The Moons, The Means, and The Mission

1

When it was done, Liz rose again and returned to human. She looked back at John, but this time it was his smile that was smug. Likewise, when she saw how much satisfaction was in his face at her struggle, it was her eyes that began to roll.

Before anything else happened, Suné was in the clearing again. She let a familiar communication orb roll between the two of them before John heard the fox greet Liz even as she had John after his trial. The difference was that Liz looked relatively untouched by the challenge. Whereas, John was nearly dead from his own ordeal.

John moved quietly to retrieve the genes Liz had earned from her fallen foes. None made a move to stop him; and he was sure that even if he didn’t get them, they would find their way to Liz even as his own prizes had. He gathered all four genes up while he waited for the conversation to end.

The two women spoke for several seconds before Suné bid her farewell, telling Liz that upon picking her home, she was officially a member of Thunder Fox Sanctuary. That was something she and John did immediately afterward. She picked a building two down from his own, and with no further fanfare, she was a permanent member of the base.

That was how it worked when entering a new base for the first time. A formally owned base would have challenges set by the owner. And until a visitor passed the challenges, they would not be considered an inhabitant. It didn’t matter wether they were coming from the gate, the transition pad, or falling out of the sky, the challenge had to be passed.

It would be the same for Teal Base. Since neither of them had been there beforehand, they would come through the community transition pad. And since neither of them could select the base yet from within The Garden, they would both have to make the transition from Earth with the help of the Kumani at the transition station.

That was as much as he could plan, at least where the base was concerned. He could still make sure he and Liz were as prepared as they could be on all other fronts. To that end, John had devised this method.

Now that she was a member of the base, the two of them could comb the land around the base for high level beasts. And until the sun went down, that was what he planned to do.

First though, he had her take and absorb the advanced and Wizened genes she had claimed. Her eyes were wide at the Wizened gene he handed her. She took it and John watched the euphoria settle over her as it melted away.

“Is that your first Wizened gain?”

“Yes. I’ve been able to kill a couple, but something always comes along before I can get to the gene.”

“I’m not surprised. Few beasts can even make it that far. When one dies, there’s always competition for the spoils.”

“You don’t seem to have any issues,” she said jealously.

“Well, not everyone can be as awesome as me, you know?”

“Uh huh. But I’m confused.”

“About what?”

“If there are that many powerful beasts here, how strong is Suné?”

“Some questions are too scary to know the answer to,” he laughed.

He and Liz took off from the base soon after that, on a mission of carnage. They moved off in the direction Suné had suggested when he asked. According to the fox, few creatures in that direction were lower than Advanced.

That was perfect, because despite the lie he was letting Liz believe, he still needed quite a few to max the number out. So, for the next several hours, he and Liz tore through the wilderness, killing every beast foolish enough to challenge them. Alone, he was more than capable of taking out the foes. With Liz by his side, it might as well have been reaping wheat.

Over the course of the day, the two of them hunted nearly three dozen Advanced beasts and another five that were Wizened. He gave her two of the Wizened genes and most of the Advanced ones as well. He only kept a few for himself, saying they were to pad his pockets on the guild front.

His lie became unnecessary as Liz began refusing the genes. Apparently, they had been working so hard that she maxed the tally. After that, John started collecting the genes just for himself. He wouldn’t use them all, as he was in no hurry to reach the top, and the remainder would go to Jules. The day had turned far more lucrative than he could have hoped for.

After the fifth Wizened kill, John decided they had been at it long enough. The sun had already set, and the remaining light was increasingly coming from the glowing moon instead. John had not been in The Garden at night since his success with Lunar Radiance, so he was eager to put the Cultivation to the test.

He let his cells begin soaking the energy through his pores. Almost at once, he felt more able, more invigorated. His skin didn’t start glowing, for which he was thankful, but he did feel an immediate difference in his body, like he was already bursting with the power.

“Wait a second,” he said to himself more than Liz.

He looked up at the moon with a question in his mind. Then he summoned his bow. The Lunar Stag Bow. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought about it sooner.

Without even considering the act, he drew the string. There was no arrow, but John knew he was right in his assumption. As the string stretched, a thin, barely perceptible bolt of energy began to glow on the nock. John felt the bow passively drawing the essence of the moon into itself as he held it.

He could feel the same process happening within himself. Before he even thought to question it, he started channeling the feeling out of his hands and into his bow. The illusory arrow grew brighter and brighter on the string as his expulsion of energy grew larger still.

Soon there was a complete and glowing arrow resting on the string. He could tell it had no actual substance. But he was equally sure of the immense power it held. Looking to a tree almost a hundred feet from him, John took aim and let the arrow fly.

The wind released by the string, as well as the explosive crack that reverberated through the air was enough to knock Liz back. She stumbled for a couple steps before regaining her balance. By that time though, a second gust of wind was already buffeting her.

The lunar arrow had impacted with the tree John aimed for. Instead of blasting a whole through it or getting lodged so deeply John couldn’t retrieve it, the arrow literally exploded on impact, leaving nothing but a splintered mess of jagged wood shards where the tree had once been. The blasted stump only protruded around three feet from the ground before becoming something more closely resembling a crude pit spike.

“Holy fucking shit, John. What the hell was that?” Liz asked.

“I think it’s called an arrow,” John said with a shrug.

2

The night was well underway by the time John and Liz had returned to Thunder Fox Sanctuary. They parted ways to make their individual last-minute preparations. John spent the time first raising his gene tally. The eight Advanced genes and three Wizened genes did wonders for his progression, bringing the numbers to seventy-one and fifty-two respectively. After that was taken care of, he spent the time in relative peace.

Having felt the effects of Lunar Radiance in full bloom, John felt invigorated in a way that had only been hinted at during the trial. Perhaps it was his steadily raising gene count, or maybe it was simply a result of his successful trial, but John felt like every ray of moonlight was being directed and harnessed straight into his body. He could remember the insane amount of power he had released from the bow string.

Without much else to do in the way of preparation, John moved to sit on the roof of his house in Thunder Fox Sanctuary. Once there, he looked to the sky and for the first time he noticed that there wasn’t just one moon, but three. He had only been in The Garden at night a few times but he was certain he hadn’t seen more than one before. But he supposed with such a large world it would make sense for there to be more than just one.

After studying the three globes for a moment, he took out the scroll for Lunar Radiance. He hadn’t even opened it since getting it. With another glance at the moons above him, he cracked the seal.

John started looking over the scroll with great interest as he felt the radiance of the moons soaking into him. He was fascinated at how much simpler the content of the scroll was to understand than his Mind Cultivation. It was practically straightforward by comparison.

The scroll detailed what was really happening when the moon’s light shone on the world. As John was well aware, the light was actually from the planet’s sun hitting the moons in different amounts from different angles. That meant in turn that the moons acted as converters for sunlight.

John was interested in how exactly the light was changed, but no mention of the actual conversion was made in the text. He did however start to understand the ability in greater detail. The effect of three moons made his acquisition of energy much simpler than it had ever been in the trial, even when sitting directly under the faux moon.

John was becoming elated as he studied the scroll. Every word seemed to make more sense than the last. The more information he took in, the faster he was able to process what he was reading.

It wasn’t just the reading though. John felt with the help of the content that his ability to draw the spiritual energy into him was increasing at an immense rate. He guessed that more than one moon would make it a lot easier to gain energy, but he didn’t think that was the whole story.

“Is this the 50% faster Cultivation bonus I got from Third Eye of Callysta?” John wondered.

It would certainly have explained the insane boost to the speed of his gathering energy. It had probably also contributed to the immense power of the lunar arrow he had summoned. For the first time, John understood the gravity of the benefit his new Legendary Title gave him.

His body quickly grew as saturated as could be, and John thought that was the extent of its practice. But as he continued to study the scroll, he found that he had taken a lot for granted. There were depictions in the scroll of the human body which hinted at a specific series of avenues the energy he harnessed should travel in order to maximize the use of the skill.

It showed the energy swirling out from his core while making quick circuits through all four limbs in simultaneous jolts of circulation. The depictions made it look like a fast cycle, maybe three seconds or so, but as John attempted the practice, he found himself unable to properly funnel the energy out from his chest, let alone send it to and from each limb in a span so short.

John wasn’t discouraged by his lack of success. He didn’t expect to make progress in the little time he had. Instead, he reveled in the new information, happy that it was so clear and concise.

Despite being far easier than Third Eye of Callysta, John was still impressed by the Cultivation. It was clearly a very high grade. The more he studied the scroll and attempted to implement the teachings, the more he realized that Lunar Radiance had subtleties and intricacies far beyond the surface level.

And as John continued to look through the Spirit Cultivation, he began to understand the difference between cultivating the mind and cultivating the spirit. The mind was based largely on thought and study of a subject until higher understanding was reached. At least in his case, but John knew that his Mind Cultivation was something beyond the means of most. Perhaps other Mind Paths were based around different training methods.

A Spirit Cultivation as John was coming to quickly learn was based entirely on feeling. He could read the scroll and understand the words just fine, but his progression through the Spirit Path was contingent on his ability to properly feel a particular type of spiritual energy well enough to harness it. That was where the two Cultivations differed.

As for Physical Cultivation, John didn’t know. He assumed that it would probably focus on different aspects of his body though. Or, perhaps not. He was eager to start another trial now that he had completed Lunar Radiance.

He thought about it, but knew there was a lot to accomplish before he would consider devoting a large amount of his time to another trial. Before he could even think of that, he had to tie up at least three loose ends. Shaking his head, he decided it was a worry for another time.

All too soon, his practice time came to an end, and he returned inside to make the transition back to Earth. As he materialized in front of the Kumani operating the station, he took a deep breath. This would be his greatest test yet.

He checked the clock for precision before moving to the back of the line of transfers. Sure that he would make his deadline, he waited patiently to reach the front. Once there, he spoke confidently to the Kumani running the transfer pad.

“Set the pad for Teal Base please.”

“Confirmed,” the alien said before pressing a series of buttons on its screen.

John moved to the pad and waited for the preparations to be complete. He surreptitiously got ready to summon his Chimera armor. The moment he felt the tingle of the world shifting around him, he let the beast soul creep over his body. A moment later, he was fully in disguise and standing in a new base.

3

John immediately noticed half a dozen armed and armored men waiting near the public transport pad. He could tell at a glance that these were not Americans. Their surprised exclamations in various tongues and dialects confirmed this for him.

John held a hand up in greeting as they all turned weapons in his direction. As calmly as he could, John retrieved the orb he had brought with him from his pouch. A gap opened in his armor to allow its egress.

John calmly crouched and rolled the ball halfway between himself and the group. They made threatening gestures with their weapons while speaking too quickly to understand even if he had spoken their various languages. Their attention zeroed in on the orb as it suddenly sprouted legs and stood up.

It cracked open and revealed its odd insides as they all exclaimed at it. John felt the familiar pulse as it scanned the minds of everyone around it. Then it closed back off and gave a little flash to indicate it was ready. John took a step forward and spoke clearly and confidently at the men.

“I am here to do business. Who is in charge of this place?”

He waited patiently for his words to translate. He was unable to tell for sure, but it seemed like the orb translated for each different language it had detected one at a time. The six men all looked amazed at the ability of the small ball.

“Who are you?” One of the men sent back through the orb.

“You can call me Gold. Becoming an ally to me might make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.”

“Gold? What kind of a ridiculous name is that?” Was the first response through the translator.

In a blink, Jane was on top of the man who had spoken, pinning him to the ground with a growl. Her newly compacted size didn’t lessen her ability to dominate her enemies. In fact, after her evolution to Divine, there were very few things that could even damage the soul. The weapons of the six men weren’t among them.

Some of the men found this out in short order as their attacks rebounded harmlessly from her fur. None of them was wielding anything over an Enhanced weapon, so they couldn’t hope to even trim her fur, let alone cut her skin. Jane took the attacks with impunity for a few seconds before looking up from her pinned victim and extending her menacing growl to each of the men around her.

One by one, they backed off with haste. John let them return their attention to him before he spoke again.

“As I said, you may call me Gold. Who is in charge here?”

This time, no one dared to question his choice of name. John hadn’t moved a muscle since speaking the first time, and Jane’s tackle of the man had happened so suddenly that it made his mystique all the greater. The men just looked at him silently for several seconds.

“Well?” John asked sharply. He was running out of time.

“It’s Dimitri. I’m sure he will be interested in whatever you want to say to him,” one of the men chattered.

“That’s good. As I said, I have business to discuss. Which one of you will take me to him?” John felt a quickening in his speech as his mental time keeping reached a crucial moment.

“I can take you,” one of the men said, “ but please, what business do you wish to discuss with him?”

John smiled as he felt the subtle vibration of the transition pan flaring with life. He waited just a couple seconds before responding to the man. As he did, he stepped to his side to reveal the transition pad to all the men assembled.

“This,” he said just as Liz fell onto the ground as though she had stumbled mid transition.

She fell on her hands and knees, and John noticed that she was wearing a tattered and worn out pair of clothes. Her hair was matted, and she was covered in dirt. One look at her, and most people would think she was a homeless vagrant.

That was, of course, all part of John’s plan. He had asked her to give him five minutes after midnight before she transitioned to the base. Since they didn’t live in the same city, they had agreed to go on the universal time of the clocks at the Kumani transition stations.

John had been worried that if he didn’t establish his presence first, there might have been some dissent at the young girl next to his side. Not that he had doubted their ability to deal with the men, but he was seeking information first. The longer he could remain in control without spilling blood, the better.

The men exclaimed at the sight of what was clearly a human trafficking sale waiting to happen. Their casual remarks about Liz’s body and youth made John clench his teeth in rage when they were sent through the translator. He thanked the gods that his face was concealed beneath his armor.

“Take me to Dimitri and don’t make me ask again.” John said.

He turned to Liz and grabbed her by the wrist. He made a show of being overly forceful as he pulled her to her feet. He hoped he wasn’t actually hurting the girl, but he had to be sure he sold the act.

Liz fought against him admirably as he fought to get her in a standing position. She tried to pull from his grip, and he made sure he let the men see how useless the effort was. Then he raised his other hand in a fake threatening gesture.

“Be still,” he said in a dark tone.

Liz flinched at his hand in a manner so convincing that John didn’t know if he should be impressed or worried. She lowered her head and stopped struggling against him, and he turned his attention back to the group in front of him. With Liz a step ahead of him, John started walking forward without another thought.

“Well?” He asked expectantly as he brushed passed the men, picking up the translation orb on the way.

Two of them hurried to catch up with him. He didn’t slow his pace, making it clear that he was finished waiting. The guards quickly took the lead and began steering him through Teal Base. Only when they were several streets away did Jane finally melt away from the man she had pinned down.

It was the lowest rank of base there was, equal to the Primitive tier of beasts. That meant that it was among the smallest of all bases in The Garden. It also meant that the surrounding area would be as safe as such a term could be applied to anywhere in The Garden. John’s annoyance and disgust only grew as he saw how empty and wasted the entire base was.

It could have been used to help beginners advance through the early days of cultivation. It could have been a beacon of hope for all the people who needed a safe place to grow. Instead, this Dimitri person had turned it into a human trafficking racket.

Despite its diminutive tier, the base was still fairly large. John was led through the place for several minutes before they brought him to a large and unassuming building somewhere near the center. One of the men knocked three times, twice fast before pausing for the third. John made note of the rhythm.

The mail flap opened and a voice came from it, fast and seemingly angry. John’s received translation told him that whoever was behind the door didn’t appreciate that he was there in the middle of the night. That was fine by John.

“Dimitri. Now,” John said to the flap.

His voice left no room for argument. After a stunned silence, the flap dropped shut and the door soon slid open. John didn’t move a muscle as the stout man on the other side of the door looked him up and down.

“Is that a drop off? Good. Dimitri will be happy. We can take her from here,” the stout man said as he moved to grab Liz.

John moved so swiftly that his hand was a blur. He intercepted the man’s hand, twisting it sideways before stabbing a conjured knife through the hand and into the door frame beside him. The man was screaming even before John finished the maneuver.

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“Don’t touch my stuff. The girl stays with me until myself and this Dimitri fellow come to an understanding.”

The man gritted his teeth through the pain before yanking the knife free of the wood with all he had. He screamed again as the blade passed from his skin and fell to the ground where John promptly unsummoned it. He looked at John like he wanted to kill him, but perhaps the efficiency with which he had been impaled deterred him from such foolish action.

“This way,” he said, still gritting his teeth as the blood dripped from his hand.

“After you,” John said politely.

He was taken into the building which was roughly the size a department store. The layout was much more complicated though, having rooms tucked everywhere for seemingly no reason at all. John was led to the back of the building where a set of double doors were manned by a pair of muscled guards.

Luckily for them, they let John pass without needing to be stabbed like their buddy. John waited in barely suppressed rage as the doors were drawn aside and John was ushered forward. Before he took a step though, the accented English of an unknown origin met his ears.

“Well come in, since you’re so determined.”

4

John proceeded forward with an outwardly commanding hand on Liz’s shoulder. In truth, it was there for reassurance, both his own and Liz’s. They both knew that what happened next would determine the outcome of the entire operation.

John tried to keep his nerves from betraying him, but his hand trembled slightly on Liz despite his effort. His unceasing rage only continued to grow while they proceeded. As they walked forward, John took a good look at the man who had spoken.

He was a tall man with an over average build. He was the kind of guy who probably would have played football just because of his size if he were American. His calloused hands were folded together on the desk in front of him like a man ready to do business.

His black hair held a hint of gray, but he didn’t have age lines in his face. His brown eyes bore into John, and it felt like he could see through the armor to the teenager underneath. He wore a blue business suit with a matching tie, and his professional demeanor served to anger John further.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Gold?” Dimitri asked smoothly as John stopped a few steps from the desk he sat behind.

“I’ve come to do business, if we can reach an agreement.” John said.

“And what type of agreement do you hope to come to?” Dimitri asked with a slimy look at Liz.

John took one more step forward and grabbed a chair before efficiently spinning it behind him to sit across from the man. He immediately threw his feet onto the desk and leaned back in comfort. Without looking away from Dimitri, he snapped his fingers at Liz.

“Sit,” he said.

Liz took the command silently and crouched to the floor. She kept her eyes downcast, and John could tell that what she felt was so far from fear that he would have been worried for Dimitri if the man weren’t such a scumbag. John put a steadying hand on her shoulder once more, though he hoped it came across as possessive to the other man.

“That depends on what you can offer me, I suppose. You see, this is my first time coming here, and I have heard plenty of rumors, most of which I’m sure are untrue. What I do know is that you never enter a negotiation empty handed,” John said with a pat on Liz’s shoulder.

“I appreciate your manners. I’d be happy to elaborate on the operation we have. It’s one of borrowed servitude, so to speak. We have a variety of subjects to choose from, all of which are kept docile and harmless. Business is done in souls or genes, with the former being twice as valuable in trade as the latter. If you pay the appropriate soul or gene cost, you can do whatever you want short of killing.”

“I see…”

John was having a very difficult time keeping his composure. He wanted to dive across the table at the man and choke the life from him. But that wasn’t part of the plan. He had to do things the right way.

“Is something wrong?”

“No,” John lied, “I was simply hoping to arrange some sort of trade. I’ve grown tired of the same thing. I will of course pay any sum you wish, and this one is really worth the investment in any case. What do you think?” John asked.

“Hmmm,” Dimitri pondered, “that’s not usually how we do things around here. It’s not good business to give away the merchandise.”

“I understand. So, what if I agree to replenish your stock? This is hardly the only worthy addition I could bring you. What say you to two new bodies a month?”

“If finding a new toy is so easy for you, then why come to me at all?” Dimitri asked.

“I’ve heard great things. And while picking your own apples is just fine, sometimes it’s better to go to the store,” John said, loathing the words.

“Haha! That’s a new one. You are very funny Mr. Gold. Well, I don’t know about two per month, but I would be happy to let you select from our stock on a 1:1 trade just this once. So long as you do agree to pay the accompanying gene fee.”

“That is an acceptable start. Where are these specimens? Would you mind showing me around?”

“I… do not usually involve myself in the selection process of our guests. But… in the spirit of nurturing a good future relationship, please follow me Mr. Gold.”

Dimitri rose from the desk and John did the same. He snapped at Liz who immediately stood as well. Then the two were led from the building by the boss himself.

He took them down street after street until they reached a large grate in the ground. Dimitri had the two guards manning it lift it aside for them. It creaked upward like a drawbridge, stopping with a terrible grating.

“After you,” Dimitri said with a gesture.

John was hesitant to walk before the man in case of a trap, but he did as he was bidden. Luckily, as he and Liz entered the dark hole, Dimitri quickly followed after them. Torches near the bottom of a long staircase told John he wouldn’t be proceeding into total darkness; but it was still much darker than the moonlit sky above.

“We have two different cellars. This is the more pedestrian of the two. I wouldn’t want to spoil the best prizes first.”

“Smart man,” John complimented, though he would have liked to throw him down the stairs instead.

As they walked down the stairs into the torchlight, it struck John how out of place the whole setup was in relation to everything in Emerald Base. In fact, all of Teal base seemed much more primitive than the rest of the bases in The Garden. Then it hit him.

“Primitive,” John thought to himself.

This was a Primitive base. Apparently, that meant there were primitive means within the base. That was why the rooms looked so shabby and cellars existed under metal grates. That was probably also why his room in Thunder Fox Sanctuary was a big house compared to the room he had in Emerald Base.

When they made it to the lit bottom of the cellar, John could see a series of barred cells. He stopped walking as he took in the sight. Dimitri moved past the two of them and gestured broadly at the setup.

“We have over three dozen options to choose from here. These are the everyday selections. We also have a VIP section with another fifteen premium choices. Do you see anything you like?”

John’s teeth ground against each other with such force that he feared he might break one as he heard the man talk about the women in cages like they weren’t even people. Each cage had a large sign on it describing the age, personality, and to John’s utter revulsion a category labeled “number of uses”. A smaller sign on each cage could only be called a price tag, listing the asking price for different amounts of time with each captive.

Looking around, he saw mostly women his mother’s age. There were a few younger girls as well, but none were younger than twenty-five. That gave John a disgusting hunch about what he might find in the other cellar.

“Perhaps,” he was finally able to say.

He walked forward with Liz as Dimitri walked on, seemingly in awe of his own wretched enterprise. The two of them scanned the cages with sinking hearts as they followed deeper into the dark room. As they approached one of the last rows, Liz suddenly stopped walking with an intake of breath.

She was looking at the nearest cage to their left. Lying on the ground in the same unresponsive state the rest of the women were in was a woman that John could immediately recognize as someone related to Liz. They had they same hair, frame, and general appearance.

John understood that she had just located her mother, but he couldn’t allow her to proceed with the plan until he knew where the rest of the prisoners were being held. So, he gave her a gentle shove forward and cleared his throat. Addressing Dimitri, he raised his voice.

“These are all okay, but as you said, save the best for last. Show me to the others.”

Dimitri turned and smiled at John. He had such a predatory demeanor that even John would have felt like prey if he wasn’t so blinded by his boiling rage. The man led them back through the dark passageway and out into the night air once more.

From there it was a short walk to the other cellar he had mentioned. John made special note of the route between the two. When they had reached the second location, he found it manned by three guards instead of two.

At a word, they were led into an identical cellar to the first. This one however had much more ado as though it truly was for only the most high class of customers. As John looked around the room, his disgust reached a peak he had never experienced.

Each prisoner was chained to a luxurious looking bed. None wore a scrap of clothing. There were signs and price tags similar to the other cellar, only much more expensive. And not a single one of the fifteen girls before him was older than twenty.

John could tell that many of them were even younger than he was, probably having just come of age to enter The Garden. As he looked upon the naked, bruised, and unclean bodies of his peers, John fought against everything in himself to maintain control for just a few seconds longer. He had to make sure first.

“These are all of the girls? You don’t have a third cellar for extra VIP’s do you?” He asked, trying not to let the wavering emotion run into his voice.

“This is all of them. Why? Are you not satisfied with what you see?” Dimitri asked, sounding offended.

John casually sidled up to the man as they traded words. His arms were at his sides in a nonthreatening manner. He moved to stand on Dimitri’s left as if joining him in studying the girl on the nearest bed.

“No, Dimitri. I’m not,” he said.

5

Before Dimitri could answer, John chopped out with his right hand like a blade. His armored hand hit the man in the throat with enough force to illicit a choked cough. He stumbled back in surprise, but John was already moving to the next attack.

Dimitri tried impotently to scream for his men, but all that came out was a choked wheeze. John latched onto the man by the wrist and pulled him further off balance as his other hand connected in an open palm to the nose. Blood sprayed in every direction as John’s reinforced hand knocked the man completely from his feet.

John maintained hold on his arm to assure that he guided Dimitri to the ground exactly where he wanted. His head bounced off the hard ground, clearly disorienting the man. John took the opportunity to kick at his elbow while still unrelenting in his grip.

Pain brought Dimitri back to reality as his arm snapped in a completely irreparable manner. He screamed feebly, but the recent damage to his throat still suppressed the sound to a dull croak. John dropped his wrecked arm and stepped to a standing straddle over the despicable man.

“You evil,” John shouted as his fist slammed into the man’s face, “sadistic,” another fist, “abusive,” a summoned dagger in the man’s working hand exploded on John’s armor as he paid it no mind, “predatory” John’s vision was red as he rained yet another fist down on the man, “disgusting,” his voice cracked with the rage he could no longer contain, “pathetic,” John raised his hand to deliver another attack, but was interrupted.

Dimitri’s good arm suddenly shot up between the two of them in a defensive gesture that Third Eye of Callysta had no trouble deciphering. As a result, John’s punch was already on the way when a medium sized shield materialized to cover Dimitri’s face and torso. John was undeterred.

Out of necessity, John’s punches had been fueled by nothing more than his immeasurable rage at what the man had done here. But unfortunately for Dimitri, it was not a necessity born of having no other option. So, when the shield which was quite probably the man’s last hope of survival popped between them, John only smiled.

Before coming to Teal Base, John had spent enough time soaking in moonlight to saturate his entire body. The presence of moons in the sky once he had arrived served to keep his reserves topped off. So, without interrupting his attack, he thrust as much of the spiritual essence into his arm as his newfound understanding of the ability would allow.

John’s descending fist suddenly streaked toward the man like lightning. It crashed into the shield like a cannon ball. A blinding flash of light spread from the impact sight.

The shield was no greater than Enhanced in tier. John’s body was well beyond Enhanced with his huge count of Advanced and Wizened genes. Even so, his fist would ordinarily have broken against such an object, armor or not.

But while Lunar Radiance coursed through him, it might as well have been made of paper. There was a blast of piercing force as his hand slammed into the shield with a thunderous retort. The entire shield immediately splintered into hundreds of pieces before melting into nothing.

His punch did much more than break the shield though. The sheer percussive force of it had traveled through the barrier, weak as it had been, and impacted Dimitri with such force that the floor beneath him was cracked. He fountained blood from more places than one as he was ravaged by the attack.

John watched the man fall limp beneath his latest punch. He grabbed him by the hair and slapped him hard on the ruined face. With a start, the man jolted back to awareness.

“You know, you’re actually just a little bit lucky here. Because if any of these poor kids were someone I know, your punishment would be far from over. Take comfort in that.”

Dimitri gurgled something incomprehensible through all the blood and swelling. John paid him no mind as he turned away from the man. Shouts of surprise met his ears from above, and he knew they were out of time.

“You’re dead! I’ll kill you!” Dimitri finally managed to say, but even he couldn’t have thought he sounded intimidating.

“No,” John said as Liz made to switch places with him, “you won’t.”

John started up the stairs as angry voices came down to meet him. He summoned his javelin into hand while the sounds of the most pissed off bear he had ever heard spread from below. He only waited a second before hurling the weapon up the narrow passageway.

The first guard fell back in surprise as the spear launched for his chest. That was the only reason he didn’t die right then and there. The other two weren’t so lucky. Having no space to spread out, the two were impaled as one.

The wings of the javelin hadn’t had time to increase the flight in the short space, but the force that the two were propelled upward with made it clear that it had happened eventually. They were pinned messily back to the grate that served as the entrance. The javelin broke the metal easily and lodged itself firmly in place with its two victims stuck like kabobs.

They were the lucky ones. The first guard who had managed to dodge the attack stood back up and swung his summoned mace at John in an impressive display of detachment from the deaths he just witnessed. John speculated if the man had some kind of military or mercenary training before the collapse.

In any case, his attempt to smash John’s head was as pointless as drawing a circle. John stepped down the stairs by two steps and let the mace slam into the wall of the narrow corridor. Then he summoned the Tail of the Kitsune into his hand.

With no space or time to maneuver it properly, John could neither control nor predict the damage the weapon would do. But when he flipped his wrist toward the off-balance man, he was soon given his answer. John realized what was coming only a split second before it happened.

The man screamed in agony briefly as the multiple limbs of the weapon lashed into his flesh. However, they were so sharp that every lashing soon turned into a deep laceration. That quickly progressed into something akin to a tomato slicer.

As the man’s tortured scream cut off suddenly, he fell down the stairs in several neatly separated pieces. John stepped over the mince as no less agonized screams resounded from below. He moved to the top of the stairs, letting the men clatter down after their companion as he returned his javelin.

John peeked out the entrance for signs of alarm. The night was calm, and nothing seemed to be out of place. No loud or excited voices met his ears. Satisfied, he moved down the stairs once more to rejoin Liz.

What he found at the bottom was a scene of carnage that even he couldn’t have expected. The same arm John had broken on Dimitri was laying entirely separate from the rest of him right at the base of the stairs. Scraps of clothing and sparse flesh littered the entire floor of the dungeon, though curiously none of the gore had tainted even a single captive or the beds they laid on.

It was actually amazingly impressive given just how much of the man Liz had taken off him. As he watched, the still form of Dimitri pooled blood while the insatiable bear worked. Her massive ursine arms dug into the corpse like an actual bear seeking grubs in the dirt.

Blood, flesh, entrails, chunks of bone, and so much more was torn from the man repeatedly while John watched. He quickly became something unrecognizable under the boundless fury of the girl he thought he would own. John cleared his throat after a moment, drawing the bear’s attention.

“Maybe I misspoke about him taking comfort.”

Liz finally rose from the dead man and returned to her original shape. John let her have a moment while he moved to the various beds and cut the bonds that held the girls in place. None of them seemed to be very aware of their surroundings, but thankfully, most were conscious if disoriented.

John let Liz spend time with each girl, getting an idea of how they might go about transporting them all back to the transition pad. He continued to free them of their bonds until all fifteen could move freely. By then, Liz’s calming presence had already drawn the attention of most.

“You don’t have to worry anymore,” she was saying, “John and I are here to help you. Does anyone feel well enough to move on your own?”

All but four hands rose in response to the question. That was more than they had hoped for. John started moving to those who had responded and distributing lower-level souls that he had no use for.

“The drugs are mostly worn off by now. They administer them at the beginning of each day,” one of the more coherent girls said.

John let Liz speak to them, as the orders of a man were probably the last thing they wanted to hear. In any case, she was able to rally them much more effectively than he would have. He took a moment to listen to her speak.

“We’re going to get you and all of the other prisoners out of here, but we will have to work together. The two of us can’t protect all of you and also carry the unable. So, if you have been given a weapon, you’re on protection. For those of you that remain, we need four people carried, that’ll be your job.

“We are the only two here to help, so if you see someone who isn’t one of our group approaching, don’t even give them the chance. Take whatever weapon you’re holding and jam it as far into their eye socket as you can get it. Protect your fellows and stick together. You’re all going home tonight.”

The girls each spent some time covering their bodies any way they could. Bed sheets were a favorite choice, but pillowcases were a close second. One girl, the one John had given a long dagger to, had surprised him by choosing to wear nothing at all. The distant and callous look in her eye made it clear that she would not be waiting for men to approach before she took Liz’s eye socket advice.

They took a few minutes to organize and position based on the analysis John had performed. But after only a minimal amount of prep work, they were ready to set out. John led the group up the stairs and pushed the grate open to let them all breathe the clean air once more.

The route between cellars was short and as John had observed on the way, blessedly unmanned. As a result, the walk only took moments even with the reduced pace of the injured girls. John had the group stop just behind the last corner as he drew his bow.

The scope detached from the bow’s ivory body with a slight click. John took aim down the sights, walking slowly to one side as he attempted to line up the perfect shot. When he was in position, he drew the string back and let the moonlight shining down from above begin to gather.

Unlike before, John didn’t content himself with what he could easily channel into the weapon. Instead, John gathered as much of the essence within him as he was able and pushed it onto the drawn string as quickly and steadily as possible. The arrow that shone into existence was instantly as bright as a miniature sun.

The Lunar Stag bow started to jerk in John’s grip from the awful power he was attempting to maintain. He knew if he let the arrow grow much more powerful, it would be impossible to accurately aim.

So, before someone noticed the change from night to day, John let loose his arrow. It wouldn’t be accurate to say it sailed through the air. Nor even would a description like “rocketed unstoppably” suit the flight of the lunar arrow.

In truth, not even John could see what happened after he released his grip. One instant, the arrow was on the string, the two cellar guards just starting to wonder why it was so bright in that direction. The next instant, the men had completely disappeared from the area and an entire building beyond where the two had been standing exploded into kindling.

An immense backlash of air blasted up the street in their direction. Dust was churned up from the stones like sand in a tornado. The wave washed over everyone before anyone even knew what had happened. John launched into action as they coughed and tried to clear the air.

“Go! There’s no hiding what’s going on now. Get everyone down the stairs and secure the rest of the prisoners. Wait there for me. Kill anyone who comes in.”

John barked orders to Liz as the group moved through the street. Liz moved to carry out the instructions as efficiently as possible. But as John started pulling away from the group, someone grabbed his wrist.

“I’m coming with you.”

It was the naked girl that John had given a dagger to. He looked at her incredulously for a moment, but then nodded his head. She fell easily into stride next to him as he cut a swift path to the transition pad.

“What’s your name?” He asked as they moved.

“Reign,” the girl said.

“Rain?” John asked, “As in the weather?”

She shook her head.

“Reign. As in from a throne, over millions of imbeciles too incompetent to govern their own lives.”

John almost faltered at the casual nature of the response. The raven-haired girl seemed almost eager. It was like she had just answered the age-old question of what she wanted to do when she grew up.

“I…see,” John finally said, “well Reign, I’m John.”

“I know. Your girlfriend mentioned that already.”

“Who Liz? Ha! Hardly. She’s more the forced castration kind of girl than the boyfriend kind of girl. Though given the circumstances, I can’t exactly blame her.”

“Why did you bring her with you if not out of some kinship?”

“Kinship isn’t the same thing as relationship. And in any case, I didn’t bring her. She brought me.”

“Her? Forgive me, but you seem so much more capable than she does. You’re saying this was all her idea?”

“More capable? Did you not see what she did to that guy? The girl turns into a bear. Between the two of us I think she actually becomes a bear in mind body and spirit. Never seen anyone so terrifyingly capable. And the plan was both of our ideas. But once again, you’re confusing the issue. Me being more or less capable wouldn’t have affected the reason I’m here.”

“And what is the reason you’re here?”

“To save you of course,” John said reflectively.

“You mean to tell me you’re here helping a pretty girl with a rescue mission with no ulterior motive?”

“Ulterior? You do not talk like most teenagers,” John observed, not responding to the bait.

“Most teenagers don’t overthrow an underground trafficking arena in a single night either.” Reign countered.

“What makes you think I’m so young?”

“For one, you’re shorter than I am by an inch. For two, you don’t have the voice of a smoker, so it’s pretty easy to hear your age in it. There’s also the way you won’t look at my body, almost like you’re shy. Most grown men are so openly disgusting that they never even see my eyes. Although, few boys do either, now that I think of it.”

“Aha! So, you admit that I’m not your average teenager.”

“Well, yeah. I was trying to say that in the first place.”

“So, if you agree that I’m unlike my peers, as are you, is it so crazy to believe that my reasons for being here are unique as well?”

“Perhaps, but if you aren’t trying to score points with the girl, what is your reason for all of this?”

“Honestly, after I heard what was happening, I didn’t need a reason. I would have come here even if only one of you was being held down there. My parents raised me to make a difference where possible. Sometimes that means paying for someone else’s lunch. Sometimes it means infiltration of an illegal human trafficking ring in order to completely dismantle it from the top down.”

John could tell that this time he was the one who was being overly casual. Still, he meant what he said, every word. What was more, he could tell that she believed his words.

“Who are you, John?” She asked seriously.

“Maybe we can get to know each other over lunch after you put some clothes on. For now, we have some cleanup to do. Follow my lead,” John said as he rounded the last corner.

The six men at the transition pad were all on high alert, having heard his exploding arrow a few moments before. Alarmed voices carried over the distance to them as they moved stealthily closer in the shadows of buildings. Several men ran off in the direction of Liz and the captives.

John was unconcerned with the girl’s ability to dispatch them. He knew that Dimitri had far from satiated her bloodlust at the men who took her mother from her. John almost pitied the poor fools as they ran by oblivious either to him and Reign or their impending deaths.

John was relieved to see that all six of the men guarding the transition pad remained. That probably meant that they hadn’t sent anyone back to earth yet. If things went right, they wouldn’t get the chance to.

John summoned Jane once more and had her stalk a long path around to the other side of the transition pad. She moved between the buildings like a ghost. She was able to get much closer than he was without being spotted. When she was in a position to help, John turned to Reign.

“Wait for them to turn their backs, it won’t take long. As soon as they do, get as close as you can as fast as you can. You won’t do anything with a dagger all the way back here.”

Reign nodded. She seemed oddly calm for someone who had been drugged and abused for who knew how long. John wondered what it said about her that she appeared so detached. Perhaps it was shock.

Jane moved as close to a pinch position as she could before crouching low to wait. John and Reign moved as close as they could get to the group as well. When they could go no further, John sent the signal to his companion.

Jane leapt from hiding with a snarl that immediately drew the attention of all six men. John and Reign were sprinting out of hiding even before Jane landed on her first victim. She didn’t finish him off though, instead pouncing on anyone who attempted to step onto the transition pad.

John was soon in their midst with his Tail of the Kitsune whipping around like a serpent striking anything that came near. Reign was only slightly less deadly as she full on leapt onto a man’s back and plunged her dagger repeatedly into his collar. Three of the six were dead in seconds, and the remaining trio could only wait their turn as both the transition pad and their path of escaping by foot were blocked.

When the deed was done, John stood next to Reign with his bow in hand. The hard part was now over. From then on out, it was simply a cleanup operation.

Teal Base was unlike Emerald Base in many ways. But chief among them was its lower tier. Something John hadn’t known before coming to the base, but something that had actually aided them in their plan was that Primitive bases were truly primitive in every sense of the word.

That meant that none of the buildings or rooms were adorned with transition pads as the rooms in Emerald Base were. In fact, there was only one transition pad in the whole base. And John was standing on it.

That gave everyone two options. Face John’s wrath or run from the base like cowards and hope they could find a new base before being claimed by The Garden. As the minutes passed, John feared they had all taken the latter option. He sent Jane through the city to kill anyone she found but also work on flushing those remaining toward the transition pad.

After only a few minutes, he started seeing the fruit of her labor. Men came spilling through the streets in ones and twos, easily picked off by John’s bow. And for the next two hours, John put an arrow through the body attached to every face that rounded a corner.

The night wore on as the fleeing criminals became fewer and fewer. Eventually, the whole base went silent. Jane returned happily and bloodily to his side as the first signs of dawn began to spread through the base.

He and Reign prepared to retrieve the rest of the prisoners, but he wanted to be sure no more stragglers would come after they were gone. Deciding he couldn’t be sure, he had Jane guard the pad with instructions to kill anyone who came close to it until he came back. The fox yipped happily at him as if it was her pleasure.

“Alright,” John said, “let’s go see how many idiots chose the painful death.