I stumbled and fell, instantly and immediately brought low when Khars caught my hand, broke it, and then slammed me into the ground, all of it done within the span of a single millisecond. The only reason I even noticed what he'd done was because I was in my Enhanced Human form, which gave me the senses of an Astartes, but not the size or stature – none of the bulky physical aspects. So, I was as fast as an Astartes and almost as strong – at least, when they were outside their Power Armor – but not nearly as durable. I had hoped that that a Custodian would've been close enough, but I was wrong.

Before me, Khars wore no armor, save for his helmet. He wore only a loincloth, decorated with the Imperial Aquila. Despite that, he moved faster than any of the Carcharodons by a margin so wide it was almost incomprehensible. The gap between us seemed insurmountable, but I had the advantage of being able to try as many times as I needed. And, honestly, a broken wrist was nothing to me, needing only a stray and absent thought to fix as I pushed myself back up.

On the sides, Katarinya clapped and cheered me on, though I suspect she just enjoyed the violence.

"Again." Khars said. His tone shifted at times, I noticed. And now, I wasn't even sure what his actual personality was. Or, perhaps, he simply adopted a less jovial voice whenever he was in a combat situation. Though, he was so far above me that thisprobably wasn't a combat situation for him. "You move slower than you should. You're unfamiliar with your own body. Learn to harness the power of your forms; otherwise, you waste your own potential."

I nodded. I then got into a basic fighting stance. In this instance, I felt no need to use [Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist] for two reasons: one was that it was an unfair advantage and the second was that it'd defeat the purpose of the exercise, which was for me to become intimately familiar with my own body, its strengths and weaknesses, things I'd overlooked during the war for Praxtor. So, I had to fight him using only the martial arts that I knew from basic training and nothing else. "Yes, Lord Khars."

He nodded and very calmly walked towards me, not bothering to try and get into a fighting stance. He didn't need to. "Attack, Perry the Guardsman."

I breathed in and nodded. And was promptly dropped on the floor even quicker than before, my eyes fixed upon the ceiling above me.

Ah... what a long day this has been.

After the game of Dungeons and Daemons concluded, the God-Emperor had vanished in a flash of gold, disappearing with the guest, Cegorach, without leaving behind a single word or a command; he'd simply nodded my way and then... he was gone. I hadn't quite understood the full purpose of the game and tidbits and ideas did not count enough for me to complete the quest; though, it almost seemed like the God-Emperor wanted to teach me some kind of lesson, but it must've flown over my head, honestly.

Lord-Commander Garahm then ushered us out of the room afterwards, apparently to discuss things with the other Custodians, Khars, Whamuu, and Eshidisi, about classified topics that I wasn't privy to.

After that, I found myself in the unique and peculiar predicament of having absolutely nothing to do. And so, after asking around, Duncan and I found a large training area, which was used by the Custodians to constantly sharpen their skills by sparring against each other.

I also found out then that there were, in fact, plenty of other Custodians in this ship alone, though no one gave me an accurate number. And, some of them did not bother speaking at all when I greeted them. If I had to guess, based entirely on the size of the vessel, there must've been over a hundred Custodians here. I couldn't possibly be any further from harm.

The training area was a large, open space, filled with various exercise equipment, most of it taking the form of weights that were so freakishly heavy that no baseline human could lift them, not even the lightest and smallest, which then led me to the conclusion that Duncan, brave as he was, could not continue fighting by my side, unless he became drastically stronger than he was now. Otherwise, he'd die right on our first official mission. Honestly, the only reason I still lived was because I could fix up any damage I suffered nigh-instantly. Astartes form or otherwise, I should've died so many times that it simply was ridiculous how hard I was to actually kill. Not even the Balrog was able to kill me, though it honestly didn't seem like it was trying very hard to do so.

The point was that, even with all my powers, the only real reason I lived was because of my regenerative ability. Without it, I'd be dead. I couldn't grant Duncan the power to regrow his own limbs, but I could make him stronger and more resilient. I did not want him to die too quickly, but I also did not want to be burdened with the responsibility of having to protect him all the time; he needed to be able to fight and defend himself on his own. Hence, the only solution was to enhance him, give him the same Enhanced Human form that I had.

"Duncan," I said. "Would you like me to enhance your body? I can make you stronger and faster, without altering your size or shape, though it is going to make you nearly fifty percent heavier than you are now, maybe more."

"Of course, my lord." Duncan said immediately. "As I am now, I cannot be of much use to the Imperium or to you. I need to become even stronger."

That was all I needed to hear. Nodding, I reached out to his forehead and immediately beheld at the man's internal workings, his flesh, bones, muscles, and organs. Perfectly healthy. I'd fixed him up quite well on Praxtor. Duncan was as healthy as a human could be. But he could also be so much more. And I could make him far more. After all, there were a few alterations that'd be useless on me, but perfect for others.

First and foremost, I scanned the entirety of his body for any genetic anomalies or unwanted mutations. I hadn't really paid much attention the first time I healed him, since my focus was towards more serious, mortal injuries. Duncan apparently had a genetic predisposition for a weaker heart, which meant he'd likely suffer some form of heart attack when he got older. I fixed this immediately by erasing said genetic imprint. But, aside from a few small cancers that'd be swarmed and destroyed by his immune system soon enough, Duncan was quite healthy. Though, I did restore his telomeres, essentially resetting his aging clock; unless something unnatural got in the way, then Duncan would be locked in his physical age and would only continue aging as usual after around thirty or forty years, after which I could simply restore his telomeres again.

Like rejuvenants, but more efficient and free. Because, as far as I was aware, those drugs and chemicals were incredibly expensive, even for officers.

So, with his base form secured, I implanted the [Hanma Gene] straight into his genetic blueprint, into every single cell in his body so that any physical changes occurred smoothly and, hopefully, swiftly. Almost immediately, I noted a rather drastic and dramatic shift in his muscular and skeletal structure as the Hanma DNA began reshaping his body into its intended and preferred form. His back muscles, in particular, began taking on a more gruesome visage, almost like a sleeping face; supplied by a constant stream of Biomass from myself, Duncan's total muscle and skeletal density increased by nearly twenty percent, becoming harder and more durable. It also altered his brain somewhat, which would seemingly allow him to control which hormones were produced and in what quantity, though I suppose that would require quite a bit of practice on Duncan's part as the alteration did not come with an inherent mastery.

But, the greatest advantage of the [Hanma Gene] was that it'd allow Duncan to keep on growing with every battle, after every defeat; he'd grow stronger and stronger, until he reached whatever physical limit his new genetics afforded him. And, most of all, if he ever lived long enough to have children, the gene would be passed on, creating a new generation of superhuman mutants that bore no physical deformities and were genetically compatible with other humans.

Once the [Hanma Gene] had fully integrated itself, I then turned my attention to the Astartes organs – at least, the ones that were compatible with the already robust changes in his body. I wanted to add as much of them as I could, but I knew that a few were definitely incompatible. I couldn't make him a full [Enhanced Human], like myself, however, as the Hanma physiology seemed to work off of conflict and injury, allowing Duncan to continuously grow in strength and power. And that meant there had to be room for growth.

Still, I added the Ossmudula, the Haemastamen, Larraman's Organ, the Catalepsean Node, the Multi-Lung, Lyman's Ear, and the Oolitic Kidney. The other organs, I found, were both incompatible and, frankly, unnecessary. But, to be certain, these were the Astartes organs that I copied from the Carcharodons and it was entirely possible that there might've been some form of variation between differing Space Marines. But I couldn't be certain of that until I actually encountered others. Each extra organ I created and placed within his form was smaller than what would be found in an Astartes. There were a few inefficiencies in each one and I found that removing said inefficiencies allowed the organs to be much smaller, while still operating at the same frequency. I hoped this wasn't some form of heresy; it probably wasn't. After all, if it was, then the God-Emperor of Mankind himself would've already stopped me. This was his design after all. That he did nothing meant that he probably approved of my actions.

And, ultimately, Duncan was still human, just enhanced.

I suppose the best enhancement I added unto his form was the ability to pass on all of these traits, including the Astartes organs and the Hanma genes, to his offspring. So, hopefully, Duncan lived long enough to marry a good woman and have plenty of children.

"It's done." I said. And, immediately, Duncan staggered and fell to a knee, his head shaking, eyes blinking rapidly. He was disoriented and confused. I reached out to him, placed my hand on his right shoulder. "Duncan, can you hear me?"

"I can hear... too many things, my lord." He said, shaking his head again. "And I can feel... so many things too. Is this how it's supposed to be?"

"Focus, Duncan." I said. I think I might've gone through something similar when I first took on the shape of an Astartes, but [Gamer's Mind] might've simply allowed me to adapt to the influx of sensations much quicker than others would have, others like Duncan. "Focus on one thing at a time. Focus on my voice."

At that moment, Khars walked in, already in his loincloth. He took one look at me and then at Duncan and shook his head. "Information overload, I see. Quite common for those who've never been enhanced before. You've altered his body, Perry?"

I nodded. "Yes, Lord Custodian; I implanted him with a few Astartes organs, which I modified, alongside the genetic blueprint of an ancient Terran bloodline of warriors. He's much stronger, faster, and more resilient now."

Khars nodded. "He'll adapt to it eventually. Give him some time. For now, he should rest."

I stood up and pulled Duncan onto his feet, before dragging him towards a cot off to one corner of the training room, large enough to fit a Custodes. I then dropped him there, before turning to Khars the Custodian. "How may I help you, my lord?"

"I am here to train you," Khars said plainly. "Not in martial arts or any form of combat, no. I have noticed that you are... imprecise in your movements – wasteful. So, I will teach you to better use your body, to wield it as a weapon, like a spear. Otherwise, all that power is wasted. Hence, the two of us shall fight; you will learn from experience, having the benefit of needing no rest nor a period of recovery."

Lord Khars was right. I hadn't needed any sleep or rest since I gained this power. And I certainly could very easily fix any broken bones or torn muscles as easily as I blinked.

I nodded and bowed my head. Now, this actually sounded quite fun. I haven't sparred with anyone in... a long time, actually. "When shall we begin, Lord Khars?"

"We will begin now."

Quest Received!
Land a Single Solid Hit on Khars!
Optional 1: Land Two Solid Hits
Optional 2: Knock Down Khars
Optional 3: Force Khars to Yield
Reward/s:
+3 levels for [Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist]
5000 kg Biomass
Optional Reward 1: Lightsaber
Optional Reward 2: Random Mythic Gatcha Token
Optional Reward 3: Divine Gatcha Skill Card

And that was exactly how I decided that I would defeat a member of the God-Emperor's holy Adeptus Custodes and force him to yield.