Rain closed his eyes as his BIT began playing the video within his consciousness. The video depicted the process of shaping genetic energy into the form of a super-healing lizard, similar to how the earlier practice videos had demonstrated forming a bird. He watched as a man, seated cross-legged, slowly controlled his energy. The genetic energy first outlined the shape of the super-healing lizard, then gradually became more detailed. The skin, scales, claws, and horns appeared, and eventually, the eyes. After a while, the energy-formed lizard was an exact replica of the image of the super-healing lizard shown earlier.
Rain observed that the super-healing lizard was unlike any he had seen in his past life, with jade-colored skin, scales that resembled real jade, five claws on each foot, and horns on its head. He replayed the video three times, ensuring he fully grasped the process before attempting it himself.
Curious, Rain noticed a link at the end of the video and clicked on it. It led to additional parts—super-healing lizard training videos part 2, part 3, and part 4, priced at 300, 700, and 3000 credits, respectively. Intrigued, Rain read their descriptions to understand the steep prices.
- Part 2 teaches how to shape the muscles and bones of the super-healing lizard, a practice suitable for D-rank genetic warriors.
- Part 3 covers how to shape the internal organs, brain, and other finer details, also for D-rank.
- Part 4, however, is even more advanced, detailing the process of shaping the energy down to the cellular level, intended for C-rank warriors.
Rain asked his BIT if there was a B-rank training video, to which the BIT responded: "There is a Part 5, which involves energy shaping down to particles, but no one has yet reached B-rank using the super-healing lizard genetic medicine."
Rain absorbed the information, contemplating the path ahead. Realizing his mind was wandering, he refocused, reminding himself that he hadn't even mastered part 1 yet. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and glanced over at Siobhan, who was still deep in her practice. Encouraged by her concentration, Rain turned his attention back to his own training.
He formed a ball of genetic energy in his palm and began shaping it into the head of the super-healing lizard, though without the finer details like eyes or teeth. After multiple attempts, he managed to create a rough shape that he was satisfied with. Wanting to confirm his progress, Rain instructed his BIT to check if it matched the image of the super-healing lizard.
The BIT responded: "There are some errors." Immediately, the holographic display on his desk powered on, revealing the accurate image of the lizard. Rain carefully examined the discrepancies and began making corrections. After several adjustments, he compared his work again. While it lacked the intricate details, the overall form was now quite close to the intended shape.
Satisfied with his progress on the head, Rain moved on to shaping the neck. It came together relatively easily, but the difficulty spiked when he reached the chest area and began forming the two front claws. This part required much more precision, but Rain stayed patient, knowing that mastery was a gradual process.
As the outline of the chest was completed, Rain moved on to shaping the front legs, then the claws on both. He started with one leg first, finding that shaping a single claw was relatively easy. However, when he moved to the other claws, the challenge increased. His attempts to differentiate the claws left them looking like one fused mass, not the five distinct claws they were supposed to be.
He paused, contemplating how to improve his technique. The next challenge was figuring out how to create clear separations between each claw, but for now, he chose to stop and rest, knowing that precision would come with practice.
Afterward, Rain glanced at Siobhan to see how her practice was progressing. In her hand, a small, blue cat-shaped figure shimmered—a much smaller version of the ice cat. He speculated that her genetic energy might not yet support the full-sized version, as the figure was no larger than a normal dog.
With that thought, Rain returned to his own practice. This time, he skipped the head and body, focusing entirely on mastering the shaping of the claws.Rain concentrated on shaping the claws, determined to improve his technique. He focused on creating distinct separations between each claw, imagining the structure of the super healing lizard's powerful five-clawed feet. Slowly, his genetic energy began to take form, one claw at a time. The first came easily, its outline sharp and well-defined. But as he moved to shape the second and third claws, he encountered the same difficulty—the energy blurred the distinction, making the claws appear as one. He paused, adjusted his concentration, and tried again. With patience and repetition, the claws finally began to take shape individually, their outlines crisp and separate. Rain smiled in satisfaction as he completed the front claws.
Encouraged by his progress, he moved on to shape the rest of the lizard's body. Starting with the chest, he carefully traced the outline, forming the thick scales and solid frame. His control over the energy flowed smoothly now, allowing him to shape the limbs and torso with relative ease. However, as he worked his way toward the back legs and tail, Rain felt his genetic energy reserves depleting. The strain of maintaining the lizard's full form was becoming too much.
Realizing he wouldn't be able to finish shaping the entire creature without exhausting himself, Rain decided to stop before the back legs and tail. He looked at Siobhan's practice again and noticed her ice cat was a smaller version of its true size. Inspired, Rain chose to follow a similar approach. He began scaling down the super healing lizard, adjusting its size so his genetic energy could comfortably support it. The smaller form came together more quickly, and soon, the entire lizard—though miniature—stood complete in his palm, fully shaped from head to tail.
Rain exhaled, satisfied. The practice wasn't perfect, but it was progress. As he completed the super healing lizard, he noticed something peculiar—just like his genes, which were two distinct types joined together, his energy felt divided as well. The two different types of energy weren't merging into one as they should. He realized that removing impurities wasn't the main point of his D-rank training; rather, it was about combining these energies to create something new. The impurities in his energy were blocking that fusion. As he started to focus on removing these impurities one by one, his concentration was broken by a loud growl from his stomach.
In the otherwise quiet room, the sound was hard to miss, and Siobhan chuckled softly. "Rain, let's order some food. I'm hungry too."
Rain smiled, "Okay, what should we order?"
"There's a canteen in the police headquarters. We can order from there, and they'll deliver it in under ten minutes," Siobhan replied.
Rain instructed his BIT to display the canteen menu, and the holographic screen lit up, showing an extensive list of dishes. He was surprised to see the canteen had a wider selection than many restaurants. Confused by the options, he decided to go with his favorite and found dumplings on the menu. "I'll have a plate of dumplings. What did you order?"
"I ordered some noodles," Siobhan said with a smile.
Rain asked, "How's your practice going?"
Siobhan leaned back in her chair, "I've completed the outline, but the size is smaller than I'd like. I don't have enough genetic energy to make it full-sized. I'm going to need to start exercising more to increase my energy reserves."
Rain nodded, "I'm in a similar situation. I noticed that the headquarters has a gravity room. We could use that for training to boost our reserves."
Siobhan sighed, "They do, but the rooms are almost always occupied. Finding an open one is tough. I've been thinking of buying some gravity locks for personal training, but they cost 4,999 credits. It'll take me about three months to save up."
Rain agreed, "That sounds like a good plan."
Just then, there was a knock on the office door, followed by a notification on their BITs that their food had arrived. Rain quickly got up to retrieve it, handing Siobhan her noodles before returning to his desk with his dumplings. They both ate quietly, savoring the meal after their intense practice session.
As they finished, a new message appeared on their BITs from Sky, instructing them to meet the team on the 10th floor at G6, the waste treatment plant. Seeing the message, Rain and Siobhan quickly cleaned up and headed toward the lift, ready for the next phase of their mission.