God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"In three hours, the Second Trial will begin."

The Arbitrator left after those words.

Cain let out a tired sigh.

He sat on the ground and pulled up this status screen.

He was exhausted, but there was not much time for rest.

The trials had just begun.

'How long has it been?'

With the constantly changing environment, and lack of celestial bodies to tell the passage of time, it was difficult to notice it at all without the system's help.

He glanced to the side and saw his timer.

He frowned, 'Could it be broken?'

That would be impossible.

He had set a timer the moment the Trial of Heaven had begun.

He has been scared that there would not be enough time to finish the trials, as it felt like the thirty day limit was fast approaching.

And yet, according to the system, only two weeks had gone by.

His frown deepened.

That didn't make sense.

But it did at the same time, if he factored in one variable.

'Time dilation...'

He shook his head,

'That would explain a lot, wouldn't it...'

He let out a sigh and allowed his eyes to scan the rest of his status.

Hw has gained a ton of rewards in the first trial, the first and most important being the {Warlord} title.

It possessed two latent skills, {Battle Master} and {Field of War}.

'They don't seem very useful now, but they will shine on a larger battlefield.'

The Vagabond Knight was indeed a special existence.

In fact, Cain didn't think the armored figure that sat on the throne of bones at the end of the trial was the real Vagabond Knight.

The suit of armor felt powerful, but it also felt hollow at the same time. Like there was no life behind it.

It had been a rather eerie sight.

He shook his head, then focused on the second most important thing he had gained.

Souls.

Yes, he had collected an obscene amount of souls throughout his journey through the bloody plains.

The souls of the lives he had claimed and those he hadn't.

With there being just wanton slaughter, the chances of all participants being mutually wiped out was rather high.

People like Cain who were lucky to run across such things were the only winners as they could gather the souls with the {Soul Retaining Orbs} with little to no danger to their persons.@@novelbin@@

And after traversing the bloody plains, he had gathered enough.

A thousand souls...

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He took in a deep breath.

He didn't feel great about it, but it was a necessary evil.

Then, there were the other rewards he has gained. Potions, runes, weapons, items, and even free attribute points given by the system were surplus, almost to the point of overfilling his inventory.

'I have to clean up soon.' Cain said, as he stared at the piles forming within his inventory.

He let out a sigh and closed his status screen.

Then he glanced around.

The entire place was rather silent.

Their numbers had been greatly reduced after just a single trial.

What made it worse, was that most people had come in groups. Many had probably had a hand in the deaths of their own comrades. There was a dark silence that hung over the entire place, overshadowing its divine glow and radiance.

He looked behind him.

Evangeline had sank back into the shadows, while the other girls had separates themselves from him and were currently discussing something in hushed tones. It would have been all to easy to eavesdrop, but he chose not to.

He let out a sigh.

His thoughts drifted to the events of the Trial of Slaughter, particularly of all the battles he had participated through.

He still believed the trial at its core, was to test the mental strength of the participants.

However, it was also designed to put their martial strengths to the test as well.

Cain realized his martial skills needed some work.

When it came to combat, his technique was efficient and direct. This in turn made him a bit predictable.

It also didn't help that the weapon he lugges around weighed a literal ton.

The {Lonely Dragon} Warblade was a unique and very effective weapon. But it was also rather heavy. It also had a wide surface area. And while that made things a bit difficult for his enemies, it also made his attacks relatively easy to dodge.

Then, there was the problem of his over reliance on his skills.

His base stats were high, but they wouldn't allow him to compete with the strongest here, even with all his stat boosting skilsl and abilities.

Creatures like Asteron could still easily rip him apart with their bare claws of they wished so.

In the end, he had to work on a few things.

'And then, there's also the lack of spells.'

For someone who prided in his growing knowledge of magic, he had a very limited arsenal of spells.

The {Infernal Celestial Arts} and {Falling Stars of Orion} were the magic spells he relied on the most.

Then, there were spells like {Heavenly Blue Lightning} and {Wind Weaver} he used on occasion.

All these were problems he could address, but he didn't have the time or mental capacity to tackle yet. However, they inhibited him from realizing his full potential in a battle.

A voice called out to him.

He looked up with a frown. Then his face relaxed.

Standing before him was Asteron, the {Wind Drake} and Avalon, the {Cynogryph}.

Both stared at him with semi surprise, as though they had not expected to still see him alive.

"To think a human would survive such terrors. I am quite impressed." Asteron said after a slight pause.

Cain shrugged,

"Well, you shouldn't be."

He shrugged his shoulders and added,

"I'm capable. So what do you need me for."

He was not under any illusions that this celestial beast wannabes had his best interests at heart.

Asteron shook his head,

"We were just surprised to see that you and your team survived. Some others were not as lucky."

Cain narrowed his eyes,

"Is that all?"

Asteron went silent for a moment. Then he sighed,

"No, that's not all..."

The Drake paused for a moment, then stared into Cain's eyes and asked,

"Well, it's not much of a big deal as well."

Cain forced down the urge to roll his eyes,

"There's no need to beat around the bushes so much. Out with it."

They both exchanged a glance. Then Avalon spoke,

"Apparently, there's a rumor going around."

Cain raised a brow, "A rumor?"

He paused, then asked with raised brows,

"Is it about me, or someone on my team?"

Avalon nodded stiffly,

"Well, both."

Cain went silent.

'A rumor? What could it be? It is a good one?'

Judging by the looks on Asteron and Avalon's faces, there was absolutely no chance the rumor was a pleasant one.

Chances were it would invite trouble their way.

Regardless, he had to hear it.

Cain gave Avalon a direct stare,

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know all you know about these... rumors."

Avalon turned to Asteron who gave him a curt nod.

The {Cynogryph} sighed, then turned to face Cain,

"Well, the first rumor might as well be a fact. According to more than a few eyewitnesses, there is someone on your team responsible for a lot of deaths that happened in the first Trial. A lot of people are holding a grudge."

Cain felt his heart grow cold and his eye narrowed,

'Well, things just had to get even worse."