Named chapter #7

1

John’s hands took three weeks to heal. They would have taken longer, but on the third day, when all of the scabbing began to itch and John almost lost his mind, he went to a Kumani rehabilitation center for cellular repair. He might have despised them, but he had to admit that they had much better medicine and technology than humans.

As a result of his rehabilitation, his hands wouldn’t scar. That was good, because he had just got the hang of shooting his bow. At least, he thought he had.

After weeks without practice, he felt like he had never shot a single arrow. His aim was horrible. While using a training bow, he couldn’t even hit the target half the time. The calculating nature of the Lunar Stag bow made it a lot easier to hit his mark, but he didn’t want to rely on such a crutch when he might not always have the bow.

Consequently, he spent an additional three days practicing with a standard bow before he felt he had made up his lost progress. It was necessary, but John felt immense aggravation, nonetheless.

The reason was that their residential quota was threatening to overwhelm them. His extra trips to The Garden weren’t counted towards the next month, so by that time, they were more than two weeks into October. Despite his reluctance, he had sent his mom to meet with Jules.

He had her write a note given his incapacitated hands. It basically explained that John was recovering from a training mishap and that his mom needed an escort outside Emerald Base. He attached an enhanced gene to the note and told his mom the room number.

She had returned several hours later with a note in return. She explained that Jules had gladly agreed to take her on a tame adventure to fulfill The Garden’s requirements after he had been given the enhanced gene. John took the note and studied the message.

Basically, Jules said that he had nearly maxed out on his enhanced genes due to their last adventure. He also said that the people providing the information were happy to hear of their success. Apparently, a major reason for sharing the information, in addition to receiving two enhanced genes from Jules, was in hopes someone could deal with a few of the tough creatures that had been keeping them from further exploration.

John was happy Jules was so willing to help his mom. It was more proof that he had chosen his one and only contact in The Garden well. What he did wonder about was how he could entice the man after he could no longer absorb enhanced ones.

“Might have to throw him a bone.”

John had patiently waited out his healing process, but now it was time to get back to work. Not only were there more high level beasts to hunt, but John had devoted hours each day to going over the course for Lunar Radiance in his mind.

He thought of every obstacle and its position in relativity to the sun. He had tried the course so many times that his mind could summon the imagery almost perfectly. As a result, he knew that after the second obstacle, the sun would touch almost every part of the course that he would need his hands for.

That had led to a lot of speculation about what other unforeseen setbacks might find him as the course progressed. He had obsessed over the specifics until his mind shut down some nights. He recognized the habit for what it was.

His entire life, both of his parents had stressed to him the peril of addiction. Cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, he was warned away from all of it. Not just substance addiction though, his mom in particular had stressed that addiction could take almost any form.

He had seen the truth of the words in gamblers, hoarders, and morbidly obese people he observed throughout his childhood. But the full scope of her words hadn’t become apparent until about a week into his recovery. That was the day that he understood that an addiction could truly be formed on anything.

The reason for his clarity was simple. After being unable to hunt creatures or even work on Lunar Radiance, he understood. It was already too late for him.

He was restless. He was antsy. He was impatient. The only thing on his mind was the day he could return to The Garden. Wether it was hunting for genes or cultivating his soul, John was irrevocably addicted to progression.

2

John’s impatience to return was almost unmanageable but manage it he had. And now was his time. He said goodbye to his mom and stepped onto the shuttle he had arranged.

He found his way through the transition station without issue, though an acceptable amount of bureaucracy was needed. John allowed his wrist its usual scan and when all things were in order, he stepped onto the transition pad. A smile graced his lips at the anticipatory tingle of his body passing into The Garden.

His smile only grew more at home on his face as his view changed to that of his private room. It wasn’t that he had missed the place. Rather, the pile of letters on the floor in front of the door that had been both expected and nervously anticipated.

It was the feeling of serotonin that preceded the gifts he received on Christmas morning. It was the love letter written back to him by his first elementary school crush. It was biting into the Cinnabon and feeling it burst with flavor.

All of those experiences combined into one might have described the ecstatic feeling coursing through John the moment his eyes beheld the pile on his floor. And the reason was simple. Opportunity.

No doubt some curious inquiries had come during the time John was recovering, but he had sent his mom to explain the situation long before a pile of this magnitude would have accrued. That meant that the majority of the mound of mail he now beheld came in the time since Jules sent the letter through his mom. And that could mean only one thing.

John moved to the pile and inspected one at random. His eyes lit up as his suspicions were confirmed. Another and another he scanned before laughing out loud.

Each piece of paper had the location and description of at least one plant or animal suspected to be advanced in evolution. Many had multiple beasts to share. In fact, there were so many letters that John was sure Jules had become inundated with requests following their spectacular results.

Instead of going through each one individually, Jules had just dumped them all through his mail slot and called it moot. Yes, the credit he gave to his acquaintance was both minimal and fitting. At least, that was until he found the most substantial parcel of them all.

It was almost a book in size. When John opened it, he found that it did contain what could be generously be called a breadth of knowledge housed between two covers. When he finished looking it over, only then John could truly appreciate the mess on his floor.

In truth, Jules had gone through each individual note and absorbed the salient points before commissioning what was deemed by the aforementioned covers, “God’s Grand Guide to Great Gains”. John was absolutely flabbergasted.

The book was over a hundred pages thick. Each page, front and back was filled with the most comprehensive information about every creature and plant that had been sent their way. There were categories based on location, time of day, closed ecosystems, and so many more detailed and obsessive little tidbits that had been sent at their request.

It was completely insane to imagine how the man could have possibly accomplished the book in less than a month. But never mind his accomplishments. As John looked from the book to the pile of paper on his floor, the joke really gained it’s second wind.

“You’re an absolute riot,” John said by way of greeting when the man excitedly pulled his door open at the knock.

“John! Holy shit dude, your mom is hot!” Jules said by way of response.

The two came together in a mutual hug before Jules smiled like the little bastard he was, both for the prank and the comment about John’s mom. John smiled in turn like a man home to his friend after a long absence.

“How did you finish that book so quickly?” John asked.

“Quickly? I had that thing commissioned the day the first gene fell through my mail slot. See, I already had a pretty amazing in on the information network. The second I knew you could deliver I put the word out to compile everything.”

“You had that much faith in me after just one gene?”

“John, I knew from the second that you walked into the trade market that day that you were destined for higher places than us ordinary folk. I just gave your competence the benefit of the doubt long enough to test you. I don’t know if you know this, but before you, there were only two people who could reliably kill an enhanced beast in all of emerald base. And don’t get me wrong, they’re talented and capable warriors, but neither one of them would have dared approach me or anyone else and make a deal of five enhanced genes for a measly arrow. Your eyes see far beyond us John. You will set the stones of evolution in place, and humanity will follow.”

John didn’t know what to say. It was clear by his words that he held John in a higher regard than John himself held most deities. Yet, it was simultaneously alarming to be disillusioned to the reality and extent which Jules had played him.

John didn’t get upset with the man. Rather, he appreciated that while John himself had approached his role in their partnership as a distant and unreadable prodigy there to provide one service for another, Jules had taken a far more beneficial approach. His eyes saw the diamonds that John had tried to hide.

Jules had not only just admitted to shafting him on the value of the arrow, but then subsequently using John to grow his reputation as a man who knew a guy. It was planning and manipulating on a level John had never known possible. And again, he wasn’t mad. Contrarily, he was ecstatic.

By telling John all of this, he was effectively lowering the barrier of distrust and dishonesty he had built between them. Before now, neither of them needed more than a surface friendship where services were exchanged and both parties benefited. In admitting his past scheming, John knew that Jules was effectively asking for permanence.

Both of them recognized the potential for growth in sticking together. In fact, John had come to ask the very same question of Jules. He even brought the genes in his bag as a way to sweeten the pot. Instead, he clasped the man by his wrist and met his eyes.

“You’re a definite bastard. But I have to admit, you’d kick my ass in chess if nothing else.”

3

John and Jules spent some time catching up on what John had missed. Much of it was the same information gathering that Jules conducted all the time. But there were two new categories of note.

“What do you mean I got hired as an escort? Dude, I’m not selling my body. I don’t care how pretty you say he is,” John joked.

“Suit yourself. The other job offer you got was something similar to our last venture in The Garden. This guy, Shen, he’s from Asia somewhere, anyway, he is one of the people I owed an enhanced gene to. When I gave it to him, I also told him about the gene exchange.”

John’s eyebrows rose. He was starting to see where this was going. He inclined his head for Jules to continue.

“Well I don’t hear from the guy for two weeks. Then he comes banging on my door and demanding I get him in contact with the guy that killed the enhanced beast. I didn’t know what to say to him. I know you don’t want anyone to have contact with you, so I told him you were indisposed at the moment.”

“I see,” John said.

An escort request was something he had expected eventually. Plenty of people would want someone reliable to protect them while they tried to hunt lesser creatures. The prices for such a task would vary depending on exactly what was expected of him.

What was less expected was the second job. John hadn’t expected anyone besides himself to seek out enhanced beasts. It was only due to his even stronger bow that John dared attempting the feat. If someone had asked Jules to proposition John, they must have been confident. The only question was, should they be?

“You can tell him I’ll meet him in one week. Apologize for the delay but make it clear that I do intend to take the job. I just have some final preparations to make first.”

“You’re sure you want to give up anonymity?”

“What makes you think that? I haven’t come this far without a plan,” John lied.

“I’ll trust your judgement then,” Jules said.

“Good. In the meantime, I’m going to go hunt something. It’s been a while. I need to meet my quota.”

“Understood. What about the escort requests?”

“Start a queue. I assume the majority of the clients are new entries to the base. As such, no one with less than one hundred primitive genes may request an awakened hunt. The price for protection will be one gene corresponding to the level of the targets they wish to hunt. The first gene of the hunt will be mine, as well as ten percent of the genes after the deposit.”

John wouldn’t have considered the idea, but he was all too aware of the eventual date his sister would enter The Garden. Even if his own tally was nearly complete, the genes would always be welcome, especially when clients began asking for higher tiered protection. Jules made a quick note of these specifics, but he made certain concerns known as he did so.

“I don’t know how people will react to those terms. I know better than anyone how fair you are. But some people might think you’re extorting them.”

“If they do, thank them for their time and tell them you hope they’ll reconsider. Besides, it wouldn’t be worth my time for less than ten percent commission. I mean, I won’t even get anything unless they collect ten genes. I think it’s only fair to charge a commission. And the deposit is just to scare off anyone too greedy to see reason.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“I see the wisdom, but who knows how it’ll turn out.”

“I’m sure you’ll handle it well.”

John had to depart before the day got too late. Not only did he have hopes to hunt a few lower beasts for his lesser gene count, but he also wanted to take some time reintroducing himself to the rigors of Lunar Radiance.

He was on his way back to his room to empty his bag of genes when there was a disturbance. A group of men were crowded around something John couldn’t see. He wouldn’t have bothered to stop until he heard the unhappy voice of a young woman lash out from within.

“I don’t have an enhanced gene to give you. Get out of my way!”

“Now now, pretty girl. I’m trying to help you. You won’t get far out there without people like us to protect you. I understand if you can’t come up with the gene. You can pay me another way,” a man said.

He had some kind of English accent that John didn’t recognize, something European maybe. His underlying message stopped John in his tracks. He clenched his fists at the group of men before his indecision was gone.

The crowd of men were tightly packed around the girl, so much that John couldn’t even tell how many of them there were. That didn’t make a difference though. A thousand turds in the punch bowl or just a few, it made no difference.

A bestial roar clattered the teeth of many of the men, and in an instant chaos ensued. Many faces turned to the source of the commotion. Screams of alarm followed as they witnessed the massive grizzly bear that continued to roar as it moved threateningly in their direction.

People lost all dignity in their haste to flee. Pushing and thrown elbows were common as the gang of thugs forgot the thin veil of loyalty they had been showing each other. Within just a few dozen seconds, the street was empty.

The girl was down on the ground, having been all but trampled by numerous people. She had curled in a ball to minimize the damage stray feet could do to her. Despite her defense, John could see that she had been kicked in several places.

“Well that was lame,” he said as he proffered his hand to help the girl stand, “none of them even tried to fight. Guess that proves they’re all just a bunch of taints.”

“Where did the bear go?” The girl asked.

There was a fading alarm in her voice after seeing the calm and unthreatening face John wore. She took his hand, and he gently helped her to her feet, so she didn’t stress her sore body. He let go when she was stable, making sure she had plenty of personal space.

“Are you okay?” John asked, not answering her question.

“I’m fine,” she said.

She sounded defensive, like she hadn’t needed the help. Still, her face softened after seeing John’s kind face. He reached his hand out anew, this time to introduce himself.

“I’m John,” he said.

“Liz,” the girl said after a second.

She took his hand and they shook. Her skin was cold and soft to the touch. She wasn’t someone who had spent a lot of time working.

“It’s your first time here isn’t it?” He asked.

“Yes. How can you tell?” She replied.

“Because your eyes aren’t the same as everyone else. You haven’t seen what’s out there yet.”

“Well, that’s all going to change in a minute. I can’t go home until I leave the base.”

John nodded. He knew the anxiety she must have felt coming here alone. It was the same as he had felt all those weeks ago.

“Do you want to come with me? I was just about to go on a hunt,” he offered.

“No, I shouldn’t. I don’t have anything to protect myself. I would be in your way. Probably wouldn’t last an hour before I got myself killed.”

“That’s a possibility, but what if you did have a way to protect yourself? Thugs or beasts, you’re going to run into trouble again sooner or later. Let me help you.”

“What’s in it for you?” She asked with suspicion.

“You’re older, but you remind me of my sister. The reason I come here is so that my mom doesn’t have to leave her alone. If you’re here by yourself, you must have a similar predicament. I just want to help. But I won’t twist your arm. If you come with me though, I promise you’ll be safe against anything we see.”

“How can you promise that?”

John had debated this next part. He knew it would be the height of folly to some, but she really did remind him of his sister. He couldn’t just let her struggle alone in a place like this.

“Can you keep a secret?” He asked with a smile.

4

You have agreed to lend the Transfiguration Soul, Wizened Grizzly Body to Liz. She will retain possession of it until attaining at least one offensive and one defensive Soul Mod of Advanced Tier or higher.

Liz felt the Soul mod pass from John into her before her eyes widened. The terms of the loan had been spoken to her as well as him, and upon hearing the gift, she was speechless. She had given her word not to speak of it, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be dumbstruck.

“So, what do you say? Wanna come with me?” John asked with a smile.

“What choice do I have?” Liz responded.

“You could go alone,” John shrugged, “but it’s more fun with a friend.”

“Fine,” she said, shrugging in turn.

John lead her toward the gates of Emerald Base, since she didn’t know her way yet. In his distraction at the new acquaintance, he completely forgot to stop by his room to empty his bag. Figuring he would be safe enough from theft once they got into the wild, John decided it was okay.

The two of them moved to the gate and prepared to leave. Since it was her first time, the men on duty there had her answer the same questions John had on his first hunt. Then they were noted on the list of departures and waved through.

The pair walked north from the base and made pretty good time through the plains. Nothing came close, and Liz was able to accustom herself to the environment of The Garden without danger. Their first foe of the day came after nearly an hour of peaceful travel.

A shriek of rage broke their solitude just before a weasel similar to those John had seen before leapt for his head. His reflexes had increased a good deal since his first time in The Garden. He ducked under it and summoned the Mantis dagger before it had even hit the ground.

“Bear up,” he said to Liz while turning to face the direction the weasel had landed.

There was a roar as she acquiesced. He didn’t watch her transform though. Instead, he raised the blade to parry another attack from the weasel. It bit down at him just before the blade entered its mouth.

The result was that the beast’s teeth collided with the blade and it bounced away. John didn’t know if it was intentional, but it certainly made the thing look clever. John turned his gaze to Liz just in time to see the weasel jump at her throat.

Her reflexes were a great deal worse than John’s. She had yet to gain a single gene advancement. As a result, she barely noticed the attack before the critter was latched onto her bare neck.

Luckily, her bare neck was a bear neck. Moreover, the hide of the bear was at wizened tier. The product was that the weasel’s teeth latched onto fur, but couldn’t hope to break the skin.

Slow reflex or not, Liz swiped a great taloned paw at the foe. It stubbornly held on to the unrelenting hide between its teeth. The weasel wailed in pain as Liz ribboned it with her claws.

It fell to the ground and didn’t move again. Liz raised her ursine head to the sky and roared in victory. John laughed at her exuberance.

A moment later, she was Liz again. She looked confused at the change. Her eyes unfocused for a few seconds before she turned to John.

“You didn’t tell me there was a time limit on using this thing,” she said with apparent aggravation.

“I didn’t know there was,” John replied.

It had never forced him back to human in the middle of using it. He didn’t know why it would do so for her. The only thing he could think of was her low advancement.

“Take the teeth and absorb them,” he said.

She did as instructed and he watched the tranquil look wash over her as she took in her first gene. Her skin smoothed and a smile spread wide across her face. John smiled too, knowing just how good that must have felt.

“What about now? Can you retake the bear form?”

She concentrated for a minute before shaking her head. John wasn’t discouraged. He took his bag from his back and handed her another primitive gene.

She looked surprised that he was carrying it, but she took it all the same. She repeated the process, but still looked to him apologetically.

“It won’t let me,” she said.

“No matter,” John said as he pulled out gene after gene of varying quality, ending with two enhanced genes he got from the many dead simians.

If Liz was surprised at the first gene, she became speechless at the pile of genes John placed at her feet next. Her jaw dropped open and her eyes boggled. She looked up at him in wonder.

The expense was substantial, but neither he nor his mom could gain anything from the genes he had intended on trading them for things they might need later, but investing in a potential ally was also a worthwhile investment. Besides, there was no point having her along if she couldn’t be of use.

“Don’t tell,” he smiled.

“Who would believe me? John, who are you? How did you get all of this?”

“I’m just a kid who was in the wrong place at the right time.”

“Don’t you mean the right place?”

“No I do not,” John said, looking down at the primitive stag gene leftover from the first hunt he went on.

The other genes were the same; left over from beasts he could no longer benefit from. After he and Jules’ last excursion, he had entirely maxed out on his enhanced genes. His primitive genes were sitting at eighty four and his awakened genes were at seventy nine. As for the others, John hadn’t absorbed his wizened gene yet, and he gave his mom the awakened one.

In total, Liz took in six primitive genes, four awakened, and three enhanced genes. John had already set aside the appropriate number of remaining genes for his sister when she gained the ability to use them. The rest he planned to use bargaining for things. He supposed loyalty could count.

After her extended absorption, Liz confirmed that she could change again. John asked her to do so and they timed how long she was able to remain in that state. The first time it had been no longer than one minute before she was returned to human. Now though, the time ticked by as she stood furry and intimidating.

Ten minutes later, she became human again. John told her to keep trying to return to animal form again until it worked. The process was delayed for roughly twice as long as she had been a bear.

“It seems like the cool down is pretty heavy no matter how many genes you have. You’ll have to be careful staying a bear too long.”

“I think it would be much less time between shifts if I didn’t run the clock out all the way.”

“Either way, that’s better than you did have. Most fights should be over long before ten minutes is up. Keep gaining genes as fast as you can and hopefully you’ll have hours in bear form eventually.”

The two of them continued to hunt along the plains for the next few hours until they had both met their time restrictions. John didn’t gain much, preferring to let Liz go wild in her beast mode. She was quickly getting the hang of being thick and powerful.

John did gain a single awakened gene when a bird swooped low to claw at him. He didn’t shoot it with his bow. Instead, he held his arrow and poked at the bird as if dove a few times.

Eventually the arrow pricked the bird. It quickly fell from the sky, first asleep and then dead. The sedative nature of the arrow allowed the poison of the Muckray to permeate the body unregulated by metabolism.

Even a wizened grizzly bear had been unable to fight off the dual action of the new arrow. It quickly proved itself against far lesser foes.

John loved coming back to The Garden. His lust for power was almost uncontainable. He wanted to fill his genes as quickly as possible to make it to the next stage.

At the end of the day, John and Liz returned to Emerald base with satisfaction. John had climbed a bit higher in gene count, while Liz had leapt up the ladder.

She ended up killing no less than a dozen primitive beasts and five awakened. Her totals were above fifty in those two tiers after just one day. John was no slouch either, but next time he vowed to try harder.

Primitive: 89

Awakened: 85

Enhanced: 100

Advanced: 8

Wizened: 8

5

John told Liz to meet him at the gate in three days if she wanted to go with him again. She agreed, and the two parted ways. John made a direct route to the cultivation trials.

In no time at all, John was standing on the transition pad, staring at the course that had cost him so much time. He was no fool. He knew from his bow training that nearly a month with no practice would have stunted his ability.

So, he turned away from the sun and decided to practice on the moon course. First though, he took the shortcut pad to sit under the radiance of the moon for an hour to reach maximum saturation. He didn’t have the patience to gain the energy the slow way.

When he was ready to start, he proceeded back to the beginning and gave it a go. As expected, both his fitness and his control had declined noticeably since his injury. However, he was still able to pass through the first several obstacles with concentration and muscle memory.

When he came to a particularly difficult series of wall runs and bar grabs, his concentration failed him, and his feet slipped from the wall. As he waited for the safety net to return him, he pondered the mistake. It was taking longer than he had thought to bring himself back to perfect balance with the skill.

He knew he needed to let the energy go how and where it would. He was also trying to incorporate the manipulation without the medium of his breathing. But while a steady stream of the cooling sensation passed into him with every breath, it was extremely difficult to ignore.

John took several attempts, even more than he expected, to make it back to the final obstacle. His lost potential made his confidence drop considerably. He doubted very seriously that he could pass the course his first or even third try.

Instead, he sat down and meditated on everything he knew of Lunar Radiance and the trial. He remembered the equality of the skill when he had used it to finish the course the first time. He could imagine it perfectly moving with his body’s needs.

The problem was, when his hands had touched the scorching hot bar, the amount of lunar energy that had been circulating through his hands had not been nearly enough. He knew that to pass the course, especially the last obstacle, he would need to keep the energy steadily moving through every part of him. But the heat of the sun made it so that certain parts of his body would need a greater concentration than others, even while keeping the minimal flow to every other part of him.

John could see the steps he had been through in learning the skill that led to this point. Slowly, he had learned more and more about how to use Lunar Radiance. This was simply the next lesson. How could he channel more energy to his hands without stealing the baseline energy from the rest of him?

That wasn’t the last lesson either. He was forward thinking enough to know that a hot bar wasn’t the only obstacle he would need to overcome. Namely, the many areas his feet would have to traverse were likely to be much slicker than they were in the moonlight course.

That made John think that he would have to greatly increase his baseline energy flow to accommodate the increased need. That was the only way he would be able to succeed. Otherwise, he would fail to sufficiently direct the energy where it needed to go.

He would end up burnt again or worse if he didn’t think ahead to find a solution. His mind turned over the problem again and again as he sat staring forward to the final obstacle. No matter what he thought of though, he wasn’t able to direct a high enough concentration of energy to more than his two hands at one time. Even that was taking every scrap of Lunar Radiance from the rest of his body.

He hated that he couldn’t see a way forward, but he finally decided there was no way around it. He stood and attempted the last obstacle. After all of his introspection and meditation, he did considerably well. Unfortunately, he still fell after reaching the library pole as he thought of it.

He calmly worked his way back through the course while holding his failure in mind. Two more times he was forced to restart on the last obstacle before he once again completed the course.

“You have achieved understanding of Lunar Radiance. Application: 20%

Return to this spot to reach maximum Lunar Radiance in one hour.”

That puzzled John. He felt like he hadn’t achieved any progress at all with the skill. In fact, it had taken him more tries to reach the end than his last victory.

Yet his application had slightly increased. How exactly was his progress being calculated? John thought about it, and with execution aside, his only difference was the number of genes he had now compared to before.

If that was really the difference, then that meant all of his previous gene totals had added up to give him twelve percent efficiency with his understanding. That also meant that the few genes he had gained since, including maximizing his enhanced genes, had given him almost nothing towards his application. While the eight wizened genes had almost given him a single percent each.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. After all, few people would waste an Advanced gene before reaching 100. Perhaps he was meant to have a full count of advanced genes to fully take control of Lunar Radiance. The wizened gene in his bag would surely help greatly towards increasing that number.

“Only one way to find out,” John said to himself.

He took the gene from his bag and unhesitatingly began soaking it in. As with the grizzly bear, his body felt unable to cope with the flood of energy. It sped into him like a tidal wave crashing onto an unsuspecting beach.

John gasped helplessly as the energy saturated his every cell. All he could do was breathe as steadily as he could. Soon enough, the event was over.

Wizened gene of silverback ape absorbed. You have gained six wizened genes.

John stood up and walked to the pad that would return him to the beginning. The only way he could be sure of his guess was to complete the course again. If his guess was right, he would have all the information he needed.

John moved back through the course with a determined mind. He attempted to increase the output of Lunar Radiance to every part of his body while he moved. Despite his concentration, he still fell on the last obstacle once more before making it back to the lunar platform.

“You have achieved understanding of Lunar Radiance. Application: 25%

Return to this spot to achieve maximum Lunar Radiance in one hour.”

John smiled. He was right. He wasn’t lacking understanding. He was lacking the ability to apply his understanding completely. And now he knew exactly what to do to increase that ability.

John returned to the transport pad and confirmed his exit. He couldn’t make any progress on the course until he had gained enough genes to bring his application up to or at least close to one hundred percent. That meant one thing: it was time to hunt.