God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.
Chapter 959 - 959: Taking Inventory.

Resting his back against a wall, Cain skimmed through another book.

Since he was already here, he decided to stay a bit and scan through Steve's collection for a while.

His mind was able to process details at high speeds, so even if the book was voluminous, he could go through it quickly and still remember the contents.

In Steve's small library, most of the books were related to alchemy, toxicology and a bit of mysticism.

Although he didn't know much about mystiscm, Cain could infere from what he had learned so far, that it involved borrowing power from strange entities or beings to activate spells, possibly through rituals and special incantations.

A rather common example of mystiscm was Divine mystiscm, something he had witnessed already with Celestials being able to possess the bodies of their champions.

It was rather interesting, but he didn't think he had what it took to practice that form of magic. After all, to take something, one must be ready to give up something else in return.

Stillz it was interesting to read, at the very least.

"By the way, when was the last time you spoke to Eva?" Seated with his legs folded on his chair, Steve tilted his head back and asked.

Cain paused his reading and looked up. He raised a brow,

"Yesterday. Why?"

Steve was silent for a moment then answered with a wry smile,

"Actually, that witch was here yesterday as well."

"Is that so..." Cain muttered as he resumed his reading.

Steve nodded,

"Aren't you a bit curious to know what she did here?"

Cain shrugged, "Not really."

Steve huffed,

"Since you are so curious, I'll tell you."

'But I just said I wasn't curious.' Cain thought to him.

Steve cleared his throat,

"She came over to drop this. Said you might be interested."

Steve flicked his wrist. Something flew through the air towards him. Cain frowned and reached out, grabbing it out of the air.

When he opened his clenched fist, he saw a strange Ruby like gemstone that resembled a crystalized drop of blood.

"What is this?" He couldn't help but ask.

"I'll admit, I didn't want to hand it over just yet. But seeing as you are reading that book... Anyway, it contains a portion of the Blood Moon Goddess's divinity. You'd want to take a look if you want to know more about mystiscm." Steve said seriously.

Cain frowned.

Although he wasn't that interested in mystiscm, he was rather interested in divinity.

"Divinity, huh. The dividing line between mere mortals and gods..."

Steve chuckled,

"It is really nasty stuff."

According to the system, every being with life within the confines of the universe possessed divinity.

However, only gods could harness it.

What made the Celestials the most powerful race in all of existence, was their innate ability to harness divinity from other creatures."

Of course, this ability was not limited to them, but while all Celestials were gods, not all gods were Celestials.

There was a rather big difference between the two.

Cain frowned,

'In theory, I can become a god as well. But...'

He rolled the gem between his fingers.

This divinity... was rather difficult to describe. And since it was so difficult to describe, it was also difficult to understand its nature.

No. Difficult was a rather large stretch. It was more along the lines of impossible...

But with his understanding of the {Eternal Sunflame}, he could see himself getting some understanding of it in the future.

'All that is still far ahead. No need to rush it.'

He put the gem into his inventory and placed the book down.

As he got up, his joints made loud crackling sounds as they popped back into place.

Steve turned to him,

"Leaving so soon?"

Cain smiled, a bit sinisterly,

"No. I'm not leaving yet."

Steve raised a brow,

"Then where are you going?"

Cain chuckled,

"You'll see."

"I'll see?" Steve raised a brow, not yet understanding.

Without saying another word, Cain grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up.

"Whatever you are doing now can wait. Onto the main reason I came here."

Dangling in the air by only the nape of his shirt, Steve grimaced as he stared at Cain's menacing grin.

"You know... You look really terrifying right now."

Cain shrugged, "Is that so... Well, it will all work out. For now, I need you to show me the storage units."

Steve furrowed his brows,

"Storage? What do you need to see that for?"

Cain shrugged,

"I need to take stock of a few things."

What he didn't tell Steve though, was that he was looking to grab a few things as well.

Steve's eyes narrowed,

"Oh, really... Then you wouldn't mind telling me what you need to take stock of, right?"

Cain shrugged again,

"This and that. Also, that's none of your business. Now lead the way." Cain said as he dropped Steve to the ground roughly.

Steve clicked his tongue,

"How tyrannical."

Despite saying that, he yawned and stretched his arms,

"I'll show you where the good stuff is." Steve said with a strange grin as he waddked over to the door.

Cain sighed and chuckled,

'Why does he look like he's having more fun than I am?'

Steve led Cain to another room. This time, it took them quite some time to navigate through the network of hallways, doors and rooms.

Eventually, they arrived in front of a rather large room.

"This here contains most of the previous materials and ores we've managed to unearth so far."

Cain nodded,

'Maybe I will find what I'm looking for in here.'

Steve narrowed his eyes,

"By the way—"

Cain shook his head,

"I really am going to take inventory of all our resources."

Steve huffed, "You are planning something, aren't you..."

Cain paused for a moment then nodded,

"Yes. But first, I need to have a good understanding of our current state. That includes resources, as well as food, water and mana shard reserves."

Steve strikes the hairs on his chin,

"Is that so... In that case, don't let me get in the wa—ack!"

Grabbing Steve by the collar again, Cain proceeded to step into the room.