Chapter 28
1
John and Liz left his house fairly early the next day. Their night time shenanigans had went unnoticed by his determined mother, although she had wondered aloud why the front door had been unlocked, certain that she had locked it before bed.
After escaping the suspicious looks from his mother, John and Liz took her return shuttle back to her house. It was a peaceful journey, flying at near jet speeds across the sky. When they touched down at her house, the vessel waited patiently for them to disembark before disappearing into the sky once more.
“Would have been nice if it just waited,” John lamented, watching it go.
“Eh, we’ll get another one. It’s not like they cost money,” Liz dismissed.
“I guess,” John conceded.
They moved to the house and went in, John tailing a couple steps behind Liz. He was once again taken aback by the splendor of the place. They moved through the house without notice, everyone apparently occupied elsewhere.
Liz led him to a study nestled deep within the house. There, they found her mom focused hard on what John recognized as a cultivation scroll. Liz knocked twice on the doorway as they entered.
“Hey mom,” she said when Amy looked up.
“You’re back! Hello dear. Oh hello John! I wasn’t expecting you,” she said warmly.
“I wasn’t expecting me either,” John laughed in greeting.
“Well that’s a relief. An extra pair of eyes will be good. They’re upstairs, surprisingly. They haven’t stopped asking when you’d be back since you promised them to take them out. I can barely focus on anything.” Any complained.
“Sorry mom. I didn’t expect to be gone all night,” Liz apologized.
“Had a fun night did you?” Amy asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Mom!” Liz reprimanded as her face turned a delicate shade of crimson.
She pulled John away from the study before her mom could turn her questions to him. They heard Amy laughing heartily behind them as they went. John smiled too. It was nice to see Liz so put off.
“Alright dweebs,” Liz called as they topped the third floor.
As though someone had rung the dinner bell on some starving dogs, Caleb and Jason rocketed from their rooms. They launched like cannonballs at their sister, nearly bowling her over. It wasn’t until Caleb caught sight of John behind her that they really lost their composure, though.
“John is here?!” He shouted.
“What?! No way! You’re coming too?” Jason asked.
“I’m coming too,” John confirmed with a laugh.
“Aw dude! This is going to be so sweet!” Jason crowed.
“You’re going to take us somewhere really awesome aren’t you?” Caleb asked.
“Chill out, nerds,” Liz berated them.
“Truth be told, I don’t know where we’re going to explore today,” John said apologetically.
“You don’t?” They both asked.
“No, unfortunately, you caught me at a weird time. See my new car base is in the middle of driving across the Garden. We have no idea where we are or how dangerous the area is. In other words, today we’re going to explore the proper wilderness. You two may get to be the first humans from earth to explore that part of the Garden.” John explained.
He could tell from the way their faces lit up that they had innumerable questions about his explanation. Liz put a hand up to stop them before they could get going. They looked at her like she was about to ruin their day.
“We have rules,” she said, and the twins seemed to have their confirmation.
“Aw, come on Lizzy. Always with the rules?” Caleb complained.
“Yeah, don’t you think we’ve heard this enough?” James asked.
“Clearly you haven’t or you wouldn’t still be complaining about it,” Liz said.
“Yeah, but you go over them every time. Why do we have to hear it again?” James asked.
“The rules have changed. This isn’t a casual stroll around Emerald Base. We’re talking about the middle of nowhere. People wouldn’t normally ever see an area so far from the safety of a base. There is literally no telling what we’re going to come across. Frankly, you’re both lucky I’m letting you come at all. And if it was just me, you wouldn’t be.” Liz said, all seriousness.
“She’s right guys. Your sister and I are going to take extreme cautions to make sure you guys are as safe as possible. Even so, there is no such thing as safety in the Garden. We will all be at risk, no matter how careful we are. If you can’t follow Liz’s instructions to the letter, we can’t afford to take you with us.” John explained calmly.
“Okay,” Caleb said, suitably chastised.
“So? What’s it going to be?” Liz asked, looking between the two of them.
“Give us the rules,” Jason answered.
“Good. Rule number one,” Liz pointed a finger at John, “he is in charge. If he tells you to run, you run. If he tells you to be quiet, I don’t want to hear a sound. What he says, goes. No questions asked. Got it?” Liz explained.
“Got it,” they both responded, looking at John as well to show they understood.
“Rule number two. You will not go anywhere alone. Even if it’s only a few steps over a hill or around a few trees. There is nothing that doesn’t want you dead in the Garden. You’d be surprised how quickly safe can become life threatening. Every step you take will be accompanied by myself or John. Got it?”
“Got it,” they responded again.
“Rule number three. If you kill it yourself, you harvest the gene yourself. None of this ‘do it for me, Liz’ crap. John and I will have our hands full making sure nothing comes too close to killing you. If you expect to get stronger, you gotta learn to harvest them yourselves. Got it?”
“Got it,” they both intoned, though neither sounded very happy about this particular rule.
“Rule number four, and I can’t believe I have to say this. No fucking fighting over who gets to kill what. It was a damn bunny for crying out loud. I’ve never seen the equal, I swear. And after I killed the giant hawk you attracted with your bickering, you had the nerve to ask if one of you got the gene. I’m going to say it this once, and if I ever have to put it on this list again, I’ll crack your skulls together like eggs and see which one breaks first. No. Fighting. Got it?”
“Got it,” they repeated, sounding ashamed to be called out in front of John.
Finally, rule number five. If we tell you to keep something to yourself, you will never mention it to anyone else under any circumstances. Certain information is dangerous. Spreading it around would only make you a target. No boasting. Got it?”
“Got it,” they both promised.
“John? Anything to add?” Liz asked.
“I think that about covers it,” he said.
“Alright. Let’s go,” Liz said eliciting cheers from the twins.
2
“Location?” The Kumani at the station asked Caleb as they all approached the transition pad.
“Obsidian base,” Caleb said nervously.
“Confirmed. Step forward,” the alien said robotically.
Caleb did as instructed and was soon fading from sight as he made the transition to the Garden. John gestured for Jason to go next, and the nervous twin moved to join his brother in the Garden. When John and Liz followed a moment later, the two were already agog with amazement.
“Is this your base?” One asked.
“Oh wow, this temple is huge! How big is the city outside?” The other chimed in.
“This is my base. It’s not the biggest base you can get, but it’s up there. I’ll never run out of space at least,” John confirmed.
“Dude, this is so awesome. How did you get it?” Caleb asked
“I won it in a contest,” John oversimplified.
“You’re so lucky!” Jason said enviously.
“Alright dweebs. There’s some things we gotta take care of before we can get to the exploration. First things first. John?” Liz said.
“Right. Come over here and stand on the transition pad,” he said.
They all did, including Liz, and John set the destination to his vault. A moment later, they were all standing in the still quite empty room. The lava floors sent the twins into another fit of excitement.
“Come along,” John said to them as he and Liz strolled across the glowing floor like they couldn’t be less impressed.
“What is this place?” One of them asked as they trailed behind.
“It’s a treasure vault in the middle of a volcano. What does it look like?” John asked.
“Dude, this is freaking amazing!”
“By the way, guys. Rule number five is in effect. Don’t tell anyone John has a volcano base with a secret underground vault filled with genes. Agreed?” Liz asked.
“Agreed,” they both said, still in awe.
“Thanks guys. Strictly speaking, not even my guild knows I’m the one in charge. I always wear my armor around anyone but Liz or Jules. So, you guys are some of the only people who know the truth,” John said.
“Really?” Caleb asked, finally catching up with John and Liz.
“Really. I’m trusting you guys. The less people who know, the safer we are.”
“We won’t tell anyone, but what is so dangerous about someone knowing this place belongs to you?” Jason asked.
“That,” John said, pointing.
They had come within range of the ever growing mass of genes the base had acquired. Jules had provided a more than substantial increase to the quantity since transitioning the guild to Obsidian base. Now the entire back wall was decorated and organized with rows upon rows of lower tier genes.
The twins gaped openly at the unfathomable wealth on display. Their eyes traveled from side to side, marveling at the perfectly organized shelves and cases of genes. John gave them time to take in what they were seeing before prompting them.
“Now do you understand what the big secret is? We could be in some trouble if people started challenging me for ownership of my base all the time. So, let’s just pretend Obsidian base doesn’t exist right?”
“Right,” Caleb said.
“Okay,” Jason agreed.
They were both still completely flabbergasted by the room they were standing in. John laughed and stepped forward. He grabbed a few genes before turning back to the twins.
“How far along are you guys?” He asked.
“I’ve got thirty-two Primitive genes. I also have twelve Awakened genes,” Caleb said.
“I have twenty-eight Primitive genes. No Awakened genes but I have seven Enhanced ones.” Jason chimed in.
“Not bad guys,” John said as he rifled through the stock.
“Why are you doing?” Jason asked as they watched him.
“Let’s see, a couple of these oughta do it. One of those. Alright,” John said absently.
He came back with an armful of genes. He dropped them all in a pile at the twins’ feet. They stared open mouthed at him.
“Those are all Primitive. Between the two of you, it should take a couple dozen to max out. When you’re done with that, these two are for you Jason, and this one is yours Caleb. These are Awakened, while this one is Enhanced. That should put you guys on roughly equal footing,” John explained, putting the higher tiered genes aside for them.
“You want us to take all of these?” Caleb asked in awe.
“Yes I do. And be quick about it. We have more to do,” John said as he turned away to walk among the genes once more.
“Why are you giving us so many genes?” Jason asked as he and Caleb began picking up the Primitive genes at their feet.
“Because you need to be stronger. And because I don’t know what else I’m going to do with all of them. Have you seen this place?” John called back as he moved further into the rows of genes.
“Just take them. And put what you can’t use back,” Liz commanded.
The twins did as instructed and soon found themselves inundated with the expansive energy of the genes they were gaining. They exalted in the euphoria of expanding their spirits, and John thought back to his own early days in the Garden. He hoped he could provide the experience they needed without all the traumatic danger he had gone through.
When the twins had finished with the Primitive genes, shouting in glee when their tallies each reached one hundred, John returned. They were moving on to their Awakened and Enhanced genes respectively when John placed a pair of Advanced genes down next to the lower ones. Both boys’ eyes went wide in shock.
“Are those?” Caleb asked.
“Yep. Advanced genes. One for each of you. This is all I can give you though. Gaining anymore progression all at once could unbalance your growth.” John said.
“Unbalance our growth? But Liz said she flew through the lower tiers. She said you went even faster. How is that different from this?” Jason asked.
“Because your sister fought for every gene. Every scrap of advancement she’s made has been through strife and determination. She progressed so quickly because she had to so that she would be ready to protect you guys when you came here. You’re lucky enough that you don’t have to rush it. These genes will give you the boost you need to get a handle on your tools and reflexes more quickly. If we simply give you all the genes, you won’t have the experience you need to survive without us.” John explained.
“Without you?” Jason asked in confusion.
John and Liz shared a look. Neither of them had spoken of it, but they had an agreement of sorts. They would make sure their families were in favorable positions, and then they would both see what the ‘Evolution Pool’ was.
“You don’t always want to be babysat, do you?” Liz deflected.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“No, I guess not,” Jason said.
“So, drink up. Then we can get to the exploring,” she said.
“Drink up? You know that’s not even close to accurate right?” Caleb asked.
“Hush. Your skin is drinking. Now shut up and drink your genes so we can go kill some monsters.”
3
After the twins had successfully “drank” their provided genes, a process that left them both gasping for air after the Advanced variant, John led them back to the transition pad. They returned to Obsidian Temple ready to do some exploring. John instructed them all to wait while he made the necessary arrangements.
Donning his armor, he went to the “Garden Mapping Command Center” as Jules had dubbed it. Unsurprisingly, the man was there along with his ever growing cadre of cartographers. They were hard at work mapping the current region the base was moving through.
“How’s it going?” John asked when he had gained Jules’ attention.
“Hey!” Jules said excitedly.
“That good, huh?” John laughed.
“We’re making amazing progress. We’ve found a speed that we can maintain. The crew swaps out in hour shifts so no one’s hand gets too cramped. We have people taking special note of landscape as it passes for the ones on mapping duty to get an accurate depiction. It’s starting to run like a well oiled machine,” Jules said.
“Starting to? You did all of this in three days of trial and error?” John asked, looking with astonishment at the massive map sprawled across the entire floor.
It had been filled in with an unbelievable amount of detail starting with the lands around the area Obsidian base had originated. There was a clear indication of every change in terrain and environment from there all the way to where the group was now scribbling. John stared at the several hundred miles of map that had been more or less completed since he last laid eyes on it.
“How is this possible?” John asked.
“Well, you know how neither of us really knows what we’re going to do with all of the genes in the vault?” Jules asked.
“You’ve been giving them out as payment for drawing the map,” John said, suddenly understanding.
“I have. And it turns out that after you start progressing into the Awakened and Enhanced tiers, your mind becomes a lot more capable. Your body, too. I’ve noticed it myself. Ever since we started the guild and my genes started to increase, I’ve been able to get a lot more done. It’s like my efficiency has grown tenfold. So I figured if they all had a boost like that, we wouldn’t have as much of an issue with the project,” Jules explained.
“Well clearly you’re onto something. I see you’ve discovered a dozen or so bases,” John observed.
“Yeah, that challenge function is amazing,” Jules gushed.
John had given Jules the ability to issue challenges to other bases on his behalf. He then extracted the promise that Jules would never, ever do so. That gave Jules the ability to see the names of every base they passed without John’s presence.
This had become necessary a couple days prior when Jules had asked John when he would be back to start the journey again. John had not understood the question until Jules explained that they couldn’t simply pass bases without him there to be told their names. John had found the obligation unacceptable, and quickly found the solution in passing challenge authority to Jules instead.
Jules had been ecstatic, and more than happy to let John go after that. And now, three days later, John could see just how well the man had adapted his workers to the task of mapping the Garden. Extraordinary amounts of detail had gone into it, including a seemingly accurate representation of each base they had passed.
“You’ve done an awesome job, dude,” John told his friend.
“It’s been a blast. I can’t wait to get to Emerald base and pick another location.”
“Don’t you think you should give these guys some time off? Don’t they still have to get out and explore?” John asked.
“You let me worry about that,” Jules said mysteriously.
“Okay,” John said, drawing the word out in exaggeration.
“So what’s up? Have you come to spoil my fun?” Jules asked.
“‘Fraid so,” John said.
“What’s the story?” Jules asked.
“Got a couple of greenhorns. Liz and I are going to take them out for some experience. What do you think? How’s the area look?”
Jules hesitated.
“Well, it’s not too far from the nearest base. I’d say we’re still further into the thick stuff than most people go, though. Based on what you told me last time you went out, I’ve been making some estimations about the nature of the Garden. Look,” he said, gesturing to a section of map.
“Based on the size of a base in any given area, we can determine how quickly after leaving the base you can expect to run into bigger threats. Take Emerald for example,” he said pointing at it.
“Okay,” John said patiently.
“We have the most information on Emerald, because most of our team was stationed there originally. Notice the rings drawn around the base? They’re color coded. Dark green represents the safest zone. It’s about the first mile radius all around the base. You can still find Primitive things to hunt, but it’s not a very big risk. After that is the light green ring. It makes up from one to four miles out in every direction from the base. You’ll find Awakened and Enhanced beasts more often in this range. After that you get into the yellow ring. In the four to ten mile radius is where Advanced and worse beasts start showing up. When you get more than ten miles from the base in any direction, that’s the orange zone. That’s where zones like the ones you and Liz found the cactus in start appearing. Packed with beasts no lower than Enhanced, and often championed by something extremely dangerous. After that would be the red zone, but no one has explored far enough from Emerald base to know what that might be like. But if you look over here,” Jules directed John’s attention.
John was impressed by the consideration and effort Jules always seemed to put into his projects. He had to admit that in his experience, the classifications seemed accurate. After a moment, he looked where Jules was indicating.
“This is Calcium base,” Jules said.
John noted the rings around the base started at yellow and moved to orange, then red, and finally, black. His eyebrows raised as he took in the map. He looked at Jules for an explanation.
“We stopped here yesterday morning. We had just passed the base, so I figured it was a good opportunity to let the crew catch up on some mapping and take a break. We stopped about a mile away from the base. Some of the guild members who are more diligent reporters volunteered to venture out and get a sense of the terrain. Well apparently our passage through the area stirred up some trouble because right after the group left the base, they were attacked by a whole pack of Advanced hyena things. They all made it back okay, but we decided against going out to explore after that. I drew these rings up as an estimation after that.” Jules said.
“And the black ring?” John asked.
“Anything beyond the red circle is considered unknown wild. It could be home to tadpoles or sharks. Red represents the most dangerous areas we’ve studied. Black represents all of the area between bases that has never been studied. We simply don’t know.”
“Okay, so back to my original question. How dangerous would it be to go out?” John asked.
“For most people? I would say extremely. For you? I don’t know. How many people are going?”
“Two. With Liz to help me watch them,” John said.
“Well, if we stop right now, it might be pretty bad. But there’s another base coming up in about fifty miles. We should be there in half an hour or so. That would be a better place to show them the ropes.”
“Wait a second. How do you know there is a base coming up?”
“Oh, I increased the range it notifies me of another base within. You can’t issue a challenge until you’re within a couple miles, but it lets you know far enough ahead of time to prepare in case you want to. It’s all impressively designed.” Jules explained.
“I’m glad one of us is putting the time into learning this place’s secrets. I just kind of stumble on all mine.”
“Anyway, give me some time to get us within a decent range and I’ll stop the base. I still can’t promise the area will be all that safe though,” Jules said.
“Understood. Thanks man.”
4
“Are you ready?” John asked his charges as they all stood at the gates of Obsidian base.
Jules had stopped the journey around three miles from the nearby base. Having told John its name was Topaz base, John had hypothesized that it would have roughly the same danger scale as Emerald, being the same tier. So they stopped right in the middle of what would have been the light green circle if he was right and prepared to do some exploring.
The twins nodded their eager affirmations as John approached both of them. He produced his Wizened griffin javelin and handed it to Caleb. Then he summoned a soul his father had given him. It was one he had apparently gained during their trial to earn Obsidian base.
It was a small weapon, though deadly in appearance. For all intents and purposes, it could be considered an ice pick. The barbed edges of the blade promised utter devastation both entering and exiting a victim. Both boys’ eyes lit up at the offered gifts.
“These are both Wizened tier. We’re not sure how many people even know that tier exists, so these fall under rule five, got it?” John asked.
“Got it,” they both said.
“Now, one of you is on ranged damage, and one of you is on close combat. You’ll trade off every hour so neither of you is unfamiliar with both types of fighting. Whoever has the javelin, bear in mind that you can only throw it once before you have to summon it back. That takes time you might not have. Don’t throw until you’re ready, and make it count. Whoever is on close quarters, bear in mind that your brother can’t defend as well up close with a long weapon. Watch each other’s backs, and never let your guard down.”
Then John produced a shield soul for each of them. They took the gifts with reverence, sure to thank John profusely for his kindness. When they were properly outfitted for the journey, they all set out.
John chose to take them in the opposite direction from the nearby base, hoping to avoid running into any locals. He didn’t want a situation like with the Drizk to crop up. So, they ventured out unobtrusively into the wilderness.
The first few hours were just as John had hoped. They came across a decent number of Awakened beasts, with just a couple of Enhanced examples here and there. The twins took turns back and forth with ranged or close quarters fighting, both happy to try either role.
Despite their inexperience, John was impressed by the boys. The griffin javelin made it incredibly easy to hunt at a distance, almost seeming impatient to find a target. While the Wizened Razortooth ice pick proved more than capable of dispatching the foes who came within range.
The open field terrain made it simple for them to see most threats coming before they got close, though the weeds were so tall that certain beasts hid better than others. They were able to dispatch each foe relatively easily, if not entirely without strife. John and Liz stood ready with their own weapons in case anything proved the better of the boys.
But, to their great surprise, the twins heeded their advice well and stuck together. Shields were always raised to intercept anything that might get close enough to attack. They were constantly looking all around them as the quartet marched through the fields. They diligently pointed out prey to each other and kept watch any time one of them had to harvest a gene, a task neither of them appreciated nearly as much as the hunting.
They consumed the genes as they came across them, each adding to their pools steadily throughout the day. This also gave them a better grasp of their weapons as their capacity to learn and remember increased. By the fourth hour, they had both nearly maxed their Awakened counts.
Caleb had just skewered his second Enhanced prey of the day when John spotted trouble in the distance. Jason, who was keeping watch for Caleb while he harvested the gene from the dead groundhog he had killed, noticed it too. He quickly turned to his brother.
“Can I have the javelin now? I want to get one of those,” he said pointing.
Caleb followed his brother’s finger until he saw the group of carrion birds circling the sky in the distance. He finished removing the front teeth from the groundhog’s mouth and stood up. They both stared at the small black cloud of birds for several seconds.
“No,” John said.
“Why not?” Jason asked.
“No questions asked, remember?” Liz reminded them.
“No, it’s okay. They should learn to spot these things. Take a look at the birds again, boys,” John said.
“Okay,” they said, turning to observe the cloud.
“Notice anything strange about them?” John asked.
“Strange?” Caleb asked.
“You mean how they’re kind of stacked up?” Jason asked.
“Exactly. The lowest tier flies below the rest. Now I’m guessing by the size of the group that the lowest tier is probably Awakened. If I’m right, that means that those two,” John said indicating the largest birds circling above all the others, “are probably Wizened.”
“Wizened? Are you sure?” Caleb asked.
“No. I’m not sure. But even if they’re only Advanced, don’t underestimate their ability to direct their underlings. The last thing we want is a whole murder of birds out for our blood. We should steer clear. There will be others to hunt.”
“If they’re circling something, that probably means there is something about to die right? Shouldn’t we see what they’re interested in?” Jason asked.
“No. If there is something ahead that is of interest to those two, you’re already closer to peril that you realize. Come on. Let’s head back this way. We should probably get back to Obsidian before long anyway,” John said.
“Alright,” they both agreed.
John and Liz continued to chaperone the boys on their exciting adventure, collecting from them any Awakened genes they could no longer consume after maxing out. In this way, the twins contributed to the treasury after borrowing from its reserves. Not that John needed the genes back, but he wouldn’t refuse the gift.
They were well on their way back to the base when Jason raised the javelin to throw at a wild horse like creature. It had all the usual horse characteristics, but it also sported a pair of horns similar to, if more narrow than a bull’s. John noticed his target just in time to warn him.
“Stop,” John said, quickly approaching.
“It’s okay, it’s all alone. I’ve got this,” Jason said, taking aim with the javelin.
“Rule number one,” John growled severely, forcing the javelin down as he did.
Jason looked ashamed as he lowered his eyes to the ground. He dropped his arm and slumped his shoulders. Then he uttered a quiet apology.
“I’m sorry, John.”
“It’s okay. I just have more information than you. I can tell by looking at that thing that it’s beyond anything that javelin can handle. And I’d be willing to bet it isn’t as alone as it looks either.”
Even as he said it, they all heard a battle cry from the distance. A thunder of hooves soon hammered against their feet as a great stampede of hooves pounded the ground. John didn’t wait around to see what the disturbance was.
“Time to go,” he said.
5
John and Liz both surrendered their wing souls to the twins. The instruction was that if either of them said so, they boys were to summon them and fly straight for the base. John was confident that he and Liz could avoid dying in the confusion, the twins, not so much.
They had only made it a few dozen yards when they heard the return cry of whatever the horse beast was called. As they ran, figures started rising up from the tall grass all around them. John got a horrible flashback to his first day in the garden.
He knew that the most dangerous threat one could face in the Garden was a large group of focused beasts led by a determined alpha. John abandoned all pretense upon seeing more and more of the horned horses rise all around them. He instinctively sunk an arrow into the chest of one that stood right in the path of Caleb and Jason.
“You have killed Advanced Bovequinite. Gene available for harvest!”
It fell to the side, clearing the way for the twins as it did so. Unfortunately, this drew the attention of the alpha, who seemed to have an inordinate sense of its fellows. John could almost feel the collective attention shift from whatever had roused the beasts to their four man party.
“Shit, go! Now! Don’t stop until you get back to Obsidian. Liz?”
“On it,” Liz replied before shifting into a bear.
The twins followed their orders well and had already summoned their wings and were flying away when Liz met the charge of the nearest horned horse. She batted it’s lowered head to the ground with an impossibly powerful swipe of her paw. The momentum of the beast carried it past her where John sunk an arrow into its prone form.
They took off in a mad dash to escape the charge of angry beasts. John took the first opportunity he had to launch a replenishing arrow at Liz. It sunk into her hide without effect other than to lend a bit of speed to her quadrupedal stride.
The twins soon left them behind as their high grade wings carried them faster than any human could hope to run. John was relieved to see them shrink into the distance as he and Liz continued to draw the ire of the horse beasts all around them. Four more times they were attacked as they retreated, and each time they were able to work together to dispatch the threat.
After an unacceptably long amount of time, John heard the clamor of confrontation behind them. Deciding it was probably the threat that had aroused the beasts in the first place, he put on an extra burst of speed to get out of the combat zone. Soon he and Liz were able to slow down and catch their breath.
John lamented the absence of his wings. He had become spoiled on the idea of letting his soul tools do all the work for him. Not having them was a stark reminder that he wasn’t as untouchable as he always considered himself.
As if to prove the point, a large cat suddenly leapt from the tall grass and tried to tackle him to the ground. He managed to roll with the pounce and toss the cat past him to the ground, but his bow tumbled from his grip. Relying on instincts, John summoned his newest acquired soul.
Itzukiel’s Mercy materialized around John as the cat rolled to its feet. It pounced at John once more, but he easily caught the attack against his shield and redirected it back to the ground once more. He swung the hammer/pick at the cat, but it was just as capable of evasion as he was.
Twice more they traded blows to no effect. Liz also attempted to intervene, but her large frame was no match for the agility of the hunting cat. John gestured for her to keep her distance.
He took it as a fantastic opportunity to get a handle on his new weapon. He particularly appreciated the ability of Itzukiel’s Mercy to guard and attack simultaneously. He was so unused to the versatility that it was taking some getting used to in order to wield it effectively.
He decisively rolled with the cat’s attacks as it lunged at him repeatedly. Each time he deflected a strike, he countered with a swing of his own. He found no more success than his opponent however. The two of them appeared evenly matched.
John had long since recognized the beast as a Divine foe. No other tier could have shrugged off the glancing blows from his hammer so easily. When the beast’s spiritual signature began to flare with activity, John warily prepared for a surprise.
Before his shield was fully in position, John felt a breeze brush against him. He cried out and stumbled back as he belatedly realized that the cat had swiped a paw in his direction with such force that it actually split the air into four claw like blades of air. John fell to the ground as long, deep gashes scored his shield and armor diagonally.
He felt the attack slice into his flesh as well, but was unable to focus on the pain as the cat immediately pounced on him upon seeing him fall. Blood began seeping from the cuts in his armor as John caught the jaws of the beast on his hammer’s handle just before they found his neck. It wrenched its head back and forth, trying to tear the hammer from his grip, but John pounded it repeatedly with his shield arm until it let go and retreated several steps.
John scrambled to his feet as the cat stalked slowly to the side, eyes never leaving him. John matched both it’s gaze and movements as they reset themselves. John sensed the surge of spirit once more and knew it was about to launch an impossibly fast gust of wind blades at him again.
Before it could, John aimed his shield wrist at the cat and tightened his grip around the handle until a roped bolt launched from the concealed chamber. It slammed into the cat, interrupting the beast’s concentration. It cried out in pain as the bolt punched clean through it and out the other side.
Before either John or the cat could react, the tip of the bolt opened like a grappling hook, gripping the cat like it was meant to support John as he repelled down a cliff. Unfortunately for the cat, it was not heavy enough to ignore the insistent retraction of the cord the bolt was attached to. John set his feet as he too was pulled off balance.
While not light enough to be yanked bodily though the air, the difference in weight was enough to steadily drag the hunting cat towards John as it cried out and struggled to free itself. Despite its desperate battle against fate, the inexorable pull soon brought it within range of John’s retribution. He spun the hammer until the spike was leading just as the cat came in range.
With a quick and accurate strike, the beast ceased struggling. John panted in the stillness of the aftermath. With another flexation of his of shield arm, the prongs of the grapple broke loose, collapsing to allow the bolt to be removed through its original entry point.
“You have killed Divine Jaguar! Gene available for collection!”
The message was slightly different than it had been with lesser beasts. He turned his attention back to his new weapon. It’s grapple had already returned to its housing.
John was impressed by the sheer versatility of the weapon. He knew it would take some practice to become truly proficient with the tool, but he saw great potential already. As he was admiring his new soul, the body of the great cat began to dissolve before his eyes.
John watched in interest as the cat’s body steadily broke down. It seemed to blow away upon the wind with each second that passed. Soon there was only a spherical crystal the size of a golf ball left behind.
“That must have been what happened to the bird that the cactus killed,” John realized as he picked up the crystal.
“”What just happened?” Liz asked, shifting back to human.
“That’s what happens to the bodies of Divine beasts that die,” John explained.
“Divine? You mean we were being stalked by a Divine cat that whole time?” Liz asked.
“Looks that way, yeah. We should probably get back before anything else happens. But first,” John said, looking down at the crystal in his hand.
He took a moment to build his spirit into the configuration the cat had exuded. It took longer than he would have hoped, as much like Suné, the cat had been extremely proficient in circulating its spirit. In due time, however, John was able to connect with the gene and begin soaking it into his cells.
“Congratulations! You have gained seven Divine genes!”
John stumbled as the flood of energy burst through his body, forcing his potential to expand once more. He gasped in euphoria, but quickly recovered enough to continue their retreat. He smiled to himself as they ran.
“Halfway there,” he thought.
“You’re safe!” Caleb exclaimed when they stumbled through the gates of Obsidian base a few minutes later.
“What happened?” Jason asked in alarm, seeing the bloody gashes across John’s chest.
“Got ambushed by a dangerous beast,” John said exhaustedly.
“And that,” Liz said, pointing to the gore running down John’s armor, “is why we have rule number one.”
What is this chapter called?