God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The creature was a strange thing to see, despite being burnt beyond recognition. Standing beside the creature, covered head to toe in blood, was Blaze.

His gallant posture, spear in hand, as he stood over his dead victim impressed Cain.

"Alright, that should be the last one of these annoying things. We should be heading –"

Steve\'s words died in his throat.

He stammered, "C-Cain?!"

Cain gave him a small smile,

"Looks like you guys are out here having a lot of fun."

Steve let out a sigh, "I thought I was seeing a ghost."

Cain frowned, "I\'m not dead yet, you idiot!"

Before he was able to say anything else, a shadow was cast over him, and he was tackled to the ground.

A big, sloppy tongue licked him all over.

"S-stop it, Ruby! I\'m dying!"

\'Master! You\'re back!\'

Cain finally got out from under the giant Mutant Bear. His face was scrunched up a bit,

"Of course I am. Did you expect me to die to?"

Cain\'s eyes trailed all over his contacted beast. He was more than a bit impressed.

She had grown quite big since he last saw her.

In fact, she was collosal now. Even he was knocked down by her charge.

\'I\'m glad.\' A small smile made its way into his face as he gently caressed Ruby\'s silky fur, causing her to wag her small tail with joy.

\'Hmm... She looks far for threatening too. What has she been eating?\'

He had neglected her for some time now. Perhaps he would start taking her everywhere from now on.

Ignis appeared from behind and lightly tapped on on his arm. A small smile appeared on her beautiful grey face,

"When did you get back?"

Cain grinned, "Just a few minutes ago."

Vincent got up from the ground with shaking legs,

"Not before terrorizing me! You damned Pirate!"

Cain ignored him and turned to Steve who had a contemplative look on his face.

He raised a brow,

"What are you thinking about?"

Steve turned to look at him and sighed. He turned to look at Blaze who had a look of disinterest in his eyes,

"Are you sure thos isn\'t a ghost?"

Blaze snorted, "What? You want me to poke it with my spear?"

Steve nodded vigorously.

Cain was overcome with the urge to smack both of them upside down.

He sighed, "Enough nonsense."

He looked around, "Looks like you guys have been really busy in my absence."

Steve had a smug look on his face,

"Of course we have. Managing a large crew and keeping all these idiots alive is no small job, so I expect to be paid handily in mana shards, or better yet, lost pieces of magical literature."

He paused,

"By the way, we should be returning to the ship now. Wouldn\'t want to be caught on here by that thing."

The others seemed to agree as well, the playful air around them vanishing as they became cautious.

Cain raised a brow curiously,.but decided to keep his questions to himself for the time being.

He smiled, "Hold on a second."

With a thought, Cain activated {Spatial Jump}, pulling all of them with him.

They materialized from torn space a brief moment later.

Vincent tried to throw out the contents of his stomach once again, but was unsuccessful this time. Dry heaving whilst leaning against tej railing, he silently cursed Cain.

Ignoring his, Cain moved over to Steve,

"We have a lot to discuss, you and I..."

Steve smiled, "Indeed we do. Before that, you need to announce your arrival. As the captain of the ship, it is only fair you are received with fan fair, after all."

Cain waved dismissively,

"Sure, sure. But that can wait. What I want to discuss is rather urgent."

Steve raised a brow, "How urgent?"

"It is a bit complicated."

Cain suddenly asked, "By the way, where are the others?"

Steve looked confused for a moment, before a glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes,

"They aren\'t dead if that\'s what you\'re worried about. Sue, Li and Stan went out on a mission to gather mana shards and gaun combat experience. The same with Leah, Roselle, and the rest of the beast girls."

Cain nodded, "I see... Looks like you all really have been busy."

Steve hummed, "Not as busy as you have been, it seems. Let\'s go."

Steve led Cain into his room, which had been furnished to his tastes.

Cain was rather impressed. There was even a small library of books Cain had no idea where they had come from. Picking up one at random, he read through it.

\'Potion making, huh... He seems pretty interested in that stuff.\'

Steve took a seat and summoned a flask from his inventory.

Placing the flask on the table, he also pulled two cups out of thin air.

Cain raised his brows,

"Where the hell did you get all these things?"

Steve replied smugly, "My methods must remain a secret, I\'m afraid."

Cain chuckled. Steve poured them some of the hot liquid from the flask into the cups before dismissing it. He leaned back into his chair and took a sip,

"So... What is our situation?"

Cain picked his own cup up as well. The liquid was an odd shade of green. Suspicious, he took a sniff of the liquid,

\'A bit of a floral note, but surprisingly odorless. What is this?\'

Cain finally relented and took a sip. Hos eyes shot up,

"What is this?"

Steve grinned, "A rather satisfying concoction I\'ve managed to brew myself. It\'s pretty good, right?"

\'Sweet, but not too much. It tastes like vanilla and lavender with hints of mint. What is this?!\'

Clearing his throat, Cain stared Steve in the eye,

"We can discuss about this tea later."

Steve laughed wryly, "Sorry, sorry."

Cain cleared his throat again,

"Before that, I\'d like to know what has happened here? There doesn\'t seem to be plenty changes over all, but I\'d like to hear it from you."

Steve\'s expression turned serious,

"It is as you have said. There weren\'t any major unheavals over the past month. For the most part, the people onboard have managed to become more cohesive. Now, most factions have been abolished, and the Rifts caused from worshiping different gods is not as wide as it had been before."

Cain nodded in satisfaction, "Things seem to be looking good on that front."

Steve took a sip from his cup,

"They are. Our main issues, though, come from the Mutant Creatures that attack us from both land and sea."

Cain nodded, "I\'ve heard something from Vince. Apparently, it\'s rather serious."

Steve grinned, "It is, but for the most part, it isn\'t something we can\'t manage. Granted, we\'ve lost a decent number of lives to sneak attacks."

Steve paused for a moment, his eyes drifting into the distance,

"We had a few outposts scattered around the shoreline for some time, but we had to get rid of them, as the monster attacks were getting too frequent, and the fighters couldn\'t quite keep up with the overly aggressive nature of the Mutant Beasts."

Cain nodded in understanding,

"I see."

He brought his cup to his lips and savored the taste of the marvelous tea.

Steve shrugged, "That\'s basically it. We\'ve managed to get by so far, and we have amassed a rather frightening number of mana shards. Occasionally, the Mutant Creatures decide to mount a coordinated effort, but the true players in the game usually don\'t leave their nests, so its been peaches and daisies so far."

Cain raised a brow, "Real players? Nests?"

Steve nodded, his expression a bit grim,

"Ah, yes. I almost forgot to tell you. There are plenty dens of Mutant Creatures littered across this place. Food is limited, and in order to survive, they seem to have evolved into developing the necessary traits to live in packs and groups. There are outliers, obviously, and these creatures are strong enough that, they don\'t need any help procuring their daily meals. Those are the really scary ones we\'ve managed not to attract so far."

Cain was more than a bit curious now. He leaned in,

"Oh, really? You\'ll have to tell me more later."

Steve shrugged as he took a sip from his cup,

"Sure. As long as you promise not to do anything stupid like go looking for them."

Cain smiled, but didn\'t say anything."

Steve sighed, "Now then... Didn\'t you say you have something important to discuss?"

Cain nodded. Then paused...

He took a moment to collect his thoughts before he began,

"City Z is in ruins, almost completely overrun by Devils and Aether Creatures."

Steve sighed as he put down his cup,

"I figure as much. I suspected there\'d be only Devils, but Aether Creatures, and not Mutant Creatures? How so? If that is the case, then how did you manage to survive this long? Did you enter the City?"

Cain grinned,

"It\'s a bit more complicated than you think..."

***

Once he was done explaining everything to Steve, Cain leaned back and sipped on his now cold tea. While it wasn\'t as enjoyable, he still lived the flavors dancing on his tongue.

Meanwhile, Steve had descended into a spiral,

"This... This is insane. So those damnable Celestials have already begun to plant their roots into our world, huh... And then, there\'s also the Devils, and snow, Aether Beasts to worry about. This... Is something else, huh."

Cain sighed, "Either way, that is the gist of it."

Steve was silent for a moment before his eyes narrowed,

"And I am guessing you are telling me all this because–"

Cain nodded. His face turned a bit dark, and a his tone grew ominous as he spoke,

"Indeed. I plan on taking over the Dome of Sands. Well, not just the Dome of Sands, but City Z eventually."