God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

\'Well, I have to admit that all this wouldn\'t even be possible without a bit of luck and fate tugging at the strings.\'

The way the system worked was very simple, yet complex. You could only get what you sought, nothing more. What this meant, was that if everyone had a system, no two persons could seek the same thing at the same time, in the same order...

This would give rise to an infinite number of possible outcomes. Cain was sure there were some things he was completely unaware of that the others might have already figured out.

For example, the fact that the only person that could summon creatures was Hunter was a very good way to show this theory.

Sure, he could ask the system to provide him with information on how to create summons, but that time had already passed, as he was already on his path, and trying to follow another\'s would be the epitome of foolishness.

Plus, he wasn\'t interested...

Cain stared blankly into free space for some time. Now that he had completed his preparations, he was suddenly left with the rest of the day free to do whatever he wanted. He would have loved to go outside and test his skills on the mutant creatures, but now wasn\'t the time for that.

Right now, he was going to do something he had been putting off for a while.

Opening the Records of Akasha once again...

The last time he had opened it, he had been in-between life and death. He had also acquired his {Mana Heart} skill. Only a few busy hours had passed since that time, so only now, when he had a bit of free time could he settle down and go through its contents.

The first few pages he had gone through contained only a brief description of the major contents of the book. Its contents included detailed information that the system couldn\'t provide him.

Although he had gone through the introductory part, he had not gotten into the details of the book. The book was very thick and its contents were bulky and written in small print. It was written in a strange unfamiliar language that he was somehow able to understand perfectly.

The book contained graphic images and all sorts of diagrams, showing and explaining subjects on runecraft, equipment makers as well as the basics and genesis of skills and spellcraft.

There was also information on basic strange and foreign herbs and plants, stating the various uses and applications of these plants for potion crafting.

The initial pages he had read only contained a rundown summary of all these things, but he had yet to get into the details. Now that he had the time, he quickly opened the book once again.

He opened his status screen and located his inventory in one smooth motion. There, floating between the contents of his inventory, was the ancient piece of literature.

Retrieving it from his inventory, he ran his fingers across the old, yet quality leather material. Opening it, the words, "THAT WHICH YOU SEEK, LAYS WITHIN..." written in fancy bold print with blood-like substance.

Quickly opening the book, Cain flipped through its yellowing pages, right to the last page he had stopped at. The page was the beginning of a chapter that introduced the basic nature of mana, as well as its properties and the various forms it could take in nature.

"Mana can exist in various forms or states in the universe. It can exist as a solid, liquid, gas, or plasma. The possible and impossible are all achieved with the power of magic, which is the direct or indirect application of mana onto the physical world."

"

Mana can exist in various forms or states in the universe. It can exist as a solid, liquid, gas, or plasma. The possible and impossible are all achieved with the power of magic, which is the direct or indirect application of mana onto the physical world."

"The universe is divided into two main parts that are superimposed upon one another. The Physical or material plane, and the spiritual or information plane."

Cain furrowed his brows a bit when he read this, \'Spiritual plane? That\'s new...\'

Completely engrossed, he continued reading, "The truest representation of mana only exists in the spiritual world, and the only way it can exist in the physical world is if it has an anchor to rely on. This is the basis on which all spells, skills, and runes are created upon."

"An anchor is any substance, material or not, that reads the information in the spiritual plane, and directly converts it to an entity that exists within the material plane. Anchors are important because they are the only way in which the physical and spiritual planes can interact with one another.

"Within the spiritual plane, mana exists as an ever-flowing river that contains all the base information that the physical plane is built upon. The physical plane is a mirror image of the spiritual world and will be influenced by every change that happens in the spiritual plane.

Due to this nature, mana, which is the main component of the spiritual plane, is a mysterious, yet wonderful element of creation. It was through this relationship, that the Nomad, the creator of this cosmos, built the physical plane."

"As such, for every change that occurs within the spiritual plane, such a change occurs within the mana in physical as well. However, due to the nature of mana, it can only be controlled in the spiritual plane.

Within anchor as the controller, the mana within the spiritual realm is controlled, which will lead to a corresponding change in the physical realm."

As such, for every change that occurs within the spiritual plane, such a change occurs within the mana in physical as well. However, due to the nature of mana, it can only be controlled in the spiritual plane.

Within anchor as the controller, the mana within the spiritual realm is controlled, which will lead to a corresponding change in the physical realm."

"There are many anchors within the physical and spiritual planes, but the most common and notable one is that which was created by the Nomad itself. The system..."

"The system was created to oversee and govern all the changes that occur in both the spiritual and physical realms. It can influence and create changes according to the intents and purposes of the Nomad. The only anchor that is as common and notable as the system, is the soul.

All living creatures possessed souls, and those souls could be turned into anchors as well if and only if they happen to interact with mana. If not, they will not possess the attributes of an anchor."

"Other examples of anchors include runes, arrays, magic circles, summoning circles, mana shards and cores, devil orbs, and of course, the sacred flames of celestial beings. All these will be addressed in due time..."

Cain was completely engrossed with his reading. The Records of Akasha contained so much vital and detailed information that was completely unexpected to him. He was completely amazed at the nature of the world he lived in.

Before he knew it, he had his nose buried within its pages for hours...

***

"Within the spiritual realm, mana exists as an ever-flowing river. It constantly changes its form and is never stable. It is volatile, and can only be tamed by a profound and durable vessel.

This nature of mana is one of its properties that leads to it possessing so many forms within the physical plane."

"The most abundant form of mana is elemental mana, which is present everywhere in the universe and is the building block of all matter. For matter to be created, numerous forms of elemental mana had to be combined to create special forms of mana called Paraelementals."

"Some very common forms of paraelementals would be molten magma and ice. Molten magma is a paraelemental that is created with the interaction of the earth and firebase elements. As for Ice, it is a paraelemental that is created from the interaction between the water and air base elements.

It is a complex science that contains infinite combinations."

"Paraelementals are the basic building blocks of matter, and can even exist as spells. Paraelementals can only be created by beings with enough affinity with the elements involved.

To possess this affinity, quality, and quantity of mana available, as well as sensitivity to mana are major factors involved."

"There are many ways to increase sensitivity to mana, but the best and most common way of sensing mana is simply meditation. By extending your senses out of your body alongside your internal mana as a vessel, you can interact with the mana in the atmosphere as well as the spiritual realm."

There are many ways to increase sensitivity to mana, but the best and most common way of sensing mana is simply meditation. By extending your senses out of your body alongside your internal mana as a vessel, you can interact with the mana in the atmosphere as well as the spiritual realm."

"There are many other methods to increase mana sensitivity special treasures or mysterious encounters, but the more standard method is finding a way to let your senses expand to your surroundings, alongside mana. It is a process that consumes a lot of MP, and also brings great strain onto the mind."

"Only those with exceptionally powerful soul strength and an affinity for sensing mana can do this. However, these are not the only conditions that are necessary for sensing mana. One also needs diligence as well as the ability to bear great mental pressure."

While Cain was engrossed in his book, time continued to flow in its natural direction.

Sitting on top of the roof of the gymnasium, was Vincent. With his size, one would question how he possessed the ability to scale a building of such height

Regardless, he had somehow managed to do so without difficulty, well, \'much\' difficulty...

Vincent stood on the top of the building gazing into the distant forest. He had one hand scratching his ass, and another curved around his eyes like a scope.

Bouncing within his eyes were runes shaped like crosshairs, with an even bigger rune in place of his iris. His eyes glowed a profound deep ocean-blue color as gazed out into the distance.

"Damn! There are so many of those things!"

The forest, which once was just a normal forest consisting of numerous normal trees and foilage with all sorts of wild creatures and insects called it home. Now, it had turned into a living nightmare, quite literally in fact...

Numerous plantlike entities had appeared within it.

"System, what the hell are those things?" The fatty said into thin air.

He waited in silence for a while, only for his eyes to widen in shock only a few moments later.

"What?! This is bad, like really bad! How the hell are we going to defeat a creature so big?" The brows of the fatty wrinkle up in worry.

From where he was, he was able to see with great clarity just how many of those weird plant structures were within the forest.

"I just hope Cain has a good plan.

Sure, with my abilities, I can see myself escaping from potential danger, but there is no way in hell I would be able to get out of here in one piece." Vincent felt a chill run up his back as he saw the grotesque structures attack, defeat, and completely consume a huge mutant beast in a matter of seconds.

Just as he was about to shift his line of focus elsewhere, his eyes caught sight of something bizarre.

He stood on the spot, transfixed for a while before he blurted out, "What the hell?!"