God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Their one hour break quickly came to an end and they quickly went back to slaying the creatures of darkness within the cove.

As they continued their slaughter through the darkness, they rapidly approached their goal, getting even more and more proficient in killing the beasts.

Whenever there was an opportunity for rest Cain took it and worked on the skill that would mend his spirit.

He was not the only one busy too.

Steve tapped his chin, staring at the eyeball of a beast he had killed a few hours ago.

It was called the {Blue-Eyed Waterhog}, and it had been a subterranean creature that had burrowed its way oit of tje ground to attack them. Because he had been the one to slay it ultimately, he kept the creature's body for himself.

As he observed it, he realized more and more...

"There truly is no pattern behind this magical evolution."

After thousands of years of scientific discovery and innovation, humans had ultimately agreed that a pattern for evolution exists, and for each result, there eas a corresponding reason..

For example, some creatures evolved to have wings so they could fly, some developed a form of camouflage to evade predators, or to hunt better, some developed echolocation which gives them an edge on the food chain, and aome had great sight or smell.

There was always a reason or traceable need for their changes.

However, after hours upon hours of cutting into and studying countless mutant creatures, Steve had come to the conclusion that the changes brought about by mana were for the most part, random.

Sure, some of them could have reason. However, there was no reason for a creature that dwelt in absolute darkness like the (Blue-Eyed Waterhog}, to possess eyes that gave it such excellent vision.

He shook his head,

'Althought, the excellent vision is just a plus. The main advantage is that it can also see heat signals. An excellent utility in a world of darkness.'

Maybe the incredible vision was just by the way. But there was no reason for it. The {Blue-Eyed Waterhog}.

'And then, there is the issue of skills and abilities. Where do they come from? To the creatures develop them? Or are they gifts from the system?'

As they walked forward, he looked around him.

The biome of this world itself was rather strange. It was not that unexpected that the creatures down here would be even stranger...

He frowned.

He was a girl believer in change.

He was also of the opinion that every change has a reason and an end goal. A fire did not start for no reason. There was always a cause.

As such, because of the existence of said fire, the effects were all but guaranteed.

But the evolution of these creatures, besides the presence of mana, seemed to have no reason.

Why were they being mutated into abhorrent, terrifying, horror-inducing creatures that would rather destroy their target than survive, almost to the point of madness?

It went completely opposite to the end goal of evolution, which was survival.

Hence...

'Can it truly be called evolution?'

He recalled the conversation he had had with Cain and Vincent.

'Theie end goal is to become like the Celestial Beasts, Divine Creatures of the Heavens, just like we aspire to become like the Celestial Deities as well. A tall dream, by a dream nonetheless...'

Frankly, he didn't buy it.

He firmly believed that for the most part, these things didn't think..

Then again, he had just encountered a creature with a mind powerful enough to trap their entire cohort in an illusion completely undetected.

He shivered lightly, partly due to the freezing cold, and partly due to fear.

'Scratch that. There things definitely do think.'

So if they were capable of thought and they did think, then why? Why did they constantly throw their lives away all for the sake of a taste of human flesh? What was the reason behind their frantic, mad behavior? Was human flesh so enticing? So much so that they would go mad over it?'

He didn't think that was the case.

'The reward should match the risk.' Every thinking being knew this.

He shook his head, casually rolling the gem-like eye between his fingers

He would never understand it, never know it...

Because he was not a Beast, and he would never be a beast.

His thoughts drifted, 'Perhaps I should ask Hunter...'

He quickly threw that thought away.

A call came from Cain who had stopped in his tracks.

Steve raised a brow, "What's the matter?"

Cain responded, "There's a band of something new up ahead. Get ready..."

Steve felt his heart thump,

"Something new, you say?"

Cain nodded, then frowned,

"Just after this bend. They are camping at the bank of the stream, eating a..."

His frown turned a bit ugly,

"Eating a Skyray."

Li grimaced, "I guess we should be worried then."

Lukas sighed then glanced at Steve, "Hey, the panacea..."

Steve smiled lightly and produced a few vials from his inventory before handing them out.

"After this use, we are down to just one each. After that, we leave this place, or we'll have to directly ingest Cain's blood, although I don't know which would kill us first."

Cain snorted, "Alright, that's enough."

He turned to Lukas,

"Looks like you two will be the star of the show for this fight, they are darkness element creatures."

Lukas calmly brandished his sword, his demeanor oozing pride and ego.

Zue adjusted his glasses, his expression remaining cool and deadpan, although it was easy to tell he was just as excited and prideful as Lukas.

Seeing all this, Cain shook his head, the corner of his lips twitching with a smile.

He turned to Steve, then nodded.

With a smile, Steve nodded back.

Very soon, they crossed the bend in the path.

There, on the other side of the stream were a group of bipedal creatures, all surrounding the half-eaten corpse {Blood Skyray}.

The creature's themselves weren't large themselves. However, their features were rather fearsome.

For one, from what Steve could see, they have any organs on their heads besides a wide circular maw with rows and rows of bloodied teeth.

They had four sharp appendages protruding from both sides of their bulky upper half which repeatedly stabbed into the body of the Skyray as they sank their teeth into it.

Steve was once again struck by the mysteriousness of magic, of mana.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

With a glance, he had access to the creature's information. But that did little to assuage his curiosity.

He sighed to himself. Even if he might never know, hmeven if he might never understand...

The flames of wonder that burned in his loins like a sickening curse urged him on. To cut these beings open, to study what they were made of, to see the world from their eyes and wonder why they came to be...

A sick, twisted smile stretched the corners of his lips as he retrieved a glove from his inventory,

"Better get me a sample..."