God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

\'Oi, oi... Why the hell is he being so nice? Does he want to try killing me again?\' Cain was incredibly suspicious of Azazel\'s drastic change in behavior. While it wasn\'t very obvious, it was significant enough for it to send chills down his spine.

Taking a deep breath, Cain let his thoughts settle down. If Azazel wanted to do anything to him, he wouldn\'t have to go about it covertly or make it complicated due to the sheer difference in power between them.

He quickly moved on to the next category, mana shards or cores...

Despite mana cores being more powerful than mana shards, Cain would be unable to use them, as they contained too much power for him to use. However, if he took a mana shard, it would just end up being a waste. After all, he had a multitude of mana shards at his disposal.

Very few mutant beasts, devils, or other creatures could condense their mana shards onto mana cores. That is why mana cores are so powerful and sought after, as they contain special properties that mana shards don\'t.

While a mana shard was made up of a creature\'s mana congealed within it at death, a mana core was much more complicated. It contained not only the creature\'s mana but also its understanding of mana and the element it used.

As such, using a mana core would always grant one some unique benefits, like skills, understanding of a unique spell, a special weapon, rare equipment, and so on...

Cain stared at the list of mana shards until he got to the bottom. There, a strange-looking orb glowed and revolved around an epicenter. Flashes of lightning raced across its surface, and its peculiar combination of purple and blue swirling energies made it quite pleasant to look at.

"What type of mana core is this?" Cain asked Azazel.

Azazel had a strange look on his face as he stared at the orb of glowing energy, "That\'s strange... I thought I got rid of that thing?"

"Eh? Why would you want to get rid of it?" Cain asked, a bit perplexed.

"That\'s because this mana core comes from a beast known as the {Manticore of Sky Purgatory}," Azazel said with a frown.

"A {Manticore of Sky Purgatory}?" Cain echoed back.

"No... THE {Manticore of Sky Purgatory}. It is a strange beast. I have never seen another beast such as it before, and I have been to countless planets and galaxies." Azazel said, still frowning.

"What makes it so special?" Cain asked.

"Special? No, no, no... It isn\'t very special at all in terms of power. It might be immensely strong for its level and tier and is powerful enough to face a few of those above its tier, but it is no match for me." Azazel said with a proud smirk.

Cain rolled his eyes, "Then what\'s wrong with it?"

"It is its power to control the element of lightning that is so mysterious and frightening. In all my travels, I have never seen a creature with such affinity for the lightning element. If it was left to grow, it would stand a chance at becoming amongst those that are only below the celestials." Azazel said.

"That strong?" Cain couldn\'t help but frown at this.

"Yes... Now, here is the problem... Because of how potent the lightning element within its mana core is, I\'m unable to use it for anything. Using it on myself will have little to no effects, as I am far too strong for it to work on me. I have tried using it to forge equipment, weapons, accessories, and even linking it to magic circles or runes.

However, they all end up being destroyed by the power within that mana core. Hence, I threw it away. I didn\'t expect it to come back here. How is that even possible?" Azazel said to himself.

"Since that\'s the case, you won\'t mind if I take it off your hands, right?" Cain asked with a wide smile.

"Well, I\'d advise you not to take it, then again... I did tell you that you could pick anything you want, so have at it..." Azazel said absentmindedly. With a wave of his hand, the mana core appeared in his hand.

"Remember... You are still too weak to use this. Without a doubt, you will perish if you even think of touching it as you are."

Placing the mana core into his inventory, Cain waved his hand dismissively, "You don\'t need to worry about that. I\'m not stupid."

Cain immediately began choosing his next reward...

The equipment section consisted of many miscellaneous objects. Most of them seemed useless at first glance, while others were either sealed, damaged, or just too strange looking for him to even have interest in them...

Since there were so many, Cain didn\'t want to have to go through the pain of searching through all of them.

"What do you think I should pick?" Cain asked Azazel suddenly.

"Hmm? Well, I do not know your preferences and the nature of the problems you have to deal with, so I won\'t be giving the best advice..." Azazel said.

"That\'s okay..." If he was being honest with himself, Cain could tell that the demon was probably one of the most powerful people in the universe. If he could get advice from him, he wouldn\'t be missing out at all...

"I think you should get this..." Azazel\'s eyes sparkled as he pointed to one of the items on the list.

Following the finger that pointed, Cain stared at the equipment to bring its details out.

***

Draconic Blast Furnace: Used by dragons to forge weapons and equipment with immense power.

***

The blast furnace was covered in intricate designs and dragon-shaped motifs that looked as though they had life in them. It was by no means small as well. Cain doubted it would even fit in his inventory.

"Do not worry about its size. Since you are very in tune with the metal element, I figured it would do you good to learn how to craft weapons and equipment. I am considered a divine blacksmith by many, so I should be able to give you one or two pointers..." Azazel said with a snicker.

"Hmmm... Okay then." Cain immediately agreed as there was no reason for him not to anyway.

\'This means I have one more item to choose...\'

The last item he could choose was a book. Looking at the book category, he saw that there were only five items there...

***

Tome of Spells.

Book of the Blacksmith.

A Compendium of Beasts and Magical Creatures.

The Tome of Weapon and Skill Thesis.

Book of Magical Plants and Herbs.

***

Staring at all five books, Cain was a bit perplexed...

\'I have the [Records of Akasha I] so there is no need for the third and fifth. As for the first one, I don\'t need to learn about spells from a book as I will be able to learn much more from Azazel directly. The same goes for the second one.\'

By the process of elimination, Cain realized he would have to choose the fourth one, [The Tome of Weapon and Skill

Thesis].

"What exactly is this book?" Cain asked.

"Hmmm... Another great choice. This book contains my studies of the relationship between weapons, the body, and skills that are activated by using the body or a weapon as a conduit." Azazel answered patiently.

\'The body and a weapon as a conduit?\' Cain thought to himself.

"Most techniques used in battle are called battle skills and are activated with either a part of the body or a weapon. Regardless of how useful and powerful spells are, they just aren\'t fast enough, especially at lower levels. Low-level spells take time to cast, while low-level skills can be activated instantaneously."

"This is one of the greatest reasons why most do not place their focus on learning and studying magic as it is mainly a means to an end. It is simply used to activate skills for them. Most of those that do study it, end up only studying it half-heartedly."

"This book links sorcery and magic to basic war play. Instead of abandoning your knowledge of the mystic arts, you will be able to. incorporate it into every strike that you make and every strike that you evade, creating a beautiful symphony of metal and magic..."

Azazel\'s words seemed to have a magical effect on him as his heart rate increased with every syllable until his heart was pounding on the walls of his chest.

"You... You have a way with words, don\'t you..." Cain said helplessly as he forced his heart to calm down.

"Hahaha! You aren\'t the first to say that..." Azazel said with a boisterous laugh.

\'To blend magic and metal...\'

Cain was aware of what skills were, and he could say they could be divided into two major categories,

Battle Skills, and;

Complimentary Skills.

Battle skills were skills that would be used in a fight against his enemies. Most battle skills had short cooldowns and could deal a large amount of damage to an opponent within a short timeframe. For example, a few battle skills in his arsenal were {Mana Blade}, {Lightning Edge}, {Hollow Judgement}, and so on...

All these skills didn\'t require too much work and could be activated with but a mere thought. These skills had been bored into his soul by the system as soon as he learned them, unlike spells. Although the system did assist with spell activation, there was still a chance for it to backfire if initiated improperly...

Complimentary skills, on the other hand, were skills that had use outside of battle. His {Eye of Clairvoyance} and {Metal Creation}, which had now been upgraded to {Divine Essense of Metallurgy}, were prime examples.

These skills had numerous uses and were not tied down to just battle...

The fact that he had found a book that would assist him in making all these skills even more powerful sent tingles down his spine.

\'Rewards truly are the penance for suffering...\' Cain thought to himself.

"In that case, I will choose {The Tome of Weapon and Skill Thesis}."

A grand smile made its way onto Azazel\'s face as he nodded his head, "Wonderful!"