God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 72: Skill Upgrading

Cain was able to create a special formula for the creation of skills... He realized that relying solely on the system wasn't a very wise decision. That was because the system would never provide you with an answer to a question you didn't ask.

What this meant, was that while you might think you've got it all right because you asked the system, there would be many pieces of the puzzle you would miss because you either didn't ask the right questions or didn't ask enough of the right questions.

All these factors could lead to incomplete information that could severely hinder growth.

Luckily for Cain, he was very observant, and he was able to notice all these things. If not, he would just roll with the information provided to him by the system without question.

'And the freaking thing charges so high as well! Fraudulent system...' If there was anything Cain was upset about, it was the way the system took his hard-earned system points just to answer a few questions...

{Replying to host: "..." }

Cain pushed all the inconsequential thoughts away from his head and began to focus...

Just like when he had created {Burst Step}, he began controlling his mana outward. This time, he had to exert greater control over his mana, as what he wanted to do required him to be as gentle and delicate as possible.

In the case of {Burst Step}, he released his mana extremely violently from the soles of his feet to create propulsion. However, in the case of {Mana Blade}, the control of his mana had to be delicate enough before he was able to pull the skill off...

He let his mana slowly leak out of his body. The wisps of mana slowly spread out from his fingertips to form threads of finely interwoven mana.

Cain didn't know this, but the only reason he was able to control mana this freely without suffering any huge backlash, was because of his incredibly strong soul.

As his mana spread out from his body towards the canteens full of incredibly mana-saturated beast blood. However, he realized after a while that he was wasting his time...

He could feel the mana leaving his body, but he didn't know where it was going afterward. Unlike the case of {Mana Blade}, he couldn't come into direct physical contact constantly with the blood in the containers. If he continued the way he was, it would be like trying to walk around blind...

'What do I do now? To be able to control the mana, I need to see what I'm doing.' Cain realized this quickly enough. However, because of {Mana Heart}, he didn't need to worry about Mana consumption.

"If only I had a skill that would enable me to" As though he had seen the light, it clicked inside his head instantly...

'It seems as though lady luck has decided to grace me with her presence today.' Cain suddenly began giggling softly. He instantly remember a skill he seemed to have forgotten all about. A skill he had acquired from the now deceased {Devil-eyed White Primate}.

...

{Devil eyes: Eye of Clairvoyance}: Gain crystal clear information on everything that happens all around you in a 100-meter radius when the skill is activated. Nothing can escape your sight within this range.

Cost: 30MP and 1 Stamina point per second.

He currently had 112 points in stamina, so he would be able to last long enough. If the skill was anything like he thought it was, a quarter of his problems would be solved that instant.

Alright... Here goes nothing.'

"Devil eyes: Eye of Clairvoyance," Cain whispered the name of the skill to initiate its activation.

His left eye suddenly lost all the color within it...

Just like that of the {Devil-eyed White Primate}, the whites of his eyes expanded to cover the entirety of his eyeballs, a strange white piercing light enveloping it. Although faint, there were numerous extremely fine runes now engraved onto the surface of his eyes as well.

It was as though a pale-colored flame had invited his eyes. However, this was far from what was happening, because, to Cain, he had never been able to see as clearly as he was doing just now. All his life, he never thought that the world he saw could be so... beautiful.

He was able to see a blanket of colors. These colors created a beautiful ever flowing current of mana that didn't even impede his vision. He was able to see his surroundings with even more clarity than before. He could see everything that was going on inside the gymnasium with utmost clarity.

He could see so many colors, but the most predominant one in his field of vision was red. And that red was radiating from the opened canteens of mana-concentrated mutant beast blood.

The sensory overload was so much, Cain was forced to deactivate it for a while.

"It certainly works..." Cain celebrated in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he steadied his breath once again.

With the skill activated, he was able to see the turquoise-colored pure mana wisps pour out from his fingertips into his surroundings. They spread out for a while before they began to weave themselves into numerous thin threads of mana.

Cain had no idea why that happened, but he decided to just go with the flow.

He mentally commanded the threads of mana to go toward the canteens, which they dutifully obeyed.

This is where things became harder...

Controlling mana required not only willpower and determination but a certain stat called {Magic}...

His magic stat determined how much control he had over his mana. Thanks to his high magic stats as well as the effects of {Mana Heart} and his {Sorcerer's Mind} title, the quantity, and quality of his mana, as well as the control he had over it was incredible for his level...

{Sorcerer's Mind}: Your understanding of mana and magic has reached a new level of enlightenment. +20 points to magic and +1 to magic stat every level up. The creation and learning of spells will be 100% more efficient. +3% to all resistances...

{Mana Heart (passive): Mana pool increases by 2×. Mana is regenerated at 5MP per second. The Cooldown of all skills is reduced by 50%. For every level, +1 extra point to Magic stat.

Grants host the ability to absorb and transform pure forms of mana}.

However, it was still incredibly tasking for him to project his mana away from his body.

His first attempt failed...

He would lose his control over the threads of mana, which would cause them to unravel as soon as they reach a certain distance away from him.

His second attempt was a bust as well...

By the third attempt, he was finally able to get his mana whole feet away from his body and still keep his control over the threads of mana. His stamina was running out, but he was making steady progress...

{+10 to Magic stat}

{+1 to Control stat}

'Hm?' Cain was shocked when he noticed the system prompt that came up within his field of vision.

'Is this another way of gaining stats?' Cain wondered.

{Replying to host: Stats can be gained through various ways to gain more stats, and as the host can see, this is one of them... By exercising the control you have over your mana, your magic, and control stats can be increased}.

'I see...'

By the fourth attempt, he was able to bring his mana to the canteens which he placed about three feet away from himself...

{+5 to Magic stat}.

{+1 to Control stat}.

Beads of sweat constantly rolled down his forehead and temple nonstop. He retrieved a few mana potions from his inventory before gulping them down. The recovery granted to him by {Mana Heart} was unable to make up for the rate at which he was expending his mana.

Hence he had to make up for it with the occasional use of MP regen potions.

On his fifth attempt, he began seeing significant results...

He noticed that he was able to control his mana more. It was like the threads that extended out of his body had become an extension of his being, not something foreign...

He was able to get his mana threads to make contact with the red particles floating out from the canteens before he lost control...

On the sixth attempt, he was able to take it a whole step further. He was able to use his mana threads to manipulate the red wisps of energy, the blood attribute mana.

At first, the blood attribute mana didn't pay his threads of mana any attention. They simply floated about aimlessly.

'What am I going to do now?' Cain wondered as he stared at the ethereal scene playing out before him with the aid of his {Eye of Clairvoyance}.

He controlled the threads, causing them to dance across his fingers like the strings of a zither.

{+ 10 to Spirit stat}.

His entire mind was suddenly hit with a hint of clarity. He was able to see the vibrant colors floating all around him much more clearly. His control over the mana in his grasp increased as well. The tiny wisps of blood elemental mana began to gather around his threads of mana.

They gathered so densely that they formed another layer covering the threads.

Cain took a deep breath as he realized that controlling the threads of mana had suddenly become many times more difficult. However, over time, he could feel his consciousness getting used to the strain.

His mind was constantly adapting to the external pressure and was forced to find a way to deal with it.

{+10 to Spirit stat}.

He gathered up all his mental ability, and with one final tug, he dragged the now-heavy chain thread of mana back into his body.

{Congratulations to the host... Your understanding of mana and the elements has greatly increased...}

{+30 to Magic stat}

{+5 to Control stat}.

{+30 to spirit stat}.

{+1 to Ki stat}.

{Your skill, {Blood Ingestion Regeneration} has gone through great changes, and has evolved into the external passive skill, {Blood Regeneration}...}

{Blood Regeneration}(passive): Gather the energy of blood elemental mana to regenerate your lost power. Regenerates 10HP, 2MP, and 1 point of Stamina per second.

Requirements: Basic control over blood elemental mana.

50 stat points in Spirit stat.

***

Cain stared at the message displayed across his vision a bit dumbfounded.

Excitement bubbled in his chest as he suddenly pumped his fist...

"Success!"