hides, bones, and mana shards.

However, when it came to crafting materials, the Beastwomen, Jenny, and Sue were completely useless...

As such, an entire week went by without any progress.

Cain had to admit. It was his fault. He had placed the job on their heads without giving them any directions or instructions, believing they would figure it out by themselves.

He was wrong...

Gritting his teeth, he stared at his ruined workshop. The {Dragon Furnace} was a mess. Pules of destroyed materials gathered in heaps. The forging instruments he had cherished were all damaged.

'This is a disaster. But it can still be fixed.'

Cain turned to the girls who all had sad looks on their faces.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."

The girls raised their dejected eyes to look at him.

"Is that so..." Roselle said, a smile still on her face. However, the smile seemed a bit forced now.

Cain nodded, "I shouldn't have asked you to do something you had no idea about. It was my fault."

"Boss, you don't have to apologize. It's their fault for not meeting your expectations!" Haru said whilst glaring at the girls. The nine other Beastmen behind him seemed to be fully supportive of him.

Cain shook his head, "No. It's my fault. But this isn't something that can't be fixed."

Roselle's looked interested, "What do you have in mind?"

Cain grinned, "From now on, you girls are the permanent Material Sourcing Squad."

"Boss!"

"That isn't fair!" The Beastmen cried out in outrage.

The only way for them to get stronger is by hunting more Mutant Beast. Without the opportunity of sourcing for materials, they woul be stuck with just crafting materials forever.

"Calm down..." Cain said. Then he turned to the girls,

"What do you say?"

Roselle smiled, "I think taking advantage of our strengths is a good idea."

Cain nodded, "Now then... For your first mission..."

A devilish grin appeared on his face, "Get me..."

***

Walking out of the forge, the girls all had pale faces,

"Demon... He's a demon..." Kai's eyes were surrounded by dark circles.

Sue snorted, "He's not grateful at all. After all the work we did for me. A simple thank you would have been enough! He even yelled at us."

Roselle comforted her, "He did apologize, didn't he?"

"It wasn't enough." Sue sulked.

Cain had asked them to gather materials from creatures that fit a certain criteria, the first criteria, was that their hides should he almost completely impervious to piercing and slashing attacks.

They also had to go after creatures that had earth and water elemental affinities, preferably if they had both for their mana shards.

These were just a few of them...

"Where does he expect us to find all these things?" Lin Lin said with a frown as she stared down at the list on her hand.

A genuine smile appeared on Roselle's face,

"Don't feel down. If he thinks we can't get them, he's grossly mistaken.X

Kai's spirits seemed to be lifted as well,

"Hmph! What does he take us for?! I'll hunt a hundred... No, a thousand if he wants!"

"It shouldn't be too hard. The shores should be littered with earth elemental creatures. Finding the ones with tough hides shouldn't be too difficult." Jenny said.

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's gooo!"

Roselle led them away. Thy all seemed fired up to begin hunting.

Meanwhile...

"You didn't really need to go through all that, right?" Susan said with an exasperated smile tugging on her lips.

Cain snorted, "Those girls are stubborn. They need to be motivated one way or the other."

"Motivation?" Susan said with a raised brow.

Cain waved his hand dismissively as he changed the subject,

"As I was saying..."

He turned to the Beastmen who were sulking in a corner,

"You guys don't need to worry."

Then he smiled, "How about this... We'll get ten hours a day to go hunting. You fools can fight all you want then."

Hearing his words, the sulking Beatmen became lively again,

"Yes! I'll show you all how sharp the edge of my blade is!"

"Hmph! I can shoot a fly down from a thousand miles away with my superior Ki. Don't worry, Boss. I'll cover your six!"

"Don't listen to these fools, Boss. With me around, no attacks shall reach you!"

The Beatsmen flexed their muscles dramatically, trying to sell themselves out. From the look on Cain's face, it was certain their efforts were completely in vain.

Cain frowned at them, "Compose yourself. Alright, back to work!"

"Yes, Boss!"

The Bastmen got back to work immediately. With the effect of the workshop, they were able to work at an incredible pace. Their work mostly consisted of making regular weapons. Because they couldn't use mana, they would most likely be unable to create weapons ranked higher than special grade.

The only reason they were capable of making special grade weapons was thanks to the superior grade of the materials they used.

Swords, spears, arrows, and bullets... They were slowly getting more and more proficient in making them all.

Cain was very satisfied with their progress.

'With these ten, I don't need to worry about the little things at all.'

Cain then turned to Susan who was waiting patiently. It was obvious she had something to discuss with him,

He smiled at her, "Now, then, shall we go?"

The two of them departed from the he forging room...