God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 744: Soul Collector (2).

The battle was brief...

Cain couldn’t help but shake his head,

’Perhaps before fighting that stone monster, you lot would have been a challenge.’

The Highland Orcs were not weak. They also couldn’t be classified as mutant creatures. Instead, they were their own thing, just like how humans were a unique species that could be found all over the universe.

Cain frowned, ’I wonder how all that is possible...’

The ability for the same species to exist across the entirety of the physical reality was information that would probably remain elusive to him for a long time.

He huffed silently then stooped to the ground. The face of the Highland Orc, Kragni, was still twisted in disbelief and rage. However, the musings of the dead were of no concern to him.

The orcs had decided to begin the battle. He also couldn’t feel any compassion for the orc as it had admitted to its clan being responsible for the deaths of countless humans.

However, chief among their offenses was making obscene remarks at Evangeline, Susan, Jenny, and Roselle. That had pissed him off quite a bit.

He pulled the {Soul Collecting Orb} out of his inventory and concentrated a bit. A tan opened up in front of him...

***

{Souls Contained: 0/100}.

***

It showed clearly the number of souls within the {Soul Retaining Orb}, which was an even zero. Then he tried activating the {Soul Capture} skill.

Nothing happened...

He tried again, running through the motions one would usually take when trying to use an unfamiliar spell; have the system do most of the work, then sit back and watch the magic happen.

Again, nothing happened...

He frowned, then looked around. He saw the others bent over the corpses of the orcs they had taken out as well, each trying to do the same.

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He looked back down at the corpse of Kragni, he frowned again,

’I don’t understand. Why isn’t it working?’

Then his eyes widened, ’Do I have to understand the skill before I will be able to use it?’

He shook his head. That couldn’t be it.

’Then, maybe it is because I don’t understand what I am trying to capture yet...’

Most skills and spells in his arsenal were activated using either mana, ki, demon matter, or spirit. There were variations, such as the combination of two or more of these unique energies. However, {Soul Capture} would be the first to require a whole new form of energy. The energy of which souls were made up.

In that case; What is the Soul?

Cain frowned again, feeling discomfort welling up between his eyes.

He had no idea what the Soul was exactly. Some would define it as the root of consciousness, and some would even define it as the basis of all things with will.

However, it could be all and none of those things, perhaps a simple answer, or an elusive, complex paradox no one could explain.

In other words, he didn’t know where to begin.

Just as his thoughts began running wild, he noticed something. There was a light slowly drifting away from the Highland Orc’s forehead. Cain watched it, completely mesmerized. It was white and dazzling, pure and unsullied.

It was a soul...

Cain watched with bated breath as the soul slowly drifted over and into {Soul Retaining Orb}. The counter on the item suddenly changed.

***

{Soul Collecting: 1/100}.

***

’It worked, although it took some time. However, he has no idea what has just happened, which really puts him off. First of all, could this even be described as magic? What kind of mystical, arcane arts allows one to freely come in contact with and engage with souls?’

He certainly didn’t have any clue, and from what he could see, neither did the others...

Unfortunately, there was not enough time to ponder about the mysteries of the soul. They had less than a month to gather a thousand souls each and possibly kill a star. That didn’t seem like a lot of time at all...

He sighed, then got up,

"Let’s get going."

They still had a lot of ground to cover before they made it to the base of the mountain.

The hard ground continued on, and the rocky terrain became more and more hostile as they began to encounter more and more life in this barren world, each more deadly than the last.

Some were nothing more than mindless beasts that had gotten all the way here, solely due to their immense strength. Others were crafty, devious bastards that had come so far thanks to their insidious nature.

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Regardless of motive or prowess, however, Cain used the edge of his blade to cut through all of them. Still, some battles devolved into pure chaos. It was violent and bloody and earned them more than a few injuries and battle scars.

Staring at Roselle who seemed to be holding up just fine despite her damaged arm, Cain couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Ten days had passed since they had come to this bleak world, during which they had encountered and engaged with the strangest and equally powerful beings they had ever met.

Cain couldn’t help but believe that it was a miracle they were still alive.

However, he knew not to count his stars just yet.

He opened up this inventory and pulled out the {Soil Retaining Orb}.

***

{Souls Collected: 67/100}.

***

Over the course of the course of the past five days or so, he had claimed close to seventy souls. It had not been easy, but he had done it. However, it felt like a drop in the ocean. The others were gathered roughly the same as he had.

’At this rate, we’ll never get a thousand kills, much less look for a star to kill.’

The only visible gain they had acquired so far, was the free attribute points that kept pouring in the more opponents they defeated and killed.

Cain could feel himself getting stronger and stronger every day. It was a rather visible climb and it was very welcome.

Regardless, they had finally managed to reach the base of the mountain after so many days of travel. While it hadn’t been that long, it had felt like longer. So far, they had survived on their rations of water and grilled meat. While meat could be found all over the place, water was rather precious here, as there were no water sources nearby.

Standing at the foot of the mountain made it seem even bigger, like a spire that held the sky up, preventing it from falling onto the world.

Evangeline couldn’t help but sigh and shake her head,

"Remind me why we are doing this again?"

Evangeline spoke calmly,

"The mountain is the only visible, possible checkpoint in sight. Heading into it is the only logical choice if we are looking for trouble."

Susan’s face turned grim,

"That doesn’t sound very reassuring."

Evangeline chuckled, "It’s not supposed to be."

Then she turned to Cain,

"So what do you suggest we do now? Do we start climbing?"

Cain stroked his chin,

"We do. Perhaps we can even head up into the sky. Who knows, maybe the stars we are meant to kill are hiding up there."

The mountain was incredibly large. Who knew how long it would take to reach its summit.

’There’s only one way to find out.’

***

A day passed by and they were not making the climb up the mountain. This stretch of mountain was not going to be arduous because its slope wasn’t too steep yet. However, it was still fraught with danger.

Falling boulders, the large dangerous holes in the ground, the occasional terrifying creature popping out of nowhere... All these things were a constant hazard.

Regardless, they pushed through.

That was when things changed.

"Stop." Jenny suddenly said, forcing everyone to stop moving.

Cain turned around, attempting to ask her what had gone wrong. However, he didn’t need to, as the next second, he heard it.

He frowned...

’The sound of battle.’

He looked up, and sure enough, just a few meters ahead, was a break in the slope’s elevation. There was flat ground up ahead.

Cain turned around and signaled for them to be quiet. Then he closed his eyes and opened up the {Beastmaster’s Subspace} to let the {Dark Soul} out.

The Dark Diver swam out and dove right into the shadows. It had yet to recover fully, but it could still function well. It would serve as his eyes for a moment.

The Dark Diver swam up a bit, climbing the shadows that led to the bench on the side of the mountain. The scene playing out there filled Cain with shock.

Evangeline narrowed her eyes, then asked in a whisper,

"What do you see?"

Cain’s face was ugly, "A bloody war."

Jenny pursed her lips,

"What do you mean? Is there a fight going on up there?"

Cain paused for a moment before shaking his head,

"A fight? It can hardly be called that."

He paused for a moment before adding,

"Massacre. It is a massacre..."

A brutal, bloody massacre. Not unlike anything he had ever seen before in all his years.