God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The wind blew his hair back, turning it into a flowing river of black.

Cain sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the cold air.

The {Argent} let out a screech that cut through the night like a sharp fang.

The distant moon bathed the land below a soft silver. Yet, the darkness was oppressive, shrouding everything like a cloak.

Cain muttered to himself,

"There's certainly been an improvement."

After the Second Trial, he had decided to come out here to perform a few tests.

The first and only test he had performed for the moment, was a test to observe the changes {Divine Essence of Metallurgy} had endured.

The changes were distinct and rather significant.

For one, the very nature of the skill had undergone a few adjustments.

Not only had he able to create constructs from concentrated metal attribute mana, he could also control any object or material with metallic properties.

However, there were limits to it. Previously, his ability to influence weapons made with metal that had been influenced with foreign forms of magic in the form of enchantments and protection runes had been close to nothing.

The change has made it so that it was not possible, albeit within reasonability. Depending on the strength of the runes that were inscribed into the weapon or piece of equipment as well as his understanding of it, he would be unable to do anything.

But so long as he did, controlling it remotely wouldn't be a problem.

Cain felt his heart thump excitedly at the possibility.

Creating a deluge of swords, or a storm of sharp spears and sickles would not be undoable then.

Also, his ability to transmute the metallic materials from one phase to another had also gone up a notch. Now, turning hard metals into a puddle would be as easy as sneezing, although it would be a bit more difficult on enchanted materials.

However, because this possibility existed, that meant there was room for improvement in that aspect for the future.

He looked down, his eyes scanning the desolate world below.

A dark shadow darted through the shadows, scaling over broken walls and leaping great distances with ease.

Cain's eyes narrowed.

A golden spear manifested in his arm.

Steadying himself, he took a throwing stance.

Pivoting with his hips, he let the spear fly.

There was a loud bang as the sound barrier was absolutely obliterated.

Obviously, his physical proportions has ballooned after he had ascended to the second Tier, thanks to all the free attribute points he had accumulated. Upon distributing them, his stats had become more robust.

When he ascended a Tier, his contracted creatures had also ascended a Tier as well, meaning the {Argent Amphithere} was now a Tier 2 creature of terror.

It was strong enough to remain relatively steady despite the raging force behind Cain's throw.

The spear Cain threw turned into a screaming beam, accurately striking the chest of the darting shadow.

An explosion of viscera and broken flesh wetted the empty ground.

The creature, a {Black-mouth Crawler}, had been killed instantly.

Cain snorted.

This area, stretching out rather far, about a two kilometer radius, was the territory of these disgusting, wretched things.

So, far, they had smoked out a few dens of them consisting of no more than a hundred in each. However, he was still not satisfied.

'I still have a few things to test out.'

Working out the kinks of {Divine Essence of Metallurgy} had taken him some time, but he had finally gotten it.

'It was a blanket increment. A significant boost, but no significant changes. I'm happy with that.' He said to himself.

Sitting down on the back of the {Argent Amphithere}, he considered the next ability to check out.

His mind immediately went to the ones he had acquired in his last trial.

***

{Eternal Sunfire}: "The source of the Eternal Sunfire is Eternity itself. It will burn forever, fueled by the void and the emptiness within."

{Sunflame Body Tempering Rune}: Grants host the skill, Sunflame Body Tempering Technique.

{Sunflame Body Tempering Technique}: Makes use of the power of the Eternal Sunfire to gradually improve the physique of the host until it is comparable to that of a Celestial Being.

***

He could acquire {Eternal Sunfire} passively for the time being. The only way to get a drastic amount and increase his maximum capacity at the moment would be to absorb the {Core of Annahiliem}, which he would rather hold on to for the time being.

'In that case, I should try the {Sunflame Body Tempering Technique}.'

The Sunflame had been infused into his bones, becoming a part of him. His bones were harder than diamonds.

Now, he could refine his flesh, blood, and organs with the Sunfire.

'What changes will they create?' Cain said as he activated the ability.

Activating it was instinctual to him. Although it hadn't been a long time in reality, to him, he had spent an eternity decoding the secrets of the Sunflame.

He sucked in a deep breath, then let out a foggy breath from his lungs, expunging the putrid air within his body.

He closed his eyes.

Golden flames began burning on the surface of his body the moment he closed his eyes, forming complex patterns that converged and intersected at various parts to form complex runes and sigils.

A moment later, his brows twitched.

Wafts of smoke began pouring off him.

The scorching heat and energy made the {Argent Amphithere} uncomfortable, almost causing it to lose balance.

Cain immediately broke out of his trance, then frowned,

"This isn't going to be easy."

His brows furrowed as he considered,

'For one, the heat produced is simply too much. Not only is the process rather uncomfortable for me, it will also put a significant burden on anyone surrounding me.'

His eyes narrowed, 'Not to mention the downsides. Using this thing to refine my body means I will be killing myself. In order to prevent that, maybe I should control the output so I can keep it active for longer, thereby making it sustainable...'

Cain pondered for a bit before concluding that this would be the best course of action to follow.

The golden flames around his body subsided but didn't vanish completely, instead leaving rather faint golden markings all over Cain's body.

If one didn't look close enough, they would thing they were just ordinary runes.

'By keeping it perpetually active, not only will the consumption of Sunfire be lower thanks to the passive recivery, it also won't put that much of a strain on me and my environment. A win win...'

Cain nodded in satisfaction.

Now that he was done with that, he quickly moved on to the next thing also involving the {Eternal Sunfire}.

Incorporating it into his magic spells.

He mentally rubbed his hand together.

'This is going to be good!'

***

A while later...

Cain calmly put away {Maelstrom} like he had not just put multiple fist sized holes in the chest of a large {Black-mouth Crawler}.

He lightly tapped his crossed knees with his fingers,

"How truly fascinating."

Although there was nothing currently before him, he appeared absolutely bewildered.

And that was because he had made another discovery.

Obviously, he had tried using the{Eternal Sunfire} with the {Infernal Celestial Arts} like any regular person would have.

He had observed things contrary to his expectations.

For one, he had assumed that the Sunfire would simply add another attribute to the {Flame Orbs} and {Imploding Stars} he created.

However, his hypothesis had been wrong.

Instead of doing that, the Sunfire had completely eliminated the flame element within his skills, replacing it in its entirety.

And the best part about this, was that doing so didn't consume more Sunfire from his coffers.

Instead, it consumed the flame element, turning it into Sunfire.

The only downside to this, was that there was a significant bump in the amount of mana consumed by the spells.

He raised his hand and stretched his fingers out.

The Mana flow patterns turned turbulent for a moment and the ambient mana began gathering until an orb of condensed swirling flames had gathered.

This skill was similar to a {Flame Orb}, but there were a few striking differences.

For one, the orb of flames was a mix of flaming orange, and a golden tint.

The second, was that it was far hotter than a regular {Flame Orbs}.

'The increase in potency should be rather significant.' Cain thought to himself.

Coincidentally, he caught a hint of movement in the distance.

Without even looking, he let the orb float to his fingers. Then with a flick, he turned it into a beam of light, sending it flying.

The {Black-mouth Crawler} galloped wildly, its black tongue dragging behind as it pulled on the enormous body of an Aether Beast it had just hunted down.

It was already salivating at the thought of digging its fangs and claws into the meat, tearing into it voraciously and eating to its heart content.

Its sharp senses caught sight of something.

But the moment it became aware, it was already over.

An orb of flames fell onto its body, consuming it in a moment, turning it into a golden conflagration.

In a moment, there was nothing but ash and brittle bones.

It didn't even have the chance to scream before it was killed.

Cain's eyes widened.

He let out a long whistle,

"Well, damn."